Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Vitex agnus castus fruit in mice

زمینه و هدف: از آنجا که در طب سنتی اثرات ضد دردی و ضد التهابی به گیاه پنج انگشت نسبت داده شده است. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی اثرات ضد دردی و ضد التهابی عصاره هیدروالکلی میوه گیاه پنج انگشت ((Vitex agnus- castus در موش کوچک نر نژاد آزمایشگاهی NMRI انجام شده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی از 112 سر موش نر بالغ نژاد NMRI استفاده شد. در تست التهاب، حیوانات به 7 گروه شاهد، کنترل مثبت (دریافت کننده دگزامتازون با دوز mg/kg15) و پنج گروه دریافت کننده دوزهای 265، 365، 465، 565 و 665 میلی گرم بر کیلوگرم عصاره هیدروالکلی میوه پنج انگشت تقسیم و برای ایجاد التهاب از گزیلن استفاده شد. جهت بررسی اثر ضد دردی عصاره، تست فرمالین مورد استفاده قرار گرفت. در این تست نیز حیوانات به 7 گروه شاهد، کنترل مثبت (دریافت کننده مورفین با دوز mg/kg 10) و پنج گروه دریافت کننده عصاره تقسیم شدند. تزریقات به روش داخل صفاقی و 30 دقیقه قبل از شروع هر تست انجام شد. داده ها با استفاده از آزمون های آماری آنالیز واریانس یک طرفه و سپس توکی تجزیه و تحلیل شدند. یافته ها: تمام دوزهای عصاره اثر ضد التهابی قابل ملاحظه ای را در مهار التهاب گوش، ناشی از گزیلن در مقایسه با گروه شاهد نشان داد (05/0

Automated Sustainability Compliance Checking Using Process Mining and Formal Logic

Business processes need to have certain constraints such that they can lead to sustainable outcomes. These constraints can be manifold and their adherence has to be monitored. In the past compliance checking has been applied in several business domains without considering certain sustainability aspects, such as multi-dimensionality and impact level. With my research I want to contribute to the application of compliance checking techniques for the purpose of sustainability compliance. In order to achieve this, I want to analyse and develop data-driven approaches, which allow to automate the task of compliance checking. The way in which this can be achieved, is be combining methods from process mining with formal languages that can express sustainability rules in a machine-readable manner. The main goal is to develop a compliance engine that can be adapted by ERP systems in order to evaluate sustainability conformance in business processes

Evaluating a new verbal working memory-balance program: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial study on Iranian children with dyslexia

Abstract: Background: It is important to improve verbal Working Memory (WM) in reading disability, as it is a key factor in learning. There are commercial verbal WM training programs, which have some short-term effects only on the verbal WM capacity, not reading. However, because of some weaknesses in current verbal WM training programs, researchers suggested designing and developing newly structured programs that particularly target educational functions such as reading skills. In the current double-blind randomized clinical trial study, we designed a new Verbal Working Memory-Balance (VWM-B) program which was carried out using a portable robotic device. The short-term effects of the VWM-B program, on verbal WM capacity, reading skills, and postural control were investigated in Iranian children with developmental dyslexia. Results: The effectiveness of the VWM-B program was compared with the VWM-program as a traditional verbal WM training. In comparison with VWM-program, the participants who received training by the VWM-B program showed superior performance on verbal WM capacity, reading skills, and postural control after a short-term intervention. Conclusions: We proposed that the automatized postural control resulting from VWM-B training had a positive impact on improving verbal WM capacity and reading ability. Based on the critical role of the cerebellum in automatizing skills, our findings support the cerebellar deficit theory in dyslexia. Trial registration: This trial was (retrospectively) registered on 8 February 2018 with the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20171219037953N1)

The Effect of Different Treatments on Storage life and Postharvest Quality of Button Mushroom (Agaricusbisporus)

The storage life of mushrooms is less than the other vegetables due mainly to high water contents and a porous and thin epidermal structure. This research was aimed at obtaining a suitable compost combination and an optimal condition of maintenance for increase the storage life of button mushroom. The experimental factors consisted of two maintenance temperatures (4°C and 25°C), two types of packages (transparent and covered with foil) and four types of composts (wheat straw and chicken manure, wheat straw and horse manure, rice straw and chicken manure, rice straw and olive bagasse). Attributes such as percent of weight loss, browning area, percent of dry matter, total phenol and antioxidant capacity of stored samples were assessed 7 days after harvest in room temperature and 25 days after harvest in refrigerator temperature. Mushrooms grown in rice straw and olive bagasse compost had the highest dry matter (11.62%), when stored in room temperature. Mushrooms grown in rice straw and olive bagasse compost had the highest antioxidant capacity in both refrigerator and room temperatures when stored in the package covered with foil. According to our results, rice straw and olive bagasse compost is potent to increase the storage life of the button mushroom and merits further studies. &nbsp

Effect of Aerobic Exercise on the Expression of Ppargc-1α and SIRT1 in Cardiac Muscle of Diabetic Male Wistar Rats

Background: Type 2 diabetic patients have an abnormally high rate of mortality due to cardiovascular diseases. Given the adverse impact of diabetes on mitochondrial biogenesis in heart cells and the role of exercise on mitochondrial biogenesis signaling, this study investigated the effect of eight weeks of aerobic exercise on PGC-1a and SIRT1 gene expression in the myocardium of diabetic male Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 24 adult male Wistar rats (eight weeks old and weighing 278.26±18.06g), which were randomly assigned to three groups of healthy control (n=8), diabetic control (n=8), and diabetes+aerobic exercise (n=8). The exercise protocol consisted of eight weeks of exercise, three sessions a week, starting with 10 minutes of running at a speed of 10m/s in the first week and ultimately reaching 40 minutes of running at a speed of 18m/s in the eighth week. The changes were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc test. Results: Significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of body mass (P=0.0001), fasting glucose (P=0.004), serum insulin (P=0.023), and myocardial Ppargc- 1α expression (P=0.031). The post hoc test represented a notable weight decrease in the diabetic control group (P=0.001) and the diabetic exercise group (P=0.001) compared to the healthy control group. The results also showed a significant increase in the glucose level of the diabetic control group compared to the healthy control group (P=0.008) and a notable decrease in the diabetic exercise group’s glucose level in comparison with the diabetic control group (P=0.001). A significant decrease was also observed in the insulin level of the diabetic exercise group compared to the diabetic control group (P=0.034). The results of the post hoc test for Ppargc-1α expression changes showed significantly increased myocardial Ppargc-1α expression in the diabetic exercise group compared to the diabetic control group (P=0.009). No significant change was detected in the expression of SIRT1 (P=0.075). Conclusion: The findings suggest that exercise positively affects insulin resistance and weight changes by regulating genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis

Valorization of Old Corrugated Container to Dissolving Pulp

As an alternative raw material for various cellulose derivatives, the current research studied the processing of old corrugated container (OCC) in the subsequent stages of homogenization (soda cooking) and purification (bleaching with hypochlorite). The properties were characterized in four different categories including chemical composition or purity, accessibility, reactivity, and structural features. Alkali delignification and a bleaching sequence of HEHEHEA were selected for homogenization and purification of pulp followed by characterization of the pulp properties. The dissolving pulp exhibited the following properties: yield, 78%; cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin content, 90.5%, 7.76%, and 0.3%, respectively; alpha cellulose, 70%. Pulp reactivity measured with two experiments showed Fock reactivity value of 85.67% as well as iodine sorption value (ISV) of 94.95 g/g; accessibility represented by two tests of water retention (WRV) and alkali retention capacity (ARC) with 6.87 for the first and 6.1% for the latter, degree of polymerization (DP), 913.4; crystallinity index, 76.95%; and brightness, 72.87%. FTIR spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) isotherms were utilized to examine the modifications of OCC to dissolving pulp. The results indicated that the dissolving pulp produced from OCC as a raw material is suitable for DP applications of cellulose derivatives