Incidence,prevalence, mortality,disability-adjusted life years and risk factors of cancer in Australia and comparison with OECD countries, 1990–2015: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

BackgroundComparative evidence on the burden, trend, and risk factors of cancer is limited. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, we aimed to assess cancer burden – incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) – and attributable risk factors for Australia between 1990 and 2015, and to compare them with those of 34 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).MethodsThe general GBD cancer estimation methods were used with data input from vital registration systems and cancer registries. A comparative risk assessment approach was used to estimate the population-attributable fractions due to risk factors.ResultsIn 2015 there were 198,880 (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 183,908–217,365) estimated incident cancer cases and 47,562 (95% UI: 46,061–49,004) cancer deaths in Australia. Twenty-nine percent (95% UI: 28.2–29.8) of total deaths and 17.0% (95% UI: 15.0–19.1) of DALYs were caused by cancer in Australia in 2015. Cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung, colon and rectum, and prostate were the most common causes of cancer deaths. Thirty-six percent (95% UI: 33.1–37.9) of all cancer deaths were attributable to behavioral risks. The age-standardized cancer incidence rate (ASIR) increased between 1990 and 2015, while the age-standardized cancer death rate (ASDR) decreased over the same period. In 2015, compared to 34 other OECD countries Australia ranked first (highest) and 24^th based on ASIR and ASDR, respectively.ConclusionThe incidence of cancer has increased over 25 years, and behavioral risks are responsible for a large proportion of cancer deaths. Scaling up of prevention (using strategies targeting cancer risk factors), early detection, and treatment of cancer is required to effectively address this growing health challenge.     

Why on Earth: Self-assembly of the first bacterial cell to abundantand diverse bacterial species

About 80% of the evolutionary history of life on Earth is restricted to microorganisms which have had several billion years to speciate. The reasons for the origin (self-assembly) of life on Earth, bacterial cell division and why there are so many different bacteria and their global dispersal are discussed from an evolutionary perspective.     

Reply to the first systematic response by the Global Footprint Network to criticism: A real debate finally?

We respond to a reaction of the Global Footprint Network/GFN on our 8-point criticism of the ecological footprint. We also refer to, and comment on, an associated debate in this journal between Giampietro and Saltelli, 2014a, Giampietro and Saltelli, 2014b, on the one hand, and Goldfinger et al. (2014), on the other. We conclude that criticism on the footprint is accumulating and coherent across the various studies and disciplines and among the different authors. This was the first time that Wackernagel/GFN systematically responded to our criticisms. Hence, our response contains several original elements and the resulting exchange can be seen to add value to the existing literature. It ultimately allows readers to better make up their mind about the different viewpoints on the ecological footprint.     

Isomeric lipid signatures reveal compartmentalized fatty acid metabolism in cancer

The cellular energy and biomass demands of cancer drive a complex dynamic between uptake of extracellular FAs and their de novo synthesis. Given that oxidation of de novo synthesized FAs for energy would result in net-energy loss, there is an implication that FAs from these two sources must have distinct metabolic fates; however, hitherto, all FAs have been considered part of a common pool. To probe potential metabolic partitioning of cellular FAs, cancer cells were supplemented with stable isotope-labeled FAs. Structural analysis of the resulting glycerophospholipids revealed that labeled FAs from uptake were largely incorporated to canonical (sn-) positions on the glycerol backbone. Surprisingly, labeled FA uptake also disrupted canonical isomer patterns of the unlabeled lipidome and induced repartitioning of n-3 and n-6 PUFAs into glycerophospholipid classes. These structural changes support the existence of differences in the metabolic fates of FAs derived from uptake or de novo sources and demonstrate unique signaling and remodeling behaviors usually hidden from conventional lipidomics.     

Low mtDNA Cytb diversity and shallow population structure of Eleutheronema tetradactylum in the East China Sea and the South China Sea

Eleutheronema tetradactylum is an economically important fish species in China water. To investigate the genetic diversity and describe population structure of it, an 1151 base pair (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA Cytb sequence was analyzed in 120 individuals from four populations in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. A total of 16 haplotypes were defined by 24 variable nucleotide sites. High level of haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity were observed in all populations. The results of AMOVA detected that 89.44% of the genetic variation occurred within populations. Significant genetic differentiations were detected among populations (0.05097, P < 0.05), but no large-scale regional differences were detected. Analysis of neutral evolution and mismatch distribution suggested no recent population expansion happened. The present results provided new information for genetic assessment, fishery management and conservation of this species.     

Genetic structure of a wide-spectrum chicken gene pool

The genetic structure of 65 chicken populations was studied using 29 simple sequence repeat loci. Six main clusters which corresponded to geographical origins and histories were identified: Brown Egg Layers; predominantly Broilers; native Chinese breeds or breeds with recent Asian origin; predominantly breeds of European derivation; a small cluster containing populations with no common history and populations that had breeding history with White Leghorn. Another group of populations that shared their genome with several clusters was defined as 'Multi-clusters'. Gallus gallus gallus (Multi-clusters), one of the subspecies of the Red Jungle Fowl, which was previously suggested to be one of the ancestors of the domesticated chicken, has almost no shared loci with European and White Egg layer populations. In a further sub-clustering of the populations, discrimination between all the 65 populations was possible, and relationships between each were suggested. The genetic variation between populations was found to account for about 34% of the total genetic variation, 11% of the variation being between clusters and 23% being between populations within clusters. The suggested clusters may assist in future studies of genetic aspects of the chicken gene pool.     

Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: It is time for dispersal experiments

The experimental study of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function has mainly addressed the effect of species and number of functional groups. In theory, this approach has mainly focused on how extinction affects function, whereas dispersal limitation of ecosystem function has been rarely discussed. A handful of seed introduction experiments, as well as numerous observations of the effects of long‐distance dispersal of alien species, indicate that ecosystem function may be strongly determined by dispersal limitation at the local, regional and/or global scales. We suggest that it is time to replace biodiversity manipulation experiments, based on random draw of species, with those addressing realistic scenarios of either extinction or dispersal. Experiments disentangling the dispersal limitation of ecosystem function should have to take into account the probability of arrival. The latter is defined as the probability that a propagule of a particular species will arrive at a particular community. Arrival probability depends on the dispersal ability and the number of propagules of a species, the distance a species needs to travel, and the permeability of the matrix landscape. Current databases, in particular those in northwestern and central Europe now enable robust estimation of arrival probability in plant communities. We suggest a general hypothesis claiming that dispersal limitation according to arrival probability will have ecosystem‐level effects different from those arising due to random arrival. This hypothesis may be rendered more region‐, landscape‐ or ecosystem‐specific by estimating arrival probabilities for different background conditions.     

EPR properties of mixed-valent μ-oxo and μ-hydroxo dinuclear iron complexes produced by radiolytic reduction at 77 K

 Radiolytic reduction at 77 K of oxo-/hydroxo-bridged dinuclear iron(III) complexes in frozen solutions forms kinetically stabilized, mixed-valent species in high yields that model the mixed-valent sites of non-heme, diiron proteins. The mixed-valent species trapped at 77 K retain ligation geometry similar to the initial diferric clusters. The shapes of the mixed-valent EPR signals depend strongly on the bridging ligands. Spectra of the Fe(II)OFe(III) species reveal an S=1/2 ground state with small g-anisotropy as characterized by the uniaxial component (g _z –g _av /2<0.03) observable at temperatures as high as ∼100 K. In contrast, hydroxo-bridged mixed-valent species are characterized by large g-anisotropy (g _z –g _av /2>0.03) and are observable only below 30 K. Annealing at higher temperatures causes structural relaxation and changes in the EPR characteristics. EPR spectral properties allow the oxo- and hydroxo-bridged, mixed-valent diiron centers to be distinguished from each other and can help characterize the structure of mixed-valent centers in proteins. Received: 27 June 1998 / Accepted: 25 February 1999     

Detection of Raillietina saudiae from the domestic pigeon in Saudi Arabia through 18S and 28S rDNA genes

Raillietina saudiae is a well-studied avian gastrointestinal parasite belonging to the family Davaineidae and is the most prevalent cyclophyllid tapeworm infecting pigeon in Saudi Arabia. The present study considered as a complementary analysis of Al-Quraishy et al. (2019; Parasitol Int 71 , 59–72) with molecular studies for two ribosomal DNA genes employed for precise recognition of this Raillietina species. The annotated partial 18S and 28S rDNA gene regions were found to be 888 and 900 bp long that utilized further to elucidate their genetic relationships at species level using maximum likelihood method. The query sequence of R. saudiae is well aligned and placed within the Davaineidae family, with the same clade of all species of Raillietina that well separated from other cyclophyllidean cestodes especially taeniid and hymenolepid species. Sequence data recorded the monophyly of Raillietina species. The current phylogeny supports the usage of the partial 18S and 28S rDNA genes as reliable markers for phylogenetic reconstructions.