Comparison of Teaching about Breast Cancer via Mobile or Traditional Learning Methods in Gynecology Residents

Alipour, Sadaf,Moini, Ashraf,Jafari-Adli, Shahrzad,Gharaie, Nooshin,Mansouri, Khorshid Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Introduction: Mobile learning enables users to interact with educational resources while in variable locations. Medical students in residency positions need to assimilate considerable knowledge besides their practical training and we therefore aimed to evaluate the impact of using short message service via cell phone as a learning tool in residents of Obstetrics and Gynecology in our hospital. Methods: We sent short messages including data about breast cancer to the cell phones of 25 residents of gynecology and obstetrics and asked them to study a well-designed booklet containing another set of information about the disease in the same period. The rate of learning derived from the two methods was compared by pre- and post-tests and self-satisfaction assessed by a relevant questionnaire at the end of the program. Results: The mobile learning method had a significantly better effect on learning and created more interest in the subject. Conclusion: Learning via receiving SMS can be an effective and appealing method of knowledge acquisition in higher levels of education.

Benefits and Harms of Phytoestrogen Consumption in Breast Cancer Survivors

Alipour, Sadaf,Jafari-Adli, Shahrzad,Eskandari, Amirhossein Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.8

Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm and the second most common cause of cancer death in women. This malignancy is recognized to be estrogen-dependent and due to this feature, hormone replacement therapy is regarded as potentially dangerous in breast cancer survivors who seek relief of their menopausal symptoms. Whereas hot flashes are detected in nearly half of postmenopausal women with a relatively high frequency and severity, botanic sources of estrogens have been proposed as an alternative treatment. Nevertheless, estrogenic properties of these compounds suggest possibility of stimulating cancer recurrence or worsening prognosis in survivors. As well, effects in improving vasomotor climacteric changes is controversial. Many studies have considered the subject, some focusing on efficacy of phytoestrogens for control of menopausal symptoms, and others discussing effects of these compounds on breast cancer outcome in terms of survival or recurrence. The present article is a concise review of the effects of consumption of phytoestrogens on menopausal symptoms, namely hot flashes, and breast cancer recurrence and mortality in survivors of the disease. Overall, the major part of the current existing literature is in favor of positive effects of phytoestrogens on breast cancer prognosis, but the efficacy on menopausal symptoms is probably minimal at the best.

Levels of Serum 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D in Benign and Malignant Breast Masses

Alipour, Sadaf,Hadji, Maryam,Hosseini, Ladan,Omranipour, Ramesh,Saberi, Azin,Seifollahi, Akram,Bayani, Leila,Shirzad, Nooshin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.1

Background: The true association between breast cancer and vitamin D is currently under investigation. We compared serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels in women with benign and malignant breast masses and controls. Materials and Methods: Levels of vitamin D were measured by electrochemiluminescense. Serum levels >35 ng/ml, 25-35 ng/ml, 12.5-25 ng/ml and <12.5 ng/ml were considered as normal, mild, moderate and severe vitamin D deficiency, respectively. Results: Overall, 364 women were included in the control, 172 in the benign and 136 in the malignant groups. The median serum vitamin D level was significantly lower in breast cancers than controls. Levels were also lower in malignant than benign cases and in benign cases than controls although statistically non-significant. Conclusions: Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that severe vitamin D deficiency causes a three-fold increase in the risk of breast cancer while this was not the case for moderate and mild deficiency.

Very Young Breast Cancer in a Referral Center in Tehran, Iran: Review of 55 Cases Aged 25 or Less throughout 33 Years

Alipour, Sadaf,Omranipour, Ramesh,Jahanzad, Issa,Bagheri, Khojasteh Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Background: Breast cancer is mostly the disease of postmenopausal women but very young affected women are seen more than occasionally in developing countries. We reviewed our cases of very young breast cancer in order to help in better understanding of such cases. Materials and Methods: The records of patients 25 years of age or less who had been admitted for breast cancer surgery in the Cancer Institute of Tehran from 1979 to 2012 were reviewed and relevant data were extracted. Results: From 5,265 cases of breast cancer, 62 patients had 25 years of age or less. There were 55 cases of breast adenocarcinoma, all female. More than 78% of the patients had presented with a palpable mass, the family history was positive in 2% of cases, and about 94% of the histologies were invasive ductal carcinoma. Gestational breast cancer constituted 10% of the cancers; another 10%were bilateral. The median size of the tumors was 5.72 centimeters, 63.2% of them had axillary lymphatic involvement, and more than half were negative for hormone receptors. Conclusions: Our study shows an incidence of 1.17% for very young breast cancer and a 10% rate of bilaterality which probably warrants special guidelines for contralateral screening. Cancer stage and features were poor in comparison with breast cancer in all ages.

Teaching Breast Cancer Screening via Text Messages as Part of Continuing Education for Working Nurses: A Case-control Study

Alipour, Sadaf,Jannat, Forouzandeh,Hosseini, Ladan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.14

Introduction: Although continuing education is necessary for practicing nurses, it is very difficult to organize traditional classes because of large numbers of nurses and working shifts. Considering the increasing development of mobile electronic learning, we carried out a study to compare effects of the traditional face to face method with mobile learning delivered as text messages by cell phone. Materials and Methods: Sixty female nurses working in our hospital were randomly divided into class and short message service (SMS) groups. Lessons concerning breast cancer screening were prepared as 54 messages and sent in 17 days for the SMS group, while the class group participated in a class held by a university lecturer of breast and cancer surgery. Pre- and post-tests were undertaken for both groups at the same time; a retention test also was performed one month later. For statistical analysis, the paired T test and the independent sample T test were used with SPSS software version 16; p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean age and mean work experience of participants in class and SMS groups was $35.8{\pm}7.2$, $9.8{\pm}6.7$, $35.4{\pm}7.3$, and $11.5{\pm}8.5$, respectively. There was a significant increase in mean score post-tests (compared with pretests) in both groups (p<0.05). Although a better improvement in scores of retention tests was demonstrated in the SMS group, the mean subtraction value of the post- and pretests as well as retention- and pretests showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (p=0.3 and p =0.2, respectively). Conclusions: Our study shows that teaching via SMS may probably replace traditional face to face teaching for continuing education in working nurses. Larger studies are suggested to confirm this.

Assessment of flowing ability of self-compacting mortars containing recycled glass powder

Alipour, Pedram,Namnevis, Maryam,Tahmouresi, Behzad,Mohseni, Ehsan,Tang, Waiching Techno-Press 2019 Advances in concrete construction Vol.8 No.1

This paper investigates the effect of recycled glass powder (RGP) on flowing properties of self-compacting mortars (SCMs) containing different ratios of fillers and superplasticizer dosages. Fly ash (FA), nano-silica (NS), micro-silica (MS), metakaolin (MK) and rice husk ash (RHA) are used as fillers and their synergistic effect with RFP is studied. The effects of fillers and high-range water reducer (HRWR) on flowing ability of mortars are primarily determined by slump flow and V-funnel flow time tests. The results showed that for composites with a higher RGP content, the mortar flowing ability increased but tended to decrease when the composites containing 10% MK or 5% RHA. However, the flowing ability of samples incorporating 5% RGP and 10% SF or 25% FA showed an opposite result that their slump flow spread decreased and then increased with increasing RGP content. For specimens with 3% NS, the influence of RGP content on flowing properties was not significant. Except RHA and MS, the fillers studied in this paper could reduce the dosage of HRWR required for achieving the same followability. Also, the mixture parameters were determined and indicated that the flowability of mixtures was also affected by the content of sand and specific surface area of cement materials. It is believed that excess fine particles provided ball-bearing effect, which could facilitate the movement of coarse particles and alleviate the interlocking action among particles. Also, it can be concluded that using fillers in conjunction with RGP as cementitious materials can reduce the material costs of SCM significantly.

Acupuncture or cupping plus standard care versus standard care in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients: An assessor-blinded, randomized, controlled trial

Alipour Reihane,Saeidreza Jamalimoghadamsiahkali,Karimi Mehrdad,Asma Asadi,Haleh Ghaem,Mohammad Sadegh Adel-Mehraban,Kazemi Amir Hooman 한국한의학연구원 2022 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.11 No.4

Background Non-pharmacological strategies that have been proposed by complementary medical systems, can be effective in management of COVID-19. Methods This study was designed as a three-arm, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. A total of 139 hospitalized COVID-19 patients were randomly assigned into three groups: (1) acupuncture (ACUG), (2) cupping (CUPG), and (3) control (CTRG). All participants received conventional treatment. The primary study endpoint included changes in respiratory signs including oxygen saturation (SpO2) and respiratory rate (RR). The secondary endpoints were COVID-19-related hospitalization duration and serious adverse events such as intensive care unit (ICU) admission, intubation or death, all up to day 30. Also, improvements in cough, dyspnea, chest tightness, oxygen demand, anorexia, headache, weakness, sore throat, and myalgia were evaluated. Results Forty-two patients in ACUG, 44 patients in CUPG, and 42 patients in CTRG completed the trial. After 3 days, SpO2 and RR improved significantly in CUPG and ACUG compared with CTRG (effect size: 8.49 (6.4 to 10.57) and 8.51 (6.67 to 10.34), respectively: p<0.001). Compared with CTRG, patients in CUPG and ACUG recovered faster (mean difference: 6.58 (4.8 to 8.35) and 9.16 (7.16 to 11.15), respectively) and except for two patients in ACUG who were admitted to ICU, none of patients in ACUG or CUPG needed ICU or intubation (p<0.001 in comparison to CTRG). Amelioration of clinical COVID-19 related symptoms reached a high level of statistical significance in CUPG and ACUG in comparison with CTRG (p<0.01). Conclusion Cupping and acupuncture are promising safe and effective therapies in management of COVID-19. Trial registration: This study was registered at Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials: IRCT20201127049504N1 (https://en.irct.ir/trial/52621).

The effective role of positive charge saturation in bioluminescence color and thermostability of firefly luciferase

Alipour, Bagher Said,Hosseinkhani, Saman,Ardestani, Sussan K.,Moradi, Ali Korean Society of Photoscience 2009 Photochemical & photobiological sciences Vol.8 No.6

Luciferases are the enzymes that catalyze the reactions that produce light in bioluminescence. The bioluminescence color of firefly luciferases is determined by the luciferase structure and assay conditions. Amongst different beetle luciferases, those from phrixothrix rail-road worm with a unique additional residue (Arg353) emit red bioluminescence color naturally. Insertion of $Arg^{356}$ in Lampyris turkestanicus luciferase changed the emitted light to red with a bimodal bioluminescence spectrum. By insertion and substitution of positively-charged residues, different specific mutation (E354R/$Arg^{356}$, E354K/$Arg^{356}$, E354R, E354K) lead to changes of the bioluminescence color. Bioluminescence emission spectra indicate that substitution of E354 by R along with insertion of $Arg^{356}$ produces a luciferase that emits red light with a single peak bioluminescence spectrum. The comparison of mutants with native luciferase shows that mutations of firefly luciferase resulted in structural and functional thermostability. Comparative study of native and mutant luciferase (E354R/$Arg^{356}$) by intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence, CD spectropolarimetry, and homology modeling revealed mutation brought about an increase in content of secondary structure and globular compactness of L. turkestanicus luciferase. On the other hand, $pK_a$ of amino acids in the flexible loop decreased upon introducing of positive charges.

Clinical and Ultrasonographic Changes of the Breast after Use of Soy Isoflavones

Alipour, Sadaf,Afshar, Somayeh,Moini, Ashraf,Dastjerdi, Marzieh Vahid,Saberi, Azin,Bayani, Leila,Eslami, Bita,Hosseini, Ladan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

Background: Phytoestrogens may be an alternative therapy in control of menopausal symptoms but their definite effects on breast tissue must be determined. Our study aimed to define the clinical and ultrasonographic changes of the breast after use of soy isoflavones in menopausal women. Materials and Methods: Menopausal women with hot flashes were randomly grouped as cases and controls and cases received soy isoflavones for 12 weeks. Breast examination (BE) and ultrasonography (US) were done at 0, 6 and 12 weeks. Tenderness and nodularity on BE were graded 1-4 by breast surgeons. Results: There were 30 women in the case and 26 in the control group. The mean age was 51.3 years and the mean age of menopause was 49.2 years. There was no change in the BE and US at 6 weeks in controls. In the case group, 10% had grade 1 tenderness and 13.3% grade 2 tenderness and grade 1 nodularity in BE accompanied with diffuse small cysts in US. At 12 weeks, there was no change in BE and US in the 2 groups. Conclusions: There was no statistically significant difference in the BE of the 2 groups at 6 and 12 weeks (p value=0.36 and 0.41 for nodularity and tenderness respectively) and in the US results. Although the literature contains many facts concerning PEs and the breast, further prospective studies are needed to identify structural breast changes produced by PEs in order to identify the appropriate dosage and indications of use.

A Normative and conceptual study of peace after the Second World War in light of the Nuremberg Tribunal and the United Nations

Alipour Mohammad 한국외국어대학교 국제지역연구센터 2023 International Area Studies Review Vol.26 No.3

The concept of peace is a source of much debate in the history of international law, and scholars have discussed it from different perspectives. State's consent formed the basis for the legal order prior to the Second World War. However, after the Second World War, peace requirements altered the order by imposing certain obligations upon States. These obligations are essential for universal peace, regardless of states' consent. Among these requirements, the salient sample is the prohibition of waging war, which was criminalized for the first time by the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals. As part of the process of pursuing lasting peace the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations is a hallmark. The Charter outlined a new vision of peace, coupled with retaining the classic definition of peace as the absence of war. There are two characteristics of the Charter's peace; it is manifested in a particular form with a definite connotation. In terms of the form, certain articles of the Charter suggest that the form is the relationship between the members of the United Nations and that the connotation is the implementation of human rights. Charter law pledges States, individually and collectively, to observe human rights both at the domestic and international levels, and this understanding of peace has affected the structure of international law.