EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CANCERS IN ISFAHAN PROVINCE: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY (1981-1996)

Introduction. Malignancies occur word wide with variety of patterns depending on an individual's environmental situation and life style. Having data about the distribution and incidence of different malignancies is necessary for the formulation of an effective prevention plan for any specific area. Methods. In the central part of Iran (Isfahan Province) a retrospective study was designed to describe cancers' epidemiologic factors by collecting patients' data from the Isfahan Oncology center for the period of 1981-1996.
 Results. The frequency of malignancies was as follows: Skin cancers 5111 cases with a frequency of 20.9 percent (62.9 percent males and 37.3 percent females). Leukemia 3108 cases with a frequency of 12.7 percent (59.9 percent males and 40.1 percent females). Breast cancer 2796 cases with a frequency of 11.4 percent (6.5 percent males and 93.7 percent females). cancers of the digestive system 2017 cases (60.5 percent males and 39.5 percent females). Non Hodgekin lymphoma 1953 cases with relative frequency of 8 percent (66.9 percent male and 33.1 percent females). cancers of the urinary system 1567 cases with a frequency 7.6 percent (82.5 males and 17.5 females). Head and neck cancers 1545 cases (6.3 percent). Cancer of the reproductive system 1313 cases with a frequency of 5.37 percent. Tumors of the central nervous system 1276 cases with a frequency of 5.22 percent. Lung cancers 933 cases with a frequency of 3.7 percent (80.7 percent males and 19.3 percent females). Hodgekins 913 cases with a frequency of 3.7 percent. Sarcoma of the soft tissue 801 cases (3.28 percent) and bone tissue 657 cases (2.7 percent). Endocrine malignancies 422 cases and 1.73 percent of all was at the bottom of categories during the period of study.
 Discussion. In the present study, the prevalence of acute leukemia and also lymphatic and hodgekine malignancies were more frequent than the world wide data presented in the literature. The frequency of lung tumors, however, was less than in the developed countries

Establishment of Aster sedifolius and Aster caucasicuscallus cultures as a potential source of antioxidants

Callus cultures were established for Aster sedifolius and Aster caucasicus, two Aster species used in natural medicine for their anticancer, antibacterial and antiviral activities attributed to the high content of antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols and ascorbate. The effects of growth medium and light condition on the induction and growth rate of callus from leaf, petiole and root explants are reported. Callus induction and proliferation depended on the genotype and the experimental conditions. In particular, a profuse callus culture was obtained from leaf explants grown in the light on medium supplemented with 2,4-D (0.1 mg l71) for A. caucasicus and on medium supplemented with 2,4-D (0.44 mg l71) plus 6-benzil-ammino-purine (BAP) (0.22 mg l71) for A. sedifolius. The content of total polyphenol and ascorbic acid was estimated in leaf and petiole explants of in vivo plants and in the relative derived calli. In calli, polyphenol content was lower than in the corresponding in vivo organs. Furthermore, the total ascorbic acid content decreased in calli while the reduced ascorbic acid pool increased. These findings demonstrate that Aster callus cultures produce antioxidant compounds and as such might be a model system to investigate the regulation and production of these important metabolites

Two deltas, two basins, one river, one sea. The modern Volga Delta as an analogue of the Neogene Productive Series, South Caspian Basin

The Neogene Productive Series, the main reservoir unit of the prolific hydrocarbon province in the South Caspian Basin, and the modern Volga delta in the northern Caspian Sea, are deltas deposited by the same river into the same closed sea. Both deltas are low-gradient, mud-dominated, river-dominated, multichannel, ramp deltas without a shelf break, and show the impact of rapid changes in sea level, climate-driven discharge, and sediment input. But there are also prominent differences.\ud \ud The Productive Series forms the lowstand wedge of the most dramatic sea-level fall the Caspian has ever experienced. It consists of a succession, up to 7 km thick, of fluviodeltaic sediments, deposited at extremely high sedimentation rates (2 -4 mm/y) by a paleo-Volga River River Deltas -Concepts, Models, and Examples in the narrow, rapidly subsiding South Caspian basin. Simultaneously, the paleo-Volga carved a canyon 2000 km long and up to 600 m deep far upstream into the Russian plain. The smaller Kura and Amu Darya rivers also contributed to the Productive Series. The sedimentary succession in the proximal part of the Productive Series shows the transition from an alternation of sheetflood sandstones and floodplain mudstones with great lateral continuity to finer-grained packages in which coarsening-upwards facies successions are common and there is evidence of repeated emergence and desiccation. A coarser-grained interval reflects increasing uplift in the adjacent Greater Caucasus mountains. The upsection increase in mud-dominated deposition in the Productive Series is thought to reflect a trend towards more humid climates.\ud \ud The modern Volga delta is not more than 20 m thick and has been deposited during the last 6000 years on a wide stable continental platform at a level halfway between a major Last Glacial highstand and a deep Early Holocene lowstand. It shows rapid lateral and vertical facies changes at the delta front, and it is characterized by many small radial sand bodies with low connectivity, coarsening-upwards mouthbar and levee deposits overlying clayey prodelta deposits, and fining-upwards channel fills. There is evidence of frequent emergence and submergence due to rapid sea-level changes. Average sedimentation rates are lower than in the Productive Series (0.7 -1 mm/y in uncompacted muds). The reasons for the differences are threefold. Sedimentation in the Productive Series spanned two million years, but in the modern Volga delta less than 6,000 years, so the latter cannot be more than a partial analogue of the former. The outcropping sediments of the Productive Series were deposited in a more proximal position than the studied sediments of the modern Volga delta front, which may partly explain the difference in lateral continuity of the sandy successions. But above all the paleo-Volga shed its load in a narrow, rapidly subsiding basin, whereas the present Volga spreads its sediment across a wide and shallow stable continental platform. The differences in basin geometry and dynamics explain part of the differences in 3-D architecture and sedimentation rates

Two deltas, two basins, one river, one sea. The modern Volga Delta as an analogue of the Neogene Productive Series, South Caspian Basin

The Neogene Productive Series, the main reservoir unit of the prolific hydrocarbon province in the South Caspian Basin, and the modern Volga delta in the northern Caspian Sea, are deltas deposited by the same river into the same closed sea. Both deltas are low-gradient, mud-dominated, river-dominated, multichannel, ramp deltas without a shelf break, and show the impact of rapid changes in sea level, climate-driven discharge, and sediment input. But there are also prominent differences. The Productive Series forms the lowstand wedge of the most dramatic sea-level fall the Caspian has ever experienced. It consists of a succession, up to 7 km thick, of fluviodeltaic sediments, deposited at extremely high sedimentation rates (2 -4 mm/y) by a paleo-Volga River River Deltas -Concepts, Models, and Examples in the narrow, rapidly subsiding South Caspian basin. Simultaneously, the paleo-Volga carved a canyon 2000 km long and up to 600 m deep far upstream into the Russian plain. The smaller Kura and Amu Darya rivers also contributed to the Productive Series. The sedimentary succession in the proximal part of the Productive Series shows the transition from an alternation of sheetflood sandstones and floodplain mudstones with great lateral continuity to finer-grained packages in which coarsening-upwards facies successions are common and there is evidence of repeated emergence and desiccation. A coarser-grained interval reflects increasing uplift in the adjacent Greater Caucasus mountains. The upsection increase in mud-dominated deposition in the Productive Series is thought to reflect a trend towards more humid climates. The modern Volga delta is not more than 20 m thick and has been deposited during the last 6000 years on a wide stable continental platform at a level halfway between a major Last Glacial highstand and a deep Early Holocene lowstand. It shows rapid lateral and vertical facies changes at the delta front, and it is characterized by many small radial sand bodies with low connectivity, coarsening-upwards mouthbar and levee deposits overlying clayey prodelta deposits, and fining-upwards channel fills. There is evidence of frequent emergence and submergence due to rapid sea-level changes. Average sedimentation rates are lower than in the Productive Series (0.7 -1 mm/y in uncompacted muds). The reasons for the differences are threefold. Sedimentation in the Productive Series spanned two million years, but in the modern Volga delta less than 6,000 years, so the latter cannot be more than a partial analogue of the former. The outcropping sediments of the Productive Series were deposited in a more proximal position than the studied sediments of the modern Volga delta front, which may partly explain the difference in lateral continuity of the sandy successions. But above all the paleo-Volga shed its load in a narrow, rapidly subsiding basin, whereas the present Volga spreads its sediment across a wide and shallow stable continental platform. The differences in basin geometry and dynamics explain part of the differences in 3-D architecture and sedimentation rates