Theoretical modeling of iodine value and saponification value of biodiesel fuels from their fatty acid composition

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel consisting of alkyl esters of fatty acids from vegetable oils or animal fats. The properties of biodiesel depend on the type of vegetable oil used for the transesterification process. The objective of the present work is to theoretically predict the iodine value and the saponification value of different biodiesels from their fatty acid methyl ester composition. The fatty acid ester compositions and the above values of different biodiesels were taken from the available published data. A multiple linear regression model was developed to predict the iodine value and saponification value of different biodiesels. The predicted results showed that the prediction errors were less than 3.4% compared to the available published data. The predicted values were also verified by substituting in the available published model which was developed to predict the higher heating values of biodiesel fuels from their iodine value and the saponification value. The resulting heating values of biodiesels were then compared with the published heating values and reported.     

Synthesis and phosphorylation of macrophage membrane proteins in protein deficient rat

Changes in the biosynthesis and phosphorylation of rat peritoneal macrophage membrane proteins induced by protein malnutrition have been studied. The results clearly indicate that the biosynthesis of high molecular weight proteins (45-200 kDa) and their phosphorylation are significantly reduced in the macrophages isolated from protein deficient (4% protein-fed) rats compared to the control group fed 20% protein diet. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment both in vivo and in vitro enhanced the synthesis and phosphorylation of these proteins in both control and protein deficient groups; however, the extent of enhancement was much less in the deficient group. These results indicate that besides the down regulation of these membrane proteins, protein malnutrition seems to make these macrophages less responsive to potent immuno stimulants like LPS.     

Analysis of dielectric guides by transverse magnetic field finiteelement penalty method

The main purpose of this paper is to use the finite element method using a penalty function formulation to solve the vector wave equation with transverse H-field formulation together with the boundary operator. We impose continuity conditions on the boundary interfaces for both E _z and H_z components. We apply this technique to obtain the propagation constant for a three-layer ridge structure and a multiple quantum well ridge guide as examples, and a comparison with previously published results shows excellent agreement     

Solvent‐free cyanoethylation of selected alcohols using amberlyst A‐21 polymer resin

Solvent‐free cyanoethylation of selected alcohols with acrylonitrile (AN) using a weakly basic polymer resin, Amberlyst A‐21 (AA‐21) was studied at 75°C. The conversion of primary alcohols, 1‐octadecanol, hexane‐1,6‐diol, pentaerythritol, but‐2‐yne‐1,4‐diol, N‐methyldiethanolamine, triethanolamine and diethanolamine is higher than secondary alcohols, isopropanol and glycerol in the presence of polymer resin. Of various alcohols, but‐2‐yne‐1,4‐diol gave the product in high conversion (87%) in cyanoethylation with a polymer resin/AN weight ratio of 0.04. The polymer resin showed recycling ability only in two cycles to produce cyanoethylated product from diethanolamine. In case of 1‐octadecanol, hexane‐1,6‐diol, and N‐methyldiethanolamine with AN under similar conditions, no recycling ability was observed. Thermally treated polymer resin at 75°C afforded the product in lower conversion (55%) whereas the same product was obtained in 69% when fresh polymer resin was used in cyanoethylation of 1‐octadecanol. No catalytic effect was observed for polymer resin treated at 100°C. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra showed CN stretching at 2248 cm^?1 for the polymer resin collected after the reaction which was caused by the AN binding on polymer resin during the reaction. As per thermogravimetric curves, 5% weight loss was observed at 201°C for recovered resin and at 161°C for polymer resin treated at 100°C. Scanning electron microscope images confirmed the AN binding on polymer beads after catalytic activity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Acrylic copolymers crosslinked by click chemistry: Some aspects of synthesis,curing, and crosslinking

Acrylic polymers bearing pendant azide and propargyl groups were synthesized by chemical transformation of epoxy‐ and carboxylic functional acrylic precursor polymers and were characterized. These copolymers were crosslinked by reacting them in the presence of Cu(I) catalyst via the azide–alkyne click reaction leading to triazole networks. Influence of catalyst concentration on the crosslinking cure kinetics was investigated, and the activation parameters were evaluated. The activation energy decreased from 90 kJ mol^?1 to 25 kJ mol^?1 on catalyzing the cure reaction as estimated by Ozawa method. Differential scanning calorimetric analysis indicated thermal decomposition of the residual azide groups at around 200–220°C, which was catalyzed by Cu(I) with associated activation energy of 130–94 kJ mol^?1. Isothermal cure reaction and decomposition of the azide groups were predicted using these parameters. Estimation of crosslink density by solvent swelling and dynamic mechanical analyses showed a normal crosslinking behavior. While the solvent swelling rate and the equilibrium swelling decreased, the front factor and diffusion coefficient of swelling showed a transition from non‐Fickian to Fickian as the triazole concentration increased in the network. The click reaction offered an alternate means to crosslink acrylate polymers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1289‐1300, 2013     

Rapid Reduction of U(VI) on Activated Platinum Wire Gauze Electrode for the Primary Coulometric Determination of Uranium

A large enhancement in the active area of a hollow cylindrical platinum wire gauze electrode was achieved by repetitive multilayer growth of oxide followed by its reduction. Growth of oxide was obtained by a combination of chemical and electrochemical treatments. Enhancement in the active area of the electrode was checked by determining the time taken for the quantitative reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) at a controlled potential of –0.150 V vs SCE in 1 M H₂SO₄. A six-fold decrease in the reduction time was observed, indicating a corresponding six-fold increase in the active area of the electrode. The enhanced activity of the electrode was found to decay on ageing. Determination of uranium was carried out by a successive addition technique using the activated platinum wire gauze electrode and carrying out the reduction U(VI) to U(IV) at a controlled potential of –0.150 V vs SCE. Precision and accuracy of better than ±0.2% were obtained at 5 to 10 mg levels of uranium. This demonstrates the applicability of a platinum electrode, instead of the conventionally used Hg electrode, for determination of uranium by primary coulometry.     

Amphiphilic ABA‐type triblock copolymers for the development of high‐performance poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) blend ultrafiltration membranes for oil separation

ABA‐type amphiphilic triblock copolymers (TBCs) were synthesized by a reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process with a telechelic polystyrene macro‐RAFT agent and 4‐[n‐(acryloyloxy)alkyloxy]benzoic acid monomers. Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were fabricated by a phase‐inversion process with blends of the TBC, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) in dimethylformamide. The UF‐fabricated membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, water contact angle measurement, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. Pure water permeation, molecular weight cutoff values obtained by the permeation of different molecular weight polymers as probe solutes, bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution permeate flux, and oil–water emulsion filtration tests were used to evaluate the separation characteristics of the fabricated membranes. The tripolymer blend membranes exhibited a higher flux recovery ratio (FRR) after the membrane was washed with sodium lauryl sulfate (0.05 wt %) solution for a BSA solution (FRR = 88%) and oil–water emulsion (FRR = 95%) feeds when than the PVDF–PVP blend membrane (57 and 80% FRR values for the BSA solution and oil–water emulsion, respectively). The pendant carboxylic acid functional moieties in this ABA‐type TBC have potential advantages in the fabrication of high‐performance membranes. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45132.     

Switching Futile para‐Quinone to Efficient Reactive Oxygen Species Generator: Ubiquitin‐Specific Protease‐2 Inhibition,Electrocatalysis, and Quantification

Understanding the correlation between structural features of small‐molecule drugs and their mode of action is a fascinating topic and crucial for the drug‐discovery process. However, in many cases, knowledge of the exact parameters that dictate the mode of action is still lacking. Following a large screening for ubiquitin specific protease 2 (USP2) inhibition, an effective para‐quinone‐based inhibitor with an unclear mode of action was identified. To gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism of inhibition, a set of para‐quinones were prepared and studied for USP2 inhibition, electrocatalysis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) quantification. The excellent correlation obtained from the above‐mentioned studies disclosed a distinct pattern of “N?C=O?N” in the bicyclic para‐quinones to be a crucial factor for ROS generation, and demonstrated that minor changes in such a skeleton drastically altered the ROS‐generating ability. The knowledge acquired herein would serve as an important guideline for future medicinal chemistry optimization of related structures to select the preferred mode of action.     

Symmetric deformable image registration via optimization of information theoretic measures

The use of information theoretic measures (ITMs) has been steadily growing in image processing, bioinformatics, and pattern classification. Although the ITMs have been extensively used in rigid and affine registration of multi-modal images, their computation and accuracy are critical issues in deformable image registration. Three important aspects of using ITMs in multi-modal deformable image registration are considered in this paper: computation, inverse consistency, and accuracy; a symmetric formulation of the deformable image registration problem through the computation of derivatives and resampling on both source and target images, and sufficient criteria for inverse consistency are presented for the purpose of achieving more accurate registration. The techniques of estimating ITMs are examined and analytical derivatives are derived for carrying out the optimization in a computationally efficient manner. ITMs based on Shannon’s and Renyi’s definitions are considered and compared. The obtained evaluation results via registration functions, and controlled deformable registration of multi-modal digital brain phantom and in vivo magnetic resonance brain images show the improved accuracy and efficiency of the developed formulation. The results also indicate that despite the recent favorable studies towards the use of ITMs based on Renyi’s definitions, these measures are seen not to provide improvements in this type of deformable registration as compared to ITMs based on Shannon’s definitions.