Jadavpur University

About: Jadavpur University is a education organization based out in Kolkata, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Fuzzy logic. The organization has 10856 authors who have published 27678 publications receiving 422069 citations. The organization is also known as: JU & Jadabpur University.

Immobilization of Palladium in Mesoporous Silica Matrix: Preparation, Characterization, and Its Catalytic Efficacy in Carbon−Carbon Coupling Reactions

Abstract: Palladium(0) has been immobilized into the silica-based mesoporous material to develop catalyst Pd(0)-MCM-41, which is found to be highly active in carbon−carbon coupling reactions. [Pd(NH3)4]2+ ions have been incorporated into the mesoporous material during synthesis of MCM-41 and subsequently upon treatments with hydrazine hydrate Pd2+ ions present in mesoporous silica matrix were reduced to Pd(0) almost instantaneously. The catalyst has been characterized by small-angle X-ray diffraction, N2 sorption, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM and surface area measurements clearly demonstrate that the immobilization of Pd(0) into the mesoporous silica has a significant effect on pore structure of the catalyst. Nevertheless, after immobilization of palladium the meso-porosity of the material is retained, as evidenced in the nitrogen sorption measurement. The TEM micrograph shows that both MCM-41 and Pd(0)-MCM-41 have similar types of external surface morphology; however, Pd(0)-MCM-41 was less order...

Delineation of groundwater potential zone in Chhatna Block, Bankura District, West Bengal, India using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Abstract: Groundwater is one of the most valuable natural resources, which is an immensely important and dependable source of water supply in all climatic regions over the world. Groundwater is in demand in areas where surface water supply is inadequate and nonsexist in the Chhatna Block, Bankura district and is located on the eastern slope of Chotonagpur Plateau, which is mapped on 73 I/15, 73 I/16 and 73 M/3, and falls between latitude 23°10′–23°30′N and longitude 86°47′–87°02′E. It represents plain land and gentle slope, which is responsible for infiltration and groundwater recharge. The groundwater in this region is confined within the fracture zones and weathered residuum. The present investigation is, therefore, undertaken to delineate potential zones for groundwater development with the help of a remote-sensing study. IRS–LISS-III data along with other data sets, e.g., existing toposheets and field observation data, have been utilized to extract information on the hydrogeomorphic features which include valley fills, buried pediment moderate, buried pediment shallow and structural hills, lineament density contour and slope map of this hard rock terrain. The target of this study is to delineate the groundwater potential zones in Chhatna block, Bankura District, West Bengal. Satellite imagery, along with other data sets, has been utilized to extract information on the groundwater controlling features of this study area. Three features (hydrogeomorphology, slope, and lineaments) that influence groundwater occurrences were analyzed and integrated. All the information layers have been integrated through GIS analysis and the groundwater potential zones have been delineated. The weighted index overlay method has been followed to delineate groundwater potential zones. The results indicate that good to excellent groundwater potential zones are available in almost the entire block. The results show that there is good agreement between the predicted groundwater potential map and the existing groundwater borehole databases. The area is characterized by hard rock terrain—still due to the presence of planation surface along valley fills; it became the prospective zone. The area has been categorized into four distinct zones: excellent, good, fair and poor. Excellent groundwater potential zones constitute 30–35 % of the total block area; good groundwater potential zones occupy a majority of the block, covering approximately 55–60 % and the fair potential zones occupy about 10–15 % of the total block. Poor potential zones occupy a very insignificant portion (less than 1 %).

Ethnobotany of the Monpa ethnic group at Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract: The present paper documents the uses of plants in traditional herbal medicine for human and veterinary ailments, and those used for dietary supplements, religious purpose, local beverage, and plants used to poison fish and wild animals. Traditional botanical medicine is the primary mode of healthcare for most of the rural population in Arunachal Pradesh. Field research was conducted between April 2006 and March 2009 with randomly selected 124 key informants using semi-structured questionnaire. The data obtained was analyzed through informant consensus factor (FIC) to determine the homogeneity of informant's knowledge on medicinal plants. We documented 50 plants species belonging to 29 families used for treating 22 human and 4 veterinary ailments. Of the medicinal plants reported, the most common growth form was herbs (40%) followed by shrubs, trees, and climbers. Leaves were most frequently used plant parts. The consensus analysis revealed that the dermatological ailments have the highest FIC (0.56) and the gastro-intestinal diseases have FIC (0.43). FIC values indicated that there was high agreement in the use of plants in dermatological and gastro-intestinal ailments category among the users. Gymnocladus assamicus is a critically rare and endangered species used as disinfectant for cleaning wounds and parasites like leeches and lice on livestocks. Two plant species (Illicium griffithii and Rubia cordifolia) are commonly used for traditional dyeing of clothes and food items. Some of the edible plants recorded in this study were known for their treatment against high blood pressure (Clerodendron colebrookianum), diabetes mellitus (Momordica charantia), and intestinal parasitic worms like round and tape worms (Lindera neesiana, Solanum etiopicum, and Solanum indicum). The Monpas of Arunachal Pradesh have traditionally been using Daphne papyracea for preparing hand-made paper for painting and writing religious scripts in Buddhist monasteries. Three plant species (Derris scandens, Aesculus assamica, and Polygonum hydropiper) were frequently used to poison fish during the month of June-July every year and the underground tuber of Aconitum ferrox is widely used in arrow poisoning to kill ferocious animals like bear, wild pigs, gaur and deer. The most frequently cited plant species; Buddleja asiatica and Hedyotis scandens were used as common growth supplements during the preparation of fermentation starter cultures. The traditional pharmacopoeia of the Monpa ethnic group incorporates a myriad of diverse botanical flora. Traditional knowledge of the remedies is passed down through oral traditions without any written document. This traditional knowledge is however, currently threatened mainly due to acculturation and deforestation due to continuing traditional shifting cultivation. This study reveals that the rural populations in Arunachal Pradesh have a rich knowledge of forest-based natural resources and consumption of wild edible plants is still an integral part of their socio-cultural life. Findings of this documentation study can be used as an ethnopharmacological basis for selecting plants for future phytochemical and pharmaceutical studies.

Classification of Black Tea Taste and Correlation With Tea Taster's Mark Using Voltammetric Electronic Tongue

Abstract: Tea quality assessment is a difficult task because of the presence of innumerable compounds and their diverse contribution to tea quality. As a result, instrumental evaluation of tea quality is not practiced in the industry, and tea samples are assessed by experienced tea tasters. There had been a very few reports where an electronic tongue has been used for the discrimination of taste of tea samples. In this paper, a voltammetric electronic tongue instrument is described, which can declare tea-taster-like scores for black tea. The electronic tongue is based on the principle of pulse voltammetry and consists of an array of five working electrodes along with a counter and a reference electrode. The five working electrodes are of gold, iridium, palladium, platinum, and rhodium. The voltage equivalent of the output current from between the working electrode and the counterelectrode generated out of the tea liquor when excited with pulse voltage between the working electrode and the reference electrode has been considered for data analysis. First, the sampled data have been compressed using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and are then processed using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for visualization of underlying clusters. Finally, different pattern recognition models based on neural networks are investigated to carry out a correlation study with the tea tasters' score of five different grades of black tea samples obtained from a tea garden in India. The efficacy of the classifier has been established using tenfold cross-validation methods.

Surfactant-induced modulation of fluorosensor activity: a simple way to maximize the sensor efficiency.

Abstract: Tuning of the sensory capability of a potentially bioactive indoloquinolizine system, namely, 3-acetyl-4-oxo-6,7-dihydro-12H-indolo-[2,3-a]-quinolizine (AODIQ), is described in a biomimicking micellar nanocage. It has been shown that surfactant concentration dictates the sensing behavior of the fluorophore toward physiologically essential trace metals, such as Cu2+. This is a simple, efficient, and general technique that allows one to utilize the sensor to its maximum efficiency.