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Abstract Background Forage inclusion in starters of young dairy calves has become an acceptable strategy in the last decade. To compensate for the lower energy provided by forage, concurrent lipid supplementation can be proposed. However, ruminal microbial activity and forage digestibility may be decreased by lipid supplementation. We hypothesized that the composite effect of forage and lipid supplements may be dependent on forage particle size and the type of lipid supplement. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of long (LP; geometric mean, 4.97 mm) vs. short alfalfa hay particle sizes (SP; geometric mean, 1.26 mm) with either soybean oil (SBO) or palm fatty acids (PLF) as lipid source in a 2 × 2 factorial design with treatments SP-SBO, SP-PLF, LP-SBO, and LP-PLF. Treatments (n = 13 with 6 males and 7 females each) were offered to Holstein calves (3 days old) with equal amounts of lipid (25 g/kg DM) throughout the experimental period. The milk offering scheme (d 1 to 53) was equal for all groups. Data collection continued until 20 d post-weaning. Results Interaction between forage particle size and lipid supplement was significant for the following readouts: the highest and lowest starter intakes during the pre-weaning period occurred in LP-PLF and LP-SBO, respectively. This was associated with similarly contrasting changes in average daily gain (ADG) during the post-weaning period, body weight at the end of experiment, withers height, digestibility of organic matter and neutral detergent fiber, and blood serum concentrations of glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and insulin during the pre-weaning period. During both pre- and post-weaning periods, the highest and lowest urinary excretion of allantoin and total purine derivatives, representing microbial protein synthesis, were observed in LP-PLF and LP-SBO, respectively, indicating that those diets were most and least favorable for rumen development. Irrespective of forage particle size, supplemental SBO vs. PLF increased serum malondialdehyde as an oxidative stress indicator across periods, increased blood urea nitrogen and feed efficiency in the pre-weaning period, and reduced hip height during the post-weaning period. Conclusions It can be concluded that feeding a rumen-inert, mostly saturated fatty acid source with alfalfa hay as long particle size is recommended with view on performance, whereas a combination soybean oil rich in unsaturated fatty acids should not be provided to milk-fed Holstein calves together with long particle forage. Feeding soybean oil and alfalfa hay as long particles is not advisable mainly due to lower starter consumption and impaired development of ruminal function. If dietary supplementation of soybean oil is applied, incorporation of forage as small particles should be preferred to support rumen development.

ABSTRACT: The present study was intended to evaluate the effect of forage source (alfalfa hay; ALF vs. corn silage; CS) along with a supplemental fat source (soybean oil; SO vs. rumen-inert palm fatty acids; PF) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and ruminal fermentation in dairy calves. Forty-eight new-born Holstein female calves (3 d old) were assigned to one of 4 treatments: (1) alfalfa hay with soybean oil (ALF–SO); (2) alfalfa hay with palm fatty acids (ALF–PF); (3) corn silage with soybean oil (CS–SO); (4) corn silage with palm fatty acids (CS–PF). Starter diets had equal amounts of forage (100 g/kg dry matter; DM) and fat source (30 g/kg DM). Calves were fed a constant amount of milk (d 1 to 63) and had ad libitum access to water and starters (d 1 to 83). The lowest and greatest starter intakes during the preweaning period occurred in ALF–SO and CS–PF, respectively. This coincided with forage × fat source interaction for average daily gain (ADG) during preweaning. The forage source affected total DM intake and ADG over the entire period, body weight (BW) at weaning, and final BW with greater values in calves that received CS compared with ALF. The concentrations of total short-chain fatty acids and butyrate were increased, whereas concentration of acetate and acetate:propionate ratio were decreased in the rumen of calves fed CS compared with ALF. Feeding CS increased urinary excretion of allantoin and, as a trend, total purine derivatives (PD) and estimated microbial protein synthesis in comparison with ALF. The fat source affected starter intake, ADG, and BW postweaning with the highest values in PF. The digestibility of neutral detergent fiber, crude protein and, as a trend, organic matter were higher in calves fed PF compared with SO. Calves fed PF had lower ruminal ammonia-N concentration and urinary N excretion and greater urinary excretion of allantoin and total PD. Calves receiving SO had a lower ruminal protozoa population. In conclusion, supplementing starter diets with CS and PF is superior to ALF and SO. Interaction of the positive effects of CS and PF on performance underlines that concurrent supplementation of CS with PF is especially recommendable in young calves before weaning.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the incremental levels of n-3 fatty acids (FA) in starter feed (SF) on growth and metabolic performance of milk-fed calves. From day 3 of age, 30 female calves (39.4 ± 3.1 kg of body weight) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments: (1) SF supplemented with 3.3% palm fatty acids (PO), (2) SF supplemented with 1.7% of PO and 1.9% fish oil (PFO), or (3) SF supplemented with 3.9% fish oil (FO). Chopped straw (7.5% of DM) was included in the SF of all treatments as total mixed ration (TMR). Diets had similar energy and protein contents. Total n-3 FA (% of total FA) and n-6/n-3 of PO, PFO, and FO were 1.90, 6.80, and 11.8 and 15.5, 4.50, and 2.70, respectively. The BW was greater for calves receiving FO (60.2 ± 0.3 kg) compared with PFO (58.7 ± 0.3 kg; p = 0.007) and tended to be greater for calves receiving FO vs. PO (59.0 ± 0.3 kg; p = 0.050). Because there was no interaction effect between diet × week of experiment, the greater BW of FO could not be attributed to the dietary treatment. Accordingly, average daily gain, total dry matter intake (DMI), starter DMI, and gain to intake ratio (G:FI) did not differ among dietary treatments during the entire period of the study (p > 0.05). Dietary treatments did not impact body size parameters such as body length, body girth, withers height, heart girth, hip height, and width (p > 0.05). Neither ruminal fermentation parameters nor blood variables were influenced by supplementing the types of oil at different time points. Calves’ behavioral parameters, such as standing, lying, eating, and ruminating, were not influenced by different dietary treatments (p > 0.05). The number of days with abnormal fecal score was not different among dietary groups (p > 0.05). Overall, our findings suggest that changing the n-6/n-3 ratio in starter feed by incremental replacement of palm fatty acid with fish oil at a moderate supplemental level of ~3% of DM may not affect the growth and metabolic performance of young calves under non-challenged conditions.

Background : Congenital long QT syndrome (CLQTS) is a life-threatening ion channelopathy leading to syncope and sudden death. Early diagnosis during the prenatal period and timely intervention can prevent sudden cardiac death and catastrophic consequences of this genetic ion channelopathy. Fetal magnetocardiography and fetal electrocardiography (ECG) enable the measurement of fetal QT and JT intervals, but their inherently technically challenging and/or resource-intensiveness nature preclude their routine clinical application. On the other hand, the high-temporal resolution of M-mode echocardiography makes it a well-suited and widely available modality for the measurement of cardiac events. Aims and Objectives : We aimed to investigate the mechanical counterparts of the electrical QT and JT intervals on M-mode echocardiographic images of the tricuspid, mitral and aortic valves, and aortic wall. Methods : We performed a prospective study on consecutive children referred to the outpatient pediatric cardiology clinic at a tertiary children's hospital. We defined M-mode echocardiographic landmark points on tracings of tricuspid annular planar systolic excursion, mitral and aortic valves, and aortic wall with simultaneous electrocardiographic recording. We measured the mean±SD of the absolute time difference and RR-adjusted time difference in cases with non-coincident ECG events and echocardiographic landmarks. Results : Fifty healthy children were enrolled in the study. In 47 (94%) out of the 50 children, Q was coincident with the starting point of the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion. In all children, the Q was coincident with the mid-point of the A-C line of the mitral valve. In 38 (76%) cases, there was a bump on the anterior wall of the aortic root immediately before the change in the slope of the aortic wall. This was coincident with the Q wave in 100% of cases. In all cases, the J point coincided with the point of acceleration of velocity on TAPSE. In all children, the J point coincided with the initial maximal opening of the aortic cusps. The end of the T wave occurred coincident with the peak of the tricuspid annular planar systolic excursion in 47 children (94%). In 48 children (96%), the end of the T wave coincided with the aortic cusps' closure point. Conclusions : Based on our findings, we propose to measure the averaged mechanical QT and JT intervals by using an angled M-mode tracing of the aortic and mitral valve in five consecutive beats in the parasternal long-axis view. This is the first study on mechanical QT and JT intervals in healthy children. The study opens the horizons into the in-utero diagnosis of congenital long QT syndrome by measuring fetal QT and JT intervals using the widely available M-mode echocardiography

In this study, an effective intelligent system based on artificial neural networks (ANN) and a new version of the sine cosine algorithm (SCA) is developed to evaluate and predict the FOS of homogenous slopes under static and dynamic loading. In the first step, an effective hybrid optimization algorithm based on the adaptive sine cosine algorithm (ASCA) and pattern search (PS), namely ASCPS, is proposed and verified using a set of benchmark test functions. Then, the new algorithm, along with the Morgenstern and Price method is applied for seismic slope stability evaluation. To provide a neural network training dataset, a set of 189 slopes with different values of slope height, slope angle, friction angle of soil, soil cohesion, and horizontal acceleration coefficient have been analyzed and their corresponding FOS have been recorded. In the next step, the proposed ASCPS algorithm is implemented for training the ANN model using the collected database. The performance and prediction capacity of the developed model are evaluated using root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R). According to the obtained results, the ANN model with the RMSE value of 0.023 and the R value of 0.984 is a reliable, simple, and valid computational model for estimating the FOS and evaluating the slope stability under static and earthquake loads. In addition, the developed ANN model is applied to a case study of slope stability from previous studies, and the results reveal that the proposed model may provide better optimal solutions and outperform existing methods.

This survey has been done to illuminate and explain Sadra’s ontological viewpoint on the entity of the inborn and innate love in the existence of non-human animals using the analytic and descriptive method (library documentary). In the sight of Sadra, in the whole universe, from the lowest beings to the highest ones, love permeates through the entire world of existence. From Sadraii's wisdom viewpoint, animals are one of the creatures in the essence of existence that possesses their own perfect attributes. Animals have souls, the effects of which are life, perception, free choice, and love. Love is one of the hallmarks and perfections of existence in animals. Animals have an order for their existence, and they are attributed with perfection to the extent of their intensity and weakness. That is to say, all animals are not at the same level. Their perfection is also the same as their existence. There are life, perception, and love in animals, but depends on their proportion of existence. All animals are in love, but every animal having the highest share of its rank enjoys more love. Mullah Sadra's ontological principles in proving the existence and flow of love in animals are that the existence is “original”, “non-composite”, “equivocal” and “coextensive” with life, conception, and love, and “God, the Almighty, is the true Beloved of all beings including animals’ souls.” Evolutionally, animals can only move to the point where the humanity of human beings.

Background: The rate of recurrence and mortality in high-risk prostate cancer remains high. On the other hand, the use of chemotherapy in metastatic prostate cancer has improved overall survival of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone on increasing survival of patients with high risk localized prostate cancer Methods: This is a systematic review study. Databases including Scopus, Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane, Embase were searched. The terms used include prostate cancer, adenocarcinoma, neoadjuvant, chemotherapy, chemotherapy alone, systemic therapy. Of the various types of articles, only oiginal research studies that specifically focused on neoadjuvant chemotherapy (not chemotherapy with target therapy, immunotherapy, or hormone therapy) were identified. Inclusion criteria included study type (original research studies) and sample type (high-risk localized prostate cancer patients) and outcome type (patient survival). Results: A total of 17 original research studies were identified. All of these studies were phase one or phase two. Docetaxel was the most commonly used chemotherapy drug. Also, the most common regimen used was the use of docetaxel alone. The rate of decrease in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (>50%) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was reported in 24 to 58% of patients. PSA declines of less than 50% after neoadjuvant chemotherapy occurred in 40 to 100% of patients. No studies reported a complete pathologic response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. However, the relative pathologic response and reduced tumor volume were seen in the majority of patients. All of these studies showed that neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone, in high-risk prostate cancer patients, was almost well tolerated and that the complications were mostly mild (grade 1 and 2). Grade 3 and 4 complications were negligible. A 2-year recurrence-free survival of up to 68.5% and a 5-year recurrence-free survival of up to 49% were reported. The overall 5-year survival also ranged from 35 to 48%. Conclusion: The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone has not clearly increased the survival of patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer, and there is controversy in studies.

Background: Disease-related cancer pain is a multidimensional phenomenon. Psychological factors that may alter pain perception in cancer patients have not been well studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress therapy on distress in patients with cancer. Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional study of consecutive patients (32-70 years), progression of their disease was at levels 1 to 3, high cycle education, and 3 months of chemotherapy, of which 40 were randomly available to the study and allocated to two groups (20 in experimental and 20 in control groups). The instrument was a McGill pain questionnaire (1997). Data were analyzed using two methods of Kolmogorov-Smirnov inferential statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance using SPSS Ver.17. Results: Correlation analysis showed that the experimental group had a significant reduction in perception of pain, in the posttest after the experiment compared with the control group. Conclusion: The short-term cognitive-behavioral stress management program could reduce the perception of pain in cancer patients.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of a maximum recommended oil supplementation on growth performance, eating behavior, ruminal fermentation, and ruminal morphological characteristics in growing lambs during transition from a low- to a high-grain diet. A total of 21 Afshari male lambs with an initial body weight (BW) of 41.4 ± 9.1 kg (mean ± SD) and at 5–6 months of age were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments (n = 7 per group), including (1) a grain-based diet with no fat supplement (CON), (2) CON plus 80 g/d of prilled palm oil (PALM), and (3) CON plus 80 g/d soybean oil (SOY); oils were equivalent to 50 g/kg of dry matter based on initial dry matter intake (DMI). All lambs were adapted to the high-grain diet for 21 d. In the adaptation period, lambs were gradually transferred to a dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio of 20:80 by replacing 100 g/kg of the preceding diet every 3 d. Thereafter, lambs were fed experimental diets for another 22 days. Fat-supplemented lambs had greater DMI, body weight (BW), and average daily gain (ADG), with a lower feed to gain ratio (p < 0.05), compared to CON lambs. The highest differences of DMI between fat-supplemented and CON-lambs were observed in week 3 of the adaptation period (p = 0.010). PALM- or SOY-supplementation lowered DM and NDF digestibility compared with CON (p < 0.05), and SOY caused the lowest organic matter (OM) digestibility compared with CON and PALM lambs (62.0 vs. 67.6 and 66.9; p < 0.05). Ruminal pH was higher for PALM and SOY compared with CON (p = 0.018). Lambs in SOY tended to have the highest ammonia-N concentrations (p = 0.075), together with a trend for higher concentrations of propionic acid, at the expense of acetic acid in ruminal fluid, on the last day of the adaptation period (diet × time, p = 0.079). Fat-supplemented lambs had lower isovaleric and valeric acid concentrations compared with CON on d 40 (diet × time, p < 0.05). PALM and SOY-fed lambs had a longer eating time (min/d and min/kg of DMI), chewing activity (min/d), meal frequency (n), and duration of eating the first and second meals after morning feeding (p < 0.05), and the largest meal size (p < 0.001). Fat supplemented lambs had greater ruminal papillary length (p < 0.05) and width (p < 0.01), and thicker submucosal, epithelial, and muscle layers, compared with the CON (p < 0.01). Blood metabolites were not influenced by dietary treatments (p > 0.05). The results from this study suggest that fat supplementation to high-grain diets may improve the development of ruminal epithelia and modify ruminal fermentation via optimized eating behavior or the direct effect of oils on the ruminal environment, resulting in better growth performance in growing lambs.

Background. The standard treatment for breast cancer is breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with radiotherapy. If external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) can be safely replaced with intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), it will help patients to save their breast and to have equivocal or better results in DFS and overall survival (OS). Methods. A total of 2022 patients with breast cancer treated during 6 years were enrolled in the current study. A total of 657, 376, and 989 patients received EBRT, radical, and boost dose by IORT, respectively, according to the IRIORT consensus protocol. The primary endpoint was recurrence and death. The secondary endpoint was the role of variables in recurrence and death. Results. With a mean follow-up of 34.5 and 40.18 months for the IORT and EBRT groups, respectively, there was a significant difference in DFS between electron boost and X-ray boost groups (P=0.037) and the electron radical group compared with EBRT (P=0.025), but there was no significant difference between other boost and radical groups in DFS and OS. Conclusions. IORT can be a preferred treatment modality because of its noninferior outcomes, and in some special conditions, it has superior outcomes compared to EBRT, particularly in delivering radical dose with IORT.

Animal enjoy knowledge and perception according to the Islamic philosophy. In order to study the question of knowledge and perception of animals, this survey has been done from the view point of philosophy of transcendent wisdom. Transcendent wisdom is an ontological philosophy. This reflective system bestows the originality to existence. In light of this outlook, what – so – ever covers the arena of the Being, is existence and the essences are virtual. The existence is the realization of Divine Action. Existence is gradational. Each level and stage includes the whole perfections of its own inferior level and exempted from the limits of the inferior existence. This very level and stage is in turn comprehended by the superior level to this own level. Inanimate bodies, animals, and human being enjoy perfection of existence of its own level. Both perfection and existence are one reality, and they are in such a position that the more intensified the existence is, the more evident the perfection is. Animal enjoys perfection according to its existential level. One of these perfections is knowledge, because it is predicated on existence as it is existence. The gradation of existence realizes in every level, so the perfections in any level of existence are gradational. Animals are the possessors of knowledge. Knowledge in animals is gradational. Animals can be subjected to the education, but animal’s knowledge is imaginary and sensory. Animals are able to be in the course of education with imaginary and sensory methods and develop the level of their own knowledge.

Background and purpose: Thyroid nodules are quite common witch are found in clinical or ultrasound examinations. They are detected in 4-8% of clinical examinations and 7-15% are malignant. TSH is one of the growth factors for nodule growth. Controversial reports are published on the effect of TSH on thyroid nodule malignancy. This study aimed at investigating the effect of TSH in predicting malignancy in thyroid nodules. Materials and methods: In this cross sectional research, 500 patients were studied. Serum TSH level was measured prior to fine needle aspiration (FNA). Data analysis was done applying inferential statistics. Results: The patients were 457 (91.4%) females and 43 (8.6%) males and the mean age was 43.43±13.9 years. Among the patients 240 had single nodule and 260 had multiple thyroid nodules (P=0.08). The mean size of nodules in benign and malignant nodules were 26.1±12.2 and 27.3±9.8 mm, respectively (P=0.6). Malignant and benign nodules were observed in 31 (6.2%) and 469 (93.8%) patients. Mean TSH level was 3.3±6.9 and 2.4±2 in patients with benign and malignant nodules, respectively (P= 0.47). To investigate the association between TSH and FNA cytology, TSH levels were divided into

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of decreasing concentrations of dietary neutral detergent fiber (NDF) at high rumen undegradable protein (RUP) on performance, digestibility, chewing activity, blood attributes, and carcass characteristics in 32 weaned male Afshari lambs (90 days of age; 26 kg initial body weight; BW). Dietary metabolic energy (ME) was increased from 10.6–11.5 and 11.8 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) by replacing alfalfa hay with grain to achieve NDF concentrations of 270, 245, and 220 g/kg DM, respectively, at 66.6 g/kg DM of RUP. The control (CON) diet contained 10.9 MJ/kg ME, 270 g/kg NDF and 59.6 g/kg RUP on DM basis. Rations containedsimilar concentrations of crude protein (CP, 160 g/kg DM). Lambs were slaughtered after a 56-d feeding period. The increase in dietary RUP had no effect on BW and average daily gain (ADG) but tended to decrease apparent digestibility of CP and DM, significantlydecreasedplasma urea concentration, and increased carcass CP content. Other body or carcass characteristics were unchanged. Decreasing dietary fiber at high RUP did not result in adverse effects on BW, ADG, body length, withers height, apparent digestibility of DM and CP, and BFT, but decreased DM intake (1539 vs. 1706 g/d) and feed conversion ratio (FCR; 4.33 vs. 5.39) compared with CON. Gradual reduction in NDF and physically effective NDF did not affecteating, ruminating or chewing times. Plasma glucose concentration was greater for NDF220 than for the three other treatments (p = 0.015).Slaughtering traits were not affected by dietary treatment except for hot carcass weight, which increased in NDF220 and NDF245 compared with NDF270 (p = 0.021). The concentration of meat CP increased in NDF270 versus CON (167 vs. 152 g/kg). Quadratic effects occurred for meat ether extract concentration (highest in NDF220) and fat-tail weight (highest in NDF245). In conclusion, the results showed that increasing the proportion of RUP within dietary CP improves carcass protein accretion. Decreasing dietary NDF to 220 g/kg DM at high RUP does not impair eating behavior and improves FCR in 3-month-old fat-tailed lambs.

Background: Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) which has recently been renamed into Ductal Intraepithelial Neoplasia (DIN), is a malignant cell proliferation without invasion to basement membrane of ducts or lobules of breast. DCIS consists 20-30% of newly diagnosed breast cancers in some Western countries due to higher diagnosis resulting from screening by mammography. Relative Risk (RR) of invasive ductal carcinoma is 8-10 times in DCIS, although high grading lesions and positive or close surgical margins are two important predictive factors in DCIS recurrences. The adjuvant radiotherapy has decreased the rate of ipsilateral local recurrence about 60%. In this article, we evaluated the recurrence rate as DCIS as well as invasive breast cancer in patients with DCIS undergoing breast conserving surgery (BCS) and intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IOERT). Methods: Data were derived from Cancer Research Center database from 38 pure DCIS cases who had received intraoperative radiation therapy between 2012–2017. Intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IOERT) was performed according to Iran's intraoperative radiation therapy consensus. Results: The median age of the patients was 55 years and median histological lesion size was 1.8 centimeters. Number of extracted lymph nodes had a median of 1 and all extracted nodes were negative. Hormonal therapy was performed in 42.1% of patients. IOERT was done as radical full exposure for 86.9% of cases and as boost dose for 13.1% of cases, who needed to complete radiotherapy by external beam. One case in the group received boost dose and 4 cases in the group received full dose had recurrence. The median follow-up of patients was 31 months. Pathology of recurrence was reported as DCIS in 3 cases and invasive breast cancer in 2 of them. Conclusion: There is not a lot of data on the effectiveness of IOERT in DCIS management. Although there are not large number of cases in our study, the local recurrence (13.1%) was only event in our study with 31 months median follow up with no contralateral metastasis, distant metastasis, or death.

This paper aimed to evaluate Water Use Efficiency (WUE) indices for crops and horticulture productions. In doing so, after gathering data from 164 farmers, we investigated water withdrawal cost indices and monetary return per cubic meter of water through two econometric and managerial approaches. Besides, water shadow pricesand dry matters of per cub meter of water were calculated. The results revealed that the average monetary return per cubic metre of water is 3875.4 IRR1 (0.134 USD) and cost per cubic metre of well water equals 839.3 IRR (0.029 USD), four times more than the value of some current development projects of water resources. Finally, according to the findings, we suggested a corrected price trade term to adjust water monetary return indices. Control policies and government participation in funding of artificial recharge of undergorund aquifers projects were recommended as well.

Background: Breast cancer diagnosis always causes a great deal of stress and results in significant changes in the patient’s routine life, which—apart from physical injuries—can lead to loss of social functioning and increased risk of mental disorders. Psychological resilience may be a protective factor in dealing with stressful clinical situations. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of acceptance and commitment group therapy on the quality of life and resilience of women with breast cancer. Methods: This study had a quasi-experimental, pre-post intervention design with a control group. Twenty women with breast cancer (stages I or II) were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. The intervention consisted of eight weekly sessions of acceptance and commitment group therapy. Follow-up evaluations were carried out two months after the intervention. The Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30), Quality of Life Questionnaire-Breast Cancer (QLQ-BR23), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were used in this study. Results: Sixteen patients completed the study. Compared with the control group, significant improvements were observed in the total and subscale scores on QLQ-C30 (partial ?2 = 0.40), QLQ-BR23 (partial ?2 = 0.73), and CD-RISC scores (partial ?2 = 0.94) and (P < 0.01) in the intervention group. Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment program appears to be an effective therapeutic intervention for improving quality of life and resilience of breast cancer patients. Therefore, we suggest that this intervention be provided along with medical treatments to improve quality of life and resilience of breast cancer patients.

Introduction: HER-2 is a proto-oncogene of the tyrosine kinase receptor family on chromosome 17. Overexpression of this gene affects the growth and prognosis of some tumors. This study was performed to evaluate the expression of the HER-2 gene in patients with prostate cancer and its relation with the Gleason score. Materials and Methods: Pathology specimens of all men with prostate cancer who had undergone radical prostatectomy without any supportive treatment were studied. The Gleason scores of the specimens and the expression of HER-2 gene were examined. The expression of HER-2 was scored between zero and 3+ in accordance with the HercepTest method. Patients with scores of 2+ and 3+ were considered to be positive for HER-2 overexpression. Results: Of 150 cancerous prostate specimens evaluated, 20 (13.3%) were positive for HER-2 gene overexpression. A weakly positive HER-2 overexpression (2+) was seen in 15 of them (75%) and the remaining 5 (25%) were strongly positive. The Gleason score was not different between the HER-2-postitive and HER-2-negative patients (P = .08). Fourteen out of 97 patients (14.4%) with a Gleason score less than 7 and 6 out of 53 (11.3%) with scores of 7 or greater were positive for HER-2 overexpression. Conclusion: The frequency of HER-2 gene overexpression is not very high in our patients with prostate cancer, and we failed to show any association of HER-2 expression and the Gleason score.

Colour constancy needs to be reconsidered in light of the limits imposed by metamer mismatching. Metamer mismatching refers to the fact that two objects reflecting metameric light under one illumination may reflect non-metameric light under a second; so two objects appearing as having the same colour under one illuminant can appear as having different colours under a second. Yet since Helmholtz, object colour has generally been believed to remain relatively constant. The deviations from colour constancy registered in experiments are usually thought to be small enough that they do not contradict the notion of colour constancy. However, it is important to determine how the deviations from colour constancy relate to the limits metamer mismatching imposes on constancy. Hence, we calculated metamer mismatching's effect for the 20 Munsell papers and 8 pairs of illuminants employed in the colour constancy study by Logvinenko and Tokunaga and found it to be so extensive that the two notions-metamer mismatching and colour constancy-must be mutually exclusive. In particular, the notion of colour constancy leads to some paradoxical phenomena such as the possibility of 20 objects having the same colour under chromatic light dispersing into a hue circle of colours under neutral light. Thus, colour constancy refers to a phenomenon, which because of metamer mismatching, simply cannot exist. Moreover, it obscures the really important visual phenomenon; namely, the alteration of object colours induced by illumination change. We show that colour is not an independent, intrinsic attribute of an object, but rather an attribute of an object/light pair, and then define a concept of material colour in terms of equivalence classes of such object/light pairs. We suggest that studying the shift in material colour under a change in illuminant will be more fruitful than pursuing colour constancy's false premise that colour is an intrinsic attribute of an object.

The previous studies reported some information about prevalence release of high-risk HPV types in HSIL or cervical cancer globally and in Iran, however, this information is not enough for final judgment about vaccination against HPV or any screening program. The aim of the present study was to assess the HPV type distribution in HSIL and ICC specimens of women attending Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences teaching hospitals, Tehran, Iran for treatment during 10 years.This retrospective- descriptive study evaluated the HPV type distribution of pathologic specimens of Iranian women with invasive cervical cancer (ICC) and high-grade squamous cell intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). Formalin-fixed tumor biopsies that were retrieved from women presenting with histological confirmation for ICC and 17 pathologic confirmation for HSIL specimens.The most frequently identified HPV type 16 among both groups, women with invasive cervical cancer (4-2.18%) and women with High Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (29.41%), followed by HPV18, HPV31 and 26. HPV16 and / or 18 accounted for 82.2% of all infected samples.The dominance of HPV16 over other high-risk types might be even higher than in a region with low HPV exposure. However, there was no strong evidence for any judgment that show to the policy makers; which one is cost-effectiveness and feasibility for cervical cancer prevention in Iran, vaccination, screening or both? More population based study and national meta-analysis needed for better understanding of HPV prevalence and HPV DNA patterns in Iran.