Extraction, purification and characterization of water soluble galactomannans from Mimosa pudica seeds

Water soluble galactomannans from seed endosperm of Mimosa pudica L. was extracted and characterized (Fig. 1). Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography results revealed the presence of 4-linked mannose backbone with galactose side chains linked at the C6 position. Scanning Electron Micrographs showed smooth, elongated and irregular granular structure of galactomannan. Structural analysis by Attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy presented the Mannose to Galactose ratio while the X-ray diffraction studies showed the presences of A-type crystalline pattern of the galactomannan. Thermo Gravitimetric Analysis showed the three steps weight loss event and determined the thermal stability. The results showed that the extracted polysaccharides are typically amorphous, thermally stable and have desirable properties for industrial application

Extraction and physicochemical characterization of galactomannans from Dichrostachys cinerea seeds

Water soluble seed polysaccharide from Dichrostachys cinerea seeds were extracted and characterized by several techniques such as SEM, GC-MS, attenuated total reflection Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR), thermogravimetric differential Thermal analysis (TGDTA), XRD and viscosimetry, the final yield was 21 %. Methylation and GC-MS analysis confirmed the linkage profile of galactomannan a 4-linked mannose polymer with galactose side chains attached at the C6 position. It has an estimated average degree of polymerization of 450 and a degree of branching of 0.65. The powder morphology was visualized using SEM. ATR-IR analysis showed the complexity of the polysaccharide. The XRD confirmed the crystallinity and amorphous nature of the polysaccharide, while TGDTA spectra showed the presence of three peaks weight loss events and decomposition patterns. The polysaccharide had an average intrinsic viscosity of 3.42 dl/g. These results showed that the extracted polysaccharides are typically amorphous, thermally stable and might be expected to have wide applications in food and pharmaceutical industries

Assessment of the current D-dimer cutoff point in pulmonary embolism workup at a single institution: Retrospective study

Background: The currently used D-dimer (DD) cutoff point is associated with a large number of negative CT-pulmonary angiographies (CTPA). We hypothesized presence of deficiency in the current cutoff and a need to look for a better DD threshold. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective medical records analysis of all patients who had a CTPA as part of pulmonary embolism (PE) workup over a 1-year period. All emergency room (ER) patients who had DD assay checked prior to CTPA were included in the analysis. We assessed our institutional cutoff point and tried to test other presumptive DD thresholds retrospectively. Results: At our institution 1591 CTPA were performed in 2014, with 1220 scans (77%) performed in the ER. DD test was ordered prior to CTPA imaging in 238 ER patients (19.5%) as part of the PE workup. PE was diagnosed in 14 cases (6%). The sensitivity and specificity of the currently used DD cutoff (0.5 mcg/mL) were found to be 100% and 13%, respectively. Shifting the cutoff value from 0.5 to 0.85 mcg/mL would result in a significant increase in the specificity from 13% to 51% while maintaining the same sensitivity of 100%. This would make theoretically 84 CTPA scans, corresponding to 35% of CTPA imaging, unnecessary because DD would be considered negative based on this presumptive threshold. Conclusions: Our results suggest a significant deficiency in the institutional DD cutoff point with the need to find a better threshold through a large multicenter prospective trial to minimize unnecessary CTPA scans and to improve patient safety