Bilateral sequential theta burst stimulation for multiple-therapy-resistant depression: A naturalistic observation study

Depression is a significant health issue with treatment resistance reported in about one third of patients. Treatment resistance results in significant disability, impaired quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a treatment option for treatment resistant depression (TRD) with response and remission rates in open-label studies being as high as 58% and 37% respectively. Theta-burst is a faster and novel rTMS paradigm that has shown promise as a treatment for TRD in some preliminary studies. In a naturalistic design, we evaluated the response, remission and tolerability of bilateral sequential (right then left) prefrontal theta-burst rTMS (bsTBS) in 50 patients with TRD (600 pulses/session, 20 sessions, 100% of resting motor threshold (80% if intolerant to 100%, n = 2), F4/F3 of 10-20-20 EEG localization). Data was collected over 36 months from a specialized academic TMS clinic. Patients had multiple-treatment resistance with at least two failed trials of different antidepressants with 20% also having failed electroconvulsive therapy and 66% having received professional therapy. We found a 28% remission rate (HAMD-17 score of ≤7) and a 52% response rate (≥50% reduction in HAMD-17) with a 42% reduction in average HAMD-17 score. The treatment was well tolerated, with muscle contractions, mild pain or discomfort, headache, scalp irritation, and changes to vitals being captured as occasional adverse events with two instances of syncope (0.22% of treatments). This naturalistic study shows that bsTBS is a promising paradigm for a multiple-TRD patient population with approximately one-third of treatments achieving remission and over half achieving significant response

Involvement of opioidergic system of the ventral hippocampus, the nucleus accumbens or the central amygdala in anxiety-related behavior

In the present study, the influence of opioidergic system of the ventral hippocampus, the nucleus accumbens or the central amygdala on anxiety-related behaviour was investigated in rats. As a model of anxiety, the elevated plus maze which is a useful test to investigate the effects of anxiogenic or anxiolytic drugs in rodents was used. Bilateral microinjection of different doses of morphine (2.5, 5 and 7.5 μg/rat) into the ventral hippocampus or the nucleus accumbens increased the percentage of open arm time (OAT) and open arm entries (OAE) but not locomotor activity, indicating an anxiolytic response. However, intra-central amygdala administration of the opioid did not show any response. On the other hand, microinjection of a dose of naloxone into the ventral hippocampus (2 μg/rat) or the nucleus accumbens (1 μg/rat) increased open arm time (OAT), but not open arm entry (OAE) which may indicate an anxiolytic effect. Pre-treatment administration of naloxone (0.5, 1 and 2 μg/rat) reversed the anxiolytic effect of morphine (7.5 μg/rat) injected into the ventral hippocampus in a dose-dependent manner. A dose of the antagonist (1 μg/rat) also reduced the morphine response (2.5 μg/rat) when injected in the nucleus accumbens. In conclusion, it seems that the opioidergic system in the ventral hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens are involved in anxiety-related behaviors and the ventral hippocampus may be the main site of action of the anxiolytic properties of morphine. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Recent Advances in Synthesis and Applications of Mixed Matrix Membranes

Researchers are currently considering membranes separation processes due to their eco-friendly, process simplicity and high efficiency. Selecting a suitable and efficient operation is the primary concern of researchers in the field of separation industries. In recent decades, polymeric and inorganic membranes in the separation industry have made significant progress. The polymeric and inorganic membranes have been challenged due to their competitiveness in permeability and selectivity factors. A combination of nanoparticle fillers within the polymer matrix is an effective method to increase polymeric and inorganic membranes' efficiency in separation processes. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have been considered by the separation industry due to high mechanical and physicochemical, and transfer properties.  Moreover, gas separation, oil treatment, heavy metal ions removal, water treatment and oil-water separation are common MMMs applications. Selecting suitable polymer blends and fillers is the key to the MMMs construction. The combination of rubbery and glassy polymers with close solubility parameters increases the MMMs performance. The filler type and synthesis methods also affect the morphological and transfer properties of MMMs significantly. Zeolites, graphene oxide (GO), nanosilica, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), zeolite imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are used in the MMMs synthesis as fillers. Finally, solution mixing, polymerization in situ and sol-gel are the primary synthesising MMMs methods

Cloning and sequencing of growth hormone gene of Iranian Lori Bakhtiari sheep

Growth hormone (GH) is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth and cell reproduction in humans and animals. It is a 191-amino acid, single chain polypeptide hormone which is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior pituitary gland. The goal of this research was to clone and sequence sheep growth hormone of Lori Bakhtiary breed in Iran. For this purpose, RNA was extracted from the pituitary gland of freshly slaughtered sheep and cDNA of growth hormone produced. The T/A cloning technique was used to clone the cDNA of growth hormone and then the synthesized construct was transferred into E. coli as the host. Once the correct recombinants were further confirmed by colony PCR or restriction enzyme digestion, sequencing was done. The sequencing results showed that, the length of sheep growth hormone cDNA was 690 bp fragments. Comparison of sequence of growth hormone inside the synthesized construct with those recorded in Genebank (NCBI, Blast) indicated high degrees of similarity between Iranian native sheep and other sheep breeds of the world

Menopause Age and the Associated Factors in Postmenopausal Women in Babol, Iran

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Menopause plays a pivotal role in women&rsquo;s life comprising of approximately one third of it. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the significance of this period. This study aimed to determine the age of menopause and its associated factors in postmenopausal women in Babol, Iran METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted by cluster sampling on 300 postmenopausal women identified by doorstep questioning of the homes in selected areas. The questionnaires consisted of information on the menopause age, body mass index (BMI), age at menarche, first pregnancy age, duration of hormonal contraceptive use, left-handedness, occupation, menstrual regularity, exercise, smoking habits, couple&rsquo;s education degree, marital status, family size and the number of births and abortions. The collected data were registered into checklists and The Holmes&nbsp;&&nbsp;Rahe Stress Scale was used for the assessment of the variables. FINDINGS: In total, the average age of menopause was 50.02&plusmn;0.21 years, the average length of marriage was 42.10&plusmn;0.63 years, age at last pregnancy was 35.15&plusmn;0.35 years and the lactation duration was 106.02&plusmn;3.5 months. A significant correlation was found between the length of marriage, age at last pregnancy, stress scores, lactation duration and the menopause age (p<0.001), while some factors such as BMI, regulation and age at menarche, duration of hormonal contraceptive use and exercise were found to have no significant correlations with the onset of menopause. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, the mean age of menopause in Babol is within the normal range and it is associated with the length of marriage, age at last pregnancy, stress scores and lactation duration

Recent Advances in MOF-Based Adsorbents for Dye Removal from the Aquatic Environment

The adsorptive removal of dyes from industrial wastewater using commercially available adsorbents is not significantly efficient. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) offer outstanding properties which can boost the separation performance over current commercial adsorbents and hence, these materials represent a milestone in improving treatment methods for dye removal from water. Accordingly, in this paper, the recent studies in the modification of MOF structures in dye removal from the aquatic environment have been discussed. This study aims to elaborate on the synthetic strategies applied to improve the adsorption efficiency and to discuss the major adsorption mechanisms as well as the most influential parameters in the adsorptive removal of dyes using MOFs. More particularly, the advanced separation performance of MOF-based adsorbents will be comprehensively explained. The introduction of various functional groups and nanomaterials, such as amine functional groups, magnetic nanoparticles, and carbon-based materials such as graphene oxide and CNT, onto the MOFs can alter the removal efficiency of MOF-based adsorbents through enhancing the water stability, dispersion in water, interactions between the MOF structure and the contaminant, and the adsorption capacity. Finally, we summarize the challenges experienced by MOF-based materials for dye removal from water and propose future research outlooks to be considered.</jats:p

3D nanostructures for tissue engineering, cancer therapy, and gene delivery

10.1155/2020/1852946Journal of Nanomaterials2020185294

Development of graphene based nanocomposites towards medical and biological applications

10.1080/21691401.2020.1817052Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine and Biotechnology4811189-120