This research article deals with the synthesis of a heterogeneous eggshell-coconut pith catalyst for the transesterification of preutilized cooking oil into a biodiesel fuel. A wet impregnation technique was adopted to prepare the heterogenous catalyst from calcined eggshells and activated coconut pith, followed by the surface analysis for pores using the scanning electron microscopy. The synthesized catalyst was employed for the transesterification of preutilized or waste cooking oil for its conversion into fatty acid methyl esters. Response surface methodology (RSM) using a four factor, three level, central composite design (CCD) was used to investigate the effect of the process parameters (alcohol:

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Indium(III) chloride catalyzes the ring opening of chalcone epoxides followed by intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation under mild conditions at room temperature to afford highly functionalized 3-aryl-2-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-ones in excellent yields (81-95%).

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A comparative study on the hair microstructure of pteropodid bats Pteropus giganteus, Rousettus leschenaulti, and Cynopterus sphinx was performed using scanning electron microscope. Hair samples were taken from the dorsal, ventral, and neck regions. Among the three pteropodids examined, an imbricate and tightly appressed hair type was observed in P. giganteus, while a coronal type of cuticle with margins diverging from the shaft was observed in R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx. The coronal cuticles of R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx had relatively thinner scale widths than the imbricate cuticles of P. giganteus. There was a significant difference in hair length, scale lengths and scale widths, and scale indices among the three species of fruit bats. However, there was no significant difference in hair length and scale index of male and female R. leschenaulti as well as in hair length and scale indices of male and female C. sphinx. The presence of bell-shaped coronal cuticle and wide angular scale margin in R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx reveal their role as active pollinators. The hair patterns, hair length, scale length and width confirm the presence of species-specific characteristics of pteropodid bats and can be used for species identification.