Before and Beyond the Clash of Civilizations

Although Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington are often lumped together as the twin ideological gurus of the Bush administration, they make diametrically opposite theoretical and political uses of their common understanding of Islam. In this contribution Nafissi analyzes these sharply contrasting “clash theses” to critically evaluate the other and to sketch an agenda on the basis of which a more defensible account of Islam in the contemporary world could be based

Halotolerant Ability and α-Amylase Activity of Some Saltwater Fungal Isolates

Four halotolerant fungal isolates originating from the saltwater Lake Urmia in Iran were selected during a screening program for salt resistance and α-amylase activity. The isolates were identified based on sequencing the ITS region and a part of the β-tubulin gene, as Penicillium chrysogenum (isolate U1; CBS 132820), Fusarium incarnatum (isolate U2; CBS 132821), and Penicillium polonicum (isolate U3; CBS 132822, and isolate U4; CBS 132823). The growth of these isolates was determined by measuring the colony diameter and mycelia dry weight in Sabouraud dextrose agar and yeast nitrogen base medium supplemented with NaCl, KCl, and LiCl. Isolate U4 showed a growth up in 15% NaCl and U1 was the only isolate that could grow in 20% KCl. None of the strains grew in a media containing LiCl. The salt supplemented medium did not increase the size of colony diameter in all isolates (p > 0.05). The ability of the selected isolates for amylase production was quantitatively tested and showed that P. polonicum isolate U4 was the most potent producer of amylase with a yield of 260.9 U/L after 60 h, whereas P. polonicum isolate U3 was the lowest one with a production level of 97.9 U/L after 48 h. P. polonicum isolate U4 could be a suitable candidate for production of amylase on an industrial scale after optimization. © 2013 by School of Pharmacy

Investigating the health of resection margins for conducting intra operative radiotherapy during breast conservative surgery

To conduct radiotherapy during operation in treating the breast cancer through breast conservative surgery method, we must ensure the healthiness of resection margins during the operation. Then, electron ray is flashed to the surrounding tissues in order to reduce the chance of the presence of any microscopic cancer cells. The present research studies the ability of Frozen in diagnosing the health or involvement of margins during the operation and seeks to compare the results of Frozen with the results of gold standard (permanent pathology) diagnostic method in patients suffering from breast cancer who have undergone breast conservative surgery and Intra-operative radiotherapy. In this observational study conducted in the form of a retrospective research, some 496 patients suffering from breast cancer who have undergone breast conservative surgery were selected through the convenience sampling method and the results of breast margin pathologies conducted through Permanent and Frozen section were compared against one another so that we may find the sensitivities and specifications of the Frozen sections in comparison with the Permanent method. In the Frozen and Permanent methods, the margins had a freedom degree of 83.1 and 98 respectively. The sensitivity and peculiarity of the Frozen section as compared to the Permanent method were 80 and 84 respectively, however the negative predictive value was 99.5. A significant relationship was observed here based on chi square test. The level of accuracy was 84.3, and the pseudo negative weas 0.5. The compliance level of the Permanent and Frozen diagnostic methods was 84.3. It is therefore concluded that the Frozen section has a good degree of compliance in determining the state of margin of the removed cancerous lump in breast conservative surgeries and false negative reports have been issued for 0.5 of the cases. Thus, it is recommended to use the Frozen section before radiotherapy to determine the freedom of margins. � 2016, Oriental Scientific Publishing Company. All rights reserved

The relationship of reproductive risk factors and histologic patterns with molecular subtypes of breast cancer

Background: The close link between molecular subtypes and different histological types of breast cancer has recently been taken into consideration. Objectives: The present study aimed at evaluating the reproductive risk factors in relation to molecular subtypes and histological features of breast cancer in a large group of Iranian patients. Methods: This historical cohort study was conducted on 1988 women diagnosed as different subtypes of breast cancers recruited in 2011 to 2016 from cancer research center in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Data on molecular markers were obtained from hospital files obtaining originally from immunohistochemical staining technique. Based on the pathological reports in hospital recorded files, the histological patterns of the cancer was also determined. The patients were followed for 5 years to assess the 5-year survival and compared the survival across the different molecular subtypes. Results: The highest mean age was found for the group with HER2-overexpression and the lowest for those with luminal A (P = 0.045). The most and the least tumor size was revealed in triple negative group and luminal A group, respectively (P = 0.035). The mean number of lymph nodes involved in breast cancer was significantly higher in luminal B subtypes compared to luminal A and triple negative subtypes (P = 0.004). The tumor stages III-IV were found in 31.6 of patients with luminal A subtype, 42.2 in patients with luminal B, 34.3 in patients with HER2 overexpression, and 26.0 in those with triple negative subtype (P = 0.006). The histological patterns of the tumor were powerfully different in terms of the molecular subtypes of tumor so that luminal A subtype was found more in ILC pattern, luminal B subtype was found more in DCIS pattern, HER2-overexpression subtype was revealed more in DCIS pattern, and triple negative subtype was found more in IDC pattern. Based on the long-term survival analysis, 5-year survival was found to be 98.3 in luminal A group, 98.3 in luminal B group, 100 in HER2 overexpression, and 98.1 in triple negative with no difference between different molecular subtypes. The lowest 5-year survival was found in the patients aged higher than 30 years at first pregnancy and live birth with triple negative subtype (survival rate of 75.0). The long-term survival was adversely associated with the tumor stage but independent to tumor molecular subtypes. Conclusions: Age at first live birth, tumor size, lymph node involvement, tumor stage, and histological pattern of breast cancer are linked to its molecular subtype. The lower long-term survival of breast cancer can be predicted by advanced age (especially in triple negative subtype) and by higher tumor stage independent to molecular subtype. © 2018, Cancer Research Center (CRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Epidemiology and histopathology of breast cancer in iran versus other middle eastern countries

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among females worldwide. This study compares the results of the most cited published Iranian studies and studies from other Middle East countries on breast cancer with data from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and approximately 2000 cases from the Cancer Research Center of Shahid Beheshti Medical University of Iran. Methods: Data from the Cancer Registry System of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the Cancer Research Center were obtained in addition to data from other published Iranian articles to increase the accuracy of incidence, prevalence, disease burden, risk factors, clinical staging, clinical pathology, biological markers, clinical subtypes, and survival rate of breast cancer in the last decade and compare the epidemiological data with other areas of the world. Results: Overall, breast cancer was the most common cancer in Iran. The age-standardized rate for breast cancer was 33.21 per 100,000 according to the latest national databases. The mortality rate for breast cancer has not changed in the past 30 years in Iran. The age-standardized rate for mortality was 14.2 per 100,000 with a mean age of 49.84 years. The most common cancer in Iran is invasive ductal carcinoma. In our last review, 65.5-70.5 of cases were in the early stages (1 and 2) and less than 30 were in the advanced stages. The five-year overall survival rate was estimated at 72 in women and 60 in men. The stage and number of positive lymph nodes significantly affected the survival rate. In the Gulf Cooperation Council, ASR of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was (12.9), Bahrain (46.4), Kuwait (44.3), Qatar (35.5), United Arab Emirates (19.2), and Oman (14.4) per 100,000. Conclusion: Our study shows that epidemiology and histopathology of cancer is different with other neighborhood countries and is multi-dimension and needs multi-center involvement from government authorities, clinicians and scientists. © 2018, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Traumatic Pulmonary Pneumatoceles (Pseudocyst)

Introduction: Traumatic pulmonary parenchymal cavitary lesions (TPPCs) are pulmonary pseudocysts raiding secondary to lung contusion. Method: To provide an overview of the etiology, presentation, diagnosis and treatment of TPPCs, and to discuss this in the context of a cohort of 12 retrospectively reviewed patients with TPPCs presenting to Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, from January 2014 to December 2016. Between January 2014 and December 2016, a total of twelve trauma patients presented to Sahlgrenska University Hospital with TPPC following blunt trauma. Results: TPPCs are of limited clinical consequence. Inexperienced clinicians may treat these inappropriately. A Computed Tomography (CT) scan is the investigation of choice. Treatment is symptomatic. Intervention is indicated only in case of complications

Relationships between reproductive risk factors for breast cancer and tumor molecular subtypes

Background: Due to wide clinical differences in the various pathological types of breast cancer and also close associations between disease prognosis and molecular subtypes, relationships of the latter with traditional risk factors have been suggested. Hence, the present study aimed to assess any associations. Methods: This bi-center cross-sectional study was performed on 800 consecutive women with known breast cancer referred to two Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Tehran between 2006 and 2016. Baseline information related to reproductive risk profiles as well as pathological tumor diagnosis and molecular subtypes determined using immunohistochemical analysis by immune-staining for ER, PR, and HER2 molecules were collected by reviewing hospital records. Results: Of 800 samples included for immunohistochemical analysis, 314 (39.3) were diagnosed as of Luminal A subtype, 107 (13.4) as Luminal B subtype, 153 (19.1) as HER-2 over-expressing, and 226 (28.3) as triple negative. Among all reproductive risk factors initially assessed, young age was associated with HER-2 over-expression, greater tumor size and a history of abortion with the luminal B subtype, lower age at pregnancy with the luminal A subtype, and lower gravidity and a shorter duration of breastfeeding with the triple negative subtype. Conclusion: Each molecular subtype of breast cancer in our population may be associated with specific reproductive risk factors. © 2018 Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention

The iron law of democratic socialism: British and Austrian influences on the young Karl Polanyi

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A central thesis of Karl Polanyi's The great transformation concerns the tensions between capitalism and democracy: the former embodies the principle of inequality, while democracy represents that of equality. This paper explores the intellectual heritage of this thesis, in the ‘functional theory’ of G.D.H. Cole and Otto Bauer and in the writings of Eduard Bernstein. It scrutinizes Polanyi's relationship with Bernstein's ‘evolutionary socialism’ and charts his ‘double movement’ vis-à-vis Marxist philosophy: in the 1910s he reacted sharply against Marxism's deterministic excesses, but he then, in the 1920s, engaged in sympathetic dialogue with Austro-Marxist thinkers. The latter, like Bernstein, disavowed economic determinism and insisted upon the importance and autonomy of ethics. Yet they simultaneously predicted a law-like expansion of democracy from the political to the economic arena. Analysis of this contradiction provides the basis for a concluding discussion that reconsiders the deterministic threads in Polanyi's oeuvre. Whereas for some Polanyi scholars these attest to his residual attraction to Marxism, I argue that matters are more complex. While Polanyi did repudiate the more rigidly deterministic of currents in Marxist philosophy, those to which he was attracted, notably Bernstein's ‘revision’ and Austro-Marxism, incorporated a deterministic fatalism of their own, in respect of democratization. Herein lies a more convincing explanation of Polanyi's incomplete escape from a deterministic philosophy of history, as exemplified in his masterwork, The great transformation

BVVL/ FL: features caused by SLC52A3 mutations; WDFY4 and TNFSF13B may be novel causative genes

Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere (BVVL) and Fazio-Londe are disorders with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like features, usually with recessive inheritance. We aimed to identify causative mutations in 10 probands. Neurological examinations, genetic analysis, audiometry, magnetic resonance imaging, biochemical and immunological testings, and/or muscle histopathology were performed. Mutations in known causative gene SLC52A3 were found in 7 probands. More importantly, only 1 mutated allele was observed in several patients, and variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance were clearly noted. Environmental insults may contribute to variable presentations. Putative causative mutations in other genes were identified in 3 probands. Two of the genes, WDFY4 and TNFSF13B, have immune-related functions. Inflammatory responses were implicated in the patient with the WDFY4 mutation. Malfunction of the immune system and mitochondrial anomalies were shown in the patient with the TNFSF13B mutation. Prevalence of heterozygous SLC52A3 BVVL causative mutations and notable variability in expressivity of homozygous and heterozygous genotypes are being reported for the first time. Identification of WDFY4 and TNFSF13B as candidate causative genes supports conjectures on involvement of the immune system in BVVL and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis