Ethical and Unethical Methods of Plagiarism Prevention in Academic Writing

This paper discusses plagiarism origins, and the ethical solutions to prevent it. It also reviews some unethical approaches, which may be used to decrease the plagiarism rate in academic writings. We propose eight ethical techniques to avoid unconscious and accidental plagiarism in manuscripts without using online systems such as Turnitin and/or iThenticate for cross checking and plagiarism detection. The efficiency of the proposed techniques is evaluated on five different texts using students individually. After application of the techniques on the texts, they were checked by Turnitin to produce the plagiarism and similarity report. At the end, the “effective factor” of each method has been compared with each other; and the best result went to a hybrid combination of all techniques to avoid plagiarism. The hybrid of ethical methods decreased the plagiarism rate reported by Turnitin from nearly 100 to the average of 8.4 on 5 manuscripts

Protective effects of troxerutin on maternal high-fat diet-induced impairments of spatial memory and apelin in the male offspring

Objective(s): Maternal high-fat diet (HFD) is linked with metabolic and cognitive deficits in offspring. Neuroprotective effects of troxerutin, a natural bioflavonoid, have been reported recently. This study aimed to investigate the effects of troxerutin on spatial memory and serum and hippocampal apelin levels in the male offspring of HFD fed mothers.Materials and Methods: Three-week-old female Wistar rats (n= 40) received HFD or control diet (CD) for 8 weeks. After mating, pregnant animals were divided into two subgroups according to the troxerutin (TRO) supplementation: CD, CD+TRO, HFD, and HFD+TRO. HFD continued to the end of lactation in HFD and HFD+TRO groups. TRO was gavaged (150 mg/kg/day) during pregnancy. After weaning, the male offspring were fed a normal diet until 12 weeks of age. Spatial memory was evaluated in the Morris water maze (MWM) on postnatal day (PND) 90. Total apelin concentration was measured in the serum of maternal rats before mating and after lactation and also in the serum and hippocampus of their male offspring.Results: Both traveled distance (

Troxerutin affects the male fertility in prepubertal type 1 diabetic male rats

Objective(s): Diabetes can gradually cause damage to the function and structure of male gonads. This survey was conducted to investigate the effect of troxerutin on hormonal changes, serum oxidative stress indices, and testicular function and structure in prepubertal diabetic rats.Materials and Methods: Fifty prepubertal (6 weeks old) male Wistar rats were divided into five groups including Control, Troxerutin, Diabetic, Diabetic+Troxerutin, and Diabetic+Insulin. Type I diabetes was induced by 55 mg/kg of streptozotocin intraperitoneally. The groups were treated with 150 mg/kg/day troxerutin via oral gavage or 4-6 IU/day insulin via subcutaneous injection for 4 consecutive weeks. Blood sugar (BS) and serum levels of insulin, FSH, LH, testosterone, glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were analyzed. Testis and epididymis were removed for histopathologic study and analysis of sperm parameters.Results: Troxerutin significantly reduced the BS in the diabetic group similar to insulin but could not affect insulin, FSH, or LH significantly. Troxerutin caused a significant increase in testosterone and GPX but had no significant effect on serum MDA, TAC, and SOD levels. In addition, troxerutin had a better effect than insulin on diabetes-induced testicular structural damage. Sperm analysis results also revealed that troxerutin and insulin could improve sperm number, motility, and viability in diabetic rats.Conclusion: According to these results, it can be derived that administration of troxerutin is a suitable protective strategy for side effects of diabetes in testis of prepubertal diabetic male rats

Effect of troxerutin on apelin-13, apelin receptors (APJ), and ovarian histological changes in the offspring of high-fat diet fed rats

Objective(s): Maternal high-fat diet (HFD) consumption has been linked to metabolic disorders and reproductive dysfunctions in offspring. Troxerutin (TRO) has anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects. This study examined the effects of TRO on apelin-13, its receptors mRNA and ovarian histological changes in the offspring of HFD fed rats. Materials and Methods: Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into control diet (CD) or HFD groups and received these diets for eight weeks. After mating, dams were assigned into four subgroups: CD, CD + TRO, HFD, and HFD + TRO, and received their respective diets until the end of lactation. Troxerutin (150 mg/kg/day) was gavaged in the CD + TRO and HFD + TRO groups during pregnancy. On the postnatal day (PND) 21 all female offspring were separated and fed CD until PND 90. On PND 90 animals were sacrificed and ovarian tissue samples were collected for further evaluation. Results: Results showed that HFD significantly decreased serum apelin-13 in the female offspring of the HFD dams, which was significantly reversed by TRO. Moreover, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed that TRO treatment significantly decreased the ovarian mRNA expression of the apelin-13 receptor in the troxerutin-received offspring. Furthermore, histological examination revealed that TRO increased the number of atretic follicles in the ovaries of HFD+TRO offspring.Conclusion: Maternal high fat feeding compromises ovarian health including follicular growth and development in the adult offspring and troxerutin treatment improved negative effects of maternal HFD on the apelin-13 level and ovarian development of offspring

Qanats as an Endangered Traditional Hydraulic Heritage. An Integrated Methodology for Documenting, Restoring and Reusing an Ancient Iranian Qanat.

Qanats represented a major technological solution for water supply in arid and semi-arid regions for millennia. Thanks to their multiple social and economic benefits, qanat-like systems spread from Iran through the Middle East in most of the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In recent years, this valuable traditional hydraulic technology has been neglected in the preservation and reuse due to the lack of management as well as the lack of legal support. This precious heritage and sustainable water supply system according to their sustainable structural features has been replaced by modern water collection and management systems such as dams and other hydroelectric infrastructures along with new pumping technologies. Nevertheless, there is a growing consensus on the number of short, medium and long-term issues emerging from these systems including pollution and other environmental damages, regional conflicts, political pressures as well as their limited lifetime and structural instability. The purpose of this paper is to show qanats as an example of endangered heritage which could also represent a sustainable and clean technology. To do so, we apply a multi-disciplinary perspective integrating archaeological, architectural, sociological and conservation methodologies on a specific case study from the Tabriz region in Northwest Iran: the “No-Ras” qanat

Study of Photo-Conductivity in MoS2 Thin Films Grown in Low-Temperature Aqueous Solution Bath

An experimental study over the optical response of thin MoS2 films grownby chemical bath deposition (CBD) method is presented. As two important factors, theeffect of bath temperature and growth time are considered on the photocurrentgeneration in the grown samples. The results show that increasing the growth time leadsto better optical response and higher difference between dark and photocurrent. Forhigher bath temperatures the layer loses its uniformity and the current reduces. Betterperformance of optical response is obtained for t=90min and T=70oC. We also studiedthe effect of post-annealing on the performance and quality of thin films. The I-Vmeasurements show no current flow for annealed films because of rupture of the filmstructure. Temporal response of the films to light source ON and OFF states is alsostudied and the results showed relaxation of photocurrent after about several seconds.The importance of the MoS2 thin films obtained by CBD method is low-temperatureprocess and large area of fabricated layers which can be used in many applications

Fluoxetine increases hippocampal neural survival by improving axonal transport in stress-induced model of depression male rats

Introduction: Axonal transport deficit is a key mechanism involved in neurodegenerative conditions. Fluoxetine, a commonly used antidepressant for treatment of depression, is known to regulate several important structural and neurochemical aspects of hippocampal functions. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are still poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment on axonal transport in the hippocampus of rat stress-induced model of depression. Methods: We have analyzed the effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment (20 mg/kg/day, 24 days) on immobility behavior (forced swimming test), hippocampal iNOS (inflammatory factor) expression (RT-PCR) as well as hippocampal BDNF, kinesin and dynein expression (RT-PCR) and hippocampal neuronal survival (Nissl staining). Results: This study provided evidence that fluoxetine could effectively suppress iNOS expression following unpredictable chronic mild stress (P < 0.01), increase hippocampal BDNF (P < 0.01), kinesin (P < 0.05) and dynein (P < 0.01) gene expression, and control neuronal death in CA1 (P < 0.01) and CA3 regions (P < 0.01) of the hippocampus and thereby improve immobility behavior (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, we concluded the neuroprotective effect of fluoxetine may be due to its ability to improve axonal transmission, followed by increased energy supply and neurotrophin concentration and function. © 2020 Elsevier Inc

Applying ICOMOS-IFLA Principles for the Conservation, Management and Reuse of a Historical Hydraulic System: The No-Ras Qanat in North-Western Iran

Historical hydraulic systems represent a significant part of landscapes and global heritage. However, from the second half of the 20th century onwards, substantial socio-economic as well as technological changes occurring worldwide have put them at risk of abandonment and, eventually, of disappearing. Recent studies and international conventions, including the ICOMOS-IFLA, framed historical hydraulic systems and water management techniques in a new dimension, not only as an element of the past to be preserved but an active element to achieve sustainable economic development and mitigate climate change. Those qanats or karez represented a major historical hydraulic sustainable solution for irrigation, providing a water supply, which during the last few decades, has been slowly replaced with modern, although polluting and unsustainable, technologies. Building on the recent ICOMOS-IFLA Principles Concerning Rural Landscape as Heritage and the recommendation provided by initial research, this paper aims to show how qanats can become: (1) an important local and regional cultural and natural heritage; (2) a valuable economic resource; (3) an environmentally friendly system that could at least partially replace the existing polluting solution (i.e., dams and other modern infrastructures). To achieve these goals, we propose a restoration or reuse approach for the qanat based on the necessity of multiple stakeholders at local and national levels using sustainable materials and respecting the different values as a heritage place. Our case study is the No-Ras qanat in North-western Iran. In the conclusion, we also illustrate the relevance of the aims and methods of this paper in the light of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals