Review on Effect of Bupropion on Attenuates Methamphetamine Self-administration in Adult Male Rat

Introduction: Methamphetamine is a highly potent, addictive drug that is widely abused in many countries around the world. Methamphetamine produces a general state of well-being along with increased wakefulness, talkativeness, and physical activity and decreased appetite. Behavioral treatment programs have had some success in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction, yet many patients continue to relapse after repeatedly seeking treatment. Thus, pharmacotherapies treatments for methamphetamine addiction are being evaluated. Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant with stimulant properties. This drug has been used off-label to treat methamphetamine addicts, thus prompting the need for systematic investigations of its efficacy. Methods and Results:Male wistar rats, weighing 200–250 g (8 weeks old) at the start of the experiment. In the self-administration study, rats were surgically prepared with indwelling jugular catheters. After the surgery rats were trained to press a lever of methamphetamine reinforcement (0.05 mg/kg/injection) in operant boxes under baseline conditions. When responding stabilized, rats entered the acute testing phase. Each rat was tested with a unique order of vehicle, 10, 30, and 60 mg/kg bupropion. Each solution was administered IP 5 min before placement in the chamber for a regular self-administration session and each test was separated by at least 2 maintenance days of methamphetamine self-administration without drug pretreatment. Bupropion pretreatment appeared to decrease active lever responding. Consistent with the active lever data, rats treated with 60 mg/kg bupropion took significantly fewer total methamphetamine infusions in comparison to the other 2 groups. When Control rats (n=6) (i.e., those pretreated with saline in the previous phase) were given an acute injection of 30 mg/kg bupropion, lever pressing decreased. Conclusions: Several questions remain about bupropion’s impact during withdrawal, abstinence, and relapse in a preclinical setting. Research investigating these aspects of addiction will help provide a clearer picture on the effects of bupropion on methamphetamine self-administration in laboratory animals and methamphetamine abuse in humans

ENPP: Extended Non-preemptive PP-aware Scheduling for Real-time Cloud Services

By increasing the use of cloud services and the number of requests to processing tasks with minimum time and costs, the resource allocation and scheduling, especially in real-time applications become more challenging. The problem of resource scheduling, is one of the most important scheduling problems in the area of NP-hard problems. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm is proposed to schedule real-time cloud services by considering the resource constraints. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm shorten the processing time of tasks and decrease the number of canceled tasks

Study of the effect of extract of Thymus vulgaris on anxiety in male rats

AbstractThere is some evidence in traditional medicine for the effectiveness of Thymus vulgaris (百里香 bǎi lǐ xiāng) in the treatment of anxiety in humans. The elevated plus-maze (EPM) has broadly been used to investigate anxiolytic and anxiogenic compounds. The present study investigated the effects of extract of T. vulgaris on rat behavior in the EPM. In the present study, the data were obtained from male Wistar rats. Animals were divided into four groups: saline group and T. vulgaris groups (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg infusion for 7 days by feeding). During the test period, the total distance covered by animals, the number of open- and closed-arm entries, and the time spent in open and closed arms of the EPM were recorded. T. vulgaris increased open-arm exploration and open-arm entry in the EPM, whereas extract of this plant has no effects on the total distance covered by animals and the number of closed-arm entries. The results of the present experiment indicate that T. vulgaris may have an anxiolytic profile in rat behavior in the EPM test, which is not influenced by the locomotor activity. Further research is required to determine the mechanisms by which T. vulgaris extract exerts an anxiolytic effect in rats

High Risk Situations Predicting Relapse in Self-Referred Addicts to Bushehr Province Substance Abuse Treatment Centers

Background: Relapse prevention is a medical intervention designed for educating cognitive and behavioral skills to avoid continued drug abuse and relapse. Objectives: This study examined high risk situations for relapse for self-referred addicts are related in Bushehr province substance abuse treatment centers. Patients and Methods: The present study is descriptive cross-sectional. The sample size consisted of 609 self-referred addicts to Bushehr province substance abuse centers. IDTS Marlatt questionnaire was used. Analytical and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings showed that 73.1% of addicts have used substance during the past 12 months, and 72% have experienced a full relapse. Unpleasant emotions and physical discomfort was the most important reason for relapse and testing personal control and pleasure emotions the least important reason. Interpersonal factors have also a great role in this regard. Conclusions: Considering the high rates of relapse, more attention should be paid to reasons for relapse. It seems necessary that both clinical and psychological approaches would be undertaken simultaneousl

Bone metabolism disorder in epileptic children

Background and Objective: There are frequent anti-epileptic drugs which are used in management of epilepsy. Anti-epileptic drugs may have some complications on bone and vitamin-D metabolism. In this study we aimed to Comparison of Bone metabolism disorder in epileptic children with health child in zahedanMethods: This case-control study was performed on bone metabolism disorder in epileptic children. Forty epileptic children was enetered to the study based on accessability scheme and 40 participants randomly selected for control group from those who were referred to the centers for rutine check up. Blood samples were collected from all participants to assess serum calcium, phosphorus, PTH, magnesium, vitamin D, calcium urine, serum albumin, creatinine random urine. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software.Results: Of 40 epileptic children 23 (57.5%) and 17 (42.5%) were male and female respectively. The prevalence of low vitamin D was 37.5% for patients compared to 12.5% for controls (chi-square = 6.667 and p= 0.010).  Of 80 participants, 15 individuals had abnormal PTH level which is distributed of 2 and 13 for patients and control groups respectively (chi-square = 9.928 and p= 0.002).   In the cases of Ca and Mg their levels were similar in both patients and controls.  The status of the parameters in the classification of normal and abnormal assessed based on number of medications intake resulted that number of medications intake  had not effect on the parameters status.Conclusion: our study, like previous studies showed that in epileptic children, frequency of hyperparathyroidy and vitamin D deficiency increased

Comparison of the Precision of Measurements in Three Types of Micropipettes according to NCCLS EP5-A2 and ISO 8655-6

Micropipettes or piston pipettes are used to make most volume measurements in fields such as health, chemistry, biology, pharmacy and genetics. Laboratories must ensure that results obtained using these instruments are reliable; therefore, it is necessary to calibrate micropipettes. Before the start of the calibration process, we must check the precision of measurements. The objective of this work is to compare several methods for calculating the precision of three kinds of micropipettes according to the reference value in ISO 8655-6. The medical tests will not have accurate results, if the volume of the liquid doesn’t transfer precisely by micropipettes. Thus, the physician might potentially face problems in the disease diagnosis and its control. In the NCCLS EP5-A2, there is a method to specify and assess the precision of micropipettes by using CV (Coefficient of Variation). Also there are other methods to estimate and test the CV theory, in the formal statistics texts which could be applied to assess the micropipettes precision. In this research we evaluate the precision of lab micropipettes. Three brands of micropipettes, A, B and C are assigned to measure the distilled water mass by using accurate scale which is accurate up to 10-6 to measure 50-gram weights. The experimental environment is a metrology lab which is approved by Iran Standard and Industrial Researches Organization. A technician sampled at the beginning of the experiment and then after 2 hours, the same technician repeated the sampling. Overall, each micropipette is used to measure 40 times with 10-repeat times for single measurement in 28 work days. Common statistical methods are used to estimate and test the CV. Point estimation of CV for micropipettes A, B and C were 0.50%, 0.64% and 1.56%, respectively. Furthermore, the upper limit of 95% confidence bounds for these three micropipettes using the exact method were 0.53%, 0.69% and 1.65%, respectively. Micropipette A met the ISO 8655-6 standard level, but micropipettes B and C did not. On average, measurement errors in micropipettes B and C were respectively 30% and 3.11 times more than micropipette A. By using the approach of CLS EP5-A2 and confidence interval for CV, precision of the three micropipettes were compared. Only one of them met the ISO 8655-6 standard level, but the others failed

Preparation and physicochemical evaluation of transdermal aerosols containing ketoprofen

Purpose: To prepare transdermal ketoprofen metered-dose aerosol formulations containing menthol and isopropyl myristate (IPM) as penetration enhancers and to evaluate their physicochemical and permeation properties.Methods: Selected ratios of ketoprofen, ethanol, polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 (PVP K30, anti-nucleant), and penetration enhancers were mixed and filled into aluminum aerosol cans with hydrofluoroalkane- 134a as propellant. The physicochemical properties of the films, and their ex vivo permeation properties in rat skin were investigated over a 24-h period. Rat skin was exposed to a definite dose of each ketoprofen film to determine the quantity of drug in the receptor compartment over a 24-h period.Results: All the transdermal formulations showed good integrity and film uniformity. Formulations with permeation enhancers presented higher rates of skin penetration compared to control formulations. Formulations containing 3% PVP and 5% IPM produced the highest permeation rates (Jss, 85.35 μg/cm2/h).Conclusion: These results indicate that incorporation of antinucleant polymer and permeation enhancers in aerosols containing ketoprofen enhances aerosol stability and drug permeation through rat skin.Keywords: Ketoprofen, Antinucleant, Permeation enhancer, Topical aerosol, Transdermal deliver

Prognostic Value of Serum Fibrinogen Level in Determining the Severity of Appendicitis Inflammation in Adult and Pediatric Patients Undergoing Appendectomy in Two Local Centres in Tehran

Background: Despite the recent advancements, negative appendectomy cases are notable, especially in children. We evaluated the prognostic value of serum fibrinogen level for the prediction of the severity of acute appendicitis. Methods: A cross-sectional study of children and adults who had undergone appendectomy at Ali Asghar and Rasool-e Akram hospitals, Iran, was performed. Before surgery, serum fibrinogen level was assessed by using the Clauss technique. Finally, serum fibrinogen was compared between the two groups of complicated acute appendicitis and uncomplicated ones. Results: In the adult's complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis, no significant differences were noted in gender distribution, WBC count, and segment levels. Serum fibrinogen and C-reactive protein levels in children with complicated appendicitis were significantly higher than those in the uncomplicated ones. Serum fibrinogen level of 450 mg/dl was the optimum cut-off for predicting the severity of appendicitis in children. Serum fibrinogen level in adults with the complicated appendicitis was significantly higher than the uncomplicated appendicitis group. Also, 530 mg/dl was found the best serum fibrinogen cut-off to predict the severity of appendicitis in adults. Conclusion: Serum fibrinogen level is an appropriate diagnostic marker for the distinction of acute complicated appendicitis from uncomplicated appendicitis in children and adults

Assessment of stylohyoid ligament in patients with Eagle’s syndrome and patients with asymptomatic elongated styloid process: A cone-beam computed tomography study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study was performed to evaluate and compare the calcification patterns of the stylohyoid ligament in Eagle’s syndrome (ES) patients, and asymptomatic patients with elongated styloid process (SP) via cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS: A total of 52 CBCT images in two symptomatic (ES) and asymptomatic groups (n = 26 per group) were assessed. The mean length and thickness of the SP, morphology, and pattern of calcification between the two sides in each group and between ES and asymptomatic groups were compared. The t-test was used for comparison. Fisher exact and chi-square tests were used to determine the relationship between different types of calcification pattern and morphology. The level of significance was considered at P < 0.050. RESULTS: The SP was thicker in the ES group than the asymptomatic group. However, the styloid length showed no significant difference among the ES and asymptomatic groups. The most common pattern of calcification in both groups was partially calcified with no significant difference between the two study groups. The most common morphology in the asymptomatic and ES groups was “segmented” and “elongated,” respectively. CONCLUSION: The morphology and thickness of the SP showed a significant difference between the ES and asymptomatic groups. This can be helpful in differential diagnosis of facial, pharyngeal, and tonsillar pain. KEYWORDS: Eagle Syndrome; Elongated Styloid Process Syndrome; Cone Beam Computed Tomograph