Affective Norms for 362 Persian Words

Background: During the past two decades, a great deal of research has been conducted on developing affective norms for words in various languages, showing that there is an urgent need to create such norms in Persian language, too. The present study intended to develop a set of 362 Persian words rated according to their emotional valence, arousal, imageability, and familiarity so as to prepare the ground for further research on emotional word processing. This was the first attempt to set affective norms for Persian words in the realm of emotion.  Methods: Prior to the study, a multitude of words were selected from Persian dictionary and academic books in Persian literature. Secondly, three independent proficient experts in the Persian literature were asked to extract the suitable words from the list and to choose the best (defined as grammatically correct and most often used). The database normalization process was based on the ratings by a total of 88 participants using a 9-point Likert scale. Each participant evaluated about 120 words on four different scales.  Results: There were significant relationships between affective dimensions and some psycholinguistic variables. Also, further analyses were carried out to investigate the possible relationship between different features of valences (positive, negative, and neutral) and other variables included in the dataset.  Conclusion: These affective norms for Persian words create a useful and valid dataset which will provide researchers with applying standard verbal materials as well as materials applied in other languages, e.g. English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc

A Comprehensive Review on the Metabolic Cooperation Role of Nuclear Factor E2-Related Factor 2 and Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 against Homeostasis Changes in Diabetes

Objective: Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are associated with metabolic disorders including hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and inflammation, leading to the production of reactive oxygen species and nitrogen activators. In these cases, some of the body’s innate factors are activated to cope with these dangerous situations. The purpose of the review is to explain the collaboration between the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in homeostasis and body metabolism with a focus on diabetes. Materials and methods: This review is based on searching the PubMed database, SCOPUS, Elsevier and citation lists of relevant publications. Subject heading and key words used include diabetes, oxidative stress, inflammation, NRF2, and FGF21. Only articles in English were included. Results: NRF2 and FGF21 are two attractive biomarkers for the diagnosis of specific metabolic disorders and therapeutic targets, which have been implicated as therapeutic targets for the management of diabetic complications. The combination of both factors leads to the regulation of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses and metabolic pathways. Conclusions: Given most studies of NRF2- and FGF21-based therapeutic interventions in animal models and the possibility of not achieving the same results in humans, further clinical studies are needed to determine the efficacy of NRF2 and FGF21 in treatment of patients with diabetes

Preliminary study on induction of triploidy in Benni (Barbus sharpeyi) by thermal shocks

Barbus sharpeyi is a local fish of Khouzestan that is planned to be a target for aquaculture in recent programs of fisheries organization. Considering importance of this species in its dispersal region, the main goal of this project was evaluation of possibility for triploidy induction and its potential in response to the heat shocks, efficiency of viability and growth and finally reporting the best condition for triploidy induction in Benny. Induction of thermal shocks was executed in for cold and heat shocks (2 and 4°C for cold and 34, 36 and 38°C for heat). Time of induction and its duration varied between 2 and 5 minutes after the fertilization for 3 and 5 minutes. Each treatment was repeated for 3 times. The ploidy level was determined based on size of nucleus diameters in erythrocytes. Analysis of data was done by SPSS (ver. 16) using T-test and ANOVA method. Results showed that the maximum number of triploid individuals was obtained in treatment of 38°C, 2 min after the fertilization by duration of 3 minutes but as the condition was not suitable for the viability of the eggs, losses of the larvae was high in this group. The best efficiency of triploidization in B. sharpeyi belongs to the 34°C, 2 to 5 minutes after the fertilization for duration of 5 minutes. Nuclear dimensions showed an increase in triploids and confirmed that this characteristic can be used as a reliable factor to distinguish polyploidy. Results of this study showed that B. sharpeyi has the ability for polyploidy inductions specially heat shocks. Evaluation of growth in matured fishes, use of proper tagging systems to distinguish the treatments and designing a plan for bioconserving and genetic improvement of this species is recommended

An in vitro study of antileishmanial effect of Portulaca oleracea extract

Background & objectives: Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoa of Leishmania genus and is considered as a zoonotic disease. It is a major public health problem worldwide, with high endemicity in developing countries like Iran. Various chemical drugs are used for leishmaniasis treatment, but their side-effects and the emergence of drug resistance have led to look for new effective compounds. The aim of this study was to introduce purslane (Portulaca oleracea) as a traditional and medicinal herb which might act as a valuable source for designing new pharmaceutical drug/lead against Leishmania sp. Methods: This study was conducted in the laboratory of Seddigheh Tahereh Infectious Disease Research Center, Isfahan, Iran during the spring of 2015. The essence from the purslane plant was prepared through water distillation and the alcoholic extract was prepared through maceration method. The essence was dried, and diluted with DMSO (5%). Leishmania major promastigotes were cultured in 25 ΁ 2΀C temperature in the stationary phase of RPMI-1640 medium, enriched with 10% fetal calf serum and penicillin-streptomycin to yield higher quantity. The biological activity of herb essence was evaluated on L. major promastigotes and compared to glucantime reference drug using methylthiazole tetrazolium (MTT) colorometric assay. The optical density absorbance was measured with Eliza reader set, and the IC50 value was calculated at different time intervals. All tests were repeated thrice. Results were analyzed by using Tukey test and t-test. Results: The IC50 values after 48 h, for glucantime against standard parasite promastigotes and clinical strains were equal to 12 and 19 mg/ml, respectively, whereas for purslane herb leaves and stems essence; it was equal to 360 and 680 mg/ml, respectively. Although, the glucantime pharmaceutical drug was more efficient compared to the investigated herb essence, the essense had significant effect on L. major promastigotes with increasing density (p <0.05). The ingredients of the herb leaves and stem essence were-Phytol, squalene, palmitic acid, ethyl- linoleate, ferulic acid, linolenic acid, scopoletin, linoleic acid, rhein, apigenin, and bergapten. Interpretation & conclusion: The study showed that essence of purslane has considerable antileishmanial effects and can stop the growth of parasites in the laboratory compared to glucantime. More experiments are necessary to investigate its effect on Leishmania parasite in animal model

Validation of a Persian Version of an English Language Ecologically-Valid Assessment of Executive Functions Through Childhood and Adolescence

Childhood and adolescence are pivotal periods for cognitive development. Executive functions are crucial for efficient cognitive functioning, so accurate assessment is important. One ecologically-valid virtual reality test is the Jansari assessment of Executive Functions for Children (JEF-C©; Jansari et al., 2012). In a cross-sectional study, we aimed at translating, adapting and validating JEF-C© into Persian, and at investigating whether this Persian version (JEF-C©(P)) can identify stages of development of executive functions in children aged from 8 to 16. Children and adolescents (N = 146) falling into three age groups participated: 8-10, 11-13 and 14-16 years old. They completed JEF-C©(P) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). There were acceptable Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for JEF-C©(P) total score (α = .72) and all constructs had a positive impact on total internal consistency, except action-based prospective memory that did not affect it. There was an effect of age group on overall JEF-C©(P) performance and of age on four constructs. There was also a correlation between the number of categories on WCST and the prioritization construct of JEF-C©(P). It seems that JEF-C©(P) is an ecologically valid executive function assessment sensitive to age and could be useful for both researchers and clinicians working with children

Studying the microbial, chemical, and sensory characteristics of shrimp coated with alginate sodium nanoparticles containing Zataria multiflora and Cuminum cyminum essential oils

Abstract Retardation of quality loss of seafood has been a new concept in recent years. This study's main objective was to evaluate the microbial, chemical, and sensory attributes of shrimp coated with alginate sodium nanoparticles containing Zataria multiflora and Cuminum cyminum essential oils (EOs) during refrigerated storage. At the end of storage time (15 days storage at 4°C), the pH, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) amounts in shrimps coated with the alginate nanoparticles were 7.62, 1.14 mg MDA/kg, and 117 mg/100 g which were significantly (p < .05) lower than the control groups. The count of all bacteria groups was also lower in this treatment, which was 2–2.74 Log CFU/mL on day 15 of cold storage. This combined treatment also obtained the highest sensory scores (around 7) and the lowest melanosis score (2.67) due to the effective delaying microbial and oxidation activities. Therefore, this edible coating could substantially retard microbial and chemical changes and improve the organoleptic properties of shrimp under refrigerated storage

Effects of Interval Jump Rope Exercise Combined with Dark Chocolate Supplementation on Inflammatory Adipokine, Cytokine Concentrations, and Body Composition in Obese Adolescent Boys

International audienceWe examined the effects of six weeks of dark chocolate supplementation combined with interval jump rope exercise (JRE) on inflammatory cytokines, adipokines, and body composition in obese adolescent boys. Forty-eight obese adolescent boys (age  = 15.4  ±  1.1 years and body mass index  =  32.2  ±  2.4 kg/m2) were randomly assigned into one of four groups: JRE + white chocolate (JW; n = 13), JRE + dark chocolate supplementation (JD; n = 13), dark chocolate supplementation (DS; n = 12), or control (C; n = 12). Participants in JW and JD groups performed JRE for three times per week for six weeks. Participants in the DS and JD groups consumed 30 g of dark chocolate containing 83% of cocoa. Body composition, pro-inflammatory cytokines ((hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6), adipokines (leptin, resistin, RBP-4, chemerin, MCP-1), and anti-inflammatory adipokines (irisin, adiponectin)) were evaluated prior to and after the intervention trials. All three intervention trials significantly (p < 0.05) decreased body mass, waist-hip ratio, fat mass, hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, leptin, resistin, RBP-4, and MCP-1, and increased irisin and adiponectin concentrations. The improvements in these parameters were greater in the JD group, and additionally, chemerin concentrations decreased only in the JD group. JD enhanced adiponectin concentrations and decreased IL-6 concentrations compared to C. Moreover, JD significantly reduced chemerin concentrations, an effect not observed in any of the other interventions. We demonstrated that dark chocolate supplementation potentiated JRE-induced decreases in body mass, WHR, FM, hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, leptin, resistin, RBP-4, and MCP-1, chemerin as well as increases irisin and adiponectin concentrations in obese adolescent boys. Therefore, JRE combined with dark chocolate supplementation could be a beneficial in reducing obesity-induced inflammation in adolescent boys

An extended MSPAC method in circular arrays

International audienceThe microtremor seismic method using spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) processing is a useful tool for estimating the structure of subsurface layers and the shear wave velocities of sediments. This paper improves upon the well-known 'Modified SPAC' (MSPAC) method, which extends the SPAC formulae for discrete and nearly continuous circular arrays to handle arrays with regular and irregular azimuthal spacing. For finite circular arrays, extended MSPAC (EMSPAC) also takes into account the discrete character of the array, which has been inspired by the works of Okada. Also a new SPAC coefficient is proposed for a nearly continuous array. EMSPAC is applied to real data collected using a seven-station array, and its averaged SPAC coefficients and dispersion curves are compared to those obtained using MSPAC