An exploratory study to identify critical factors of innovation culture in organizations

During the past two decades, there has been a growing trend on knowledge-based organizations. Innovation, on the other hand, plays essential role on building competitive business units. In this paper, we present an exploratory study to identify critical factors of innovation culture in organizations. We detect important factors influencing innovation culture in construction industry based on the implementation of factor analysis. The proposed study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 400 experts who are involved in construction industry. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.779, which validates the overall questionnaire. The results of factor analysis have indicated that six factors of building cultural infrastructures, education, organizational vision, established culture, strategic culture and flexible culture are the most important items influencing innovation culture

Brain tissue oxidative damage as a possible mechanism for the deleterious effect of a chronic high dose of estradiol on learning and memory in ovariectomized rats

In addition to antioxidative effects, estrogens also exert pro-oxidative actions. The effect of chronic administration of a high dose of estradiol valerate on Morris water maze tasks and brain tissues oxidative damage was investigated. The Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups were treated with estradiol valerate (4 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. Escape latency and traveled path in the Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups were significantly higher than in the Sham and OVX groups (p≪0.01 and p≪0.001). In the probe trial, the animals of the Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups spent lower time in Q1 compared to Sham and OVX groups (p≪0.05 and p≪0.001). In Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups, the brain tissue total thiol concentration was significantly lower, and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were higher than in the Sham and OVX groups (p≪0.05 and p≪0.001). It is concluded that administration of high exogenous levels of estradiol impairs performance and enhances oxidative stress

Chronic Treatment by L-NAME differently Affects Morris Water Maze Tasks in Ovariectomized and Naïve Female Rats

Introduction: The role of ovarian hormones and nitric oxide (NO) in learning and memory and their interaction has been widely investigated. The present study carried out to evaluate different effect of L-NAME on spatial learning and memory of ovariectomized (OVX) and sham operated rats. Methods: 32 rats were divided into 4 groups: 1) Sham 2) OVX 3) Sham-LN and 4) OVX-LN. The animals of groups 3 and 4 were treated by L-NAME (10 mg/kg/ day) for 8 weeks while the animals of groups 1 and 2 received saline (1ml/kg/day) instead of L-NAME. The animals of all groups were then tested in Morris water maze during five days. The escape latency and traveled distance were compared between groups. Results: Distance and time in OVX group was significantly higher than Sham group (p<0.01 and p<0.05). Time and distance in Sham-LN group was higher in comparison with Sham group (p<0.05 and p<0.01). There were no significant differences between OVX-LN and OVX groups in escape latency and traveled distance. Discussion: The results of present study showed that removal of ovarian hormones could impair Morris water maze tskas includiong time and distance. Administarion of non specific nitricoxide inhibitor, L-NAME, affects Morrsi water maze tasks however, its effect is different in the absence and presence of ovarian hormones but it needs to be more investigated

Brain tissue oxidative damage as a possible mechanism for the deleterious effect of a chronic high dose of estradiol on learning and memory in ovariectomized rats Dano oxidativo ao tecido cerebral como possível mecanismo de efeito deletério da alta dose crônica de estradiol no aprendizado e memória de ratas ooforectomizadas

In addition to antioxidative effects, estrogens also exert pro-oxidative actions. The effect of chronic administration of a high dose of estradiol valerate on Morris water maze tasks and brain tissues oxidative damage was investigated. The Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups were treated with estradiol valerate (4 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. Escape latency and traveled path in the Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups were significantly higher than in the Sham and OVX groups (p&#8810;0.01 and p&#8810;0.001). In the probe trial, the animals of the Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups spent lower time in Q1 compared to Sham and OVX groups (p&#8810;0.05 and p&#8810;0.001). In Sham-Est and OVX-Est groups, the brain tissue total thiol concentration was significantly lower, and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were higher than in the Sham and OVX groups (p&#8810;0.05 and p&#8810;0.001). It is concluded that administration of high exogenous levels of estradiol impairs performance and enhances oxidative stress.<br>Al&#233;m dos efeitos antioxidantes, os estr&#243;genos tamb&#233;m t&#234;m a&#231;&#227;o pr&#243;-oxidativa. Foi investigado o efeito da administra&#231;&#227;o cr&#244;nica de alta dose de valereato de estradiol no desempenho do labirinto aqu&#225;tico de Morris e o dano oxidativo ao tecido cerebral. Os grupos Sham-Est e OVX-Est foram tratados com valereato de estradiol (4 mg/kg) por 12 semanas. O tempo de lat&#234;ncia para escapada e o caminho percorrido foram significativamente maiores nos grupos Sham-Est e OVX-Est em rela&#231;&#227;o aos grupos Sham e OVX (p&#8810;0,01 e p&#8810;0,001). No estudo probe, os animais dos grupos Sham-Est e OVX-Est levaram menos tempo no Q1 em compara&#231;&#227;o aos grupos Sham e OVX (p&#8810;0,05 e p&#8810;0,001). Nos grupos Sham-Est e OVX-Est, a concentra&#231;&#227;o total de tiol foi significativamente menor, enquanto a concentra&#231;&#227;o de malondialdehydo (MDA) for maior do que aquela dos grupos Sham e OVX (p&#8810;0,05 e p&#8810;0,001). Concluiu-se que a administra&#231;&#227;o de altas doses de estradiol ex&#243;geno compromete o desempenho e aumenta o estresse oxidativo naqueles animais