Analysis and Synthesis Prior Greedy Algorithms for Non-linear Sparse Recovery

In this work we address the problem of recovering sparse solutions to non linear inverse problems. We look at two variants of the basic problem, the synthesis prior problem when the solution is sparse and the analysis prior problem where the solution is cosparse in some linear basis. For the first problem, we propose non linear variants of the Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and CoSamp algorithms; for the second problem we propose a non linear variant of the Greedy Analysis Pursuit (GAP) algorithm. We empirically test the success rates of our algorithms on exponential and logarithmic functions. We model speckle denoising as a non linear sparse recovery problem and apply our technique to solve it. Results show that our method outperforms state of the art methods in ultrasound speckle denoising

Ormeloxifene versus combined oral contraceptive pills to control blood loss in cases of dysfunctional uterine bleeding

Background: Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is one of the most often encountered gynecologic problems causing anemia, reduced quality of life and unnecessary hysterectomies. A prospective study was conducted on women with DUB to study the effect of ormeloxifene versus combined oral contraceptive pills in controlling blood loss in them.Methods: 100 Women with DUB were enrolled randomly in three groups. After baseline assessment each patient in group A was treated with iron tablets, containing 100 mg elemental iron and folic acid 1.5 mg, for three months and were termed as control group. Group B patients were treated with ormeloxifene in dose of 60 mg twice a week for twelve weeks. Group C patients were treated with combined oral contraceptive pills for twenty- one days starting from third day of their LMP. The treatment was continued for three consecutive cycles. The efficacy of the studied drugs was analyzed by comparing the baseline and post treatment PBAC score, haemoglobin level and endometrial thickness, using appropriate statistical tests.Results: Ormeloxifene was more effective than only iron or combined oral contraceptive therapy in controlling menstrual blood loss (79.11% versus 58.57%). There was a reduction in endometrial thickness in group receiving ormeloxifene as well as in the group receiving combined oral contraceptive pills (p=0.486), however this was statistically not significant.Conclusions: Ormeloxifene was significantly better than combined OCP in reduction of menstrual blood flow in cases of DUB. It has better compliance and marked improvement in subjective symptoms as compared to OCP

LIQUISOLID TECHNIQUE: AN APPROACH FOR ENHANCEMENT OF SOLUBILITY

Liquisolid technique is also known as powder solution technology. It is the technique which deals with the solubility enhancement of poorly soluble drugs. As these days there are many drugs in the market with poor solubility which leads to poor dissolution and bioavailability, so solubility is becoming rate limiting factor in the development of new drugs. To overcome this problem there are many techniques but liquisolid technique is most promising technique which is discussed in this article. Liquisolid is mainly composed of drug, non volatile solvent, carrier material, coating material, and disintegrant. In liquisolid technique carrier and coating material which should be in the ratio of 20:1 is mixed into the non volatile solvent and then disintegrant is added and final material is compressed into tablets. Hence, the liquisolid technology allows the transformation of liquid systems into solid drug delivery systems. Both immediate and sustained release of drug can also be achieved with the help of liquisolid technique. For sustained release of drug hydrophilic polymer like Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose can be the best option. The purpose of this article is to describe about the liquisolid technique like basics, classification, preformulation studies, characterisation, precompression studies, formulation of tablet, postcompression studies, advantages, disadvantages, applications

GASTRIC ANTIULCER AND ULCER HEALING EFFECTS OF PUNICA GRANATUM L. PEEL EXTRACT IN RATS: ROLE OF OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE MUCOSAL FACTORS AND OXIDATIVE STRESS

Objective: The present work incorporates the study of gastric antiulcer and ulcer healing effects of dried Punica granatum (PG) peel 50% ethanol extract (PGE) in rats.Methods: PGE (100 mg/kg) was administered orally once daily to rats either before or after induction of gastric ulcers (GU) for 7 d. Antiulcer effects of PGE were seen against acute GU, induced by pylorus ligation (PL), cold restraint stress (CRS), aspirin and ethanol while, ulcer healing in acetic acid (AA)-induced chronic GU in rats. Ulcer index (UI), gastric juice volume, acid-pepsin and mucin secretions and gastric mucosal glycoproteins, free radicals (LPO and NO) and antioxidants (SOD and GSH) were estimated.Results: PGE showed a decrease in UI in all GU models (45.6 to 79.7%, P<0.05 to P<0.001) indicating both protective and healing effects. PGE showed little or no effects on volume, acid-pepsin concentration and output but increased mucin secretion (55.1%, P<0.05) and mucosal glycoproteins (35.7%, P<0.05) in PL rats. CRS rats showed an increase in LPO and NO (48.4 to 58.3%, P<0.01) and SOD (21.8%, P<0.01) but decrease in GSH and CAT (33.1 to 44.8%, P<0.01 to P<0.001) compared with unstressed rats. PGE-treated CRS rats showed a decrease in LPO and NO (44.1 to 61.2, P<0.01 to P<0.001) and SOD (13.2%, P<0.01) and increase in GSH and CAT (43.8 to 48.7%, P<0.01 to P<0.001) compared with CRS rats.Conclusion: PGE seemed to have ulcer cytoprotective effects due to enhanced mucosal resistance and reduction in oxidative mucosal damage possibly via high antioxidant activity

Properties of Humic Acid Substances and Their Effect in Soil Quality and Plant Health

During aerobic and anaerobic decomposition of plant and animal reside a complex aggregate of brown to dark coloured amorphous substances is obtained which is called as Humus. It includes humic substances and resynthesizes products of microorganisms. These products are stable and a part of the soil. Humus is categorised according to their molecular weights and solubility into humus, humic acids and fulvic acids. Humic substances are the organic material naturally present in soil. Humic substances positively effect’s soil quality and fertility by increasing its water holding capacity, stabilisation of soil structure, soil microbial activity, plant physiology. It also influence nutrient uptake and root architecture act like phytohormones for phosphorus acquisition, and improving plant adaptation to saline condition. Humus is the primary microhabitat for microorganism such as dictyostelids, myxomycetes, some species of protostelids, members of the genus Copromyxella etc. Other than that auxin like activity of Humic Substances has also been demonstrated in recent studies. The research suggested that it could be the main biological factor that exhibits positive effect on plant physiology. Based on that fertiliser factory also trying to produce are bio- stimulants, based on humic substances and other organic compounds

Human-wildlife Conflict

the rise globally, and is one of the significant environmental problems in India. In India, HWC manifests itself in several ways, such as wildlife poaching, retaliatory killing of/injury to wildlife species, crop raiding and livestock predation by wildlife species, injury to humans or human mortality, and destruction of property, houses and buildings by wildlife. Of these, wildlife conflict in agropastoral contexts has been a subject of debate and great concern nationally, not only for its impact on the farmers, but also for the consequences regarding wildlife conflict. In India, HWC involves multiple stakeholders and multitudinous socio-cultural and environmental issues. Hence any study on this topic must encompass a multi-disciplinary effort that provides a holistic understanding of the history of wildlife, crop and livestock raiding, its nature and consequences and discuss various techniques that have been used or recommended to mitigate the effects of this crisis

Promoter-proximal transcription factor binding is transcriptionally active when coupled with nucleosome repositioning in immediate vicinity

Previous studies have analyzed patterns of transcription, Transcription Factor (TF) binding or mapped nucleosome occupancy across the genome. These suggest that the three aspects are genetically connected but the cause and effect relationships are still unknown. For example, physiologic TF binding studies involve many TFs, consequently, it is difficult to assign nucleosome reorganization to the binding site occupancy of any particular TF. Therefore, several aspects remain unclear: does TF binding influence nucleosome (re)organizations locally or impact the chromatin landscape at a more global level; are all or only a fraction of TF binding a result of reorganization in nucleosome occupancy and do all TF binding and associated changes in nucleosome occupancy result in altered gene expression? With these in mind, following characterization of two states (before and after induction of a single TF of choice) we determined: (i) genomic binding sites of the TF, (ii) promoter nucleosome occupancy and (iii) transcriptome profiles. Results demonstrated that promoter-proximal TF binding influenced expression of the target gene when it was coupled to nucleosome repositioning at or close to its binding site in most cases. In contrast, only in few cases change in target gene expression was found when TF binding occurred without local nucleosome reorganization