Analgesic Effect of Intrathecal Melissa officinalis in the Rat Model of Hot-Water and Formalin-Induced Pain

Ahmad Rastegarian,Hassanali Abedi,Hossein K. Jahromi,Safar Zarei,Arash Nematollahi,Esrafil Mansouri,Hadi Sameni 사단법인약침학회 2020 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.13 No.1

Melissa officinalis (MO) is one of the oldest herbal medicines commonly used in traditional medicine, which some studies have investigated for its analgesic effect. This study is an attempt to investigate the effects of intrathecal administration of Melissa officinalis on the pain induced by heat and formalin. In this experimental study, 70 male Wistar rats with an average weight of 270-320 g were randomly divided into five groups: control; sham that received 25 ml of saline through the spinal catheter; and three experimental groups that received 5, 10 or 20 mg/kg M. officinalis via the spinal catheter respectively. Five days after catheterization of the spinal cord from the lumbar region under anesthesia, the effects of Intrathecal administration of M. officinalis on heat- and formalin-induced pain were evaluated. Data were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. Intrathecal injection of M. officinalis blocked heat-induced pain compared to sham group (p Z 0.001). Maximum analgesia was observed 30 min after the injection. Furthermore, intrathecal administration of MO alleviated both acute (p Z 0.007) and chronic (p Z 0.001) phases of formalin-induced pain. Motor block was not observed in any of the above mentioned groups. The results showed that intrathecal administration of MO could significantly improve hot-water and formalininduced pain in male Wistar rats.

Application of ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles coated onto montmorillonite in the presence of H2O2 for efficient removal of cephalexin from aqueous solutions

Rasoul Khosravi,Ahmad Zarei,Mohsen Heidari,Ali Ahmadfazeli,Mehdi Vosughi,Mehdi Fazlzadeh 한국화학공학회 2018 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.35 No.4

This study considers the feasibility of uptake of cephalexin, an emerging contaminant, from aqueous solutions by using green local montmorillonite (GLM), montmorillonite coated with ZnO (ZnO/GLM) and montmorillonite coated with TiO2 (TiO2/GLM) in the presence of H2O2. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out as a function of pH, initial concentration of the cephalexin, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and temperature. Finally, the adsorbents were characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR analyses. XRD patterns showed dramatic changes in the adsorbents after loading with the nanoparticles, confirming successful placing of the nanoparticles onto GLM. The GLM mineral surface after nanoparticle loading appears to be fully exposed and more porous with irregular shapes in particles diameters of 1-50 microns. FTIR analyses also confirmed dramatic changes in surface functional groups after modification with these nanoparticles. The results showed that the removal efficiency of cephalexin was better at lower pH values. Totally, the removal efficiency increased with increase in adsorbent dosage and contact time and decreased with concentration and temperature increase. The thermodynamics values of Go and Ho revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic. In isotherm study, the maximum adsorption capacities (qm) were obtained to be 7.82, 17.09 and 49.26mg/g for GLM, ZnO/GLM and TiO2/GLM, respectively. Temkin constant (BT) showed that adsorption of cephalexin from solution was exothermic for all three adsorbents.

The Relationship between Coronavirus Anxiety, Mindfulness and Spiritual Health in Patients with Cancer: A Survey in Southeast Iran

Mahlagha Dehghan,Zakieh Namjoo,Ahmad Zarei,Hanieh Tajedini,Amir Bahrami,Mohammad Ali Zakeri 대한신경정신의학회 2021 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.18 No.5

Objective The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has caused major health problems, including anxiety in cancer patients worldwide. Spiritual health and mindfulness are considered as factors affecting anxiety. This study addressed the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety, spiritual health and mindfulness in patients with cancer.Methods One hundred and eighty-four cancer patients participated in this cross-sectional study. The data were collected with convenience sampling method from two oncology centers from 15 June to 15 July 2020 in the southeast Iran. Patients completed the Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Form, Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS), The Freiburg Mindfulness inventory-Short Form (FMI-SF) and Spiritual Health Scale.Results According to the psychological symptom subscale (CDAS), 61.4% of the participants had moderate to severe anxiety. According to the physical symptom subscale, 38% of the participants had moderate to severe anxiety. No significant association was found between corona disease anxiety and mindfulness/spiritual health (p>0.05).Conclusion The results of this study showed high levels of mental and physical anxiety and worries about COVID-19 disease in cancer patients, which led to challenges in their lives. It is necessary to review and implement effective interventions in future studies to prevent anxiety and its consequences in cancer patients.

Response surface modeling, isotherm, thermodynamic and optimization study of arsenic (V) removal from aqueous solutions using modified bentonite-chitosan (MBC)

Mohammad Hadi Dehghani,Ahmad Zarei,Alireza Mesdaghinia,Ramin Nabizadeh,Mahmood Alimohammadi,Mojtaba Afsharnia 한국화학공학회 2017 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.34 No.3

Arsenic contamination, a worldwide concern, has received a great deal of attention due to its toxicity and carcinogenicity. In the present study, we focused on the combined application of modified bentonite and chitosan (MBC) for the removal of As(V). Arsenic removal experiments were carried out to determine the amount of As(V) adsorbed as a function of pH (2-8), sorbent dosage (0.1-1.5 g/L), As(V) concentration (20-200mg/L) and time (60-240 min). The system was optimized by means of response surface methodology. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the quadratic model demonstrated that the model was highly significant (R2≈97.3%). Optimized values of pH, sorbent dosage, initial As(V) concentration and time were found to be 3.7, 1.40 g/L, 69mg/L, and 167min, respectively. The results reveal that the prepared adsorbent has a high adsorption capacity (122.23mg/g) for As(V) removal. Among the isotherm models used, the Langmuir isotherm model was the best fit for the obtained data. The adsorption kinetics following a pseudo-second-order kinetic model was involved in the adsorption process of As(V). Thermodynamic studies confirmed the spontaneous and endothermic character of adsorption process.

A layerwise theory for buckling analysis of truncated conical shells reinforced by CNTs and carbon fibers integrated with piezoelectric layers in hygrothermal environment

Hajmohammad, Mohammad Hadi,Zarei, Mohammad Sharif,Farrokhian, Ahmad,Kolahchi, Reza Techno-Press 2018 Advances in nano research Vol.6 No.4

A layerwise shear deformation theory is applied in this paper for buckling analysis of piezoelectric truncated conical shell. The core is a multiphase nanocomposite reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon fibers. The top and bottom face sheets are piezoelectric subjected to 3D electric field and external voltage. The Halpin-Tsai model is used for obtaining the effective moisture and temperature dependent material properties of the core. The proposed layerwise theory is based on Mindlin's first-order shear deformation theory in each layer and results for a laminated truncated conical shell with three layers considering the continuity boundary condition. Applying energy method, the coupled motion equations are derived and analyzed using differential quadrature method (DQM) for different boundary conditions. The influences of some parameters such as boundary conditions, CNTs weight percent, cone semi vertex angle, geometrical parameters, moisture and temperature changes and external voltage are investigated on the buckling load of the smart structure. The results show that enhancing the CNTs weight percent, the buckling load increases. Furthermore, increasing the moisture and temperature changes decreases the buckling load.

Performance evaluation of graphene oxide coated on cotton fibers in removal of humic acid from aquatic solutions

Farnaz Tahmasebi,Mahmood Alimohammadi,Ramin Nabizadeh,Mehdi Khoobi,Kamaledin Karimian,Ahmad Zarei 한국화학공학회 2019 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.36 No.6

We investigated the removal efficiency of humic acid from aqueous solutions by cotton coated with graphene oxide. This research has been conducted as batch on an experimental scale. A self-arrangement approach was introduced in fabrication of the cotton adsorbent coated with graphene oxide. To determine the effect of parameters, including initial concentration, pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time, central composite design (CCD) was employed in response surface method (RSM). The adsorption kinetics were determined based on different times of adsorption of humic acid. Further, the adsorption isotherms were also examined using different concentrations of humic acid. The results obtained showed that with increasing adsorbent dosage and contact time, the removal efficiency increased, while with increasing pH and initial concentration of humic acid, the removal efficiency decreased. The optimal values based on RSM method were obtained as the following: humic acid initial concentration=13.61mg/L, pH=3.87, adsorbent dosage=0.61 g, and contact time=168.43min. Langmuir isotherm with R2=0.9987 has been the most suitable model for explaining the adsorption process. Investigation of the adsorption kinetics indicated that humic acid adsorption follows pseudo-second-order model (R2=0.9822). The results indicated that the cotton adsorbent coated with graphene oxide has a good potential for removal of humic acid from aqueous solutions. Mechanical flexibility, availability, and low operational energy costs are among the advantages of this method for fabrication of this adsorbent, which can be developed and used for reducing environmental contaminants.