Memory modulation by offline consolidation and transcranial direct current stimulation

Two groups of experiments are discussed in this thesis, (a) procedural memory consolidation during sleep and wakefulness, to study the contribution of emotion in consolidation of procedural skill learning, and (b) memory modulation using electrical brain stimulation, to study the effects of long‐ and short‐duration stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on verbal episodic memory. Memory consolidation; The first study showed that participants who were trained in a mirror tracing task with negative emotional stimuli benefited more compared to the participants who were trained with neutral or positive emotional stimuli. The second experiment aimed to investigate the modulatory effect of stimuli with emotional content in a modified serial reaction time task (SRTT). This experiment failed to achieve any main effect of emotional content, retention type, their interaction or their interaction with session number. The only significant effect was found for the session number in which participants showed significantly higher performance in the second session. It is more likely that this outcome is due to the training effects over blocks. Brain stimulation; The first study showed that 20min anodal stimulation enhanced memory performance while the stimulation was delivered during the encoding phase, 20min cathodal stimulation impaired memory performance for the words that were encoded prior to the stimulation and impaired the recognition performance while it was delivered during the testing phase. The second study was similar to the first experiment with the exception that stimulation was delivered for 1.6s for each presented word in three different conditions: no stimulation, early‐stimulation and late‐stimulation. Results showed that early stimulation has significantly stronger effects on the memory performance of the participants compared to nostimulation and late‐stimulation in both anodal and cathodal stimulation types. Results also showed that early anodal stimulation enhanced the memory performance and early cathodal stimulation impaired the memory performance

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol in Aqueous Solutions by Fe(III)-doped TiO2/UV Process

"n "nBackgrounds and Objectives: Phenol and phenolic compounds are widely used in industry and daily liFe, and are of high interest due to stability in the environment, dissolution ability in water and health problems. In this regard, phenol removal from water is of high importance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency of photodegradation process for removal of phenol from aqueous system by use of Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel method."nMaterials and Methods: Phenol concentrations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 mg/L were prepared and exposed to UV and Fe-doped TiO2, separately and simultaneously. Also the effect of initial phenol concentration, Fe-doped TiO2 loading and pH were studied. Various doses of photocatalist investigated for Fe- doped TiO2 were 0.25, 0.5 and 1 g/L. pH was studied at three ranges, acidic (pH=3), neutral (pH=7) and alkaline (pH=11)."nResults: Maximum degradation was obtained at acidic pH, 0.5 g/L of Fe-doped TiO2 for all of phenol concentrations. With increasing initial concentration of phenol, photocatalytic degradation decreased. In comparison with Fe-doped TiO2/UV process, efficiency of UV radiation alone was low in phenol degradation (% 64.5 at 100 mg/l of phenol concentration). Also the amount of phenol adsorbed on the Fe-doped TiO2 was negligible at dark conditions."nConclusion: Results of this study showed that Fe(III)- doped TiO2 nanoparticles had an important effect on photocatalytic degradation of high initial phenol concentration when Fe(III)-doped TiO2/ UV process applied

Automatic approach bias towards smoking cues is present in smokers but not in ex-smokers

Rationale :Drug-addicted individuals show automatic approach tendencies towards drug-related cues, i.e., an approach bias (ApB). Nevertheless, little is known about ApB in tobacco smokers and about the presence of ApB after smoking abstinence. Objectives: We investigated ApB to smoking cues in heavy tobacco smokers versus never-smokers and studied its relation to smoking characteristics and craving. Second, we compared ApBs of heavy smokers with biases of abstinent heavy smokers. Method: A group of current heavy smokers (n = 24), ex-smokers who were abstinent for at least 5 years (n = 20), and never-smokers (n = 20) took part in the experiment. An indirect smoking approach avoidance task was performed, in which participants were required to respond to pictures of smoking and neutral cues by pulling (approach) or pushing (avoid) on a joystick, according to the content-irrelevant format of the picture (landscape or portrait). Craving scores were examined using the Questionnaire of Smoking Urges. Results: Heavy smokers showed an ApB for smoking cues compared to ex-smokers and never-smokers, which correlated positively to craving scores. There were no group differences in ApB scores for ex-smokers and never-smokers. Conclusion: These results suggest that ApBs for smoking cues are present in heavy smokers and decrease after long-term successful smoking cessation

Colonoscopic Diagnostic Findings in Patients Undergoing Colonoscopy In Qom Hazrat-e-Masoome Hospital During 2007-2008

Background and Objectives: In recent years there have been noticeable changes in diagnosis and treatment of colon disorders by colonoscopy and direct vision. Along with its international development, this useful equipment is being used in Iran to treat various disorders. It should be mentioned that there are no exact statistics of these disorders to date. This study was done with aim of evaluating the diagnostic findings in patients undergoing colonoscopy in Qom during 2007-2008.Methods: This descriptive-cross sectional study was done on 500 patients having referred to colonoscopy ward of Hazrate-e-Masoome Hospital in Qom. After colonoscopy, patient data were entered into a special questionnaire and then pathologic findings were added to it. The data were taken for statistical analysis.Results: Out of 500 patients undergoing colonoscopy 279 were male (55.8%) and 221 female (44.2%). In all groups and both sexes the most common reason for carrying out colonoscopy was abdominal pain (46.6%) rectorrhagia (41%). As regards diagnosis, a total of 199 cases (39.8%) of all 500 colonoscopies had normal colonoscopy,124 cases (24.8%) had hemorrhoid, 64 cases (12.8%) had polyp, 55 cases (11%) had inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), 30 cases (6%) had tumor, 17 cases(3.2%) had diverticulosis and 12 cases (2.4%) had solitary rectal ulcer. There was a significant relationship between abdominal pain and tumor, polyp and diverticulosis. (p<0.001) There was also a significant relationship between age and the aforementioned disorders. (p<0.001)Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the prevalence of cancer and IBD is higher in men diverticulosis is higher in women. The highest prevalence of IBD was in the age group of 21-30 years. With an increase in age, the incidence rate of this disease decreases

The global burden of adolescent and young adult cancer in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) are lacking. To address this gap, we analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, with a focus on the outcome of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), to inform global cancer control measures in adolescents and young adults. Methods Using the GBD 2019 methodology, international mortality data were collected from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, and population-based cancer registry inputs modelled with mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIRs). Incidence was computed with mortality estimates and corresponding MIRs. Prevalence estimates were calculated using modelled survival and multiplied by disability weights to obtain years lived with disability (YLDs). Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated as age-specific cancer deaths multiplied by the standard life expectancy at the age of death. The main outcome was DALYs (the sum of YLLs and YLDs). Estimates were presented globally and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles (countries ranked and divided into five equal SDI groups), and all estimates were presented with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). For this analysis, we used the age range of 15–39 years to define adolescents and young adults. Findings There were 1·19 million (95% UI 1·11–1·28) incident cancer cases and 396 000 (370 000–425 000) deaths due to cancer among people aged 15–39 years worldwide in 2019. The highest age-standardised incidence rates occurred in high SDI (59·6 [54·5–65·7] per 100 000 person-years) and high-middle SDI countries (53·2 [48·8–57·9] per 100 000 person-years), while the highest age-standardised mortality rates were in low-middle SDI (14·2 [12·9–15·6] per 100 000 person-years) and middle SDI (13·6 [12·6–14·8] per 100 000 person-years) countries. In 2019, adolescent and young adult cancers contributed 23·5 million (21·9–25·2) DALYs to the global burden of disease, of which 2·7% (1·9–3·6) came from YLDs and 97·3% (96·4–98·1) from YLLs. Cancer was the fourth leading cause of death and tenth leading cause of DALYs in adolescents and young adults globally. Interpretation Adolescent and young adult cancers contributed substantially to the overall adolescent and young adult disease burden globally in 2019. These results provide new insights into the distribution and magnitude of the adolescent and young adult cancer burden around the world. With notable differences observed across SDI settings, these estimates can inform global and country-level cancer control efforts