Introduction: Exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging diagnostic biomarkers for different types of cancers. We aim to detect gastric cancer (GC)-specific miRNAs in serum exosomes with diagnostic potential. Methods: A pair of 43 tumor and tumor-adjacent tissue biopsies obtained from GC patients, also 5 mL peripheral blood (following 12h fasting) were collected from the same patients and healthy controls (HCs). QIAGEN miRCURY LNA miRNA Focus PCR Panel applied to screen differentially expressed onco-miRNAs. The candidate miRNAs with the highest fold changes proceeded for validation by qRT-PCR in individuals. Results: We identified that exosomal miR-10a-5p, miR-19b-3p, miR-215-5p, and miR-18a-5p were significantly upregulated in GC patient’s exosomes in contrast to HCs exosomes, Roc curve analysis indicated area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.801, 0.721, 0.780 and 0.736 respectively. The Roc curve analysis for the combined signature of four exosomal miRNAs indicated AUC of 0.813. Also, Spearman's correlation coefficients indicated that the miRNA expression is highly correlated between tumor and exosome. Conclusion: Herein, we specifically identified four miRNAs in serum exosomes of GC patients for a diagnostic purpose which are directly associated with tumoral miRNA expression profile.

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Introduction:The educational environment is one of the fundamental considerations that affect the quality and effectiveness of an education. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the educational environment in general and to compare the environment before and during clinical education. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 138 midwifery students in 2014. The data was randomly collected from among the students based on their "student number. " This study used the Persian version of the DREEM questionnaire, and the questionnaires were filled out anonymously. The range of the scores is 0-200. The data were analyzed statistically with SPSS software (version 20), by the use of a t-test and the significance level less than 0.5. Results: In total, 138 students with an average age of 21.5±2 participated in this study. The general average score of the students was 114±23, which shows a positive perception. Findings indicate that 76.1% (N=138) of students believe that the educational environment needs to be developed and improved, and 23.9% (N=138) believe that there are more negative points of the educational setting than positive ones. There was no significant difference between the scores of 5 of the domains among the clinical and non-clinical students. Conclusion:The findings in the present study reveal that the students have more positive than negative perceptions of the midwifery educational system. The weak points should be considered and new educational strategies should be implemented that lead to effective learning and training. Abstract Article infoArticle Type:Original Research

Abstract-This study attempts to investigate whether studying English as a major on one hand and the learners' gender on the other hand would affect the degree of learners' home culture detachment. To this end, two groups of subjects were chosen: EFL learners and non-EFL learners. A Home Culture Attachment Scale validated in the context of Iran was distributed among 266 participants. The data were analyzed by means of independent sample t-tests. The results revealed that due to familiarity with English language and culture, the EFL learners were more or less detached from their own culture; therefore, the assumption that familiarity with Western culture will diminish the influence of local culture was confirmed. The EFL learners showed some tendency toward the Western culture. The results also indicated that the participants' gender differences played no role in their Home Culture Detachment. The findings of this study can be helpful not only from the English language instruction standpoint, but also valuable from socio-cultural perspectives whose concern is human traits.Index Terms-home culture attachment, home culture detachment, HCAS, EFL/Non-EFL learners, linguistic imperialism

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