Poly(4-vinylpyridine) catalyzed hydrolysis of methyl bromide to methanol and dimethyl ether

The hydrolysis of methyl bromide with neutral water is performed in the presence and absence of various amines in a batch reactor at different temperatures (50–125 °C). Screening of poly(4-vinylpyridine) as a potential reusable solid amine catalyst showed maximum efficiency. This significant enhancement in efficiency is due to the capture of HBr by solid PVP and remains phase-separated driving the reaction forward. The major advantage of this process is that the polymer can be easily regenerated and reused without loss of activity making it a very effective catalyst for the conversion of methyl halides to methanol and dimethyl ether.     

Modeling texture evolution in equal channel angular extrusion using crystal plasticity finite element models

A new approach to modeling crystallographic texture evolution in Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) is presented in this paper. The proposed approach utilizes an elastic–viscoplastic single crystal constitutive model implemented in a finite element framework. A representative volume element of the polycrystal is subjected to boundary conditions that simulate the approximate deformation history experienced by different regions of the sample (at different through-thickness depths) in both Route A and Route C processing. The proposed approach aims to capture the influence of the complex interactions that ensue among the constituent individual crystals of a polycrystal in controlling the texture evolution in the sample, while capturing the boundary conditions inherent to ECAE deformation. The predictions from the proposed approach are compared against previously reported experimental measurements in ECAE of copper. It is observed that the proposed approach provides significantly better agreement with the measurements when compared against previously reported model predictions.     

Conditional VaR estimation using Pearson’s type IV distribution

This paper presents a new value at risk (VaR) estimation model for equity returns time series and tests it extensively on Stock Indices of 14 countries. Two most important stylized facts of such series are volatility clustering, and non-normality as a result of fat tails of the return distribution. While volatility clustering has been extensively studied using the GARCH model and its various extensions, the phenomenon of non-normality has not been comprehensively explored, at least in the context of VaR estimation. A combination of extreme value theory (EVT) and GARCH has been explored to analyze financial data showing non-normal behavior. This paper proposes a combination of the Pearson’s Type IV distribution and the GARCH (1, 1) approach to furnish a new method with superior predictive abilities. The approach is back tested for the entire sample as well as for a holdout sample using rolling windows.     

Synthesis and stereochemistry of 2-arylperhydrocyclopenta[b]pyridin-1-ols, 8-azaestrone fragments

Different stereoisomers of 2-arylperhydrocyclopenta[b]pyridin-1-ols, which form structural motifs of 8-azaestrone, were prepared via reductive cyclization from mono-oximes derived from 1,5-diketones, by using sodium borohydride and acetic acid in THF at reflux.     

Electrochemical approach for synthesis of 3-substituted indole derivatives

An efficient and economical method was developed for synthesis of 3-substituted indole by using electrochemically induced condensation of various aldehyde, indole and malononitrile.     

Kinetics of Enzymatic Synthesis of Cinnamyl Butyrate by Immobilized Lipase

This work illustrates the enzymatic synthesis of cinnamyl butyrate by esterification of butyric acid and cinnamyl alcohol. Experiments were performed to study the various operating parameters such as molar ratio, enzyme concentration, temperature, and speed of agitation. Also, the suitable kinetic model for esterification reaction was predicted and the various kinetic parameters were determined. It has been observed that the experimental results agree well with the simulated results obtained by following the ping-pong bi-bi mechanism with dead-end inhibition by both the substrate acid and alcohol. The highest 90% conversion of butyric acid was observed after 12 h at the following reaction conditions: substrate molar ratio 1:2 (butyric acid/cinnamyl alcohol), temperature 50 °C, enzyme loading 2% (with respect to the weight of the substrates), and agitation speed 250 rpm. Diffusional mass transfer limitations between substrate and enzyme surface do not show significant effect on reaction kinetics. Enzyme reusability study reveals that it retains 85% of its catalytic activity after five consecutive cycles.     

Exact multiplicity for the perturbed Q-curvature problem in {\mathbb{R}^N,N \geq 5}

Let N ≥ 5 and \({{\mathcal{D}}^{2,2} (\mathbb{R}^N)}\) denote the closure of \({C_0^\infty (\mathbb{R}^N)}\) in the norm \({\|u\|_{{\mathcal{D}}^{2,2} (\mathbb{R}^N)}^2 := \int\nolimits_{\mathbb{R}^N} |\Delta u|^2.}\) Let \({K \in C^2 (\mathbb{R}^N).}\) We consider the following problem for ? ≥ 0: $$(P_\varepsilon) \left\{\begin{array}{llll}{\rm Find} \, u \in {\mathcal{D}}^{2, 2} (\mathbb{R}^N) \, \, {\rm solving} :\\ \left.\begin{array}{lll}\Delta^2 u = (1+ \varepsilon K (x)) u^{\frac{N+4}{N-4}}\\ u > 0 \end{array}\right\}{\rm in} \, \mathbb{R}^N.\end{array}\right.$$ We show an exact multiplicity result for (P _? ) for all small ? > 0.