The Melanoma Skin Cancer Detection Using Convolutional Neural Network

The most common cause of death for persons in the modern world is melanoma skin cancer. Melanoma is an aggressive kind of skin cancer that typically develops on parts of the body exposed to sunlight, UV radiation, dust, pollution, and microbes. A study found that 79% of humans who do have melanoma skin cancer in its early stages are unaware of having it. When it is finally identified, it may have progressed further into the skin and may have impacted other parts of the body, making treatment extremely difficult and it also makes the survival rate for humans very low. As a result, melanoma skin cancer kills the majority of its victims. If melanoma is identified or recognized in the early stages, then it could have been cured easily and it also has a bigger survival rate for humans. There is an automated system that has been designed with the compilation of data sets with a variety of diagnoses. This automated system will help to detect in early stages of melanoma. Convolutional neural network technology was initially employed in our automated system to classify data. But as a result, our accuracy was poor. Then, we used support vector machines (SVMs) to analyze the entire dataset after categorizing and segmenting the data into zones, using Tensor Flow libraries to implement the entire model. After using the model, we achieve a 96% accuracy rate

Neuronal caspase-3 signaling: not only cell death

Caspases are a family of cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteases that are highly conserved in multicellular organisms and function as central regulators of apoptosis. A member of this family, caspase-3, has been identified as a key mediator of apoptosis in neuronal cells. Recent studies in snail, fly and rat suggest that caspase-3 also functions as a regulatory molecule in neurogenesis and synaptic activity. In this study, in addition to providing an overview of the mechanism of caspase-3 activation, we review genetic and pharmacological studies of apoptotic and nonapoptotic functions of caspase-3 and discuss the regulatory mechanism of caspase-3 for executing nonapoptotic functions in the central nervous system. Knowledge of biochemical pathway(s) for nonapoptotic activation and modulation of caspase-3 has potential implications for the understanding of synaptic failure in the pathophysiology of neurological disorders. Fine-tuning of caspase-3 lays down a new challenge in identifying pharmacological avenues for treatment of many neurological disorders

Molecular marker development and application for improving qualities in bread wheat

Molecular marker technology has provided a novel and efficient tool for improving qualities in bread wheat. This chapter summarizes progress in gene cloning, gene specific marker (functional marker) development and validation, establishment of high-throughput platform in genotyping, as well as integration of molecular marker technology with conventional quality testing and traditional breeding since 2000. Comparative genomic approach was used to discover more than 20 loci controlling important quality traits, and to develop and validate around 66 gene-specific markers for quality traits such as high- and low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits, color associated traits including polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and yellow pigment, as well as starch parameters. Now the availability of reference wheat genome sequence and on-going efforts to sequence diverse wheat cultivars would offer new opportunities to identify loci responsible for various quality traits through improved genome-wide association study (GWAS) and analytical approaches. Development of high-throughput genotyping platform such as SNP arrays, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and Kompetitive Allele-specific PCR (KASP) have been well-established and will accelerate molecular breeding progress for quality improvement. New cultivars carrying excellent bread-making quality and outstanding agronomic performance such as Zhongmai 1062 and Jimai 23 were developed. Future strategies in using molecular markers in the context of gene-editing to fine tune allelic effects are also discussed