The Synergistic Effect of Co-delivery of Anticancer Drugs Into Astrocytes Isolated From Human Glioblastoma Multiforme

Background: Chemotherapy drugs are not effective in the treatment of primary brain tumors due to the low efficacy of these drugs and drug transfer from the blood-brain barrier (BBB) toward the tumor site. Our purpose in this study was to assess the co-delivery of anticancer drugs to increase drug permeability from BBB.Methods: In this study, two chemotherapy drugs, namely methotrexate (MTX) and paclitaxel (PTX), were inserted into polyvinyl alcohol and poloxamer188-conjugated nanoparticles (NPs). Astrocytes were treated with different concentrations of 0-50 μg/ml from MTX, PTX, the MTX-PTX mixture, PTX-loaded NPs, MTX-loaded NPs, and PTX-MTX co-loaded NPs for 48 hours. The tumoricidal effect was assessed using the survival rate, Hoechst staining, and western blotting.Results: The results indicated significant reduction of the survival rate in astrocytes treated with PTX-MTX co-loaded NPs. In addition, apoptosis hallmarks consisting of fragmented DNA, overexpression of Bax, and expression reduction of Bcl-2 were in the cultured astrocytes.Conclusions: Our study proposes that the PTX-MTX co-delivery to NPs could be used as a possible approach for anti-cancer drug delivery to glioblastoma multiforme

Using electromyography of five muscles and joint angle to predict knee joint moment

Forces and moments acting on joints is of great importance in different fields of biomechanics such as ergonomics, sports biomechanics, and rehabilitation. EMG driven models can be used to estimate forces and moments acting on joints. The current study aimed to propose a model for prediction of knee joint moment using EMG signals detected from muscles and knee joint angle. Electromyography of knee muscles, knee joint angle and moment were recorded simultaneously during the extension-flexion movement in three young men using an isokinetic system. The model for estimating knee joint moment was developed using multiple linear regression. In order to calibrate and validate the model, new data was entered into the model and the estimated moment was compared with the measured moment. The model estimated knee joint moment with an acceptable accuracy, so that coefficient of detection (R2 ) was between 0.9 and 0.95

A Reinforcement Learning Based Model for Adaptive ServiceQuality Management in E-Commerce Websites

Providing high-quality service to all users is adifficult and inefficient strategy for e-commerce providers,especially when Web servers experience overload condi-tions that cause increased response time and requestrejections, leading to user frustration and reduced revenue.In an e-commerce system, customer Web sessions havediffering values for service providers. These tend to: givepreference to customer Web sessions that are likely tobring more profit by providing better service quality. Thispaper proposes a reinforcement-learning based adaptivee-commerce system model that adapts the service qualitylevel for different Web sessions within the customer’snavigation in order to maximize total profit. The e-com-merce system is considered as an electronic supply chainwhich includes a network of basic e- providers used tosupply e-commerce services for end customers. The learneragent noted as e-commerce supply chain manager(ECSCM) agent allocates a service quality level to thecustomer’s request based on his/her navigation pattern inthe e-commerce Website and selects an optimized combi-nation of service providers to respond to the customer’srequest. To evaluate the proposed model, a multi agentframework composed of three agent types, the ECSCMagent, customer agent (buyer/browser) and service provideragent, is employed. Experimental results show that theproposed model improves total profits through costreduction and revenue enhancement simultaneously andencourages customers to purchase from the Websitethrough service quality adaptation

USING ELECTROMYOGRAPHY OF FIVE MUSCLES AND JOINT ANGLE TO PREDICT KNEE JOINT MOMENT

Forces and moments acting on joints is of great importance in different fields of biomechanics such as ergonomics, sports biomechanics, and rehabilitation. EMG driven models can be used to estimate forces and moments acting on joints. The current study aimed to propose a model for prediction of knee joint moment using EMG signals detected from muscles and knee joint angle. Electromyography of knee muscles, knee joint angle and moment were recorded simultaneously during the extension-flexion movement in three young men using an isokinetic system. The model for estimating knee joint moment was developed using multiple linear regression. In order to calibrate and validate the model, new data was entered into the model and the estimated moment was compared with the measured moment. The model estimated knee joint moment with an acceptable accuracy, so that coefficient of detection (R2 ) was between 0.9 and 0.95

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Coriandrum sativum L. in animal models

An important part of ethnopharmacology is study of pharmacological effects of medicinal plants and natural compounds in animal models. In this study the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Coriandrum sativum L. seeds were evaluated. The total hydroalcoholic and flavonoid extract of the seeds were prepared and concentrated. Essential oil of coriander was obtained by soxhlet extractor, using pentane as solvent. Carrageenan (CAR) test was used for evaluation of anti-inflammatory effect. In this test 100ml of CAR suspension (1%w/v) was injected into subplantar space of rat hind paw and volume of paw was measured at 0 and 3 hrs after injection. For evaluation of analgesic effect writhing and formalin tests were used. For Writhing test, acetic acid (1%v/v) at a dose of 10 ml/kg was injected intraperitonealy (i.p.) and 10 min later the number of writhes was counted during a 10 minutes period. In formalin test, the paw licking time was measured during phase 1(0-5 min) and phase 2 (20-25min) after injection of 50 ml of formalin (2.5%v/v). Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed that linalool (83.1%) is the major constituent of coriander essential oil. Our results showed that Coriander had no anti-inflammatory effect in CAR test. In writhing test, only the essential oil (4ml/100g,P.O) had a significant effect (P<0.01). Total extract, polyphenolic extract and essential oil of coriander, had significant effect in both phases of formalin test. Since the major constituent of coriander essential oil is linalool, it seems that it may be responsible for the effects