VOICE-ACTIVATED REMOTE CONTROL FOR TELEVISION

The Voice-activated remote control can be applied for any home appliances which work with a remote control. This could be so helpful for those who are constantly misplacing remote controls or are too tired after coming home from a long day of work and most importantly persons with disabilities, particularly people with paralysis, quadriplegia or paraplegia. This project is aimed to come up with a device which can communicate with a target appliance (which works with remote control) through voice commands. The device should accept voice command and on other hand the target device should correspond with a correct execution instantaneously. This project is targeted for electronic gadgets in general and a television set in particular. In addition to the traditional design of IR remote controls, a microphone, microcontroller and voice recognition board (using HM2007 voice recognition chip) will be added in the design. Although the project scope will only focus on controlling a television set, this project can be modified for a numbers of applications; such as door opener, VCR programmer, air conditioner and etc

The Simultaneous Effect of Aerobic Exercise and Matricaria chamomilla L. Flower Extract on the Serum Level of Peptide C in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Background and Objectives: Serum level of C peptide is considered as one of the indicators of diabetes treatment process. In this study, simultaneous effect of aerobic exercise and Matricaria chamomilla L. flower (MFE) extract, was investigated on the serum level of C peptide in male diabetic rats.   Methods: In this experimental study, 24 male Wistar rats (weight range, 200±20g), were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=6): control group (diabetic without treatment and training), MFE (diabetic treated with the extract), aerobic training (diabetic and training), and MFE+aerobic training (diabetic treated with extract+aerobic training). The aerobic training was performed as running on treadmill for 12 weeks (5 days per week, 60min/day, 26meter/min). The rats were diabetized with a single dose of streptozotocin (65mg/kg bw, ip). The MFE groups that daily received 200mg/kg orally (gavaged) along with exercise, were tested for 12 weeks. Data were analyzed using Shapiro-Wilk test, one way ANOVA, and Tukey post hoc test at the significant level of p<0.05.   Results: In this study, the serum level of C peptide significantly increased in MFE group, exercise group, and the chamomile extract along with exercise group compared to the control group (p<0.01).   Conclusion: The findings of this research indicated that aerobic exercise and use of MFE caused an increase in the serum level of C peptide in diabetic rats

Antileishmanial Activity of Myrtle Methanolic Extract against Leishmaniamajor: an In Vitro Study

Background and Aim: In this study we assessed the in vitro antileishmanial activity of myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) methanolic extract against Leishmania major. Materials and Methods: The in vitro antileishmanial effects of myrtle methanolic extract against L. major promastigote and amastigotes were determined by colorimetric cell viability (MTT) assay and macrophage model, respectively. The IC50 values were also calculated by probit test in SPSS software. Results:The obtained results showed that myrtle extract was significantly inhibited promastigote growth of L. major based on a dose and time dependent manner. The measured IC50 values for myrtle methanolic extract and MA as control drug against promastigote forms of L. major were 23.6 µg/mL and 88.3 µg/mL, respectively. The obtained IC50 values were 13.

Gens PSD‐95 and GSK‐3β expression improved by hair follicular stem cells‐conditioned medium enhances synaptic transmission and cognitive abilities in the rat model of vascular dementia

Abstract Introduction Vascular dementia (VaD) is a common type of dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanism of conditioned medium (CM) in VaD. Material and methods The rats were divided into four groups of control (n = 9), sham‐operation (n = 10), VaD with vehicle (n = 9), and VaD with CM (n = 12) that received CM on days 4, 14, and 24 after 2VO. Before sacrificing the rats, cognitive performance was assessed through the open‐field (OP), passive‐avoidance, and Morris‐water maze. The field‐potential recording was used to investigate basal synaptic transmission (BST) and long‐term potentiation (LTP). Subsequently, the hippocampus was dissected, and real‐time PCR was used to quantify the expression levels of β1‐catenin, insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1), transforming growth factor‐beta (TGF‐β), glycogen synthase kinase‐3β (GSK‐3β), postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD‐95), and NR2B genes. Results The results indicated impaired performance in behavioral tests in 2VO rats, coupled with reductions in BST and LTP induction. The expression levels of β1‐catenin, IGF‐1, PSD‐95, and TGF‐β genes decreased, whereas NR2B and GSK‐3β expression increased. Treatment with CM restores the expression of PSD‐95 and GSK‐3β as well as fear‐memory, spatial learning, and grooming number without a positive effect on memory retrieval, time spent on the periphery and center of OP. The BST recovered upon administration of CM but, the LTP induction was still impaired. Conclusion The recovery of BST in VaD rats appears to be the most important outcome of this study which is caused by the improvement of gene expression and leads to the restoration of fear memory

The Beneficial Potential of Genetically Modified Stem Cells in the Treatment of Stroke: a Review

The last two decades have witnessed a surge in investigations proposing stem cells as a promising strategy to treat stroke. Since growth factor release is considered as one of the most important aspects of cell-based therapy, stem cells over-expressing growth factors are hypothesized to yield higher levels of therapeutic efficiency. In pre-clinical studies of the last 15 years that were investigating the efficiency of stem cell therapy for stroke, a variety of stem cell types were genetically modified to over-express various factors. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on the therapeutic efficiency of stem cell-derived growth factors, encompassing techniques employed and time points to evaluate. In addition, we discuss several types of stem cells, including the recently developed model of epidermal neural crest stem cells, and genetically modified stem cells over-expressing specific factors, which could elevate the restorative potential of naive stem cells. The restorative potential is based on enhanced survival/differentiation potential of transplanted cells, apoptosis inhibition, infarct volume reduction, neovascularization or functional improvement. Since the majority of studies have focused on the short-term curative effects of genetically engineered stem cells, we emphasize the need to address their long-term impact

Association of birth weight with abdominal obesity and weight disorders in children and adolescents: the weight disorder survey of the CASPIAN-IV Study

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the association of birth weight (BW) with weight disorders in a national sample of Iranian pediatric population. Methods: This nationwide survey was conducted among 25000 student’s aged 6-18 year-old students, who were selected using multistage cluster random sampling from 30 provinces of Iran in 2011-2012. Anthropometric measures were measured under standard protocols by using calibrated instruments. Abdominal obesity was defined based on waist circumference (WC) ≥90th percentile value for age and sex. The WHO criterion was used to categorize BMI. Students’ BW was asked from parents using validate questionnaire and was categorized as low BW (LBW) (BW 4000 g). Results: This national survey was conducted among 23043 school students (participation rate: 92.6%). The mean age of participants (50.8% boys) was 12.54 ± 3.31 years. Results of multivariate logistic regression show that LBW increased odds of underweight (OR [odds ratio]: 1.61; 95% CI: 1.37, 1.89) and students with HBW had decreased odds of underweight (OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.58, 0.93) compared to students with NBW. Students with LBW compared to student with NBW had decreased odds of overweight (OR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.98) and general obesity (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.95). On the other hand, HBW increased odd of overweight (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.50), generalized obesity (OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.29, 1.96) and abdominal obesity (OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.49) compared to NBW group. Conclusion: BW is a determinant of weight disorders and abdominal obesity in childhood and adolescence. This finding underscores the importance of prenatal care as well as close monitoring of the growth pattern of children born with low or high BW

Combination Therapy with Platelet-Rich Plasma and Epidermal Neural Crest Stem Cells Increases Treatment Efficacy in Vascular Dementia

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and treatment mechanism of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and neural crest-derived epidermal stem cells (ESCs) in their administration alone and combination in vascular dementia (VaD) model by two-vessel occlusion (2VO). Methods. Sixty-six rats were divided into six groups: the control, sham, 2VO + vehicle, 2VO + PRP, 2VO + ESC, and 2VO + ESC + PRP. The treated groups received 1 million cells on days 4, 14, and 21 with or without 500 µl PRP (twice a week) after 2VO. The memory performance and anxiety were evaluated by behavioral tests including open field, passive avoidance, and Morris water maze. The basal-synaptic transmission (BST) and long-term potentiation (LTP) were assessed through field-potential recordings of the CA1. The mRNA expression levels of IGF-1, TGF-β1, PSD-95, and GSk-3β were measured in the rat hippocampus by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results. The results demonstrated impaired learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity in the 2VO rats, along with a significant decrease in the expression of IGF-1, TGF-β1, PSD-95, and upregulation of GSK-3β. Treatment with ESC alone and ESC + PRP showed similar improvements in spatial memory and LTP induction, with associated upregulation of PSD-95 and downregulation of GSK-3β. However, only the ESC + PRP group showed recovery in BST. Furthermore, combination therapy was more effective than PRP monotherapy for LTP and memory. Conclusions. The transplantation of ESC showed better effects than PRP alone, and combination therapy increased the treatment efficacy with the recovery of BST. This finding may be a clue for the combination therapy of ESC and PRP for VaD

Therapeutic potential of hair follicle-derived stem cell intranasal transplantation in a rat model of ischemic stroke

Background Stem cell-based therapy has received considerable attention as a potential candidate in the treatment of ischemic stroke; however, employing an appropriate type of stem cells and an effective delivery route are still challenging. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of safe, noninvasive, and brain-targeted intranasal administration of hair follicle-derived stem cells (HFSCs) in a rat model of ischemic stroke. Methods Stem cells were obtained from the adult rat hair follicles. In experiment 1, stroke was induced by 30 min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and stem cells were intranasally transplanted immediately after ischemia. In experiment 2, stroke was induced by 120 min MCAO and stem cells were administered 24 h after cerebral ischemia. In all experimental groups, neurological performance, short-term spatial working memory and infarct volume were assessed. Moreover, relative expression of major trophic factors in the striatum and cortex was evaluated by the quantitative PCR technique. The end point of experiment 1 was day 3 and the end point of experiment 2 was day 15. Results In both experiments, intranasal administration of HFSCs improved functional performance and decreased infarct volume compared to the MCAO rats. Furthermore, NeuN and VEGF expression were higher in the transplanted group and stem cell therapy partially prevented BDNF and neurotrophin-3 over-expression induced by cerebral ischemia. Conclusions These findings highlight the curative potential of HFSCs following intranasal transplantation in a rat model of ischemic stroke.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí