The effect of rosa damascena Mill hydro-alcoholic extract on the ileum contraction in rat

Background and purpose: Rosa damascena Mill in Iranian folk medicine is used for treating digestive disorders. We assessed the antispasmodic effects of extract of the leaves of this plant on ileum contractions in Wistar rats; possible mechanisms were investigated, too. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 48 male Wistar rats (150-200 g) were divided randomly into six groups of eight members, including control group and the groups received extracts of Rosa damascena Mill, propranolol, naloxone, L-nitro-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), and calcium chloride. To evaluate the effectiveness mechanisms, ileum was placed adjacent to antagonist drugs of β-adrenergic receptors, opioid and inhibitor of the synthesis of nitric oxide, and also under the influence of different doses of calcium chloride. The observed effects were recorded. Then, the percent changes were calculated. Statistical analysis was done using parametric tests of repeated measuring design, ANOVA and t tests. Results: Cumulative extract of Rosa damascena Mill (100, 500 and 1000 mg/k) decreased ileum contractions induced by KCl (P < 0.0001). Propranolol and naloxone significantly decreased the inhibitive effect of the extract on contractions induced by KCl (P < 0.0010), but L-NAME was ineffective. Also, calcium led to the contraction of depolarized tissue through KCI and this contractile effect decreased significantly by the cumulative concentration of Rosa damascena Mill (P < 0.0010). Conclusion: Extract of Rosa damascena Mill probably decreases ileum movements of the rat through stimulating the β-adrenergic and opioid receptors and voltage-dependent channels, and it may be used to treat digestive disorders

Are there neurological symptoms in type 1 of gaucher disease?

Objective Gaucher disease (GD) is a rare inborn error of metabolism, classified as a lipid storage disorders. This disease is caused by a deficiency in glucocerebrosidase enzyme. It has been classified according to the presence or absence of neurological symptoms into the following types: type 1 non-neuropathic, type 2 acute infantile neuropathic and type 3 or chronic neuropathic. We evaluated neurological symptoms in patients with GD1 and GD3 and compared both of these groups. Materials & Methods Eleven patients were identified according to their clinical presentation and the presence of disease confirmed by genetic testing, from 2006-2016, at the Mofid Children Hospital Clinic, Tehran, Iran. We included eight patients with GD 1 and three patients with GD3. Careful neurological examination was performed on these patients during treatment by pediatric neurologist. Results Patients with GD1 had some neurological symptoms including cognitive impairment, developmental disability, behavioral disorder, microcephaly and increased deep tendon reflexes (DTR). Of course, neurological signs in patients with type 3 of GD were different and were included seizures, supranuclear gaze palsy, cerebellar signs, and ataxia. Conclusion The current nomenclature for 3 types of Gaucher disease does not meet all clinical symptoms. Patients with GD1 display many neurological deficits in young ages not reported adequately earlier. © 2018, Iranian Child Neurology Society. All rights reserved

Benefits of an Active Spine Supported Bounding Locomotion With a Small Compliant Quadruped Robot

We studied the effect of the control of an active spine versus a fixed spine, on a quadruped robot run- ning in bound gait. Active spine supported actuation led to faster locomotion, with less foot sliding on the ground, and a higher stability to go straight forward. However, we did no observe an improvement of cost of transport of the spine-actuated, faster robot system compared to the rigid spine

Cosmology from LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 2: Angular Clustering of Radio Sources

Covering ∼5600 deg2 to rms sensitivities of ∼70−100 μJy beam−1, the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 2 (LoTSS-DR2) provides the largest low-frequency (∼150 MHz) radio catalogue to date, making it an excellent tool for large-area radio cosmology studies. In this work, we use LoTSS-DR2 sources to investigate the angular two-point correlation function of galaxies within the survey. We discuss systematics in the data and an improved methodology for generating random catalogues, compared to that used for LoTSS-DR1, before presenting the angular clustering for ∼900,000 sources ≥1.5 mJy and a peak signal-to-noise ≥7.5 across ∼80% of the observed area. Using the clustering we infer the bias assuming two evolutionary models. When fitting {angular scales of 0.5≤θ&lt;5°, using a linear bias model, we find LoTSS-DR2 sources are biased tracers of the underlying matter, with a bias of bC=2.14+0.22−0.20 (assuming constant bias) and bE(z=0)=1.79+0.15−0.14 (for an evolving model, inversely proportional to the growth factor), corresponding to bE=2.81+0.24−0.22 at the median redshift of our sample, assuming the LoTSS Deep Fields redshift distribution is representative of our data. This reduces to bC=2.02+0.17−0.16 and bE(z=0)=1.67+0.12−0.12 when allowing preferential redshift distributions from the Deep Fields to model our data. Whilst the clustering amplitude is slightly lower than LoTSS-DR1 (≥2 mJy), our study benefits from larger samples and improved redshift estimates

A single-center non-blinded randomized clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of PhR160 spray in the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia

7-16COVID-19 is an emerging pandemic that caused a very widespread infection with more than 1000000 cases in Iran within a year. The main cause of mortality among patients with COVID-19 is pulmonary failure. In Iranian Traditional Medicine, essences have been used for curing pulmonary diseases. Pinen-Hydronoplacton-Ribonucleic acid (PHR) is an inhaler spray made of seven different plants, which all are used by humans and have desirable pharmacological features for treating pulmonary symptoms of COVID-19 patients. This study was conducted to assess the safety and effectiveness of PHR160 spray in improving pulmonary symptoms of COVID-19 patients. This was a single-centre, non-blinded randomized clinical trial with two parallel groups in two different wards of Baqiyatallah hospital, Tehran, Iran. Participants were 63 male patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia, divided into 2 groups of 32 in the intervention group and 31 in the control group. The intervention group received 5 days of PHR160 spray, 10 puffs each day, 300 micrograms in each puff in addition to the routine treatment. Oxygen saturation was measured by a pulse oximeter, every six hours and recorded daily. This study showed that administration of PhR 160 in patients of COVID-19 was safe, and it significantly increased the arterial oxygen saturation percentage in COVID-19 patients. In addition, it decreased hospitalization duration, dyspnea score, and cough score significantly in the patients. The statistical modelling test, with adjusting the age and respiratory rate for baseline and 4 days of the intervention, shows that the oxygen saturation percentage mean was significantly more in the intervention group by 5.14 units (p<0.001)

25th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS-2016

Abstracts of the 25th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS-2016 Seogwipo City, Jeju-do, South Korea. 2–7 July 201

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Design, implementation and analysis of an alternation-based Central Pattern Generator for multidimensional trajectory generation

In this paper, we introduce a multidimensional Central Pattern Generator (CPG) model with an explicit and defined basin of attraction for generating any arbitrary continuous periodic signal. Having a defined basin of attraction is highly desired, especially in robotic applications, as it provides tracking stability in addition to robustness against disturbances. The CPG model is composed of a set of phase-locked coordinated one-dimensional models; called ζ-models. The idea behind the ζ-model is generating any one-dimensional periodic signal by altering the behavior of an existing oscillator through two nonlinear maps. The mappings are designed in such a way that the PoincaréBendixson theorem is satisfied and, consequently, the desired basin of attraction is shaped. The proposed CPG model is extensively tested for generating multidimensional signals; including DC, triangular, and smooth wavy ones. The results show that the CPG model has a low tracking error in addition to being robust against disturbances within the designed basin of attraction. Finally, the proposed CPG model is successfully employed to generate the dancing motion of a situated robotic marionette. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

An Imitation Model based on Central Pattern Generator with application in Robotic Marionette Behavior Learning

Most of the Central Pattern Generator (CPG) models are based on defining explicit dynamical systems and finding the appropriate parameters. In this paper, we propose a novel CPG model that is based on altering a nonlinear oscillator to obtain desired limit cycle behavior. This CPG model benefits from an explicit basin of attraction and also fast convergence behavior. The presented CPG model is used in an imitation model that tries to learn the proper periodical behavior by looking at a mentor. First, a mentor performs the desired periodical behavior. Then, a hand-eye coordination process, inspired from infant babbling, is initiated to extract proper motor actions from what is observed. The extracted motor actions are finally embedded into the CPG model for smooth reproduction. This imitation model is implemented on a robotic marionette behavior learning task. The outcome of the final performance of the robotic marionette is behaviorally understandable smooth actions