Genetic and histopathology studies on mice: Effect of fenugreek oil on the efficiency of ovarian and liver tissues

There is a growing interest in understanding the biological effect of medicinal plants. In the present investigation, the effects of fenugreek oil administration on the liver and ovarian activity genetically (i.e., meiotic progression in collected oocytes as well as changes in DNA and RNA content in the liver and ovarian tissues) and histopathologically (i.e., alterations in the liver and ovarian tissues) were examined in mice. Swiss albino female mice were orally administrated with different doses of fenugreek oil for 10 days. The mode and magnitude of effect were found to be depending on the dose of fenugreek oil and type of tissue. Administration with fenugreek oil at 0.1 and 0.15 ml/mouse increased the total number of cumulus-oocyte complexes as well as improved their quality. Cytogenetically, fenugreek oil was able to stimulate the oocytes collected from treated mice at all doses to progress in meiosis. Levels of nucleic acids content in all groups did not significantly change neither in the DNA nor RNA in ovarian- or liver-tissues. Histopathological examination of the ovaries collected from untreated mice as well as from mice treated with 0.05 ml/mouse of fenugreek oil showed no histopathological alterations. However, ovaries of mice treated with 0.1 or 0.15 ml/mouse of fenugreek oil showed improvement in several tissues. To our knowledge, this is the first study that suggests significant stimulating effects of fenugreek oil on the ovarian activity in mice.Keywords: Fenugreek, mice, ovaries, oocytes, meiosis, DNA, RNA, histopatholog

Preparation and Study Hardness and Thermal Conductivity (Tc) to Polyester Resin Composite with (Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Acrylonitril, Wood Flour Coconut

This study is attempt to improve thermal isolation through measuring thermal conductivity composite of on polyester resin with fillers of (TiO2, ZnO, Acrylonitril, wood flour Coconut (Wf). The grain size of the fillers is 200 µm. The number of samples is (16) in addition to the virgin sample; these samples are prepared by cast molding method for polyester with filler volume fractions (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%). Shore hardness tests were used to measure the hardness and Lee disk method for thermal conductivity. The experimental results showed that the (20% ZnO) sample has the maximum value of thermal conductivity where (20% w.f) has minimum thermal conductivity .on the other hand (15% ZnO) sample give the maximum value of hardness where (20% w.f) sample gave the minimum value of hardness. From this study there is an important factor that should be observed that is the relationship between hardness and thermal conductivity. The study prove that the experimental results satisfy the theoretical assumptions in that the additive material (fillers) of metals base increase thermal conductivity where the material of cellulose base decrease the thermal conductivity and give good thermal isolation but with low hardness and all the result above the refry sample

Fibromyalgia in Rheumatoid Patients, Depression and Cognitive Dysfunction

Aim of the work: To correlate relation between depression, cognitive dysfunction and fibromyalgia (FM) in rheumatoid patients. Patients and methods: The study was done on 60 patients, in 2 groups, Group A: Active, and Group B inactive patients. 9 were FM and 51 patients without FM Depression was diagnosed based on PHQ 9 depression scale test Cognitive function was assessed by MOCA test. Results: Mean scale of depression in FM 16.78 ± 6.38 while in patients free of FM are 12.27 ± 5.39 with statistically significant p value. Mean scale of cognitive dysfunction in patient with FM was 23.33 ± 3.87 while in patients without are 22.9 ± 4.51 without statistically significant p value. Conclusions: There is statistically significant correlation between depression and fibromyalgia and no statistically significant correlation between cognitive function and fibromyalgia

Brain network modules of meaningful and meaningless objects

Network modularity is a key feature for efficient information processing in the human brain. This information processing is however dynamic and networks can reconfigure at very short time period, few hundreds of millisecond. This requires neuroimaging techniques with sufficient time resolution. Here we use the dense electroencephalography, EEG, source connectivity methods to identify cortical networks with excellent time resolution, in the order of millisecond. We identify functional networks during picture naming task. Two categories of visual stimuli were presented, meaningful (tools, animals) and meaningless (scrambled) objects. In this paper, we report the reconfiguration of brain network modularity for meaningful and meaningless objects. Results showed mainly that networks of meaningful objects were more modular than those of meaningless objects. Networks of the ventral visual pathway were activated in both cases. However a strong occipitotemporal functional connectivity appeared for meaningful object but not for meaningless object. We believe that this approach will give new insights into the dynamic behavior of the brain networks during fast information processing.Comment: The 3rd Middle East Conference on Biomedical Engineering (MECBME'16

Natural fiber reinforced poly(vinyl chloride) composites : a review.

Materials from renewable resources – also called biomaterials or ‘green’ materials – are presently gaining in importance worldwide. In these times of continuous increases in the price of crude oil and discussion of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, conventional plastics have reached a price level and a questionable image which promotes the search of alternatives. Natural fibers are a renewable natural resource and are biodegradable, which is an important characteristic for components that must be disposed of at the end of their useful life. They are recyclable and can be easily converted into thermal energy through combustion without leaving residue. In this study, we will discuss the natural fiber reinforced polyvinyl chloride composites, reinforcing effect, plasticization effect along with modification by coupling agents, properties, and applications based on composite materials. Also, the polyvinyl chloride-based composite materials with specific emphasis on effect of coupling agent, foamed polyvinyl chloride composites, and the effect of natural fiber reinforcement on its material properties will be reviewed. One of the best alternatives is natural fiber reinforced plastics composites. These are composites that are typically filled or reinforced with plant fibers, as well as plastics such as polyvinyl chloride or recently, even bioplastics