حمیدرضا مرتضوی

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is an undifferentiated form of thyroid cancer that is highly lethal. The aim of the current study was to search the microarray libraries available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and analyze the function of the extracted genes to predict their role in the pathogenesis of ATC.

The data in the GSE33630 dataset were first analyzed by GEO2R and then by R software version 4.2.0. Normalization of data and extraction of genes with significant expression differences (DEGs) were performed and performance analysis was performed by Enrichr and DAVID 6.8.

The analyzes showed that 1705 genes with log2FC>1 had increased expression and 2740 genes with log2FC<-1 had decreased expression. Also, the PI3k/Akt signaling pathway and the transcription factors IRF8, TCF4, CBEPB and JUND are related to the increased expressed genes.

Increased activity of PI3k-Akt signaling pathway as well as transcription factors IRF8, TCF4, CBEPB and JUND in thyroid cells probably leads to the development or progression of ATC cancer.

Today, peer education programs focus on scientific support, guiding and creating interaction between students has been considered to model students' scientific progress. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of medical students from implementing the peer program as a mentor using a qualitative framework.

The present study is a qualitative study of the type of contractual content analysis with code of ethics IR.NASRME.REC.1400.067. The participants were selected by purposive sampling method with maximum diversity approach, including 30 medical students and 13 peers as mentors from 94 to 1400 entries. Qualitative data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The duration of the interviews was between 45-60 minutes.

In total, 24 girls (55.8 percent) and 19 boys (44.2 percent) students participated in this study. From the total interviews conducted, 267 open codes, 5 categories and 2 main themes were extracted. The main topics and classes include "Peer as mentor program; a need-based approach" with the sub-themes of facilitating the learning process, accelerating the achievement of goals and developing communication skills, and "The need to promote the peer as mentor program" with the sub-themes of the need to strengthen the infrastructure and the necessity of reviewing the standards related to the selection of the group leader.

The findings of the study showed that the process of the peer training program as a mentor is accompanied by challenges, but it can facilitate, increase theoretical and practical learning, as well as develop the communication skills of medical students.