Investigating the Expression of EGFR And FGFR4 Genes in Patients with Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Lung cancer is a disorder that is caused by genetic and epigenetic changes and activates oncogenes and inactivates tumor suppressor genes. The aim of this study is to quantitative evaluation of EGFR and FGFR4 genes expression level in blood samples of lung cancer in compare with normal people to investigate the role of these two genes as biomarkers during lung cancer diagnosis and screening. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 50 blood samples of lung cancer patients compared with 50 normal controls.. Total RNA from Blood samples were extracted and cDNA is synthesized. The specific primers for detection of markers are designed and expression level of BRIP1, PALB2 in presence of gene GAPDH by using Real Time PCR method was quantitatively studied. FINDINGS: Significant increase was observed in the expression of target biomarkers in cancer patients compared to control population. Results showed quantitative increase of FGFR4 and EGFR genes with 4.46 and 3.03 fold respectively for lung cancer in compare with normal samples (p=0.003). Also, there was a significant relationship between grade of the disease and biomarkers expression level, so that with increasing the stage and degree of severity of cancer, the expression of biomarkers increased (p=0.003). CONSLUSION: Based on this study results we could predict the expression level of (EGFR, FGFR4) gens in suffered patients quantitatively which could use as biomarker indicator during screening of lung cancer samples

The rate of safety belt use and its associated factors in 15 to 44-years old of Kerman in 2012

Background and Aim: More than 50% of road fatalities occur in the 15 to 44-years old which are the young and active group of the society. One of the effective ways to reduce road accidents is using safety belts. In this study the rate of seat belt use and its associated factors have been estimated in the 15 to 44-years old of Kerman.Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study performed in 2012 and on 506, 15 to 44 years old people visiting the pre-marriage consulting center in Kerman. Sampling was done by convenient sampling. Data was analyzed by SPSS 16 and by using logistic regression.Results: The rate of seat belt use was estimated to be %54.4. People who owned private vehicles used safety belts more than non-owners (P< 0.001). Participants claimed that their own safety and preventing injury was the most important reason (59.1%) for using safety belts and forgetting due to mind occupation (33%) were the most important reasons for not using safety belts.Conclusion: Despite the high incidence of road accidents in Iran and despite years passed the first compulsory safety belt regulation, the rate of safety belt use among the society and especially the youth (which are a high percent of the population) is still lower than other countries. These results emphasize the importance of implementing initiatives in this regard.REFERENCES:           1.     World Health Organization. Injuries and violence: the facts. Geneva, Switzerland2010-2011.2.     Puvanachandra  P, Hoe C, Özkan T, Lajunen T. Burden of Road Traffic Injuries in Turkey. Traffic Inj Prev. 2012:64-75.3.     World Health Organization. Global StatusReport on Road Safety. Geneva,Switzerland 2009.4.     Soori H, Nasermoadeli A, Ainy E, Hassani SA, Mehmandar MR. Association between mandatory seatbelt laws and road traffic injuries in Iran. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicineand Public Health. 2011;42(6):1540-5.5.     Hasselberg M, L Laflamme. Road traffic injuries among young car drivers by country of origin and socioeconomic position. Int J Pub Health.2008;53(1): 40-5.6.     Koushki PA, Bustan MA, Kartam N. Impact ofsafety belt use on road accident injury and injury type in Kuwait. Accid Anal and prev. 2003;35(2):237-42.7.     Williams AF, Wells  JAK. The role of enforcement programs in increasing seat belt use. J Saf Res. 2004;35(2): 175-80.8.    Shults RA, Beck LF. Self-reported seatbelt use, United States, 2002–2010: Does prevalence vary by state and type of seatbelt law? J Saf Res. 2012;43(5-6): 417-420.9.     Routley, V.Ozanne-Smith, J. Li, D.Pattern of seat belt wearing in Nanjing, China. Inj  Prev. 2007; 13(6): 388-93.10.   Puvanachandra, P.Hoe, C.El-Sayed, HF.Road Traffic Injuries and Data Systems in Egypt: Addressing the Challenges. Traffic Injury Prevention.2012;13: 44-56.11.   Beck LF, Shults RAMack KA. .Associations between sociodemographics and safety belt use in states with and without primary enforcement laws. Am j pub health. 2007;97(9): 16-19.12.   Sedaghat M, vaghari GH, Bani hashem S .The Trend of Using Safety Seat Belt in Golestan Province from 2007 to 2010: an Epidemiologic Study. Journal Of Gorgan Bouyeh Faculty Of Nursing & Midwifery.2011;8(1): 59-66.13.   Borghebani R, Dehahgni L, Khanjani N. (2013). The rate of safety belt use and some of its related factors among Kerman, Iran car drivers. Payesh.2013;12(2):159–65.14.          Bendak S. Seat belt utilization in Saudi Arabia and its impact on road accident injuries.   Accid anal and prev. 2005;37(2): 367-72.15.   Abiodun O, George L, Abayomi O. Pattern of seat belt use by drivers in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. BMC Research Notes.2011;4(1): 1-6.16.        Shimamura M, Yamazaki M, Fujita G. Method to evaluate the effect of safety belt use by rear seat passengers on the injury severityof front seat occupants. Accid anal and prev.2005;37(1): 5-18.

Adsorption Kinetics of Copolymers and Sulfonated Polymers for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Polymer flooding is one of the most mature enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques, where the injection water viscosity is increased through addition of a high molecular weight polymer. In field operations, one of the most critical parameters for successful polymer flooding is the polymer adsorption. During transport, the polymer will irreversibly adsorb onto the reservoir rock, with the exact extent of adsorption depending on reservoir/polymer properties, such as the polymer composition and molecular weight, mineralogy of the reservoir, brine composition, reservoir temperature etc. For each reservoir, there will be an upper limit of adsorption above which sufficient polymer will be removed from solution to make the process uneconomic. Copolymers of acrylamide (AM) and acrylic acid (AA) have been the most prominent chemicals to be applied, whereas sulfonated polymers containing acrylamide tertiary butyl sulfonic acid (ATBS) have been used for higher temperature and/or salinity conditions. In this work, it is demonstrated that there is a large kinetic component to the adsorption for a range of six polymer species on silica sand. The work was carried out in a field composition brine at a temperature of 31°C. The polymers consisted of AA-AM co-polymers (20-33 % AA) and AM-AA-ATBS ter-polymers (up to 15 mol% ATBS). While an adsorption of ~20 µg/g was measured after 24 hours, this increased continuously over 20-30 days for the AA-AM co-polymers. The same trend was observed for the AM-AA-ATBS terpolymers – with an adsorption at 24 hours of ~15 µg/g increasing over time to 36 ug/g. Two polymer species (33 % AA & 15 % ATBS) were then taken forward to dynamic core flood experiments where a novel shut-in procedure was used to highlight the kinetic behavior. The breakthrough profiles were matched via numerical simulation using a simple isotherm and kinetic constant. These results were then extrapolated to other conditions to highlight the potential for misinterpretation of traditional core flooding approaches. To the authors knowledge, the kinetic adsorption and its impact has not been very extensively discussed in the literature. The ability to accurately plan polymer flooding projects is essential to fully optimise recovery performance as efficiently as possible, minimise the environmental footprint and reliably predict polymer breakthrough for production chemistry requirements. Thus, a complete understanding of the polymer adsorption and adsorption kinetics is critical for the continued development of polymer EOR

Opium as a Risk Factor for Bladder Cancer: A Population-based Case-control Study in Iran

Bladder cancer (BC) is the most common genitourinary system malignancy in humans. Consumption of opium and its derivatives, maybe a risk factor possibly in Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between consumption of opium and its derivatives and the incidence of BC. METHODS: In an individually matched case-control study in Shiraz (located in the south of Iran), 198 patients with BC and 396 healthy individuals (matched in age, sex and residence (urban/rural)) were investigated. Data about consumption of opium and its derivatives, tobacco, alcohol and diet were collected using a structured valid and reliable questionnaire. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were computed using conditional logistic regression models. RESULTS: Opium consumption was associated with an increased risk of BC with an adjusted OR = 3.9 (95% CI: 1.2 - 12.0). Moreover, a considerable dose-response relationship was observed between the opium consumption and its derivatives and the incidence of BC; comparing to no users, the odds ratios of low and high consumptions were 3.3 (95% CI: 0.5 - 23.1) and 4.9 (95% CI: 1.1 - 21.9) respectively. CONCLUSION: Opium consumption can be a potential strong risk factor for BC in Iran