A New Fast Fractal Modeling Approach for the Detection of Microcalcifications in Mammograms

In this paper, a novel fast method for modeling mammograms by deterministic fractal coding approach to detect the presence of microcalcifications, which are early signs of breast cancer, is presented. The modeled mammogram obtained using fractal encoding method is visually similar to the original image containing microcalcifications, and therefore, when it is taken out from the original mammogram, the presence of microcalcifications can be enhanced. The limitation of fractal image modeling is the tremendous time required for encoding. In the present work, instead of searching for a matching domain in the entire domain pool of the image, three methods based on mean and variance, dynamic range of the image blocks, and mass center features are used. This reduced the encoding time by a factor of 3, 89, and 13, respectively, in the three methods with respect to the conventional fractal image coding method with quad tree partitioning. The mammograms obtained from The Mammographic Image Analysis Society database (ground truth available) gave a total detection score of 87.6%, 87.6%, 90.5%, and 87.6%, for the conventional and the proposed three methods, respectively.

Studies on metal complexes of some tridentate acylhydrazones

Studies on transition metal complexes have achieved a great interest due to their versatile applications.The convenient route for synthesis,the nature of ligands and stability of metal complexes has significant contributions in their applications in medicine,biology,catalysis and photonics.The present work deals wth the synthesis and characterization of metal complexes of some tridentate acylhydrazones .Hydrazones are promising ligands in coordination chemistry with interesting binding modes and applications.The acylhydrazones chosen for the current study are capable of forming complexes in different forms through tautomerism.

Studies on the synthesis and cns activity of strychnine derivatives

Strychnine, the major alkaloid present in Strychnos nuxvomica seeds has been reported to stimulate the entire central nervous system with preference for the spinal cord. It is a powerful convulsant and because of this property, it is an important pharmacological tool as it plays a unique role as an inhibitor of post synaptic inhibitory impulses. It is useful to study inhibitory transmitter and receptor types. However, because of its extreme toxicity, strychnine does not have any therapeutic application in the Western system of medicine. The present work was undertaken with a view to obtaining strychnine derivatives having CNS stimulating properties but with sufficiently low toxicity so that they may eventually find some application in medicine. As strychnine is isolated from the locally available strychnos Nugvomica seeds, it’s possible utilization in therapeutics will have considerable commercial significance. This work tries to provide several new compounds which are significantly less toxic than strychnine and its N—oxide as shown from the pharmacological Studio As they also possessed CNS stimulating properties, they are well suited for further screening to assess their potential as valuable therapeutic agents.

Protease inhibitor from Moringa oleifera leaves: Isolation, purification, and characterization

Protease inhibitors have great demand in medicine and biotechnology. We report here the purification and characterization of a protease inhibitor isolated from mature leaf extract of Moringa oleifera that showed maximum inhibitor activity. The protease inhibitor was purified to 41.4-fold by Sephadex G75 and its molecular mass was calculated as 23,600 Da. Inhibitory activity was confirmed by dot-blot and reverse zymogram analyses. Glycine, glutamic acid, alanine, proline and aspartic acid were found as the major amino acids of the inhibitor protein. Maximal activity was recorded at pH 7 and at 40 ◦C. The inhibitor was stable over pH 5–10; and at 50 ◦C for 2 h. Thermostability was promoted by CaCl2, BSA and sucrose. Addition of Zn2+ and Mg2+, SDS, dithiothreitol and -mercaptoethanol enhanced inhibitory activity, while DMSO and H2O2 affected inhibitory activity. Modification of amino acids at the catalytic site by PMSF and DEPC led to an enhancement in the inhibitory activity. Stoichiometry of trypsin–protease inhibitor interaction was 1:1.5 and 0.6 nM of inhibitor effected 50% inhibition. The low Ki value (1.5 nM) obtained indicated scope for utilization of M. oliefera protease inhibitor against serine proteases

Protease inhibitor from Moringa oleifera with potential for use as therapeutic drug and as seafood preservative

Protease inhibitors are well known to have several applications in medicine and biotechnology. Several plant sources are known to return potential protease inhibitors. In this study plants belonging to different families of Leguminosae, Malvaceae, Rutaceae, Graminae and Moringaceae were screened for the protease inhibitor. Among them Moringa oleifera, belonging to the family Moringaceae, recorded high level of protease inhibitor activity after ammonium sulfate fractionation. M. oleifera, which grows throughout most of the tropics and having several industrial and medicinal uses, was selected as a source of protease inhibitor since so far no reports were made on isolation of the protease inhibitor. Among the different parts of M. oleifera tested, the crude extract isolated from the mature leaves and seeds showed the highest level of inhibition against trypsin. Among the various extraction media evaluated, the crude extract prepared in phosphate buffer showed maximum recovery of the protease inhibitor. The protease inhibitor recorded high inhibitory activity toward the serine proteases thrombin, elastase, chymotrypsin and the cysteine