BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Based on the latest Iranian national cancer department report, the total number of women registered with breast cancer was 6976 cases during 2007. Five year survival is one of the indicators used for evaluation of the quality for care to different types of malignancies including breast cancer.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to estimate survival rate of breast cancer in 6147 Iranian patients at a national level in different geographic regions.Materials and Methods6147 cases of breast cancer, which had telephone number and were diagnosed between 2001-2006, were called to obtain information about their life status. Survival estimates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the survival probability was calculated for the overall cohort and in different categories of gender, age and pathologic type of tumor. Hazard ratios (HR) according to demographic and risk variables were calculated by Cox's proportional hazard model.ResultsThe overall 5-year survival rate was 71.0%. The mean survival time was different between men and women, which was statistically significant. The number of men involved with breast cancer was 172 (2.8%) of all cases. The 5-year survival rate for patients in age group 41-50 years was significantly higher than other age groups (P = 0.001). The likelihood of death was higher in patients with 61 years old or more years rather than those below forty years old (HR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.12-1.55).ConclusionsThe findings of this study might help Iranian health managers: 1) to be more conscious about geographical and regional determinants which will affect overall survival rate. 2) To carry preventive activities such as public education particularly in Iranian men. 3) To think about screening and early detection of breast cancer.

Manual therapy was as effective as exercise therapy in reducing kyphosis angle and increasing back extensor muscle strength in young women with postural hyperkyphosis.

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Caenorhabditis elegans is a well-established model organism and has been gaining interest particularly related to worm locomotion and the investigation of the relationship between muscle arms and the motion pattern of the nematode. In this paper, we report on a micropillar-based on-chip system which is capable of quantifying multi-point locomotive forces of a moving C. elegans. A Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) device was microfabricated to allow C. elegans to move in a matrix of micropillars in a channel, and an image processing method was developed to resolve the worm force from the bending pillars. The current micropillar-based system is able to measure force with a resolution of 2.07 μN for body width of 80 μm. Initial experiments have been conducted to collect a maximum force level for thirteen wild type worm samples. A maximum force level of 61.94 μN was observed from 1571 data points, based on which an average maximum force level was 32.61 μN for multi-point measurements. The demonstrated capabilities of the system can be an enabling technology that allows biologist to gain a better understanding of subtle force patterns of C. elegans and worm muscle development.

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The aim of this study was to examine and compare the effects of conventional, multisensory, and dual-task exercises on balance ability in a group of older community dwellers over a four-week period. Forty-four older people were randomly assigned to one of the three training groups. The score on the Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) scale, gait stability ratio, and walking speed were evaluated at baseline and after four weeks of training. All three groups showed significant (p < .001) improvement in the FAB scores following the three training programs (on average, 3 points for the conventional and multisensory groups and 3.8 points for the dual-task group). The improvements were comparable across the three intervention groups (p = .23). There were no statistically significant differences, neither within nor between groups, in the gait stability ratio and walking speed across the three training groups. In a four-week period, all the training modes were effective in improving balance of older adults, with no significant superiority of one mode of training over another.

JALILI, C.; SALAHSHOOR, M. R. ; JALILI, F; KAKABARAEI, S.; AKRAMI, A.; SOHRABI, M.; AHOOKHASH, M. & GHANBARI, A.Therapeutic effect of resveratrol on morphine-induced damage in male reproductive system of mice by reducing nitric oxide serum level. Int. J. Morphol., 35(4):1342Morphol., 35(4): -1347Morphol., 35(4): , 2017. SUMMARY:Morphine is one of the naturally occurring phenanthrene alkaloids of opium that induces adverse effects on male reproductive system. Resveratrol is a phytoestrogen and antioxidant of red grape. The main goal is to investigate whether resveratrol could inhibit adverse effects of morphine on sperm cell viability, count, motility as well as testis histology, testosterone hormone and nitric oxide levels in mice. In the present study, 48 male rats were randomly divided into 8 groups (n=6) and were treated intraperitoneally for 14 days with normal saline, resveratrol (2, 8, 20 mg/kg/day), morphine (20 mg/kg/day) and morphine (20 mg/kg/day) + resveratrol (2, 8, 20 mg/kg/day). At the end of experiments, sperm parameters (sperm cell viability, count, motility and morphology), testis weight, the diameter of seminiferous tubules, testosterone hormone level and nitric oxide were analyzed. The data were analyzed by SPSS software for windows (version 20) using one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey's post hoc test, and P<0.05 was considered significant. The results indicated that morphine administration significantly decreased testosterone level, count, viability and motility of sperm cells and testis weight and increased nitric oxide compared to the saline group (P=0.000). Administration of resveratrol and resveratrol plus morphine significantly increased motility, count and viability of sperm cells, somniferous tubule diameter and testosterone, while it decreased nitric oxide level compared to morphine group (P=0.025). It seems that resveratrol administration could increase the quality of spermatozoa and prevented morphine-induced adverse effects on sperm parameters.

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