Effects of gallic acid and physical exercise on passive avoidance memory in male rat

Learning and memory play main roles in daily life of human, and memory represents the basis of all trainings and learning. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effects of gallic acid and physical exercise on the levels of passive avoidance memory in rat. In this experimental study, 46 rats weighing 200-300 g were randomLy divided to six groups of eight each: including control group, groups treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg gallic acid, group undergoing physical exercise alone, and groups both undergoing physical exercise and treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg gallic acid. The interventions continued for 10 days. After the intervention, passive avoidance memory was measured by shuttle box, blood samples were taken, and serum and brain antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured. Secondary latency in shuttle box significantly increased in groups undergoing treadmill exercise and undergoing treadmill exercise + treating 10 and 20 mg/kg gallic acid. In groups treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg gallic acid alone, secondary latency increased significantly. Results confirmed the effects of gallic acid and physical exercise, either alone or combined, in improving memory

Antidepressant effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Alpinia officinarum rhizome on chronic unpredictable stress induced depression in BALB/c mice

Background: Alpinia officinarum is an aromatic plant that show some neuroprotective functions in animal models. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the antidepressant effects of hydroalcoholic extract of A. officinarum rhizome using two behavioral models. Methods: Forty male BALB/c mice were randomized to four groups. All studygroups underwent three weeks of daily chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) sessions. Control group received daily intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of normal saline 30 min before daily CUS; groups 2, 3 and 4 received i.p. injection of 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg/day of A. officinarum extract, respectively. Behavior tests were performed after 21 days of treatment. Serum and brain malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TCA) were also measured. Results: Immobility duration in both forced swim test and tail suspension test decreased significantly in the groups treated with A. officinarum extract at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg compared to control group (P < 0.05). Extract treatment reduced MDA and increased TCA in both brain and serum (P < 0.05). Results demonstrate that the hydroalcoholic extract of A. officinarum possesses antidepressant activity in the animal model

Representation of Psychological, Functional, and Behavioral Signs of Academic Failure of Undergraduate Students in University of Tehran

Academic failure is the root of many psychological and emotional disturbances in students. In spite of its importance, there has not been enough studies to represent the academic failure indicators with an exploratory approach in Iran. This study is to identify the signs of academic failure in undergraduate students by using a meaningful understanding of the perception and experience of a group of professors and students of University of Tehran. For this purpose, we selected the research participants from the professors and students of the faculties of Electrical and computer Engineering, Foreign Languages, Management, Science and Fine Arts, using criterion sampling. In the professors' group after the 19th interview and in the students' group after the 10th interview, theoretical saturation of the data was obtained, but for more confidence in the findings, we continued the interviews in the professors' group up to 28 subjects and in the students group up to 20. Data were collected using semi-structured interviewing technique and analyzed using the MAXQDA software based on Colaizzi's method. In order to increase the credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability, peer debriefing, negative case analysis, triangulation, explaining the exact details of the data collection and analysis process, and long-term immersion were utilized. The results revealed 3 themes: Functional, behavioral, and psychological subcategories, 8 sub-themes, and 26 symptoms. Findings showed that students with academic failure experience worse functional, behavioral and psychological symptoms of it and face numerous challenges and problems

esys-Escript User’s Guide: Solving Partial Differential Equations with Escript and Finley Release - 3.3.1 (r4302)

esys.escript is a python-based environment for implementing mathematical models, in particular those based on coupled, non-linear, time-dependent partial differential equations. It consists of five major components • esys.escript core library • finite element solver esys.finley (which uses fast vendor-supplied solvers or our paso linear solver library) • the meshing interface esys.pycad • a model library. • an inversion library. The current version supports parallelization through both MPI for distributed memory and OpenMP for distributed shared memory. In this release there are a number of small changes which are not backwards compatible. Please see Appendix B to see if your scripts will be affected. If you use this software in your research, then we would appreciate (but do not require) a citation. Some relevant references can be found in Appendix D. For Python3 support, see Appendix E

The effect of physiologic dose of intravenous hydrocortisone in patients with refractory septic shock: a randomized control trial

Objective: Septic shock is a response to infection and tissue hypoperfusion which does not respond to fluid therapy and eventually leads to organ dysfunction. Aggressive treatment of a broad-spectrum antimicrobial and supportive measures are the cornerstones of successful treatment. In addition to the main treatment, there are adjunctive therapies. Steroids are one of the treatments which have been studied in the management of refractory septic shock. Despite numerous studies on the role of steroids in the mortality of severe sepsis and septic shock, still lots of controversies exist. These conflicts are often about the steroid dose and duration of administration. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized-controlled, two-group assignment study. Patients referred to Imam Reza (AS) hospital in Mashhad who had refractory septic shock criteria were randomly divided into two groups: 80 patients were included in each group. After obtaining the baseline cortisol level and cosyntropin test, one group was treated with intravenous hydrocortisone, and the other group was treated with placebo. The response to hydrocortisone, the return of shock duration, and mortality at 28 days were investigated. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. For the normally distributed variables, a t test was used for comparisons. Concerning qualitative variables, the chi-square test or Fisher exact test were applied accordingly. Results: The return of shock duration and mortality in intervention group patients was more than control group, but it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Despite numerous studies in this field, there are various outcomes (mortality rate, rate of return of shock, time of return of shock). These differences can be attributed to high degree of heterogeneity. Perhaps considering the underlying disease and more differentiation could change the return of shock and mortality rate

esys-Escript User’s Guide: Solving Partial Differential Equations with Escript and Finley Release - 3.4 (r4488)

esys.escript is a python-based environment for implementing mathematical models, in particular those based on coupled, non-linear, time-dependent partial differential equations. It consists of five major components • esys.escript core library • finite element solver esys.finley (which uses fast vendor-supplied solvers or our paso linear solver library) • the meshing interface esys.pycad • a model library. • an inversion library. The current version supports parallelization through both MPI for distributed memory and OpenMP for distributed shared memory. In this release there are a number of small changes which are not backwards compatible. Please see Appendix B to see if your scripts will be affected. If you use this software in your research, then we would appreciate (but do not require) a citation. Some relevant references can be found in Appendix D. For Python3 support, see Appendix E

esys-Escript User’s Guide: Solving Partial Differential Equations with Escript and Finley Release - 3.4.2 (r4925)

esys.escript is a python-based environment for implementing mathematical models, in particular those based on coupled, non-linear, time-dependent partial differential equations. It consists of five major components • esys.escript core library • finite element solver esys.finley (which uses fast vendor-supplied solvers or our paso linear solver library) • the meshing interface esys.pycad • a model library. • an inversion library. The current version supports parallelization through both MPI for distributed memory and OpenMP for shared memory. In this release there are a number of small changes which are not backwards compatible. Please see Appendix B to see if your scripts will be affected. If you use this software in your research, then we would appreciate (but do not require) a citation. Some relevant references can be found in Appendix D. For Python 3 support, see Appendix E