Search

Afshin Karimzadeh,1 Shahriar Bagheri,2 Seyed Ahmad Raeissadat,3 Shahab Bagheri,4 Seyed Mansoor Rayegani,4 Shahram Rahimi-Dehgolan,5 Farshad Safdari,2 Hashem Abrishamkarzadeh,2 Hadi Shirzad6 1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Clinical Research Development Center of Imam-Hossein Educational Hospital, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Bone, Joint and Related Tissue Research Center, Akhtar Educational Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Clinical Development Research Center of Shahid Modarres Hospital, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department and Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department and Research Center, Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 6Department of Medical Genetics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Purpose: Local corticosteroid injection is one of the most prevalent methods in treating carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, the most efficient substance and its appropriate dosage remain controversial. In the present double-blind randomized controlled trial, the efficacy and safety of local injection of two corticosteroids (triamcinolone and methylprednisolone) were compared at two different dosages, 20 and 40 mg. Patients and methods: We consecutively included 80 patients with mild or moderate CTS and randomly assigned them to four groups: 20 or 40 mg triamcinolone (T20 or T40) and 20 or 40 mg methylprednisolone (M20 or M40) groups; each patient received a single injection of steroid using conventional approach. The four groups were relatively comparable and did not show any significant difference initially in their baseline measurements including pain intensity measured using VAS, pain-free grip strength (PFGS), nerve conduction study (NCS), and two parts of Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire: symptom severity scale (SSS) and functional status scale (FSS); the latter was our primary outcome measure. Three months after injection, they were reassessed to evaluate the clinical and electrodiagnostic changes. Results: Almost all NCS parameters, VAS, and PFGS significantly improved after treatment in all the groups (P

Objective: Astaxanthin (AST) has been introduced as a radical scavenger and an anti-apoptotic factor that acts via regulating the nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) and related factors. Here, we intended to examine the effect of AST on granulosa cells (GCs) against oxidative stress by examining NRF2 and downstream phase II antioxidant enzymes. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, we used cultured human primary GCs for the study. First, we performed the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test to evaluate cells viability after treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and AST. The apoptosis rate and ROS levels were measured by flow cytometry. To determine NRF2 and phase II enzymes expression, we performed real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Finally, we used western blot to measure the protein levels of NRF2 and Kelch-like ECsH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1). Enzyme activity analysis was also performed to detect NRF2 activity. Results: This study showed that AST suppressed ROS generation (P

Background: Male infertility may originate from a wide spectrum of conditions while in 30-40 percent of cases, no significantreason can be identified. Thereby, it is recognized as male idiopathic infertility. This study was undertaken to investigatethe effect of daily intake of selenium, vitamin E and folic acid on sperm parameters in males with idiopathic infertility.Materials and Methods: Seventy infertile men were selected to participate in this single-blind, randomized controlledclinical trial using convenience sampling. They were equally divided into two groups via permuted blockrandomization method. The intervention group received selenium tablet (200 μg per day, oral), vitamin E capsule(400 IU per day, oral) and folic acid tablet (5 mg per day, oral).The placebo group received matching placebo forthree months. Semen volume, total sperm motility, sperm concentration, progressive sperm motility, normal spermmorphology, sperm motility index (SMI) and functional sperm concentration (FSC) were assessed by sperm qualityanalyzer-v (SQAV) before and after the intervention. Paired t test, and independent t test were used to compare theresults within and between the groups, respectively. The IBM SPSS V.16.005 was used for data analysis. A p

Background and aims: P19 cells are a line of pluripotent embryonal carcinoma stem cells, that are able to grow continuously in serum-supplemented media and can be induced to differentiate into all three lineages, mesoderm, endoderm and ectoderm. The sequence of foreign DNA can be introduced into these cells using of standard methods of transfection, through which to examine the cell function and differentiation. This study aimed to induce neuronal phenotype in P19 cells transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, using an antiparkinson drug, deprenyl. Methods: In this laboratory descriptive study, calcium phosphate precipitation method was used to introduce pML8 plasmid, encoding GFP and puromycin resistance gene, into these cells. The cells were cultured using MEM-A medium, supplemented with 15% fetal bovine serum. Here 108 M concentrations of deprenyl was used to induce embryoid body differentiation to neuronal lineage. Cresyl violet staining was used to evaluate the morphology of differentiated P19 cells. In addition, immunofluorescence techniques was used to evaluate neuron specific proteins, synaptophysin and β-III tubulin. Results: In addition to production of stable transfected P19 cells, neuronal differentiation of these cells was carried out by the effect of deprenyl induction. GFP-positive neurons derived from embryonic carcinoma cells expressed neuron specific markers. Conclusions: GFP-positive differentiated cells can be used in transplantation studies and basic researches in association with cell therapy and neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: H. pylori infection is associated with gastritis and marked infiltration of the gastric mucosa by inflammatory cells secreting of several cytokines that contribute to maintain and expand the local inflammation. Different clinical expressions of the infection may reflect different patterns of cytokine expression. Interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-17, IL-23, and IL-18 have been reported to be involved in H. pylori-induced gastric mucosal inflammation, but the details and relation to different patterns of inflammation remain unclear. Materials and Methods: Analysis of IL-18 RNA transcripts was performed by real-time PCR. Total RNA was extracted from gastric biopsies of 56 H. pylori-infected patients, 50 H. pylori-negative patients with gastritis, by biozol reagent according to the manufacturer's instructions. CDNA was synthesized from 1 mg of total RNA using First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit (fermentas) and 3 µL cDNA was amplified by PCR using the 2x Rotor-Gene Probe PCR Master Mix (QIAGEN) and specific primers for each cytokine and β-actin. Results: IL-18 mRNA expression was significantly increased in biopsies of H. pylori-infected patients compared to H. pylori-uninfected individuals. Conclusion: IL-18 may play an important role in the inflammatory response and promoting gastric Th1 responses to H. pylori colonization, and may ultimately influence the outcome of H. pylori-associated diseases that arise within the context of gastritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research attempts to extend the available literature in the area of secure communications to provide an efficient robust adaptive sliding mode control approach in the presence of uncertainties, external disturbances and unknown parameters. It is obvious that the proposed control approach aims to synchronize two hyper-chaotic systems through secure communication. In order to assure the security of signal sending and receiving, the technique of chaotic parameter modulation is taken into consideration. The stability performance of the present approach is accurately guaranteed via the Lyapunov theorem. Numerical simulation results are carried out to illustrate the proposed approach performance, which is easily able to follow the control objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background and aims: The prevalence of hydatid cyst in patients with cancer is lower than those of normal population. In this study the effect of different extractions of hydatid cyst antigens on growth of Hella cancer cells has been investigated in vitro. Methods: In this experimental study, crude protoscolices antigen, protoscolices ES antigen and hydatid fluid antigen were prepared and fractions of these antigens were using salting out method. These fractions were added to Hella cell line and incubated for 48h. Then the number of alive and dead cells was counted in comparison to appropriate control. Analysis of data was carried out using SPSS software and Jonckheere-Terpstra test. P<0.05 was considered as significant. Results: In cell cultures treated with mentioned fractions, all 3 fractions significantly decrease the growth of Hella cancer in comparison to control cell culture. Also fractions of crude protoscolices antigen significantly increase the growth of Hella cancer cells. Conclusion: Different extracts of hydatid cyst antigens inhibitory effects on Hella cell's growth in culture medium. Further work is recommended an anti-cancer property of these antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the design of a novel printed monopole antenna is presented that operates across a super wideband frequency range (2.39 GHz to 40 GHz) and exhibits band-notch characteristic that is necessary to eradicate interference from WLAN systems operating between 5.15 GHz -- 5.825 GHz. The prototype antenna consists of a radiating patch in the shape of an octagonal ring structure and embedded within ring is a rectangular strip. The antenna is excited through a microstrip feed-line and includes an elliptically shaped ground-plane that is defected with a dielectric notch in the vicinity of the patch. The proposed antenna's structure is simple to design and is relatively inexpensive to fabricate. In addition, it is compact in size with overall dimensions of 30 x 30 x 1.6 mm3. The measured results confirm the impedance bandwidth cover a super wideband frequency range from 2.3 GHz - 40 GHz, for VSWR < 2 that corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 178 %. The radiation characteristic of the proposed antenna is approximately omni-directional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel monopole antenna is presented for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. Enhancement in the antenna's bandwidth was obtained by using a new radiating patch structure that includes a q-shaped slots in the ground plane. UWB performance is achieved without increasing the overall size of the antenna's structure. The antenna operates between 2.4 GHz - 13.9 GHz for S11 < -10 dB. The antenna radiates omni-directionally over its operating band. The antenna occupies an area of about 25 x 25 mm² when fabricated on FR4 substrate with thickness of 1 mm and relative permittivity of &#949r = 4.4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Garlic components may change due to its enzymes activity such as alliance. In this research the effect of three months old garlic on the growth of WEHI-164 fibrosarcoma cells was examined in comparison with fresh garlic in Balb/c mice. Material and Methods: In this interventional study 40 female inbred Balb/c mice were designated into 5 groups. WEHI-164 cells were injected subcutaneously in the chest of animal. Two weeks before and three weeks after injection of cancer cells, 0.2 cc of normal saline or 20 mg/kg extracts of fresh or three months old garlic was injected intraperitoneally (IP) to mice. Five days after cells' injection until day 21, every other day, and the mean size of tumors was measured and compared with each other, using ANOVA test. The antioxidant potential of extracts and the amount of total phenolic were also measured. Results: The amount of phenolic compounds in fresh garlic extract was 12.61mg/g and in three months old garlic was 2.89 mg/g. The efficiency of fresh garlic (35.63) was further compared with three month old garlic (10.2) in prevention of oxidation (p<0.05). The mean size of tumors in groups which received fresh garlic was smaller than that of control group. This tumor size was increased by time, so that a significant difference in mention groups could be seen on days 17, 19 and 21 (p=0.001). Injection of 3-months old garlic had no effect on inhibition of growth of cancer cells compared to control group (P=0.61). Conclusion: Findings showed that garlic consumption might have important role in control and prevention of fibrosarcoma growth. But along with time the beneficial effect of garlic on cancer cells is reduced. Therefore, fresh garlic consumption is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a preliminary investigation of a class of radar signals generated by recursively defined functions. Signals are of fundamental importance in radar, since a radar system uses transmitted and returned signals from the environment to decide on the presence of targets, as well as their range, bearing and speed. The issue of an appropriate choice of signal is complex, and application dependent. This paper is a brief simulation of a new class of signals, known as chaotic signals. Such signals may be of importance in radar for a number of reasons. The first is that they are generated from a deterministic map, but can be made to appear as noise. This would be useful from an electronic protection point of view. Secondly, since these signals can be generated from a single dynamical system, with different control parameters and initial conditions, it may be possible to reduce the need for a comprehensive library of signals in a radar system. The generation of such signals, as a discrete time dynamical system, will be outlined. We investigate the stability of such signals, using the Lyapunov spectrum. The radar ambiguity function is used to decide whether this signal is practical use in radar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of A/D converters possessing sufficiently high sampling rates, it is now feasible to use arbitrary, wideband waveforms in radar applications. Large sets of quasiorthogonal, wideband waveforms can be generated so that multiple radars can simultaneously operate in the same frequency band. Each individual radar receiver can process its own return as well as the orthogonal returns from the other radars, which opens the possibility for developing algorithms that combine data from multiple radar channels. Due to the random nature of chaotic signals, it is possible to develop a procedure for generating large sets of quasi-orthogonal radar waveforms using deterministic chaos[1]. Deterministic chaos is defined as a bounded, a periodic flow with a sensitive dependence on initial conditions. There are many different types of chaotic systems. In this article, waveforms will be generated from the well-studied Lorenz system. Each waveform from the Lorenz system can be fully characterized by three parameters (σ, b, and r) and a set of initial conditions, x0, y0, z0 The particular parameter values greatly affect quality of the Lorenz waveform as quasi-orthogonal radar waveform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background ; Objective: Endosulfan is one of the strong insecticides used in agriculture. This toxin is absorbed by inhalation and skin. Endosulfan has side effects such as infertility in men. This study surveys the effect of vitamins E and C on preventing the harmful effects of Endosulfan on spermatogenesis in adult male rats. Materials ; Methods: Adult male rats (200-250 g) from Wistar rats were divided into five groups of 10 rats. Rats in the experimental groups one, two, three, and four received 10 mg/kg Endosulfan daily for 10 consecutive days via gavage. Moreover, during this period, rats of group two in addition to daily Endosulfan, received 20 mg / kg vitamin C daily, group three received 200mg / kg Vitamin E daily and group four received20mg / kg kg vitamin C plus 200mg / kg Vitamin E daily, by gavage. Control group received only routine food and water. At the end of this period, sexual cells were counted by light microscope on testis sections. The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test and Duncan's test at p≤0.05. Results: The results showed that vitamins E and C have inhibitory effect on the degenerative impact of Endosulfan on spermatogenesis. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that Endosulfan impairs spermatogenesis by increasing the oxidative stress. Vitamins E and C inhibit the degenerative effects of Endosulfan on spermatogenesis by reducing the oxidative stress.

Introduction: Diabetes and hypertension are amongst the most prevalent diseases in the world, while they can be controlled and prevented, create many problems and complications for affected patients. This study was aimed to identify and report the most important and effective herbs for diabetes and high blood pressure treatment in Lorestan province (West of Iran). Methods: By gathering and integrating indigenous data from local inhabitants of Lorestan, Iran, the goal of this study was accomplished. Data were gathered by cooperation of the agents of public health services network all over the towns of Dorud, Boroujerd, Khorramabad, Aleshtar, Poledokhtar, Aligoodarz, Nurabad and Kouhdasht. Results: Results of this study showed that there were overall 17 medicinal plants which were used for treatment and controlling of diabetes and high blood pressure. Conclusion: Medicinal plants reported in this study are indigenous to the Lorestan province. Some of the foresaid herbs seem to have some unknown therapeutic effects which are reported in this study for the first time, and some others have various known therapeutic effects mentioned in other similar studies. It is essential for researchers to find out the actuality of clinical effectiveness of the herbs and their active substances. Once the positive effects of these herbs proved, it would be possible to produce drugs which are useful in curing and controlling diabetes and hypertension.

Introduction: Chrysin is a natural flavonoid antioxidant which its role in tumor cell death has been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of Chrysin effect on proliferation and apoptosis of gastric cancer cell line (AGS). Methods: Cells were cultured and treated with different concentrations of Chrysin (90, 80, 70, 60, 50 μM) for 48 h and evaluated for cell viability. To examine the cytotoxic effect of drug in inducing apoptosis, staining with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and propidium iodide (PI) was used. The cells were treated for 48 h with different concentrations of Chrysin (50 of 90 μM) and examined for the morphological changes. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Excel software were used for data analysis. Results: Different concentrations of Chrysin significantly inhibited the growth and proliferation of AGS cells (p

Introduction: Following injury, inflammatory response occurs and the cells below the dermis begin to increase collagen production, then, the epithelial tissue is regenerated. Royal jelly (RJ) has anti-inflammatory activity hence, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of RJ on the induction of sterile skin incision in Balb/C mice.Methods: In an experimental study 60 female Balb/C mice (8 weeks old) were anaesthetized with ether and a longitudinal para vertebral full thickness incision of 10 mm long was made. The animals were divided into six equal groups. Group 1 was considered as negative control. Group 2 (positive control) was treated topically with Nitrofurazon ointment, group 3 with RJ (200 mg/kg) every day, group 4 with RJ (200 mg/kg) every two days, group 5 with RJ (300 mg/kg) every day and group 6 with RJ (300 mg/kg) every two days. The wound length was measured with vernier capilar every two days up to full healing occurred and compared in different groups. Results: There was significant difference between groups 1 or 2 and other groups (p0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that daily application of RJ possesses betters wound healing effects than Nitrofurazon and every two days usage of RJ.

Background & Objective: Stress has different effects on the living organisms. In this study the effect of immobilization stress the HPG (hypothalamic - pituitary - gonad axis) hormones secretion and the number of spermatogonia was studied in adult male rats Materials & Methods: 30 male rats were divided into 3 groups. The Control group: who were not exposed to any kind of stress, and two experimental 7 and 14 day groups which respectively received 2 hours of immobilized stress over 7 and 14 day stress periods, blood samples were collected directly from the heart of the animals, Hormones GnRH, LH and testosterone levels were measured by ELISA. The number of spermatogonia in the testes of adult male rats were counted. We used ANOVA and Duncan's test results in p ≤0.05 for statistic analyze test. Results: The results showed that immobilization stress significantly decreased concentrations of GnRH and testosterone hormones compared with the control group. Also the 14-day immobilization stress caused a significant reduction in spermatogonia cells. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the inhibitory effect of immobilization stress on the HPG axis may also cause negative effects on the spermatogenesis process.

Introduction: Melissa officinalis is usually used as antispasmodic, antiaxiety and antibacterial agent. However, its toxicity has not been evaluated, yet. In this study biochemical, liver and renal toxicities of Melissa officinals hydroalcoholic extract were evaluated in balb/C mice. Methods: In an experimental study, 21 balb/C male mice were randomly designated to three equal groups. Group I was treated with normal saline and groups II and III were respectively treated with 0.450 and 1.350 g/kg, hydroalcoholic extract of Melissa officinals daily for two weeks, intraperitoneally. Then on 15th day of the experiment, blood samples were obtained from the heart. The blood was centrifuged and then the sera were evaluated for alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, urea and creatinine, using autoanalyzer and commercial kits. The liver and kidney tissues were also hystopathologically evaluated. The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test, and Kruskal-Wallis at a significance level of p

Introduction: The anticancer effect of tomato lycopene has been approved in some cancers. This study was aimed to determine the prohibitive and therapeutic effects of tomato extract on the growth of fibrosarcoma in mice. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 3 groups of 10 male Balb/c mice were injected subcutaneously with 5×105 WEHI-164 tumor cells in the chest area. Prevention group was fed tomato extract (5 mg) for a 4 week period (from 2 weeks before tumor cell injection up to 2 weeks after injection) and the treatment group was fed simultaneously with tumor cell injection up to two weeks after injection daily by an oral gastric tube. The tumors areas were measured and recorded on days 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22. The data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: The results showed that the tumor areas in control group were significantly more after the intervention than two groups of treatment and prevention (p

Neurotransmitter modification is an important method for the treatment of memory loss or amnesia. Cholinomimetic drugs, particularly, acetylcholine esterase inhibitors are the mainstream in pharmacotherapy of amnesia. Donepezil, tacrine, galantamine, and rivastigmine are cholinesterase inhibitors which are widely used in the treatment of amnesia, however, their therapeutic effects are not significant. Therefore, other possibilities including herbal medicine sources have been considered for memory loss therapy. There are some Medicinal plants with cholinomimetic property which mostly possess antioxidant activity, too. These plants may not only ameliorate amnesia but also can be a good source for drug discovery. In this paper other than introducing the medicinal plants and their components affective on cholinergic system and effective on memory loss, their probable advantages over synthetic drugs are discussed.

Background: Prostate cancer has been known as one of the most common malignancy in the men and it is therefore very important to prevent and treat this cancer. In this study, the anticancer effects of 20 species of medicinal plants in Iran, especially those grown in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, were investigated on prostate cancer cell lines to identify potential natural alternatives for the development of prostate cancer anticancer drugs. Methods: The plants were gathered from Chaharmahal va Bakhtyari and their aerial parts extracted through maceration method using ethanol 70%. Anti-proliferative activity of extracts on PC-3, DU145 and HDF cell lines was evaluated by MTT assay 48 hours after treatment. Results: Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey. and Achillea wilhelmsii had anti-proliferative activity more than other plants on PC-3. Also IC50s for Urtica dioica, Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey. and Medicago sativa were lower amount among the examined plants on Du-145. Conclusion: According to our result, Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey., U. dioica and Medicago sativa with good anti-proliferative activity can serve as an effective source of natural products to develop new antiprostate cancer drugs.