• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.2013-2017
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• 2013

Background: To compare the effects of two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens, anthracycline-based and cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorourical (CMF) on disease free survival for breast cancer patients in the Eastern Mediterranean region and Asia. Methods: In a systematic review with a multivariate mixed model meta-analysis, the reported survival proportion at multiple time points in different studies were combined. Our data sources were studies linking the two chemotherapy regimens on an adjuvant basis with disease free survival published in English and Persian in the Eastern Mediterranean region and Asia. All survival curves were generated with Graphdigitizer software. Results: 14 retrospective cohort studies were located from electronic databases. We analyzed data for 1,086 patients who received anthracycline-based treatment and 1,109 given CMF treatment. For determination of survival proportions and time we usesb the transformation Ln (-Ln(S)) and Ln (time) to make precise estimations and then fit the model. All analyses were carried out with STATA software. Conclusions: Our findings showed a significant efficacy of anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy regarding disease free survival of breast cancer. As a limitation in this meta-analysis we used studies with different types of anthracycline-based regimens.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9535-9541
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• 2014

Background: Identifying risk factors of breast cancer is a key point for preventive strategies to reduce the incidence. The aim of current study was to determine most important risk factors for breast cancer in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) using a systematic review. Materials and Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science till August 24, 2012 and the reference lists of all included studies were searched. Analytic studies which had reported odds ratios (OR), relative risk (RR) or required data to calculate them were included. A total of 343 studies were critically appraised and finally 30 studies were meta-analyzed. Heterogeneity between the studies was assessed by $I^2$ and Cochran's Q. Egger's test was used to assess publication bias. Results: Twenty five casecontrol studies, one nested case-control and four cohort studies were included. The largest ORs were obtained for history of no live birth (2.25; 95%CI: 1.58-3.18), body mass index (BMI) more than 30 (2.21; 95%CI: 1.71-2.36), age at first pregnancy more than 30 years old (1.52; 95%CI: 1.30-1.77) and meat consumption more than three times per week (1.39; 95%CI: 1.03-1.87). The other important predictors were higher education and smoking as risk factors, physical activity and ovulatory stimulating medication as protective factors. Conclusions: The most important predictors of breast cancer in EMR were history of no live birth, BMI more than 30, age at first pregnancy more than 30 years old, physical inactivity and smoking. Almost all these risk factors are consistent with known risk factors for this cancer in other parts of the world.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5655-5661
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• 2015

Purpose: To assess the role of two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens, anthracycline-based and CMF on disease free survival and overall survival breast cancer patients by meta-analysis approach in Eastern Mediterranean and Asian countries to determine which is more effective and evaluate the appropriateness and efficiency of two different proposed statistical models. Materials and Methods: Survival curves were digitized and the survival proportions and times were extracted and modeled to appropriate covariates by two multivariate mixed effects models. Studies which reported disease free survival and overall survival curves for anthracycline-based or CMF as adjuvant chemotherapy that were published in English in the Eastern Mediterranean region and Asia were included in this systematic review. The two transformations of survival probabilities (Ln (-Ln(S)) and Ln(S/ (1-S))) as dependent variables were modeled by a multivariate mixed model to same covariates in order to have precise estimations with high power and appropriate interpretation of covariate effects. The analysis was carried out with SAS Proc MIXED and STATA software. Results: A total of 32 studies from the published literature were analysed, covering 4,092 patients who received anthracycline-based and 2,501 treated with CMF for the disease free survival and in order to analyze the overall survival, 13 studies reported the overall survival curves in which 2,050 cases were treated with anthracycline-based and 1,282 with CMF regimens. Conclusions: The findings illustrated that the model with dependent variable Ln (-Ln(S)) had more precise estimations of the covariate effects and showed significant difference between the effects of two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens. Anthracycline-based treatment gave better disease free survival and overall survival. As an IPD meta-analysis in the Italy the results of Angelo et al in 2011 also confirmed that anthracycline-based regimens were more effective for survival of breast cancer patients. The findings of Zare et al 2012 on disease free survival curves in Asia also provided similar evidence.

• Atmosphere
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.311-318
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• 2020

Impacts on the atmospheric circulation and ocean system over the Mediterranean during boreal summer are investigated using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) historical simulations (from 1911 to 2005). As the climate warms, global and remote effects lead to a strengthening in descending motion, an increase in sea surface temperature (SST) and surface dryness, but a decrease in marine primary production over the Western Mediterranean. The global effect is estimated from interannual variability over the global mean SST and the remote effect is driven by diabatic forcing generated from the South and East Asian summer monsoons. On the other hand, a local contribution leads to the strengthened descending motion and increased surface dryness over the Eastern Mediterranean, whereas the marine primary production over this region tends to increase due to possibly the urban wastewater and sewage. Our result suggests that particular attention needs to be paid to conserve the marine ecosystem over the Mediterranean.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.261-270
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• 2021

In this study, a new understanding is presented on the microcracking behavior of high strength concrete (HSC) with steel fiber addition having prior compressive loading history. Microcracking behavior at critical stress (σcr) region, using seven fiber addition volume of 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, and 2.0% was evaluated, at two aspect ratios (60 and 75). The specimens were loaded up to a specified compressive stress levels (0.70fc-0.96fc), and subsequently subjected to split tensile tests. This was followed by microscopic analyses afterwards. Four compressive stress levels as percentage of fc were selected according to the linearity end point based on stress-time (σ-t) diagram under uniaxial compression. It was seen that pre-compression has an effect on the linearity end point as well as fiber addition where it lies within 85-91% of fc. Tensile strength gain was observed in some cases with respect to the 'maiden' tensile strength as oppose to tensile strength loss due to the fiber addition with teething effect. Aggregate cracking was the dominant failure mode instead of bond cracks due to improved matrix quality. The presence of the steel fiber improved the extensive failure pattern of cracks where it changes from 'macrocracks' to a branched network of microcracks especially at higher fiber dosages. The applied pre-compression resulted in hardening effect, but the cracking process is similar to that in concrete without fiber addition.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.98-105
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• 2020

Objectives: Obesity is regarded as one of the most prominent health threats worldwide and a serious risk factor for non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and some types of cancer. Given the role that societal development-as reflected by the Human Development Index (HDI)-may play in the prevalence of obesity and overweight, this study aimed to investigate the degree to which the prevalence of obesity and overweight is affected by HDI and its components. Methods: In this ecological study, the required data on HDI and its components were gathered from the latest report of the United Nations Development Program, and data on obesity and overweight were acquired from the latest reports published on the World Health Organization website. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 24.0. Results: The prevalence of obesity was determined to be significantly higher among females than males, and the gross national index per capita was found to be significantly higher for males than females (p<0.05). Significant positive correlations were found between HDI and its components and sex, as well as indices of obesity and overweight. Conclusions: A significant positive correlation exists between HDI and obesity. As policy-makers attempt to improve the general welfare of the people, they should be aware of potential unwanted effects of development on the risk of obesity and overweight among the population.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1818-1827
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• 2018

Objective: The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence of the pathologies that caused the condemnation of pig carcasses in an area of intensive pig farming and Mediterranean climatology and to evaluate their influence in a risk-based inspection procedure for slaughterhouses. Methods: A retrospective observational investigation was carried out from 2002 to 2016 into the pathological processes that caused the condemnation of pig carcasses in a slaughterhouse from South-eastern Spain. The seasonal effect on the causes of condemnation carcass was reported. Negative binomial model was used to evaluate the effect of season on the rate of antemortem rejections and post-mortem condemnations. Histopathological examinations were performed to confirm the diagnosis. Results: The risk of antemortem rejections (0.0564%) was significantly greater in summer (risk ratio [RR] = 1.57). Autumn was associated with higher rate (RR = 1.69) of the total postmortem condemnations (0.1046%). Significantly higher rates of pronounced anaemia (0.0111%) were observed in summer (RR = 3.20). The main causes of anaemia were observed gastroesophageal ulcers and haemorrhagic enteropathies. Significantly highest risk of erysipelas (0.0074%) were observed in autumn (RR = 5.485). About other zoonosis, only eight cases (0.0013%) of carcasses were declared unfit due to tuberculosis lesions. Porcine muscular cysticercosis was not detected. Nevertheless, nonspecific causes such as generalized infections and emaciation represented the half of the condemned carcasses (50.90%). Conclusion: The pathologies leading to the condemnation of carcasses in this study can be considered representative of the pathologies that affect the pig population from a region with a high intensive production and Mediterranean climatology because this slaughterhouse receives a lot of animals from many farms of different size in a high intensive pig production zone (Mediterranean region). Increased knowledge of environmental factors that may foment the appearance of the diseases is essential for implementing inspection programs based on risk assessment in pig's slaughterhouses.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4519-4528
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• 2013

Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates are increasing in the Arab world and the involved women are often diagnosed at advanced stages of breast cancer. This literature review explores factors influencing Arab women's breast cancer screening behavior. Searched databases were: Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL Plus, Google Scholar, Index Medicus for WHO Eastern Mediterranean, and Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. Breast cancer screening participation rates are low. Screening programs are opportunistic and relatively new to the region. Knowledge amongst women and health care providers, professional recommendation, socio-demographic factors, cultural traditions, beliefs, religious, social support, accessibility and perceived effectiveness of screening influence screening behavior.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.129-140
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• 2019

Nana was an important patron deity in the Kušan Empire and the most important deity worshipped by Emperor Kaniška (c. 127-150 CE). She was the head of the royal dynastic pantheon at this time. The cult of Nana may already have existed in Central Asia prior to the arrival of Indo-Iranians in the region, since she appears on a BMAC seal dating to the early second millennium BCE. Similarly, her cult in Bactria may pre-date her appearance in the Kušan pantheon by over two millennia. The spread of Nana's cult over such vast distances vividly illustrates the cultural connections (presumably stemming mostly from trade) that existed from prehistoric times linking the Mediterranean world to that of Central Asia and beyond, with the Iranian plateau at its center. The prevalence of Sogdian coins bearing Nana's name suggests that she was also the principal deity of Sogdiana. In Bactria, the goddess Ardoxšo (Avestan Aši vaŋ^vhī) was also worshipped by Kušāns and appeared on their coins. Nana, who was associated with war, fertility, wisdom, and water, was also equated with the Iranian goddesses Anāhitā, Aši, and Ārmaiti. The cult of Nana-Ārmaiti was widespread throughout eastern Iran.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.23-48
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• 2018

The Silk Road usually implies a network of trade and communications that stretched from east to west and connected China and the countries of the Far East via Central Asia and the Middle East to the eastern Mediterranean, or through the northern coast of the Caspian Sea and the Volga basin to the Black Sea coast. However, at certain historical stages, a network of maritime and overland routes stretching from north to south, commonly called the Volga-Caspian trade route, also played a significant role in international trade and cultural contacts. The geopolitical realities of the early Middle Ages relating to the relationship of Byzantium, the Sassanid Empire, and the West Turkic Khaganate, the advance of the Arab Caliphate to the north, the spread of Islam in the Volga region, the glories and fall of the Khazar State, and the Scandinavian campaigns in the Caucasus, closely intertwined with the history of transport and communications connecting the north and south through the Volga-Caspian route. In a later era, the interests of the Mongolian Uluses, and then the political and economic aspirations of the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid State, and Russia, collided or combined on these routes. The article discusses trade contacts existing between the north and the south in the 15th and first half of the 17th century along the routes on the western coast of the Caspian Sea.