Selective endocytosis of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPARs by the Alzheimer's disease risk factor CALM bidirectionally controls synaptic plasticity

AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) mediate fast excitatory neurotransmission, and the plastic modulation of their surface levels determines synaptic strength. AMPARs of different subunit compositions fulfill distinct roles in synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) to enable learning. Largely unknown endocytic mechanisms mediate the subunit-selective regulation of the surface levels of GluA1-homomeric Ca(2+)-permeable (CP) versus heteromeric Ca(2+)-impermeable (CI) AMPARs. Here, we report that the Alzheimer's disease risk factor CALM controls the surface levels of CP-AMPARs and thereby reciprocally regulates LTP and LTD in vivo to modulate learning. We show that CALM selectively facilitates the endocytosis of ubiquitinated CP-AMPARs via a mechanism that depends on ubiquitin recognition by its ANTH domain but is independent of clathrin. Our data identify CALM and related ANTH domain-containing proteins as the core endocytic machinery that determines the surface levels of CP-AMPARs to bidirectionally control synaptic plasticity and modulate learning in the mammalian brain

EFFECTS OF VITEX AGNUS CASTUS ON MICE FETUS DEVELOPMENT

Vitex agnus castus (chasteberry) is a popular treatment for the management of female reproductive disorders including corpus luteum insufficiency, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), menopausal symptoms, and insufficient milk production. According to developing situation of complementary medicine, and frequent use of this herb, it is important to examine its effects during pregnancy. In this research we studied its effects on mice development, and we focused on macroscopic parameters, such as CRL (Crown-Rump length) and the weight of embryos, and diameter and the weight of placenta, and microscopic parameters such as the diameters of eye and lens of embryos. We found that Vitex has special effects during different stages of mice development, for example it can improve the growth of embryos in 8th and 9th day of pregnancy (it causes significant increase in CRL and weight of embryos). Also, it may changes some microscopic parameters. These founding suggest that it should be used more cautiously during pregnancy

Evaluating the Effect of Amount of Wheat Straw and Stubble Residues and Urea Fertilizer on Yield and Yield Components of Corn (Zea mays L.)

To investigate the effect of different amounts of wheat stubbe residues and urea fertilizer levels on yield and yield components of maize (Zea mays L.) SC. 704, an experiment was carried out, at the Agricultural Research Station, University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Ramin Khuzestan, during the growing season of 2007. The experiment was split plot based on randomized complete block design with two factors and four replications. The treatments consisted of four levels of nitrogen, as main factor, and six different amounts of wheat residues, as subplot factor. Main plot treatments were: a1= 425, a2= 450, a3= 475 and a4= 500 kg/ha urea fertilizer and subplot treatments were: b1= the all wheat residues (100%), b2= 75, b3= 50 and b4= 25 % of wheat residues, b5= without straw and stubble, b6= burning of wheat residues. The resulats revealed that the effects of urea fertilizer and wheat stubble rate on all traits under study and intractions on seed number per ear and ear number per unit area weresignificant. It was also indicated that high levels of wheat residues reduced corn seed yield and its components. The results also showed that turning under the 50-75 percent residue into the soil before planting corn and not using stubble not only don’t reduce seed yield and its components , they also increase in the long run soil organic matter

Effect of Orally Administered Morphine on the Development of Amniotic and Chorionic Cavities in Pregnant Wistar Rats

Introduction: Previous studies indicate that morphine consumption during pregnancy can inhibit embryonic development. The present study evaluated the effects of orally administered morphine on the development of embryonic cavities in nine day pregnant rats. Methods: Female Wistar rats weighing between 170-200 grams were used in the present study. Experimental group received morphine (0.05 mg/ml of tap water) after one night coupling with male rats for mating. On the 9th day of pregnancy, the pregnant animals were anesthetized with chloroform and the embryos were removed surgically and fixed in 10% formalin for a week. The fixed embryos were processed and stained by H & E method and evaluated. The surface areas of amniotic and chorionic cavities and the whole body surface area of embryos were calculated using MOTIC software. Results: Findings indicated that both chorionic cavity and whole body surface areas of embryos were increased in the experimental group. In addition, surface area of amniotic cavity was reduced in experimental group. Conclusion: This study showed that oral morphine consumption caused a significant decrease in the embryonic amniotic cavity and furthermore, delay in natural embryonic amniotic cavity development can result in abnormal function and growth defect of the kidneys of infants of mothers addicted to morphine

Fracture Toughness of Nanohybrid and Hybrid Composites Stored Wet and Dry up to 60 Days

Statement of Problem: Patients’ demand for tooth-colored restoratives in the posterior region is increasing. Clinicians use universal nanohybrid resin composites for both anterior and posterior regions. There are few published reports comparing fracture toughness of nonohybrids and that of hybrid composite stored wet and dry. Objectives: To investigate the fracture toughness of three nanohybrids compared to that of a hybrid resin composite stored dry or wet up to 60 days, using four- point bending test. Materials and Methods: Four resin composites were used: three nanohybrids; Filtek Supreme (3M), Ice (SDI), TPH3 (Dentsply) and one hybrid Filtek P60 (3M). For each material, 40 rectangular notched beam specimens were prepared with dimensions of 30 mm × 5mm × 2mm. The specimens were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 10) and stored at 37ºC either in distilled water or dry for 1 and 60 days. The specimens were placed on the four-point test jig and subjected to force (N) using universal testing machine loaded at a crosshead speed of 0.5mm/min and maximum load at specimen failure was recorded and KIc was calculated. Results: Three-way ANOVA showed a significant interaction between all the factors (all p < .0001). Except for TPH3, all tested materials showed significantly higher KIc when stored dry than stored wet (p < 0.05). After 1 day of dry storage, Ice showed the highest KIc (2.04 ± 0.32) followed by Filtek P60 and the lowest was for Filtek Supreme (1.39 ± 0.13). The effect of time on fracture toughness was material dependent. Conclusions: Wet storage adversely affected the fracture toughness of almost all materials. Keeping the restoration dry in the mouth may increase their fracture toughness. Therefore, using a coating agent on the surface of restoration may protect them from early water uptake and increase their strength during a time period

Effect of Fruit Heracleum Persicum Extract on Changes in Serum Levels of Sex Hormones in Rats with Polcystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Abstract Background & aim: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders which affect 5-7 % of women in their reproductive age. Heracleum persicum (Golpar) contains compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimitosis properties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of ethanol extracts of Heracleum persicum fruit on polycystic ovary syndrome in rats. Methods: In the present experimental study, thirty rats (200±20gr), were injected with 2 ml of estradiol valerate subcutaneously and six other rats were considered as the control group (intact). Sixty days after injection, the rats were divided into control, sham and experimental groups. The experimental group was treated with 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg BW of of Golpar extract interaperitoneally for ten days. The serum levels of LH, FSH, estradiol and testosterone were measured by ELISA and each serum were analyzed using ANOVA. Results: A significant decrease was seen in serum levels of LH (P< 0.05), estradiol (p< 0.01) and testosterone (p< 0.01) in three experimental groups compared with the control group. Whereas, a significant increase in the mean FSH (p< 0.05) concentrations was observed in the groups receiving high dose. Conclusions: Due to the decreasing effect of Heracleum persicum (Golpar) extract on LH, estradiol and testosterone levels and increasing in FSH level in PCOS rat, it seemed that the Golpar had a therapeutic effect on patients with this disease

Effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Melia azedarach L. seeds on serum concentration of sex hormones in polycystic ovary syndrome induced in female wistar rats

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common hormonal disorders among the women. Abnormal ovarian cycle is the result of increased LH and relatively decreased FSH along with overproduction of ovarian androgens. According to the previous studies, Melia azedarach L. seed has anti-steroidogenic properties. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of these seeds on the PCOS induced in female rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, PCOS was induced in 30 adult female Wistar rats using the subcutaneous injection of estradiol valerate. The extract of plant material was made using the percolation method. Rats were divided into PCOS, sham and 3 experimental groups (n=6). Rats in the experimental groups were treated with 25, 50 and 75 mg/kg/ip injections of Melia azedarach L. seed hydro-alcoholic extract for 10 days. The sham group received NaCl 0.9 as the vehicle. Serum concentrations of LH, FSH, testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) were measured using the ELISA method.Results: Serum concentrations of LH in all experimental groups (

Compensation of The Nonlinear Impairments in All-Optical OFDM Systems Based on The Optical Phase Conjugation (OPC) Module

This study presents a nonlinearity mitigation technique for achieving high performance in the All-Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (AO-OFDM) transmission systems. Therefore, the Optical Phase Conjugation (OPC) technique has been employed for mitigating the Nonlinear Phase Noise (NLPN) in the AO-OFDM transmission systems. The NLPN has been mitigated in the AO-OFDM transmission system by utilizing the proposed OPC at the middle point of the transmission link. The proposed system is numerically simulated by Virtual Photonics Integrated (VPI) Transmission Maker 9.0 at a symbol rate of 25 Gsymbol/s. During the simulation, 29 subcarriers were generated by Optical Frequency Comb Generator (OFCG) and modulated by 4-array Quadrature Amplitude Modulator (4-QAM). The generated signals are transmitted over 580 km fiber link and received by the coherent receiver. The transmission link contains 4 spans before and 4 spans after OPC module. Each span comprises the Standard Single-Mode Fiber (SSMF) and an EDFA (noise figure = 6 dB) to compensate for the fiber loss. The length of each span is fixed at 70 km in the system simulation. In addition, a 20 km Dispersion Compensation Fiber (DCF) has been used just before the OPC module to compensate for accumulated fiber dispersion. The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) have been used to certify the feasibility of the proposed technique. The results reveal that by employing the proposed OPC module, the SNR is improved by ~3.4 dB, and the EVMs are substantially reduced

The Effect of Oral Morphine Consumption on Choroid Plexus and 4th Ventricle Development in Embryos of 14-day Wistar Rats

Background and Objectives: Previous studies have shown that morphine consumption during pregnancy may delay embryo development or cause the nervous system to function abnormally. The present study focused on the effects of maternal morphine consumption on fourth ventricle and choroid plexus development in Wistar rats.Methods: Wistar rats weighing between 170 and 200 grams were selected for this study. The experimental group after pregnancy received 0.05mg/ml of morphine in their drinking water daily. The control group received only tap water. On day fourteen of pregnancy, the pregnant animals were anesthetized by chloroform and the embryos were removed surgically. The embryos were fixed in 10% formalin for 4 weeks. Then, tissue processing, sectioning and staining hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) were applied on the embryos. The sections were examined for fourth ventricle and choroid plexus development by light microscope and MOTIC software. Results: The results of the study indicated the choroid plexus area in the experimental group increased. Moreover, the fourth ventricle area reduction in the experimental group was significant in comparison with that in control group.Conclusion: This study showed that oral morphine consumption has can decrease the fourth ventricle and increase choroid plexus area. This defect may delay the functioning and development of central neuron system. such as, changes observed in the fetus born by opioid addicted women