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.

An Improved Harmony Search Algorithm with Differential Mutation Operator

Abstract: Harmony Search (HS) is a recently developed stochastic algorithm which imitates the music improvisation process. In this process, the musicians improvise their instrument pitches searching for the perfect state of harmony. Practical experiences, however, suggest that the algorithm suffers from the problems of slow and/or premature convergence over multimodal and rough fitness landscapes. This paper presents an attempt to improve the search performance of HS by hybridizing it with Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm. The performance of the resulting hybrid algorithm has been compared with classical HS, the global best HS, and a very popular variant of DE over a test-suite of six well known benchmark functions and one interesting practical optimization problem. The comparison is based on the following performance indices - (i) accuracy of final result, (ii) computational speed, and (iii) frequency of hitting the optima.

Antiinflammatory evaluation of leaves of Plumeria acuminata

Abstract: Plumeria acuminata belonging to the family Apocynaceae is commonly known as 'perungalli' in Tamil and is widely distributed throughout the Southern parts of India. In traditional medicinal system different parts of the plant have been mentioned to be useful in a variety of diseases. The plant material is widely used as a purgative, remedy for diarrhoea and cure for itch. The milky juice is employed for the treatment of inflammation and rheumatism. The bark has been reported to be useful in hard tumors, diarrhoea and gonorrhoea. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antiinflammatory activity of methanol extract of leaves of Plumeria acuminata on carrageenan, dextran, histamine and serotonin-induced inflammation in rat hind paw oedema models. Acute and chronic inflammation models were used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of the extract. Wistar albino rats of either sex weighing 180–200 g were used. In acute model carrageenan, dextran, histamine and serotonin models were used to induce inflammation in rat hind paw and cotton pellet-induced granuloma method was used for chronic inflammation model. In each model four groups of six animals were used. In all the models Group I served as control (0.9% normal saline, 5 mlkg-1 b.w) and group IV as standard (Indomethacin 10 mgkg-1 b.w). Group II and III received extract at the doses of 250 and 500 mgkg-1 b.w respectively. The methanol extract of Plumeria acuminata exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity on the tested experimental animal models. The extract (500 mgkg-1 b.w) exhibited maximum antiinflammatory effect i.e., 30.51, 47.06, 34.48 and 32.50% (P < 0.001) at the end of 3 h with carrageenan, dextran, histamine and serotonin respectively. Administration of MEPA (500 mgkg-1 b.w) and indomethacin (10 mgkg-1 b.w) significantly reduced the formation of granuloma tissue induced by cotton pellet method at a rate of 45.06 and 51.57% respectively. The effect produced by the extract was comparable to that of indomethacin a prototype of a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agent. The results obtained in this study indicated that the methanol extract of Plumeria acuminata possess potent antiinflammatory activity in both acute and chronic models.

Fabrication of a Fractional Order Capacitor With Desired Specifications: A Study on Process Identification and Characterization

Abstract: This paper reports the fabrication of a fractional order element (FOE) with predefined specifications. The FOE is a circuit element similar to resistance, capacitance, and inductance generally used in electrical network. The specifications of integer order elements, i.e., inductance, resistance, and capacitance, are defined by the magnitude only as their exponents are of fixed value, namely, - 1, 0, and +1, respectively. The specialty of FOE is that both its magnitude and exponent value have to be defined, where the value of the exponent dictates the behavior. This paper elaborately discusses the methodology of realizing a fractional order capacitor named here as FOE (or, in general, FOE). It has been found that a FOE can be realized by dipping a capacitive-type probe, coated with a porous film of polymer of particular thickness, into a polarizable medium. The thickness, uniformity, and stability of the porous film, on the electrode, are responsible for different exponent values.