Curriculum theorizing is the methodology of the theory development. We recognize, two approaches ... more Curriculum theorizing is the methodology of the theory development. We recognize, two approaches to curriculum theorizing; explanation and understanding. Explanation resemble the processes of theorizing like natural scientist does and understanding is an approach to theorizing with its personal engagement consideration, uniqueness evolve from the complexity of and unrepeatable educational phenomena. In this article, two main ideas, objectivismreductionism, subjectivism-mysterianism and a branch of the second idea so called; conceptualism are examined. It is discussed that all three ideas are corresponding with the explanation or understanding and so their deficiency in human life is determined. It is argued that neurophenomenology could be considered as a remedy for the fragmental deficiency and incompetence of the current dominant positions in curriculum theorizing. We called the neurophenomenology inspired theorizing as; "understanding explanation" and explain it in refe...
The main objective of this paper is to explain the difficulties and insufficiency of neuro-philos... more The main objective of this paper is to explain the difficulties and insufficiency of neuro-philosophy theory as a representative the modern reductionist approaches in cognitive science and philosophy of mind to delineate the framework of teaching-learning environments, and suggest an alternative to these difficulties. Therefore, firstly, the perspective of the neuro-philosophy to teaching-learning environments have been examined and criticized, then we propose a holographic teaching-learning environment based on the Varela’s neuro-phenomenology of education and inspired by the integral theory. The most important features of this approach to learning environments are: holographic attitudes towards human life, mind, brain, body and learning environment “are granted an equal importance and therefore need the same attention” relationships between mind, brain, body and learning environment and a synchronous consideration to object and subject and all its explicit and implicit layers by integrating first and third-person methodologies into the essential components of these environments, namely teaching, teacher-learner communication, evaluation, and curriculum as an integrated whole.
Introduction: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been widely used for the treatmen... more Introduction: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been widely used for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. One of the major sideeffects of interferon-α (IFN-α) therapy is neutropenia. Previous studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of co-administration of G-CSF and IFN-α on neutropenia in patients infected with hepatitis C. In this study for the first time, the effects of co-administration of type I IFNs and G-CSF on liver and liver enzymes investigated. Methods: forty-two mice (male, eight weeks) were randomly divided into six groups of seven: distilled water, G-CSF (200μg/kg), IFN-α (200μg/kg), IFN-β (200μg/kg), IFN-α+G-CSF and IFN-β+G-CSF. After 28 days, blood was taken from the heart of each mouse and histological changes in the liver and liver enzymes including aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT), as well as bilirubin, were measured. Results: Surprisingly, in most cases, the G-CSF and type one IFNs alone or simultaneou...
In an experiment the emotional and exploratory behaviors of Wistar rats to dietary zinc supplemen... more In an experiment the emotional and exploratory behaviors of Wistar rats to dietary zinc supplementation from zinc sulfate (ZnS), Zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc Methionine (ZnM) were studied in an open field test. One hundred-twenty rats were assigned to 10 dietary treatments including: 1) Basal diet (BD) + 50 mg/kg ZnS, 2) BD + 100 mg/kg ZnS, 3) BD + 200 mg/kg ZnS, 4) BD + 50 mg/kg ZnO, 5) BD + 100mg/kg ZnO, 6) BD + 200 mg/kg ZnO, 7) BD + 50 mg/kg ZnM, 8) BD + 100 mg/kg ZnM, 9) BD + 200 mg/kg ZnM and 10) Basal diet (without Zn supplementation). The parameters including rearing, number of peripheral squares crossing, number of central squares crossing, whole exploration and defecation were recorded for 5 minutes. The levels of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg ZnO, ZnS and ZnM were significantly different in the whole exploration, comparisons. The number of whole exploration was significantly decreased by adding ZnM to the diet at a level of 200 mg/kg. The number of defecation was significantly incre...
Objective(s) The aim of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of green tea aga... more Objective(s) The aim of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of green tea against genotoxicity induced by gamma irradiation in cultured blood lymphocytes from 5 human volunteers. Materials and Methods Peripheral blood samples were collected from volunteers before and 1, 3 and 5 hr after drinking a decoction 4 g green tea in 280 ml boiling water for 5 constitutive days with the same quantity. At each time point, the whole blood samples were exposed to 200 cGy of 60 Co gamma irradiation and then were cultured with mitogenic stimulation to determine the chromosomal aberration in micronucleus assay on cytokinesis-blocked binucleated cells. Results As expected, for each volunteer, the results showed a significant increase in the incidence of micronuclei after exposure to gamma irradiation as compared to non-irradiated control samples. Only lymphocytes blood sample collected 3 hr after drinking green tea exhibited a significant decrease in incidence of micronuclei comp...
Nesfatin-1, a recently discovered peptide, is involved in important functions such as food intake... more Nesfatin-1, a recently discovered peptide, is involved in important functions such as food intake regulation and energy homeostasis. Previous studies have demonstrated that it has protective effects following myocardial injury and also protects dopaminergic cells against neurotoxicity with the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic mechanisms. In this study, we aimed to assay the neuroprotective effects of Nesfatin-1 after brain ischemia/reperfusion. Twenty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly selected and allocated in the form of four groups (sham, Nesfatin-1, ischemia, ischemia+Nesfatin-1). Ischemia was created by obstruction couple common carotid arteries in 20-min period. Saline as a vehicle and Nesfatin-1 (20 μg/kg, intraperitoneally) were injected at the time of reperfusion. Spatial memory performances were evaluated by the Morris water maze. The level of protein expression was determined by immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining. Nesfatin-1 significantly reduced ca...
Development of the nervous system in human and most animals is continued after the birth. Critica... more Development of the nervous system in human and most animals is continued after the birth. Critical role of this period in generation and specialization of the neuronal circuits is confirmed in numerous studies. Any pharmacological intervention in this period may result in structural, functional or behavioral abnormalities. In this study, sodium thiopental a GABA mimetic drug was administrated to newborn rats and their GAD65 and GAD67 expression in hippocampus was evaluated before and after puberty. Newborn male Wistar rats were received sodium thiopental (35 mg/kg) daily for 11 days (from 4 to 14 days after birth). Expression of GAD65 and GAD67 in their hippocampus was compared with control groups in 15 and 45 days after birth with RT-qPCR method. Significant down regulation of GAD65 and GAD67 gene expression was observed in treated rats compared with control group in 45 days after birth animals. But no significant difference was shown between experimental and control groups 15 days...
Insulin signaling malfunction has recently been suggested as a preliminary event involved in the ... more Insulin signaling malfunction has recently been suggested as a preliminary event involved in the etiology of Sporadic Alzheimer's disease (SAD). In order to develop insulin resistance-related SAD model, rats were treated with streptozotocin, intracerebroventricularly (icv-STZ). Nevertheless, given the lack of knowledge regarding sub-clinical stages of SAD, the current challenging issue is establishing a practical pre-clinical SAD model. Despite some proposed mechanisms, such as insulin malfunction, neuroinflammation, and gliosis, icv-STZ mechanism of action is not fully understood yet and Streptozotocin-induced rat model of Alzheimer has still major shortcomings. Using three STZ doses (0.5, 1, and 3mg/kg) and three testing time (short-term, medium-term and long-term), we sought the best dose of STZ in order to mimic the characteristic feature of sAD in rats. So, we conducted a series of fifteen-week follow-up cognitive and non-cognitive studies. Besides, IR, tau and ChAT mRNA levels were measured, along with histological analysis of astrocyte, dark neuron numbers, and pyramidal layer thickness, in order to compare the effects of different doses of icv-STZ. STZ 3mg/kg caused cognitive and insulin signaling disturbance from the very first testing-time. STZ1-injected animals, however, showed an augmented hippocampal astrocyte numbers in a short time; they, also, were diagnosed with disturbed insulin signaling in medium-term post icv-STZ-injection. Moreover, behavioral, molecular and histological impairments induced by 0.5mg/kg icv-STZ were slowly progressing in comparison to high doses of STZ. STZ1 and 0.5mg/kg-treated animals are, respectively, suggested as a suitable experimental model of MCI, and sub-clinical stage.
Rosmarinic acid (RA) as an active component of several medicinal plants, has shown anti-inflammat... more Rosmarinic acid (RA) as an active component of several medicinal plants, has shown anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. In this study, the effect of RA on tracheal responsiveness (TR), lung inflammatory cells, oxidant biomarkers in sensitized rats were evaluated. TR to methacholine and ovalbumin (OVA) as well as total and differential white blood cell (WBC) count and levels of nitrogen dioxide, nitrate, malondialdehyde, thiol, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were measured in control (group C) rats, sensitized animals to OVA and given drinking water alone (group S), S groups receiving drinking water containing three concentrations of RA (0.125, 0.250 and 0.500 mg/mL) and dexamethasone (1.25 μg/mL), (n = 6 in each group). Increased TR to methacholine and OVA, total WBC count, percentages of eosinophils, monocytes, neutrophils and levels of oxidant biomarkers but decreased other measured parameters were observed in group S compared to group C. Percentages of lymphocytes and antioxidant biomarkers were significantly increased but other measured parameters were significantly decreased in S group treated with dexamethasone and in rats treated with the two higher concentrations of RA compared to S group. The effect of RA medium concentration on percentage of eosinophils and RA high concentration on total WBC count and percentages of eosinophils and lymphocytes, were significantly higher than those of dexamethasone. These results showed the concentration-dependent effect of RA on tracheal responses, lung inflammatory cells and oxidant-antioxidant parameters which was comparable to that of dexamethasone at used concentrations in sensitized rats.
Both treadmill training and epidural stimulation can help to reactivate the central pattern gener... more Both treadmill training and epidural stimulation can help to reactivate the central pattern generator (CPG) in the spinal cord after a spinal cord injury. However, designing an appropriate training approach and a stimulation profile is still a controversial issue. Since the spinal afferent signals are the input signals of CPG in the spinal cord, it can be concluded that the number of input afferent signals can affect the quality of movement recovery, such a phenomenon is in accordance with Hebbian theory. Therefore, at first in this paper, through some simulation studies on a model of CPGs, the effective influence of increasing the afferent input weight on activating CPG model was certified. Then, the performance of two different types of treadmill training along with epidural stimulation was compared. The numbers of spinal afferents involved during each designed training approach were different. Experiments were conducted on two groups of spinalized rats. Three quantized integer qu...
Citicoline (cytidine-5'-diphosphocholine) is a neuroprotective agent that is administered... more Citicoline (cytidine-5'-diphosphocholine) is a neuroprotective agent that is administered following ischemic and traumatic brain injuries. There is little information about the antiseizure and anxiolytic effects of citicoline, which are therefore addressed in the present study. For evaluating the anticonvulsant effect of citicoline in the pentylentetrazole seizure model, a single intraperitoneal dose of citicoline was administered at 50, 100 or 150mg/kg. Sedative and anxiolytic effects of citicoline were examined via elevated plus maze and pentobarbital induced sleep tests. Results show that citicoline at the doses of 100 and 150mg/kg significantly delayed the latent period compared with the control (P<0.05). Citicoline at the doses of 100 and 150mg/kg significantly decreased total locomotion compared with the control (P<0.05). Additionally, citicoline at the doses of 100 and 150mg/kg significantly increased both percentage of entry and time spent in the open arms in the elevated plus maze test (P<0.05). The pentobarbital induced sleep test showed that citicoline significantly reduced the latency to sleep (P<0.05). Our results suggest that acute administration of citicoline has anticonvulsant activity and sedative effect.
Curriculum theorizing is the methodology of the theory development. We recognize, two approaches ... more Curriculum theorizing is the methodology of the theory development. We recognize, two approaches to curriculum theorizing; explanation and understanding. Explanation resemble the processes of theorizing like natural scientist does and understanding is an approach to theorizing with its personal engagement consideration, uniqueness evolve from the complexity of and unrepeatable educational phenomena. In this article, two main ideas, objectivismreductionism, subjectivism-mysterianism and a branch of the second idea so called; conceptualism are examined. It is discussed that all three ideas are corresponding with the explanation or understanding and so their deficiency in human life is determined. It is argued that neurophenomenology could be considered as a remedy for the fragmental deficiency and incompetence of the current dominant positions in curriculum theorizing. We called the neurophenomenology inspired theorizing as; "understanding explanation" and explain it in refe...
The main objective of this paper is to explain the difficulties and insufficiency of neuro-philos... more The main objective of this paper is to explain the difficulties and insufficiency of neuro-philosophy theory as a representative the modern reductionist approaches in cognitive science and philosophy of mind to delineate the framework of teaching-learning environments, and suggest an alternative to these difficulties. Therefore, firstly, the perspective of the neuro-philosophy to teaching-learning environments have been examined and criticized, then we propose a holographic teaching-learning environment based on the Varela’s neuro-phenomenology of education and inspired by the integral theory. The most important features of this approach to learning environments are: holographic attitudes towards human life, mind, brain, body and learning environment “are granted an equal importance and therefore need the same attention” relationships between mind, brain, body and learning environment and a synchronous consideration to object and subject and all its explicit and implicit layers by integrating first and third-person methodologies into the essential components of these environments, namely teaching, teacher-learner communication, evaluation, and curriculum as an integrated whole.
Introduction: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been widely used for the treatmen... more Introduction: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been widely used for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. One of the major sideeffects of interferon-α (IFN-α) therapy is neutropenia. Previous studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of co-administration of G-CSF and IFN-α on neutropenia in patients infected with hepatitis C. In this study for the first time, the effects of co-administration of type I IFNs and G-CSF on liver and liver enzymes investigated. Methods: forty-two mice (male, eight weeks) were randomly divided into six groups of seven: distilled water, G-CSF (200μg/kg), IFN-α (200μg/kg), IFN-β (200μg/kg), IFN-α+G-CSF and IFN-β+G-CSF. After 28 days, blood was taken from the heart of each mouse and histological changes in the liver and liver enzymes including aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT), as well as bilirubin, were measured. Results: Surprisingly, in most cases, the G-CSF and type one IFNs alone or simultaneou...
In an experiment the emotional and exploratory behaviors of Wistar rats to dietary zinc supplemen... more In an experiment the emotional and exploratory behaviors of Wistar rats to dietary zinc supplementation from zinc sulfate (ZnS), Zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc Methionine (ZnM) were studied in an open field test. One hundred-twenty rats were assigned to 10 dietary treatments including: 1) Basal diet (BD) + 50 mg/kg ZnS, 2) BD + 100 mg/kg ZnS, 3) BD + 200 mg/kg ZnS, 4) BD + 50 mg/kg ZnO, 5) BD + 100mg/kg ZnO, 6) BD + 200 mg/kg ZnO, 7) BD + 50 mg/kg ZnM, 8) BD + 100 mg/kg ZnM, 9) BD + 200 mg/kg ZnM and 10) Basal diet (without Zn supplementation). The parameters including rearing, number of peripheral squares crossing, number of central squares crossing, whole exploration and defecation were recorded for 5 minutes. The levels of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg ZnO, ZnS and ZnM were significantly different in the whole exploration, comparisons. The number of whole exploration was significantly decreased by adding ZnM to the diet at a level of 200 mg/kg. The number of defecation was significantly incre...
Objective(s) The aim of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of green tea aga... more Objective(s) The aim of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of green tea against genotoxicity induced by gamma irradiation in cultured blood lymphocytes from 5 human volunteers. Materials and Methods Peripheral blood samples were collected from volunteers before and 1, 3 and 5 hr after drinking a decoction 4 g green tea in 280 ml boiling water for 5 constitutive days with the same quantity. At each time point, the whole blood samples were exposed to 200 cGy of 60 Co gamma irradiation and then were cultured with mitogenic stimulation to determine the chromosomal aberration in micronucleus assay on cytokinesis-blocked binucleated cells. Results As expected, for each volunteer, the results showed a significant increase in the incidence of micronuclei after exposure to gamma irradiation as compared to non-irradiated control samples. Only lymphocytes blood sample collected 3 hr after drinking green tea exhibited a significant decrease in incidence of micronuclei comp...
Nesfatin-1, a recently discovered peptide, is involved in important functions such as food intake... more Nesfatin-1, a recently discovered peptide, is involved in important functions such as food intake regulation and energy homeostasis. Previous studies have demonstrated that it has protective effects following myocardial injury and also protects dopaminergic cells against neurotoxicity with the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic mechanisms. In this study, we aimed to assay the neuroprotective effects of Nesfatin-1 after brain ischemia/reperfusion. Twenty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly selected and allocated in the form of four groups (sham, Nesfatin-1, ischemia, ischemia+Nesfatin-1). Ischemia was created by obstruction couple common carotid arteries in 20-min period. Saline as a vehicle and Nesfatin-1 (20 μg/kg, intraperitoneally) were injected at the time of reperfusion. Spatial memory performances were evaluated by the Morris water maze. The level of protein expression was determined by immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining. Nesfatin-1 significantly reduced ca...
Development of the nervous system in human and most animals is continued after the birth. Critica... more Development of the nervous system in human and most animals is continued after the birth. Critical role of this period in generation and specialization of the neuronal circuits is confirmed in numerous studies. Any pharmacological intervention in this period may result in structural, functional or behavioral abnormalities. In this study, sodium thiopental a GABA mimetic drug was administrated to newborn rats and their GAD65 and GAD67 expression in hippocampus was evaluated before and after puberty. Newborn male Wistar rats were received sodium thiopental (35 mg/kg) daily for 11 days (from 4 to 14 days after birth). Expression of GAD65 and GAD67 in their hippocampus was compared with control groups in 15 and 45 days after birth with RT-qPCR method. Significant down regulation of GAD65 and GAD67 gene expression was observed in treated rats compared with control group in 45 days after birth animals. But no significant difference was shown between experimental and control groups 15 days...
Insulin signaling malfunction has recently been suggested as a preliminary event involved in the ... more Insulin signaling malfunction has recently been suggested as a preliminary event involved in the etiology of Sporadic Alzheimer's disease (SAD). In order to develop insulin resistance-related SAD model, rats were treated with streptozotocin, intracerebroventricularly (icv-STZ). Nevertheless, given the lack of knowledge regarding sub-clinical stages of SAD, the current challenging issue is establishing a practical pre-clinical SAD model. Despite some proposed mechanisms, such as insulin malfunction, neuroinflammation, and gliosis, icv-STZ mechanism of action is not fully understood yet and Streptozotocin-induced rat model of Alzheimer has still major shortcomings. Using three STZ doses (0.5, 1, and 3mg/kg) and three testing time (short-term, medium-term and long-term), we sought the best dose of STZ in order to mimic the characteristic feature of sAD in rats. So, we conducted a series of fifteen-week follow-up cognitive and non-cognitive studies. Besides, IR, tau and ChAT mRNA levels were measured, along with histological analysis of astrocyte, dark neuron numbers, and pyramidal layer thickness, in order to compare the effects of different doses of icv-STZ. STZ 3mg/kg caused cognitive and insulin signaling disturbance from the very first testing-time. STZ1-injected animals, however, showed an augmented hippocampal astrocyte numbers in a short time; they, also, were diagnosed with disturbed insulin signaling in medium-term post icv-STZ-injection. Moreover, behavioral, molecular and histological impairments induced by 0.5mg/kg icv-STZ were slowly progressing in comparison to high doses of STZ. STZ1 and 0.5mg/kg-treated animals are, respectively, suggested as a suitable experimental model of MCI, and sub-clinical stage.
Rosmarinic acid (RA) as an active component of several medicinal plants, has shown anti-inflammat... more Rosmarinic acid (RA) as an active component of several medicinal plants, has shown anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. In this study, the effect of RA on tracheal responsiveness (TR), lung inflammatory cells, oxidant biomarkers in sensitized rats were evaluated. TR to methacholine and ovalbumin (OVA) as well as total and differential white blood cell (WBC) count and levels of nitrogen dioxide, nitrate, malondialdehyde, thiol, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were measured in control (group C) rats, sensitized animals to OVA and given drinking water alone (group S), S groups receiving drinking water containing three concentrations of RA (0.125, 0.250 and 0.500 mg/mL) and dexamethasone (1.25 μg/mL), (n = 6 in each group). Increased TR to methacholine and OVA, total WBC count, percentages of eosinophils, monocytes, neutrophils and levels of oxidant biomarkers but decreased other measured parameters were observed in group S compared to group C. Percentages of lymphocytes and antioxidant biomarkers were significantly increased but other measured parameters were significantly decreased in S group treated with dexamethasone and in rats treated with the two higher concentrations of RA compared to S group. The effect of RA medium concentration on percentage of eosinophils and RA high concentration on total WBC count and percentages of eosinophils and lymphocytes, were significantly higher than those of dexamethasone. These results showed the concentration-dependent effect of RA on tracheal responses, lung inflammatory cells and oxidant-antioxidant parameters which was comparable to that of dexamethasone at used concentrations in sensitized rats.
Both treadmill training and epidural stimulation can help to reactivate the central pattern gener... more Both treadmill training and epidural stimulation can help to reactivate the central pattern generator (CPG) in the spinal cord after a spinal cord injury. However, designing an appropriate training approach and a stimulation profile is still a controversial issue. Since the spinal afferent signals are the input signals of CPG in the spinal cord, it can be concluded that the number of input afferent signals can affect the quality of movement recovery, such a phenomenon is in accordance with Hebbian theory. Therefore, at first in this paper, through some simulation studies on a model of CPGs, the effective influence of increasing the afferent input weight on activating CPG model was certified. Then, the performance of two different types of treadmill training along with epidural stimulation was compared. The numbers of spinal afferents involved during each designed training approach were different. Experiments were conducted on two groups of spinalized rats. Three quantized integer qu...
Citicoline (cytidine-5'-diphosphocholine) is a neuroprotective agent that is administered... more Citicoline (cytidine-5'-diphosphocholine) is a neuroprotective agent that is administered following ischemic and traumatic brain injuries. There is little information about the antiseizure and anxiolytic effects of citicoline, which are therefore addressed in the present study. For evaluating the anticonvulsant effect of citicoline in the pentylentetrazole seizure model, a single intraperitoneal dose of citicoline was administered at 50, 100 or 150mg/kg. Sedative and anxiolytic effects of citicoline were examined via elevated plus maze and pentobarbital induced sleep tests. Results show that citicoline at the doses of 100 and 150mg/kg significantly delayed the latent period compared with the control (P<0.05). Citicoline at the doses of 100 and 150mg/kg significantly decreased total locomotion compared with the control (P<0.05). Additionally, citicoline at the doses of 100 and 150mg/kg significantly increased both percentage of entry and time spent in the open arms in the elevated plus maze test (P<0.05). The pentobarbital induced sleep test showed that citicoline significantly reduced the latency to sleep (P<0.05). Our results suggest that acute administration of citicoline has anticonvulsant activity and sedative effect.
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Papers by Ali Moghimi