The essential role of hippocampo-cortical connections in temporal coordination of spindles and ripples

The predominant activity of slow wave sleep is cortical slow oscillations (SOs), thalamic spindles and hippocampal sharp wave ripples. While the precise temporal nesting of these rhythms was shown to be essential for memory consolidation, the coordination mechanism is poorly understood. Here we develop a minimal hippocampo-cortico-thalamic network that can explain the mechanism underlying the SO-spindle-ripple coupling indicating of the succession of regional neuronal interactions. Further we verify the model predictions experimentally in naturally sleeping rodents showing our simple model provides a quantitative match to several experimental observations including the nesting of ripples in the spindle troughs and larger duration but lower amplitude of the ripples co-occurring with spindles or SOs compared to the isolated ripples. The model also predicts that the coupling of ripples to SOs and spindles monotonically enhances by increasing the strength of hippocampo-cortical connections while it is stronger at intermediate values of the cortico-hippocampal projections

Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the anger rumination, hostile attribution and aggression in immigrant children

Background: Immigration is one of the social determinants of health. It affects the mental health very seriously. The present study was aimed to investigating the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on anger rumination, hostile attribution bias, and aggression of immigrant children. Method: The present study was conducted through a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental method with a control group. It was done on a 24-subject sample of immigrant children selected by targeted sampling and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Measurement tools were the anger rumination scale, the hostile attribution scale, and Aggression Questionnaire of Buss and Perry. The experimental group then received acceptance and commitment therapy in eight 90-min sessions while the control group received no treatment. After holding the sessions, the experimental and control groups again completed the three questionnaires as post-test; and data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and SPSS software version 24. Results: In the posttest, acceptance and commitment therapy reduced the anger rumination, hostile attribution bias and aggression variables of immigrant children in the experimental group compared to the control group (p <0.05). Conclusion: It could be concluded that acceptance and commitment treatment is effective on anger rumination, hostile attribution bias, and aggression of immigrant children

Mother-infant attachment behaviors and related psychological factors in covid-19 pandemic: a review study

Introduction: Covid-19 epidemic and the fear of its infection in infants as a global threat is a challenge for mother-infant attachment behaviors. Methods: The present study was a review study conducted based on the information collected from searches in SID, PubMed, Science Direct, Elsevier, Scopus databases and Google Scholar search engine using the conjunctions of “AND” and “OR” between the keywords. The articles were searched using systematic search with the keywords of attachment behaviors, mother-infant bonding, maternal attachment, Covid-19, and neonates, with all possible combination of important words from December 2019 to April 2021. The initial search for relevant sources related to mother-infant attachment and Covid-19 led to 65 articles. Then, by applying the time filter, this number was reduced to 31 articles. In the final stage, by excluding duplicate articles and examining the relationship of articles with the subject of study, 7 articles were selected as relevant and final sources. Results: The results of reviewing of the studies showed low to moderate level of mother-infant attachment behaviors during Covid-19 crisis. Mothers with lower levels of attachment to their infants were more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and peritraumatic distress. Women who gave birth during quarantine had lower levels of attachment to their infants compared to other women. Conclusion: Covid 19 epidemic caused a high prevalence and a wide range of psychological disorders and a reduction in the level of attachment in mothers of infants under 12 months. Providing timely psychological support is essential to improve the level of attachment of mothers to their infants

Predicting potential sites of nine drought-tolerant native plant species in urban regions

Drought and water scarcity are serious limiting factors for plant growth and can thus present an obstacle to development of the urban green areas in the cities in particular under climate change. Using native plants is a high-priority option to increase vegetation cover in areas facing global warming and water scarcity. In order to evaluate whether urban areas cover suitable habitats for nine native species in the east of Iran, species distribution models were developed and binary maps were generated. The model output indicated a relatively good performance. Most of the suitable habitats for the plant species are located in north, west and center of the study area. Cercis griffithii had the highest (46.63%) and Acantholimon erinaceum had the lowest (6.29%) proportion of suitable habitats among all studied species in the Khorasan region. Annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, and mean temperature of warmest quarter were the most important environmental variables in determining the potential geographic distribution for these species. Due to similar climateconditions, such as low rainfall, high temperature, low relative humidity and high solar radiation particularly in the summers, our findings showed that Cercis griffithii, Iris songarica and Tamarix ramosissima can be utilized in the development of green areas in the studied regions. According to the output of the species distribution models, planting of Acantholimon erinaceum, Salvia abrotanoides and Rosa canina is not advisable in the South and Razavi Khorasan provinces

Presence of Macrovolt T Wave Alternans and Short Coupled PVC Simultaneously in a Patient with Long QT Syndrome

This report presents a patient with macrovolt T wave alternans, PVC with R on T or a long-short sequence followed by torsades de pointes

Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Reducing High-risk and Harmful Behaviors in Students

Introduction: The prevalence of high-risk behaviors in young people is one of the concerns of societies. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment therapy in reducing high-risk and harmful behaviors among high school students in Mobarakeh City.Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest and posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of the present study included high school students with high-risk behaviors in Mobarakeh city, referred to the education counseling center of this city. Participants included 30 students randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups of 15 students. The Iranian Adolescents’ Risk-taking Scale was administered as a pretest and posttest (2 weeks after the end of the experiment). The experimental group received a 6-session intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy, with each session lasting 90 to 100 minutes. The control group did not receive any intervention.Results: The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and the results indicated a 56% reduction in risky behaviors (excluding alcohol consumption) among the participating students in the study (P<0.01). Furthermore, the acceptance and commitment therapy intervention led to a 56% reduction in risky behaviors among the students in the experimental group (P<0.01).Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment therapy can enhance students' ability to cope with high-risk behaviors

The relationship of hyperlipidemia with maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnancy: A cross-sectional study

Background: Concentrations of plasma lipids levels during pregnancy clearly increases. According to some studies, dyslipidemia is effective in the incidence of preeclampsia and insulin resistance. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between hyperlipidemia and maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which was conducted on two groups of pregnant women with hyperlipidemia and normal ones to assess maternal and neonatal outcomes. Maternal data including gestational age, mother’s age, body mass index, and maternal weight gain during pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, cholestasis, and delivery method. Also, birth weight and Apgar score were gathered as the neonatal outcomes. Results: The results showed that the prevalence of abnormal lipid parameters increased with increasing gestational age. In pregnant women with dyslipidemia in combination with increased triglyceride, cholesterol and Low-density lipoprotein, and decreased High-density lipoprotein, the incidence rates of gestational diabetes (p &lt; 0.001), preeclampsia (p &lt; 0.001), cholestasis (p = 0.041), fetal growth retardation (p &lt; 0.001), and macrosomia (p &lt; 0.001) were statistically higher. Conclusion: Dyslipidemia was associated with some adverse effects of pregnancy and harmful fetal outcomes. Therefore, it seems that adding laboratory assessment of lipid profiles before and during pregnancy can be effective in early diagnosis of dyslipidemia. Key words: Dyslipidemias, Gestational diabetes, Preeclampsia, Fetal macrosomia