The effects of Vaccinium arctostaphylos on lipid profile in mild hyperlipidemia patients- a randomized clinical trial

زمینه و هدف: هایپر لیپیدمی یا افزایش چربی خون، به عنوان یک ریسک فاکتور مستقل و قابل اصلاح در بیماری های قلبی- عروقی (CVD) شناخته شده است. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی اثرات قره قاط (Vaccinium arctostaphylos) بر سطح لیپید پروفایل بیماران مبتلا به هایپر لیپیدمی بود. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی دوسو کور، 50 بیمار هایپر لیپیدمی خفیف با محدوده سنی 76-14 سال انتخاب و به طور تصادفی ساده به دو گروه کنترل و مورد (هر گروه 25 نفر) تقسیم شدند. بیماران گروه مورد روزانه 2 عدد کپسول قره قاط (معادل با 2±45 میلی گرم آنتوسیانین) و گروه کنترل کپسول پلاسبو به مدت یک ماه مصرف کردند. میزان سرمی سطح تری گلیسرید (TG)، کلسترول تام (TC) و لیپوپروتئین با چگال کم (LDL) و کاهش سطح لیپوپروتئین با چگال بالا (HDL) قبل و بعد از مطالعه برای دو گروه بررسی و مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: میانگین سن، نمایه توده بدنی (BMI)، TG،HDL ، LDL وTC بین بیماران دو گروه در ابتدای مطالعه تفاوت معنی داری نداشت. میانگین تغییرات در گروه دریافت کننده قره قاط در مقایسه با گروه کنترل در پایان یک ماه، برای فاکتورهای TC(09/32±48/226 در مقابل 81/28±04/192)، LDL-C (76/23±80/132 در مقابل 46/27±36/121) و تری گلیسرید (99/96±20/226 در مقابل 76/46±56/156) کاهش معنی داری نشان داد. ولی برای فاکتورهای HDL-C و BMI تغییرات معنی داری نشان نداد. نتیجه گیری: در این مطالعه مصرف گیاه قره قاط به مدت یک ماه موجب کاهش لیپید پروفایل در افراد مبتلا به هایپر لیپیدمی خفیف شد؛ لذا این گیاه می تواند در پیشگیری از شیوع بیماری های قلبی- عروقی ارزشمند باشد

The effects of cranberry on glucose levels and HbA1C with type 2 diabetes patients- a randomized clinical trial

زمینه و هدف: بیماری دیابت یکی از شایع ترین اختلالات غدد درون ریز می باشد که سالانه بیش از 100 میلیون نفر را مبتلا می کند که در نتیجه نقص کامل یا نسبی و یا مقاومت به عمل انسولین ایجاد و کنترل نشدن آن موجب بروز عوارض قلبی، عروقی، کلیوی و چشمی می شود. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی اثرات زغال اخته (.Cornus mas L) بر سطح قند خون و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله (HbA1C) در بیماران مبتلا به دیابت نوع 2 بود. روش بررسی: این مطالعه به صورت یک کارآزمایی بالینی، دو سویه کور، کنترل شده با دارونما به مدت 6 هفته انجام شد. 60 بیمار دیابت با محدوده سنی 65-41 سال در مطالعه شرکت کردند. بیماران به طور تصادفی به دو گروه 30 نفری کنترل (مصرف کننده کپسول پلاسبو یا دارونما به تعداد 2 عدد در روز) و گروه مورد (مصرف کننده کپسول زغال اخته به تعداد 2 عدد، معادل با 50 میلی گرم آنتوسیانین، در روز) تقسیم شدند. در ابتدا و پایان مطالعه میزان قند خون ناشتا (FBS) و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله اندازه گیری و با کمک آزمون t و ANCOVA در دو گروه مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: در مورد خصوصیات افراد مورد مطالعه (سن، FBS، HbA1c) بین دو گروه در ابتدای مطالعه تفاوت معنی داری وجود نداشت. درگروه دریافت کننده زغال اخته در مقایسه با گروه کنترل در پایان 6 هفته، میزان فاکتورهای FBSو HbA1cکاهش معنی دار داشت (05/0>P). نتیجه گیری: کاهش میزان قند خون ناشتا و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله در اثر مصرف زغال اخته، به منظور کنترل بیماری دیابت ارزشمند است. بروز این تغییرات احتمالاً ناشی از ترکیبات آنتوسیانینی موجود در زغال اخته است

Pedobarography of the coper and non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects during single and double leg stance

Introduction: Biomechanical studies have frequently shown a close relationship between the knee and ankle joint movements. ACL-deficiency may change the foot pressure pattern of the ACL-deficient knee subjects. The current study aimed to investigate the pattern of the foot pressure in coper and non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects during standing on one and both feet. Methods and Materials: This case-control study was conducted on 12 coper and 12 non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects and 25 age-sex matched healthy subjects. The subjects were tested barefoot during single and bilateral standing on the platform of a Zebris pedobarograph tool. The outcome measures included the measurements of the pressures of each part of the foot during the tests. Results: The results showed a significantly decreased total pressure only between the non-coper and control groups during double leg stance test. In terms of the forefoot pressure, a significant increased pressure was shown only in the non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects during both single and double leg stance tests (P<0.05). In both test conditions, the coper ACL-deficient knee subjects showed forefoot and hind foot pressures very close to the control group (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed marked changes following ACL-deficiency mainlyin non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects. The increased forefoot pressure in non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects was probably due to the forwarded line of gravity in these patients aligned with their base of support to keep their knees more stable. Further studies are needed to verify the differences between the male and female ACL-deficient knee subjects.Keywords: Coper/non-coper ACL-deficient knee subjects; Stability; Pedobarograph; Foot pressure system; Postural contro

Effect of estrogen and/or progesterone administration on traumatic brain injury-caused brain edema: the changes of aquaporin-4 and interleukin-6

Abstract The role of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the development of brain edema post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been indicated. The present study was designed to investigate the effect( s) of administration of progesterone (P) and/or estrogen (E) on brain water content, AQP4 expression, and IL-6 levels post-TBI. The ovariectomized rats were divided into 11 groups: sham, one vehicle, two vehicles, E1, E2, P1, P2, E1 + P1, E1 + P2, E2 + P1, and E2 + P2. The brain AQP4 expression, IL-6 levels, and water content were evaluated 24 h after TBI induced by Marmarou’s method. The low (E1 and P1) and high (E2 and P2) doses of estrogen and progesterone were administered 30 min post-TBI. The results showed that brain water content and AQP4 expression decreased in the E1, E2, P1, and P2-treated groups. The administration of E1 decreased IL-6 levels. Addition of progesterone decreased the inhibitory effect of E1 and E2 on the accumulation of water in the brain.Administration of E1 + P1 and E1 + P2 decreased the inhibitory effect of E1 on the IL-6 levels and AQP4 protein expression. Our findings suggest that estrogen or progesterone by itself has more effective roles in decrease of brain edema than combination of both. Possible mechanism may be mediated by the alteration of AQP4 and IL-6 expression. However, further studies are required to verify the exact mechanism

APP DEVELOPMENT, DATA COLLECTION AND MACHINE LEARNING IN DETERMINING MEDICINE DOSAGE FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 0.2% of the population having motor disabilities as its most prominent feature. A symptom of the disease is lowered dopamine levels which often is countered by oral intake of a medication called Levodopa. However, for the dopamine levels to be steady, a patient would need to regularly take the medication throughout the day. As the disease and the treatment progresses, the correct medicine prescription becomes more difficult. This project is the continuation of a previous project done by students at Uppsala University, in which a Machine Learning model with the help of Support Vector Machine could classify data collected from a handheld accelerometer as the user being either under or overdosed for Parkinson’s Disease. The goal of this project was to achieve a similar result by developing a mobile app. The mobile app was supposed to allow the user to follow a path displayed on the screen with their finger, meanwhile the app would collect touch data in the form of coordinates and timestamp these. The app development proved to be successful, and the collected data was sent to a database hosted on the Google cloud service Firebase for storage. From there, the data could be downloaded and imported to MATLAB where an SVM model was set up and trained. Once trained using data collected from healthy individuals as well as patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the SVM could accurately differentiate between Parkinson’s disease data and healthy data with a success rate of 91.7%

APP DEVELOPMENT, DATA COLLECTION AND MACHINE LEARNING IN DETERMINING MEDICINE DOSAGE FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 0.2% of the population having motor disabilities as its most prominent feature. A symptom of the disease is lowered dopamine levels which often is countered by oral intake of a medication called Levodopa. However, for the dopamine levels to be steady, a patient would need to regularly take the medication throughout the day. As the disease and the treatment progresses, the correct medicine prescription becomes more difficult. This project is the continuation of a previous project done by students at Uppsala University, in which a Machine Learning model with the help of Support Vector Machine could classify data collected from a handheld accelerometer as the user being either under or overdosed for Parkinson’s Disease. The goal of this project was to achieve a similar result by developing a mobile app. The mobile app was supposed to allow the user to follow a path displayed on the screen with their finger, meanwhile the app would collect touch data in the form of coordinates and timestamp these. The app development proved to be successful, and the collected data was sent to a database hosted on the Google cloud service Firebase for storage. From there, the data could be downloaded and imported to MATLAB where an SVM model was set up and trained. Once trained using data collected from healthy individuals as well as patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the SVM could accurately differentiate between Parkinson’s disease data and healthy data with a success rate of 91.7%

Parameters Affecting the Crystalinity of Poly (vinyl alcohol) Prepared at Different Reaction Conditions

Various samples of poly(vinyl alcohol) have been prepared under different conditions. Temperature and time in the presence of catalyst were assumed as important parameters affecting the properties of poly(vinyl alcohol). The degree of hydrolysis and molecular weight, as dependent parameters, were determined. First the temperature was kept at 45°C and hydrolysis reactions were conducted at different times. To investigate the effect of temperature on hydrolysis process the time was kept constant at 40 min and the reaction was carried out at various temperatures. By considering the various uses of poly(vinyl alcohol) and the properties of its various grades such as solubility, surface tension, resistance in tension, viscosity, the crystallinity properties of various prepared samples were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. Increasing the time and temperature of the reaction led to higher degree of hydrolysis and lower molecular weight. Molecular weight, thermal treatment, degree of hydrolysis and the type of configuration of the molecules were the most important parameters affecting the crystallinity. Increasing the degree of hydrolysis increased the crystallinity and reduction in molecular weight and in this respect the effect of degree of hydrolysis on crystallinity was more evident than the molecular weight. In order to have similar molecular configuration for raw material the same polyvinyl acetate was used in all the tests. FTIR results showed that syndiotactic structure was dominant and favored the crystallinity. By considering the variation in three parameters during reaction the individual and associated effects of degree of hydrolysis, molecular weight and configuration was investigated on the crystallinity and melting point

Compatibilization of Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotube/EPDM: Studies on the Properties of Nanocomposite

In order to achieve dramatic improvements in the performance of rubber materials, attempts were made to develop carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced rubber composites. The maleic anhydride (MAH) modification of EPDM is an interesting way of compatibilizing the EPDM rubber with CNT. Novel ternary nanocomposites were prepared based on EPDM/EPDM grafted maleic anhydride (EPDM-g-MAH) blend composition with various concentrations (0-7 phr) of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on a two-roll mill. The effect of EPDM-g-MAH as a compatibilizer and MWCNT concentration were investigated on cure characteristics, mechanical, morphological and rheological properties of nanocomposites. The microstructure of nanocomposites has been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At the same time the rheological behavior has been evaluated by a rubber processing analyzer (RPA). It was found that the cure time (t90) and scorch time (t5) decreased while maximum torque (MH) and minimum torque (ML) of the compatibilized composites were increased with increasing MWCNT loading which was consistent with the swelling data. It is observed that by increasing MWCNT loading the swelling index in solvent was decreased. This can be related to good interactions between carbon nanotube and EPDM matrix in presence of EPDM-g-MAH compatibilizer. The fracture surface study indicated that compatibilizer facilitated a homogenous dispersion of MWCNTs inside the matrix. On the other hand, carbon nanotubes in matrix caused roughness of the fractured surface compared with uncompatibilized samples. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation-at-break of compatibilized EPDM/MWCNT were higher than those of uncompatibilized nanocomposites. In addition, due to increasing MWCNT content the rheological properties such as storage modulus (G') increased with respect to angular frequency while the complex viscosity decreased

Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Waste Short Nylon Fibers and Nanoclay Reinforced NR/SBR Rubber Nanocomposites

Natural rubber and styrene butadiene rubber (NR/SBR) reinforced with short nylon fibers along with nanoclay (Cloisite 15A) hybrid composites were prepared in an internal and a two roll-mill mixer by a three-step mixingprocess. The effects of fiber content at a constant loading of 3 wt% nanoclay were studied on the microstructure, mechanical and morphological properties of the prepared nanocomposites. The adhesion between the fiber and the rubber was enhanced by the addition of a dry bonding system consisting of resorcinol, hexamethylene tetramine and hydrated silica (HRH). The curing characteristics of the composites were determined and subsequently vulcanized at 150°C using a hot press. It was observed that the cure time and swelling index of the composites decreased while maximum torque, and cure rate increased with increasing of short fiber and nanoclay contents. Thestructure and fracture surface morphology of the nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction results of nanocomposites indicated that the interlayer distance of silicate layers increased. The mechanical properties (tensile, tear strength, elongation-at-break and hardness) ofnanocomposites containing virgin and waste fibers in the longitudinal direction are compared

Evaluation of the Effects of Cornus mas

Background. The plant Cornus mas L. (cornelian cherry) is traditionally used as an antidiabetic supplement; however, there is no related clinical trial. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the fruit extract of this plant on biomarkers of glycemic control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods. Sixty patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to two groups to receive either the extract or placebo capsules (2 capsules twice daily) for 6 weeks. Each drug capsule contained 150 mg of anthocyanins. Fasting plasma levels of glucose, insulin, HgbA1C, and triglyceride as well as 2-hour postprandial glucose level (2Hpp) were measured before and after the intervention and finally the mean values were compared between groups. Results. After 6 weeks of intervention, significant increase in insulin level (1.13 ± 1.90 versus −0.643 ± 1.82, P<0.05) as well as decrease in HgbA1C (−0.24 ± 0.429 versus 0.023 ± 0.225, P<0.05) and TG (−23.66 ± 55.40 versus 2.83 ± 15.71, P<0.05) levels was observed in drug group compared to placebo. Conclusion. Daily consumption of the fruit extract of Cornus mas L. improves glycemic control by increasing insulin level and reduces TG serum level in type 2 diabetic adult patients