COX inhibition: Catalepsy and Striatum Dopaminergic-GABAergic-Glutamatergic Neurotransmission

Selective COX-2 and COX-1 inhibitors were administered (i.p. acutely) to normal and parkinsonian rats, followed by the analysis of the striatal dopamine, GABA and glutamate concentrations using the microdialysis technique, simultaneously, the catalepsy of animals was evaluated. Selective COX-2 inhibition showed improving effects on the catalepsy followed by decreasing the striatum glutamatergic-GABAergic and enhancing the dopaminergic neurotransmission. Nonetheless COX inhibition had no significant improving effects on damaged Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta (SNc) neurons

Investigating the Relationship between Organizational Structure Factors and Personnel Performance

Nowadays, for surviving in the dynamic and complicated environment, it is required for organizations to have agility and flexibility in which the main factor is organizational structure which is the principal force of change. It is a framework for all organizational decisions and processes and influence the performance improvement and productivity increase. The purpose of this research is ranking the organizational structures factors which are effective on Personnel performance. This is applied and survey research which its statistical population consists of employees of Karafarin and Parsian insurance companies. Convenience sampling method were used to collect research data. Analyzing, the research data, the Pearson and Friedman Tests were applied. The results showed that formality is the most effective factor and complexity is the least effective factor on personnel performance

Studying the Relationship between Lack of Job Promotion and Career Plateau of Staff: A Case Study in Well Being Office of Kerman

Behavior of staff in an office or organization can be affected by their job attitudes. Therefore, it is necessary that managers be aware of them. The present research aims to study the effect of lack of job promotion of well-being staff of Kerman on their job motivations. The method used in this research is descriptive survey. Statistical population of the research is 80 persons including official, contractual staff in well-being of Kerman city. The present research is correlative and data and information were gathered by field researches (questionnaire) with complete census sampling. Results show that staff under the consideration are exposed to lack of job motivation due to their type of job so that managers require identifying this issue accurately. Also, results indicated that if staff have positive attitudes towards their jobs, they will expose to fewer plateaus. As a result, managers of well-being organization should try to increases positive attitudes of the staff

The Effect of Service Quality Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study of Saderat Bank of Iran

Caring customer opinions and paying attention to its beliefs not only leads to organization attachment, but also causes the customer feels a component of the organization; therefore, such satisfaction may also be the key to bank achievement.  Thus, the objective of the present research is to study the relationship between quality of service dimensions and customer satisfaction in different branches of Saderat Bank in Shiraz. This is an applied research in term of objective and is a survey in term of data collection. Data were collected through using questionnaire. Moreover, variables’ reliability was examined using Cronbach alpha coefficient. Data analysis and research hypothesis testing were conducted using SPSS software and t-student and binominal tests. Research findings indicate that all quality of service dimensions (quality of Service, customer accessibility, service characteristic/feature, and considering customer complaints) influence customer satisfaction in Saderat Bank branches

Effect of Dexamethasone on Striatal Neurotransmissions in the Rats Subjected to Parkinson’s Disease Animal Model

Objective(s)The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dexamethasone on striatal dopaminergic, glutamatergic and gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) ergic neurotransmission in normal and parkinsonian rats.Materials and MethodsDexamethasone (0.15, 0.30, 0.60 and 0.8 mg/kg) was administered to normal or parkinsonian rats (i.p.) followed by the analysis of the striatal neurotransmitters concentrations. Additionally, the effect of dexamethasone on the damaged Substantia nigra pars compata (SNc) neurons has been investigated. ResultsDexamethasone resulted in decreased level of striatum glutamatergic-GABAergic and enhanced dopaminergic neurotransmission in normal and parkinsonian rats. In addition, acute treatment with dexamethasone did not improve the lesion at all. ConclusionThese findings suggest the new therapeutic mechanism of action for dexamethasone in Parkinson’s disease animal model

Nanostructured Optical Photonic Crystal Biosensor for HIV Viral Load Measurement

Detecting and quantifying biomarkers and viruses in biological samples have broad applications in early disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring. We have demonstrated a label-free optical sensing mechanism using nanostructured photonic crystals (PC) to capture and quantify intact viruses (HIV-1) from biologically relevant samples. The nanostructured surface of the PC biosensor resonantly reflects a narrow wavelength band during illumination with a broadband light source. Surface-adsorbed biotarget induces a shift in the resonant Peak Wavelength Value (PWV) that is detectable with <10 pm wavelength resolution, enabling detection of both biomolecular layers and small number of viruses that sparsely populate the transducer surface. We have successfully captured and detected HIV-1 in serum and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) samples with viral loads ranging from 104 to 108 copies/mL. The surface density of immobilized biomolecular layers used in the sensor functionalization process, including 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (3-MPS), N-gamma-Maleimidobutyryl-oxysuccinimide ester (GMBS), NeutrAvidin, anti-gp120, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were also quantified by the PC biosensor

Engineering cancer microenvironments for in vitro 3-D tumor models

The natural microenvironment of tumors is composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), blood vasculature, and supporting stromal cells. The physical characteristics of ECM as well as the cellular components play a vital role in controlling cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, metabolism, and differentiation. To mimic the tumor microenvironment outside the human body for drug testing, two-dimensional (2-D) and murine tumor models are routinely used. Although these conventional approaches are employed in preclinical studies, they still present challenges. For example, murine tumor models are expensive and difficult to adopt for routine drug screening. On the other hand, 2-D in vitro models are simple to perform, but they do not recapitulate natural tumor microenvironment, because they do not capture important three-dimensional (3-D) cell–cell, cell–matrix signaling pathways, and multi-cellular heterogeneous components of the tumor microenvironment such as stromal and immune cells. The three-dimensional (3-D) in vitro tumor models aim to closely mimic cancer microenvironments and have emerged as an alternative to routinely used methods for drug screening. Herein, we review recent advances in 3-D tumor model generation and highlight directions for future applications in drug testing

X-ray and MR contrast bearing nanoparticles enhance the therapeutic response of image-guided radiation therapy for oral cancer

INTRODUCTION: Radiation therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is constrained by radiotoxicity to normal tissue. We demonstrate 100 nm theranostic nanoparticles for image-guided radiation therapy planning and enhancement in rat head and neck squamous cell carcinoma models. METHODS: PEG conjugated theranostic nanoparticles comprising of Au nanorods coated with Gadolinium oxide layers were tested for radiation therapy enhancement in 2D cultures of OSC-19-GFP-luc cells, and orthotopic tongue xenografts in male immunocompromised Salt sensitive or SS rats via both intratumoral and intravenous delivery. The radiation therapy enhancement mechanism was investigated. RESULTS: Theranostic nanoparticles demonstrated both X-ray/magnetic resonance contrast in a dose-dependent manner. Magnetic resonance images depicted optimal tumor-to-background uptake at 4 h post injection. Theranostic nanoparticle + Radiation treated rats experienced reduced tumor growth compared to controls, and reduction in lung metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Theranostic nanoparticles enable preprocedure radiotherapy planning, as well as enhance radiation treatment efficacy for head and neck tumors