Serum level of fibroblast growth factor 21 in type 2 diabetic patients with and without metabolic syndrome

Effect of FGF21 on metabolic syndrome patients is not exactly clear. In the present study, we assessed serum level of fibroblast growth factor 21 in type 2 diabetic patients with and without metabolic syndrome in Gorgan. The study groups consisted of 120 patients with type 2 diabetes and 60 healthy subjects. Diabetic patients divided into two groups. All subjects were matched according to age and sex. The mean waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride and fasting blood glucose levels and body mass index were significantly higher in the subjects with metabolic syndrome than control group, but the mean HDL-cholesterol was significantly lower (p = 0.0001). Mean serum level of FGF21 was higher in type 2 diabetic subjects with and without metabolic syndrome than that of control subject (p = 0.0001). There were significant negative correlation between FGF21 and BMI, diastolic blood pressure and HDL-cholesterol in subjects with metabolic syndrome (p<0.05). There were also significant negative correlation between FGF21 and cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol in control group (p<0.05). The findings of this study suggest that serum FGF21 are higher in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without metabolic syndrome than in age and sex matched control group. Our study shows that some of metabolic syndrome components (especially HDL-cholesterol) are associated with high serum FGF21 levels. Because of different effects of FGF21 in rodents, primates and in humans, it may require more investigating on metabolic effects of FGF21 in human's samples. © 2015, Asian Network for Scientific Information. All rights reserved

The role of game-based education in teaching architecture design (Case study: Architecture design 1- B.A.)

Background and Objective:Currently, different teaching techniques and methods are used in teaching architectural design. Holding architecture education conferences at the national level shows the attention of experts and researchers to the importance of this issue. In recent years, critical, participatory teaching methods or techniques such as questions and answers to increase student motivation have been considered by researchers and architecture teachers. But holding architectural design courses in a workshop (practical) for many hours, repetition and uniformity of techniques such as one-day sketches, individual and collective corrections, and architectural design training become a tedious task for teachers and students. This becomes a serious challenge for young teachers who do not have enough teaching experience. It seems that game-based teaching method can increase students' motivation and increase their learning rate. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to investigate the effect of game-based education on game learning, participation and students' feelings about the benefits of one (bachelor) architecture design course. Extensive research on architecture education shows the importance of this subject. The main approach of these research studies is student-centered education. Many researchers have emphasized the collaboration between student and teacher. The main goal of these studies is enhancing architecture students’ motivation and learning. Nowadays, there is a support for digital game-based education. Therefore, the goal of this study is investigating the role of game-based education (not only digital games) in enhancing learning, collaboration and the students’ feeling about the usefulness of the subject matter. Methods: Here, the experimental method has been used. Statistical population includes students of architecture design 1-B.A. The sample size is 51 students organized in 3 groups. The game-based method was used in the experimental group. The second group (control group 1) was trained through “project correction with other students as reviewers”. The third group (control group 2) was trained through “individually project correction”. All students were assessed by MBI-SS questionnaire at the beginning and the end of the semester. Findings: The results obtained through comparing the frequency of answers. It was concluded that game-based education through pantomime, verbal games and figural games could have a positive role on enhancing “learning”, “collaboration” and “students’ positive feelings about the architecture education”. Conclusion: The present study, in line with participatory education and teacher-student interaction, showed the effect of game-based education on promoting student motivation. Although in today's world, teaching architecture through computer games is discussed, this research does not limit learning by games to just computer games. Demonstration, speech, writing and drawing games can be included in architectural design education according to the teacher's creativity and the fit of the game with the subject and stimulate students' interest in architectural design and according to the research literature, cause long-term (long-term) learning.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Assessing the relationship between education and professional work in architecture

Background and Objectives: Spatial ability is an important notion because of its application in everyday life and its place in science and engineering. In recent decades, there have been many studies on spatial ability in the field of mathematics education. Parts of these studies have been conducted in the field of school mathematics, emphasizing the importance of the spatial ability in the process of teaching school mathematics. Of course, it should be noted that the number of research studies related to mathematics education in Iran is not very large and most of them have been conducted in the field of psychology. It is also stated in the educational documents such as the principles and standards of school Mathematics (NCTM) that students should use a variety of visual representations to analyze mathematical problems and issues. Numerous definitions of spatial ability have been proposed and various terms, such as visual thinking, intuitive thinking, and visual ability have been used to describe it and various factors and components have also been identified to explain its nature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial ability of students with regard to their gender, grade, and field of study and also according to factors including spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation. Methods: The method of this study was the survey method and its participants were 901 students from secondary schools in Shahriyar studying in the 10th and 11th grade in the academic year 2017-2018. The measurement instrument was a researcher-made test whose formal and content validity was confirmed by a number professors and teachers of mathematics and its reliability was also confirmed by the approximate amount of Cronbach's alpha which was 0.83. In addition, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t-test) were used to analyze the data. Findings: The findings of the study showed a significant difference between male and female students in the field of spatial ability. In addition, the performance of math students was significantly better than the students in the field of experimental sciences. Also, the performance of the 11th grade students was significantly better than that of the 10th grade students. This difference can be justified by the implicit teaching that takes place in the 10th and 11th grades, as well as the courses which are taken by the 11th grade students in geometry until the exam. These findings show that the growth of spatial ability depends on education, and because of its place in everyday and professional life, needs more attention in school mathematics. The qualitative findings of this study showed that tasks related to spatial ability are a good platform for developing mathematical thinking and mathematical processes, such as problem solving, reasoning, and proof. Moreover, teaching and increasing the level of education seem to have an undeniable effect on the growth of spatial ability and the improvement of students' problem-solving performance. Conclusion: Although the problem-solving approach has clearly established its presence in Iranian mathematics textbooks in recent decades, little research has been done on the place and role of spatial ability in teaching the process of solving mathematical problems. Moreover, the field of school mathematics needs more research on spatial ability in different areas, such as curricula, teacher training, and methods of math teaching and learning. The findings of this study can be useful in modifying and strengthening the strategies, educational processes, curricula and appropriate educational instruments to improve students' spatial visualization. ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2021 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Sulfur compounds: From plants to humans and their role in chronic disease prevention

Sulfur is essential for the health of plants and is an indispensable dietary component for human health and disease prevention. Its incorporation into our food supply is heavily reliant upon the uptake of sulfur into plant tissue and our subsequent intake. Dietary requirements for sulfur are largely calculated based upon requirements for the sulfur-containing amino acids (SAA), cysteine and methionine, to meet the demands for synthesis of proteins, enzymes, co-enzymes, vitamins, and hormones. SAA are found in abundance in animal sources and are relatively low in plants. However, some plants, particularly cruciferous and allium vegetables, produce many protective sulfur-containing secondary metabolites, such as glucosinolates and cysteine sulfoxides. The variety and quantity of these sulfur-containing metabolites are extensive and their effects on human health are wide-reaching. Many benefits appear to be related to sulfur’s role in redox biochemistry, protecting against uncontrolled oxidative stress and inflammation; features consistent within cardiometabolic dysfunction and many chronic metabolic diseases of aging. This narrative explores the origins and importance of sulfur, its incorporation into our food supply and dietary sources. It also explores the overarching potential of sulfur for human health, particularly around the amelioration of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, and subsequent chronic disease prevention

S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide and its potential role in human health: A scoping review

Higher intakes of cruciferous and allium vegetables are associated with a lower risk of cardiometabolic-related outcomes in observational studies. Whilst acknowledging the many healthy compounds within these vegetables, animal studies indicate that some of these beneficial effects may be partially mediated by S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide (SMCSO), a sulfur-rich, non-protein, amino acid found almost exclusively within cruciferous and alliums. This scoping review explores evidence for SMCSO, its potential roles in human health and possible mechanistic action. After systematically searching several databases (EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, CINAHL Plus Full Text, Agricultural Science), we identified 21 original research articles meeting our inclusion criteria. These were limited primarily to animal and in vitro models, with 14/21 (67%) indicating favorable anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hypercholesterolemic, and antioxidant properties. Potential mechanisms included increased bile acid and sterol excretion, altered glucose- and cholesterol-related enzymes, and improved hepatic and pancreatic β-cell function. Raising antioxidant defenses may help mitigate the oxidative damage observed in these pathologies. Anticancer and antibacterial effects were also explored, along with one steroidogenic study. SMCSO is frequently overlooked as a potential mediator to the benefits of sulfur-rich vegetables. More research into the health benefits of SMCSO, especially for cardiometabolic and inflammatory-based pathology, is warranted. Human studies are especially needed

Pharmacokinetics and antiangiogenic studies of potassium koetjapate in rats

© 2020 Purpose: Koetjapic acid is an active compound of a traditional medicinal plant, Sandoricum koetjape. Although koetjapic acid has a promising anticancer potential, yet it is highly insoluble in aqueous solutions. To increase aqueous solubility of koetjapic acid, we have previously reported a chemical modification of koetjapic acid to potassium koetjapate (KKA). However, pharmacokinetics of KKA has not been studied. In this study, pharmacokinetics and antiangiogenic efficacy of KKA are investigated. Methods: Pharmacokinetics of KKA was studied after intravenous and oral administration in SD rats using HPLC. Anti-angiogenic efficacy of KKA was investigated in rat aorta, human endothelial cells (EA.hy926) and nude mice implanted with matrigel. Results: Pharmacokinetic study revealed that KKA was readily absorbed into blood and stayed for a long time in the body with Tmax 2.89 ± 0.12 h, Cmax 7.24 ± 0.36 μg/mL and T1/2 1.46 ± 0.03 h. The pharmacological results showed that KKA significantly suppressed sprouting of microvessels in rat aorta with IC50 18.4 ± 4.2 μM and demonstrated remarkable inhibition of major endothelial functions such as migration, differentiation and VEGF expression in endothelial cells. Further, KKA significantly inhibited vascularization in matrigel plugs implanted in nude mice. Conclusions: The results indicate that bioabsorption of KKA from oral route was considerably efficient with longer retention in body than compared to that of the intravenous route. Further, improved antiangiogenic activity of KKA was recorded which could probably be due to its increased solubility and bioavailability. The results revealed that KKA inhibits angiogenesis by suppressing endothelial functions and expression of VEGF

A Picture of the Research Field of Doctoral Education from the Students’ Perspectives : Studies Using Questionnaires and Scales

Peer reviewe

Investigstion on effect prepared vaccine by x-ray on production rate and resistance to white spot disease in shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

White Spot Disease (WSD) is a important disease due to economic impacts in shrimp industries. Spreading of this disease in shrimp farms can caused a 100% mortality during 3-10 days. Therefore control of this disease is a strategy in shrimp industry. Vaccination is a way to control of WSD. In several years ago during a project several type vaccine of this virus by association of Atomic Energy Organization is produced that among of them the virus inactivated by GAMA radiation had better results in laboratory. To test of this vaccine in field, a research pilot was carried out. Initially 20000 shrimp napliies were obtained from one of commercial hatchery in Bushehr province, then devided to two groups vaccinated and unvaccinated. The vaccinated group also devided . 26and PL12 , group B vaccinated at PL15and PL 5to two groups, group A that vaccinated at postlarva e (PL) Rrsults showed that difference of growth performance and survival rate between vaccinated and unvaccinated without challenge with WSV after 80 days is not significantly (P<0.05). but survival rate in vaccinated groups after challenge with WSV was significantly (P<0.05) further the unvaccinated group. Also the results showed survival rate of group B after challenge with WSV is better than group A and this difference was significantly (P<0.05). this study showed vaccination of shrimp postlarvae with GAMA radiation vaccine can control of shrimp mortality in incidence of WSD in farms

NOVA: rendering virtual worlds with humans for computer vision tasks

Today, the cutting edge of computer vision research greatly depends on the availability of large datasets, which are critical for effectively training and testing new methods. Manually annotating visual data, however, is not only a labor-intensive process but also prone to errors. In this study, we present NOVA, a versatile framework to create realistic-looking 3D rendered worlds containing procedurally generated humans with rich pixel-level ground truth annotations. NOVA can simulate various environmental factors such as weather conditions or different times of day, and bring an exceptionally diverse set of humans to life, each having a distinct body shape, gender and age. To demonstrate NOVA's capabilities, we generate two synthetic datasets for person tracking. The first one includes 108 sequences, each with different levels of difficulty like tracking in crowded scenes or at nighttime and aims for testing the limits of current state-of-the-art trackers. A second dataset of 97 sequences with normal weather conditions is used to show how our synthetic sequences can be utilized to train and boost the performance of deep-learning based trackers. Our results indicate that the synthetic data generated by NOVA represents a good proxy of the real-world and can be exploited for computer vision tasks

The use of plants in the traditional management of diabetes in Nigeria: Pharmacological and toxicological considerations

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The prevalence of diabetes is on a steady increase worldwide and it is now identified as one of the main threats to human health in the 21st century. In Nigeria, the use of herbal medicine alone or alongside prescription drugs for its management is quite common. We hereby carry out a review of medicinal plants traditionally used for diabetes management in Nigeria. Based on the available evidence on the species׳ pharmacology and safety, we highlight ways in which their therapeutic potential can be properly harnessed for possible integration into the country׳s healthcare system. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical information was obtained from a literature search of electronic databases such as Google Scholar, Pubmed and Scopus up to 2013 for publications on medicinal plants used in diabetes management, in which the place of use and/or sample collection was identified as Nigeria. ‘Diabetes’ and ‘Nigeria’ were used as keywords for the primary searches; and then ‘Plant name – accepted or synonyms’, ‘Constituents’, ‘Drug interaction’ and/or ‘Toxicity’ for the secondary searches. Results: The hypoglycemic effect of over a hundred out of the 115 plants reviewed in this paper is backed by preclinical experimental evidence, either in vivo or in vitro. One-third of the plants have been studied for their mechanism of action, while isolation of the bioactive constituent(s) has been accomplished for twenty three plants. Some plants showed specific organ toxicity, mostly nephrotoxic or hepatotoxic, with direct effects on the levels of some liver function enzymes. Twenty eight plants have been identified as in vitro modulators of P-glycoprotein and/or one or more of the cytochrome P450 enzymes, while eleven plants altered the levels of phase 2 metabolic enzymes, chiefly glutathione, with the potential to alter the pharmacokinetics of co-administered drugs. Conclusion: This review, therefore, provides a useful resource to enable a thorough assessment of the profile of plants used in diabetes management so as to ensure a more rational use. By anticipating potential toxicities or possible herb–drug interactions, significant risks which would otherwise represent a burden on the country׳s healthcare system can be avoided