The effect of regular high-intensity interval exercise on some apoptotic factors in the brain tissue of old female rats

Background: The aging process is associated with a progressive deterioration of tissues and organs. Apoptotic cell death has been known as a possible causal factor in age-related pathologies. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the effect of regular high-intensity interval exercise on some apoptotic factors in the brain tissue of aged female rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 14 aged female Wistar rats were selected and randomly divided into two equal groups (n=7) of control and exercise. The animals performed 10 bouts of 1-min high-intensity treadmill running (20–34 m·min–1), separated by 2 min of rest, for 3 days a week for 8 weeks. The rats were killed 48 h after the last treatment and their brain Bax and Bcl-2 levels were evaluated by the ELISA method. Results: The results showed that an 8-week, high-intensity interval exercise decreased brain Bax levels in aged rats (P<0.05). However, a significant increase was observed in the levels of brain Bcl-2 in the exercise group (P<0.05). Conclusion: It seems that a high-intensity exercise may mediate part of its protective effect against aging-induced apoptosis, by increasing brain Bcl-2 and suppressing Bax levels in brain

Optimization of the close coupling effect for passive UHF RFID tags in stacked applications

The use of the radio frequency identification has become more popular in recent years, since it has many advantages (such as operation without human involvement or detection non-line-of sight at several meters) than the other identification system. The RFID tags are utilized in many different applications. In a wide range of applications (e.g. in the retail business), the RFID tags are often stacked together. The stacked UHF RFID tags are known to have less read range compare to the stand-alone tags. In the other words, placing the tag in the close proximity of other tags, affects the performance of the tag, due to electromagnetic interference between the antennas of the tags. The most of the analysis about effect of the close coupling have been done for the UHF RFID tags in near-field application. Since many different factors are involved in the performance of the tag in far-field applications, it is more complicated to analyze the interaction between the tags when they are placed in the close proximity of each other inside the far-field region of the reader antenna. In this project, the effect of some design parameters on the close coupling has been studied and one practical approach for improvement of the performance of the tags in the stacked application has been introduced. The performance of a reference tag in stack is measured. Then the new versions of the reference tag are designed by adjusting some of the reference tag antenna’s parameters. The measurement of the new version designs in stack shows the performance enhancement for one of the new design. The comparison between the results of the different designs verifies that the design parameters can have influence to the minimizing of the close coupling effect

Evaluation of the Effects of 810 nm Diode Laser Alone and in Combination With Gluma© and Chromophore on Dentinal Tubule Occlusion: A Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis

Introduction: Tooth hypersensitivity is among the most common patient complaints caused by the response of exposed dentin to external stimuli. No definite treatment has been suggested so far for dentin hypersensitivity (DH). This study aimed to compare the efficacy of the diode laser alone and in combination with Gluma and chromophore in occluding opened dentine tubules and the treatment of DH.Methods: This in vitro study was conducted on 30 extracted human third molars kept in 0.1% thymol solution. The teeth were mounted in transparent acrylic resin and the buccal enamel was cut to expose the outer third of dentin. The samples were then divided into 6 groups of negative control (no smear layer removal), positive control (smear layer removal with 6% citric acid application), 810 nm diode laser irradiation (energy density 55.55 J/cm2, 1 W for 20 seconds in a continuous mode), chromophore (1 mg/mL indocyanine green, ICG) plus diode laser irradiation (1 W, 20 seconds), Gluma plus diode laser irradiation, and Gluma + chromophore + diode laser. Dentinal tubules were evaluated under a scanning electron microscope at x2000 magnification. The mean percentage of the obstruction of dentinal tubules was reported as mean and standard deviation. Considering the normal distribution of the data, two-way ANOVA was applied to compare the efficacy of treatments, and an independent-samples t test was used for pairwise comparisons at P<0.05 level of significance.Results: The highest mean percentage of the obstruction of dentinal tubules was noted in the diode laser/chromophore/Gluma group (65.68±12.31%) while the lowest value was noted in the diode laser/Gluma group (24.33±5.90%). Pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences between all groups (P < 0.05) except for the difference between the laser/Gluma/chromophore and laser/chromophore groups (P = 0.20).Conclusion: It seems that chromophore increases the efficacy of the diode laser for the obstruction of dentinal tubules

Shear Bond Strength of the Repair Composite Resin to Zirconia Ceramic by Different Surface Treatments

Introduction: The purpose of this study is the evaluation of the amount of surface roughness (Ra) of Zirconia Ceramic following different surface treatments as well as the assessment of its shear bond strength to composite resin.Methods: 40 sintered zirconia ceramic block samples were randomly divided in 4 groups of 10 and underwent the following surface treatments:a) Control group without treatmentb) Air abrasion with Al2O3 particles (50um)c) Er:YAG laser  with 2W power for 10sd) Nd:YAG laser with 1.5W power for 2minThen the mean surface roughness (Ra) was evaluated by profilometer. In the next step, Alloy primer was used on a section of 9mm2 on the samples following the manufacturer’s instructions. After that Clearfil AP-X composite resin in cylinder shape with an internal diameter and height of 3mm were cured on the sections mentioned. At the end, all samples were tested to assess the shear bond strength by the Universal Testing Machine at a speed of 0.5mm/min until fracture occurred. The mean shear bond strengths were calculated and statistically analyzed by One Way ANOVA.Results:  ANOVA analysis showed that roughness (Ra) was significantly different between the groups (P≤0.05). Ra was higher in the Nd:YAG group compared to the other groups (P≤0.05). The lower Ra was related to the control group. Air abrasion group showed highest amounts of shear bond strength and Nd:YAG laser group demonstrated lower amounts of shear bond strength (P≤0.05).Conclusion: Various surface treatments are differently effective on bond strength. Air abrasion is the most effective method to condition zirconia ceramic surfaces

The Rate of Demineralization in the Teeth Prepared by Bur and Er:YAG Laser

Introduction: The present in vitro study evaluated the recurrence rate of caries following cavity preparations with bur (conventional technique) and irradiation by Erbium:Yttrium–Aluminum–Garnet (Er:YAG) laser through micro hardness test.Methods: A total of 72 human extracted molars were randomly divided into 3 groups and class 5 cavities were prepared on them with 3 different methods: G1) conventional bur, G2) Er:YAG laser irradiation alone and G3) laser irradiation + laser treatment. The specimens were immersed in the artificial caries solution with pH of 2.0 and 5.0 (12 days) and then immersed in re-mineralizing solution with pH of 7.0 (25 days). The specimens were longitudinally sectioned and their Vickers micro hardness was determined. Data were statistically analyzed by means of three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey multiple comparisons tests.Results: The micro hardness of the samples was affected by substrate type (enamel and dentin) and low values were achieved in dentin (P < 0.001). Moreover, no significant difference was observed between preparation methods by bar and laser irradiation alone (P ≤ 0.499). Although laser irradiation + laser treatment decreased micro hardness of enamel compared to other methods. In dentin samples, different methods of preparation showed no significant effect on micro hardness (P ≤ 0.874).Conclusion: Due to the similar values of micro hardness following G1 and G2, it seems that Er:YAG laser alone is as much effective as the conventional bur to prevent recurrence caries. However, because of the high prices of laser instruments, bur preparations can be done commonly

Synthesis of biological based hennotannic acid-based salts over porous bismuth coordination polymer with phosphorous acid tags

In this paper, a novel porous polymer capable of coordinating to bismuth (PCPs-Bi) was synthesized. The Bi-PCPs was then reacted with phosphorous acid to produce a novel polymer PCPs(Bi)N(CH(2)PO(3)H(2))(2) which is shown to act as an efficient and recyclable catalyst. The mentioned catalyst was applied for the efficient synthesis of new mono and bis naphthoquinone-based salts of piperidine and/or piperazine via the reaction of hennotannic acid with various aldehydes, piperidine and/or piperazine, respectively. The structure of the resulting mono and bis substituted piperazine or piperidine-based naphthoquinone salts was thoroughly characterized spectroscopically. The electrochemical behavior of the products was also investigated. The presented protocol has the advantages of excellent yields (82–95%), short reaction times (4–30 min) and simple work-up

Novel uric acid-based nano organocatalyst with phosphorous acid tags:Application for synthesis of new biologically-interest pyridines with indole moieties via a cooperative vinylogous anomeric based oxidation

In this study, we have designed, synthesized and full characterized a novel biological based acidic nano organocatalyst via condensations reaction of uric acid and phosphorous acid. The obtained compound was named theacrine tetrakis(phosphonic acid) (TTPA) and prepared under refluxing ethanol. This new nano organocatalyst was applied as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for the preparation of novel pyridines with indole moieties via a cooperative vinylogous anomeric based oxidation with good to excellent yields

Frequency of Multi-Drug Resistance and Molecular Characteristics of Resistance to Colistin in Acinetobacter baumannii Collected from Patients in Intensive Care Units with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most common causes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients hospitalized in ICU. Multiple resistance has resulted in excessive use of Colistin antibiotic, which is the latest treatment option for this bacterium. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the abundance of multi-resistance and molecular characteristics of resistance to colistin among A. baumannii isolated from patients that are infected with VAP and hospitalized in ICU of “Qazvin” and “Masih Daneshvari” hospitals. Materials and Methods: In this study, 200 A. baumannii isolates related to VAP were collected from ICU of “Masih Daneshvari” (2012-2018) and “Qazvin” (2017-2018) hospitals, from bronchoalveolar lavage & tracheal aspirate specimens. Isolates were detected as A. baumannii by PCR with specific primers of the blaOXA-51-like gene. Antibacterial susceptibility of isolates to colistin was determined by the MIC method, and other antibiotics were examined by the disk diffusion method, according to the CLSI criteria. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) and extended–drug resistance (XDR) isolates were determined according to standard definitions of the CLSI. Results: All the isolates were susceptible to colistin. Moreover, they were resistant to piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, amikacin, gentamycin, levofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, and ciprofloxacin. Antimicrobial resistance rates for tetracycline and ampicillinsulbactam were 8.5% and 20%, respectively. All isolates were MDR and XDR. All isolates were susceptible to colistin (MIC50=1 and MIC90=2 µg/ml). The sequencing results did not show any point mutation in pmr CAB genes, and mcr-1 gene was not detected in any isolates. Conclusion: In this study, all A. baumannii isolates collected from VAP patients were MDR and XDR. Although all isolates were susceptible to colistin, and this agent seems the most appropriate antibiotic for treatment of VAP, colistin resistance can become endemic in the world rapidly due to plasmid-mediated mobile colistin resistance mcr genes