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The Incidence of Breast Cancer in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Pages 139-145
Abbas Rezaianzadeh, Soheil Hassanipour Azgomi, Ali Mohammad Mokhtari, Ahmad Maghsoudi, Milad Nazarzadeh, Seyedeh Leila Dehghani and Salar Rahimi Kazerooni
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-7229.2016.05.04.2
Published: 21 November 2016


Abstract: Background: Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer among women globally. Its incidence greatly varies around the world the globe. There are several estimates of breast cancer incidence from different geographical areas in Iran. In addition, no systematic reviews are available pertaining to the incidence rate of breast cancer in Iran. Therefore, the present systematic review aimed to address this epidemiological gap.

Method: This systematic review was carried out based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) in January 2016. In doing so, the researchers searched Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Sciencedirect, and Google scholar for international papers and four Iranian databases (Scientific Information Database, MagIran, Iran Medex, and Iran Doc) for Persian articles.

Result: A total of 427 titles were retrieved in the initial search of the databases. Further refinement and screening of the retrieved studies produced a total of 18 researches. Based on the random effect model, the Age-Standardized Rate (ASR) of breast cancer was 26.4, 95% CI (20.1 to 31.7). However, the results of Cochran’s test showed the heterogeneity of the studies (Q=1788.2, df=17, I2=99%, p<0.001).

Conclusion: The incidence of breast cancer was lower in Iran compared to other parts of the world. However, establishing cancer registries covering a broader perspective of the population and carrying out further studies are needed to map out the exact incidence rate and trend of breast cancer in Iran.

Keywords: Incidence, Breast cancer, Iran.
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Increased Incidence of Breast Cancer Due to Long Exposure of Light
Pages 146-152
K. Pushkala and P.D. Gupta
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-7229.2016.05.04.3
Published: 21 November 2016


Abstract: The disturbed circadian rhythm due to long exposure to varied photo periods or to artificial light during night time (LAN) results in hormonal imbalance. The epidemiological survey indicates a clear difference in the incidence of breast cancer (BC) in countries closer to the poles and to the equator. Long-term exposure to LAN during sleep cycle is found to be the root cause of many health problems. Light dependent conversion of melatonin from serotonin plays a major role in cancer development. In rat model it is shown that levels of melatonin are always inversely proportional to oestradiol in the blood. Melatonin decreases the formation of oestrogens (mitogenic hormone) from androgens via aromatise inhibition. In a pilot study we have shown that in menopausal blind (risk age for BC) women the prevalence of BC is very low (1:169; Risk Rate (RR); Cumulative Risk (CR)35-64 age), compared to sighted women (1:78; CR, 35 - 64 age). Data was collected from a total of 2060 blind subjects (18.8% being <40 years of age and 81.2% above 40 years). Partially blind subjects have 11% greater risk of developing BC than those who are totally blind (RR=1.106; 95% CI=.352 to 3.472). Other established risk factors for BC are ineffective in blind. The blind women model (proposed in this study) suggests that dark hours are essential in our daily routine. By management of proper circadian rhythms better management of various endocrine diseases including hormone dependent cancers can be achieved.

Keywords: Blind women model, low incidence, photoperiod, melatonin, epidemiology.
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Depth-Sensitive Raman Spectroscopy of Intact Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Blocks for Objective Diagnosis of Cancer- An Exploratory Study
Pages 153-163
Khan Mohd. Khan, Hemant Krishna, Chandrahas V. Kulkarni and Shovan K. Majumder
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-7229.2016.05.04.4
Published: 21 November 2016


Abstract: Histopathology, the current “gold standard”, is prone to human errors as it depends on expert interpretation of the microscopically derived cellular and sub-cellular information for tissue diagnosis. Further, this light microscope based approach requires preparation of appropriately stained specimens of micro-thin tissue sections from the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks of tissue samples. We report a method that provides quantitative feedback about tissue diagnosis by measuring depth-sensitive Raman spectra from the intact FFPE tissue blocks without requiring preparation of any thin tissue sections or any other processing. The FFPE blocks of pathologically certified cancerous and normal breast tissues were used for validating the approach. The measured depth-sensitive Raman spectra were mathematically de-paraffinized for retrieving the characteristic tissue Raman signatures using scaled-subtraction. A multivariate analysis of the scaled-subtracted, depth-sensitive Raman spectra employing a probability-based diagnostic algorithm developed using the framework of sparse multinomial logistic regression (SMLR) provided a sensitivity and specificity of up to 100% towards cancer based on leave-one-block-out cross validation. The results of this exploratory study suggest that depth-sensitive Raman spectroscopy along with a multivariate statistical algorithm can provide a valuable alternate diagnostic modality in clinical pathology setting for discriminating cancerous from normal FFPE tissue blocks.

Keywords: Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks, Depth-sensitive Raman spectroscopy, Scale-subtraction.
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Journal of Research Updates in Polymer Science

Microwaves Devulcanization of SBR Containing Carbon Black
Pages 52-59
Denise Hirayama, Carlos Henrique Scuracchio and Clodoaldo Saron

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-5995.2016.05.02.1

Published: 19 August 2016


Abstract: Polymer recycling has been the most suitable alternative for management of plastics waste that are responsible by serious environmental damages. However, the recycling of some polymer materials, such as vulcanized elastomers, is not a trivial process. The recycling of elastomers is a process more complex than the recycling of thermoplastic polymers because the elastomers cannot be remolded by simple heating after vulcanization. Methods for rubber devulcanization has been developed as an interesting alternative for recover flow properties of elastomers, allowing other molding cycle. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the presence of carbon black on devulcanization of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) by microwaves and analyze properties of recycled material. The devulcanization by microwaves showed efficiency for rubber compositions with higher content of carbon black incorporated as well as the properties of recycled material showed satisfactory performance for reuse in other products. Microwaves devulcanization of SBR is an important alternative for reuse of rubber waste and decrease of the environmental problem generated with discard of these materials.

Keywords: Devulcanization, microwaves, rubber recycling.
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