Effects of curzerene and Smyrnium cordifolium Boiss. extract on addiction withdrawal syndrome in mice

Introduction: The purpose of this study was evaluating the effect of Smyrnium cordifolium extract (SCE) and curzerene (Cur) on withdrawal syndrome in mice compared with clonidine. Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the active ingredients of S. cordifolium. To evaluate the effects of SCE and Cur, 64 mice were divided into 8 equal groups. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were treated Cur (0.03, 0.06, 0.12 mg/kg, respectively). Groups 4, 5 and 6 were treated with SCE (100, 200, 300 mg/kg, respectively). The seventh group received just morphine. Group 8 received morphine and clonidine (0.2 mg/kg). Results: The results of this study showed that Cur was the most important ingredient in the extract of the plant, and the hydroalcoholic extract yield of S. cordifolium was 17.55% (w/w). The dose of 100 mg/kg of extract (SCE100) and 0.03 mg/kg curzerene (Cur1) (P < 0.05), dose of 200 mg/kg of extract (SCE200) and dose of 0.06 mg/kg curzerene (Cur2), (P < 0.01), dose of 300 mg/kg of extract (SCE300) and dose of 0.12 mg/kg of curzerene (Cur3) (P < 0.001) decreased the symptoms compared to clonidine. Doses higher than 300 mg/kg of extract and 0.12 mg/kg of Cur had fatal effects. All doses of SCE and Cur in comparison with the control group at significant level (P < 0.001) reduced the number of jumping, rearing and teeth chattering in morphine-dependent mice. Conclusion: The findings suggest that SCE and Cur are capable of reducing the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome and their effectiveness may be more than clonidine in reducing the addiction withdrawal syndrome, which may have human therapeutic potential

Abdominal Burkitt’s lymphoma in Children

Background: Burkitt’s lymphoma is a high grade B-cell neoplasm, which is a kind of small non-cleaved cell lymphoma. It is presumably the fastest growing human malignancy, and the patients are prone to develop tumor-lysis syndrome. Here we present findings on our patients with Burkitt lymphoma. Materials and Methods: This descriptive retrospective study included 46 children with abdominal Burkitt's lymphoma who were treated during 15 years from June 1998 to Dec 2013 at Mofid Children’s Hospital. Results: Offourty six patients 32 (70%) were boys and 14 (30%) were girls with ages ranging from 2 to 14 years. Surgical exploration was carried out in all cases, the lesions were located in the small intestine (N=17), large intestine (N=15), ileocecal region (N=12), and stomach (N=2). We performed a complete mass resection in 16 cases, debulking in 10 and lymph node/mass biopsy in 20 cases. Pathologic examination revealed Burkitt’s lymphoma for all patients. The majority were stageIIE and stage IIIE (24 and 19 respectively). Post-operative complications were seen in five cases with the most common being persistent ileus. All patients received a sort of systemic chemotherapy. The mean follow up duration was 6 years. Death occurred in 7(15%) of our patients, due to tumor lysis syndrome and acute renal failure.Conclusion: The extent ofdisease at presentation is the most important prognostic factor in abdominal Burkitt’s lymphoma. Children with BL are at a high risk of tumor lysis syndrome before or during chemotherapy. Surgery still plays an important role in this pathology, and chemotherapy offers an excellent chance for long term disease free survival.

Generalizations of Kannan and Reich Fixed Point Theorems, Using Sequentially Convergent Mappings and Subadditive Altering Distance Functions

In this paper, first, using interpolative Kannan type contractions, a new fixed point theorem has been proved. Then, by applying sequentially convergent mappings and using subadditive altering distance functions, we generalize contractions in complete metric spaces. Finally, we investigate some fixed point theorems which are generalizations of Kannan and Reich fixed points

Lifetime cost analysis of concrete barriers and steel guardrails.

This study investigates the lifetime costs associated with concrete barriers and steel guardrails. We introduce a cost analysis methodology that incorporates critical factors such as construction costs, maintenance costs, exposure risks during maintenance activities, and the costs imposed to traveling public through the increased traffic and the crash outcomes. We integrate various parameters including economic factors, road geometry, general weather condition, and traffic mix to estimate a location-dependent cost for each type of barrier accurately. A software tool, named CalBarrier, was developed during this study to carry out the calculations and the comparison of lifetime cost of aforementioned barriers. An inherent strength of this research is its reliance on recent real data extracted from various databases of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), ensuring precision and relevance in accounting for various influential factors. Drawing insights from Caltrans practices and interviews with their personnel, this study emphasizes the intricate decision-making process involved in mitigating safety risks and reducing operational expenses. Although our data originates from California, the methodology for life cycle cost analysis, and our software are applicable for regions with different socio-economic conditions by deploying user input costs, making our findings a valuable resource for other areas facing comparable challenges

2-Amino­pyridinium diphenyl­phosphinate monohydrate

In the crystal of the title hydrated salt, C5H7N2 +·C12H10O2P−·H2O, the cations, anions and water mol­ecules connected by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a layer along the bc plane; the phenyl rings protrude into the space between the layers. The dihedral angle between rings of anion is 86.1 (1)°

Comparative Evaluation of Spectral Transmittance of Some Welding Glasses with ANSI Z87.1

Background: Welding emits harmful rays to the eyes. We evaluate and compare the UV, blue light and IR transmittance characteristics of some currently available welding safety protectors with ANSI Z87.1 criteria.Materials and Methods: Three type of welding safety protectors (three of each type) have been evaluated for spectral transmittance. One-sample T-test was performed to establish is there a statistically significant difference between the standard criteria and UV, blue and IR regions for the welding protectors (α=0.05).Results: In ultraviolet (UV) (far and near) region, two types of the tested protectors (P1, P2) transmitted lower than the maximum allowable value specified in the standard (P&lt;0.001). In infrared (IR) spectrum only one type (P3) transmitted lower than the maximum allowable value specified in the standard (P&lt;0.001). In blue light region, all of the tested protectors transmitted lower than the maximum allowable value specified in the standard (P&lt;0.001).Conclusion: Although all of the tested glasses could meet some parts of the criteria, but none of them could meet the complete spectral transmittance requirements of ANSI Z87.1

How Much of Hazardous Blue Light is Transmitted By Spectacle Lenses?

This is a Letter to the Editor and does not have an abstract

An exploratory study to identify critical factors of innovation culture in organizations

During the past two decades, there has been a growing trend on knowledge-based organizations. Innovation, on the other hand, plays essential role on building competitive business units. In this paper, we present an exploratory study to identify critical factors of innovation culture in organizations. We detect important factors influencing innovation culture in construction industry based on the implementation of factor analysis. The proposed study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 400 experts who are involved in construction industry. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.779, which validates the overall questionnaire. The results of factor analysis have indicated that six factors of building cultural infrastructures, education, organizational vision, established culture, strategic culture and flexible culture are the most important items influencing innovation culture

Preference Analysis of Formal and Informal Information Sources in Decision Making of Managers in SMEs

Objective: This survey aimed to determine the priorities of formal and informal sources of information for decision-making among managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Jey Industrial Zone (Shahrak-e Sanati-e Jey) in Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This quantitative research was done as a descriptive survey to determine the priorities of formal and informal sources of information for decision-making among managers of small and medium industrial enterprises. Jey Industrial Zone (Shahrak-e Sanati-e Jey) was selected for the study with 183 industrial enterprises, and 124 industrial enterprises were selected as the sample. Data was collected via a researcher-designed questionnaire. The validity of the data gathering tool was confirmed by the content validity method, and the reliability was determined using the Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient, with a result of 0.93. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: Technical information, information on the competition, and customer information are the types of information used in decision-making by managers in SMEs. Past documents archives, annual reports, and mission, vision, and goals of the industrial enterprises had the highest priority in internal and formal information sources and search tools, websites, web blogs, etc., and special books had the highest priority in external and formal sources. Knowledge and personal information (based on experience), experts, and colleagues had the highest priority in using informal sources. Conclusion: It can be concluded that managers in SMEs in Isfahan prefer internal formal information sources rather than external sources. Thus, there is a difference between the amount of internal and external sources usage. It is also revealed that informal information sources are used more than formal information sources in decision-making by managers in SMEs in Isfahan. Moreover, managers in middle-sized enterprises use informal information sources more than managers in micro and small enterprises