1,720,958 research outputs found
Relationship between Air and Soil Pollution and Cognitive Skills Related to the Brain of Children in the Age Range of 4 to 12 Years: A Systematic Review
No full textBackground and purpose: Environmental pollution, is one of the main causes of increasing cognitive-neurological disorders. All pollutants, whether biodegradable or non-biodegradable, contribute to various neurological issues, including cognitive disorders, and affect human life, particularly in the early stages of development. Given the growing concern about the impact that air pollutants may have on children's learning and neural development, the current research aims to determine the relationship between exposure to pollution and neural development skills in children, in the early stages of education and schooling.
Materials and methods: The present systematic review was conducted following international standards and according to the PRISMA checklist. English-language articles were searched from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases until September 2023. Eligible articles were screened by reading titles and abstracts by the researcher. Then, the full text of relevant articles was evaluated, and discrepancies were resolved before making the final decision. The studies reviewed in this research included air and soil pollution, one of the cognitive and learning disorders such as attention, memory, intelligence, thinking, neural development, etc., preschool, and elementary school. In the present study, articles were fully reviewed, and research that did not fall within the age range of preschool and elementary school was excluded from the review; such as articles related to air pollution during the fetal period or children over the age of 12 years. Articles that simultaneously included children within and outside the age range of the study were only reviewed for the relevant age groups, and review articles were also used to find studies related to the research topic.
Results: The search strategy resulted in the identification of 528 studies related to the article’s topic. Based on the screening of inclusion and exclusion criteria, eventually 37 articles were selected that matched the objectives of this research. The results indicated a wide heterogeneity in neuropsychological assessment tools, geographical regions, and sample sizes recorded. Also, many findings reported significant detrimental effects of air pollutants on cognitive functions and sensory-motor abilities (reported a significant difference in terms of brain white matter volume and motor abilities among children exposed to pollution, indicating that living in a polluted area is a risk factor for disruption in sensory-motor functions), increased risk of ADHD, reduced intelligence and cognitive performance, reduced memory, reduced attention; and reduced learning power and perception, most of which examined the effects of several pollutants on cognitive changes in children in preschool and elementary stages. In two of the articles reviewed in this research, the relationship was analyzed based on gender. In these studies, boys were at greater risk in terms of active memory. Also, in the quality assessment of articles, most articles scored 15 or higher, indicating the desirable status of most of the selected articles.
Conclusion: The exposure to pollution with problems in cognitive skills; it is particularly associated with intellectual functions, attention, learning, comprehension, and memory skills. However, the association of pollution with specific neurodevelopmental skills in preschool and elementary school children is less clear and requires more research
GABAB receptors within the central nucleus of amygdala may involve in the morphine-induced incentive tolerance in female rats
Get PDFObjective(s): Central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) is the most important region for morphine-induced reward, and GABAergic system plays an important role on morphine reinforcement. The influence of CeA administration of GABAB receptor agonist and antagonist on the expression and acquisition of morphine-induced incentive tolerance using conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm was investigated in the present study. Our purpose was to evaluate the role of CeA GABAB receptors in morphine tolerance. Materials and Methods: Seven days after surgery and cannulation, the experiments were begun. Subcutaneous (SC) injections of morphine induced CPP. Administration of one daily dose of morphine (12.5 mg/kg) for 3 days in order to develop tolerance to the drug reduced the conditioning induced by morphine (7.5 mg/kg, SC). GABAB receptor agonist, baclofen (1.5, 6 and 12 µg/rat) or GABAB receptor antagonist, CGP35348 (1.5, 6 and 12 µg/rat) were injected into the CeA 5 min before the experiments in the test day (expression of tolerance) or 5 min before each injection of morphine (12.5 mg/kg) (acquisition of tolerance). Results: It was shown that injections of baclofen (1.5 and 12 µg/rat) reduced acquisition, whereas the dose of 6 µg/rat of the drug exacerbated the acquisition of morphine tolerance. Baclofen at all doses significantly increased the expression of tolerance to morphine. Administration of CGP35348 (1.5, 6 and 12 µg/rat) reduced the acquisition and expression of morphine tolerance. Conclusion: These results confirmed the importance of GABAB receptors with in the CeA in morphine tolerance in female rats
Neuroprotective Effects of Stachys Lavandulifolia Hydroalcoholic Extract on Size of Cerebral Ischemia, Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability and Edema Volume in Rat Stroke Model
No full textBackground and Aim: Recent studies point to the protective effects of Stachys lavandulifolia against inflammation and oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of Stachys lavandulifolia on brain injury, blood-brain barrier permeability and edema volume in rat stroke model.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 17 male Wistar rats groups (n=6) were used; including control groups, sham and groups receiving doses of 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg/day of extract; for 30 days and orally by gavage. Two hours after the last gavage, the stroke groups were subjected to the Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO) model. 24 hours later, the volume of stroke, the blood-brain barrier permeability (BBB) and the volume of edema were investigated in the experimental groups. Results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, Bonffron post test through Graph Pad Prism software and designed through Excel.
Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR.UI.REC.1397.162 has been approved by research ethics committee at Isfahan University.
Findings: Pre-treatment with Hydroalcoholic Extract with doses of 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg/day reduced stroke size. The dose of 75mg/kg/day reduced the permeability of BBB and the edema volume compared with the stroke group.
Conclusion: The most effective dose of Stachys lavandulifolia is 75 mg/kg, which has a strong potential in neuroprotection and stroke prevention. This study could be useful in further investigating of neuroprotective effect of Stachys lavandulifolia
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Advances in Fiber Optic Biosensing Technologies for Detection of Neurological Biomarkers: A Narrative Review
No full textFiber optic biosensors (FOBs) have gained attention as powerful tools for detecting neuromarkers due to their high sensitivity, rapid response, and ability to be used in complex biological environments. These sensors utilize techniques such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and fluorescence spectroscopy, enabling the identification of biomolecules at low concentrations. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis (MS) pose significant health problems due to their progressive nature and the need for early detection. Biomarkers such as amyloid beta (Aβ), tau protein, α-synuclein, and neurofilament light chain (NFL) play a crucial role in the diagnosis and monitoring of these diseases. Fiber optic sensors have enhanced their accuracy and efficiency by integrating technologies, such as nanomaterials, hydrogels, and machine learning; particularly, the use of graphene and plasmonic nanostructures has improved detection sensitivity and enabled simultaneous monitoring of multiple biomarkers. Additionally, the development of implantable and wearable sensors has made long-term and noninvasive monitoring possible. Despite significant advancements, limitations such as biocompatibility, standardization of diagnostic methods, and scalability for widespread use in clinical settings remain. However, the combination of FOBs with artificial intelligence and microfluidics has opened new horizons for personalized medicine and the management of neurological diseases. These technologies have the potential to become key tools in the early diagnosis and effective monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases. This narrative review synthesizes recent advancements in FOB technology for neurological biomarker detection, highlighting interdisciplinary innovations and future clinical translation pathways
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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