Aflatoxin contamination of wheat flour and the risk of esophageal cancer in a high risk area in Iran

Background: Golestan province in northeastern Iran has been known as a high-risk area for esophageal cancer (EC). This study was conducted to assess aflatoxin (AF) contamination of wheat flour (WF) samples in high and low EC-risk areas of Golestan province. Methods: Four WF samples were collected randomly from each of 25 active silos throughout the province in 2009. The levels of AFs were measured using the High-performance liquid chromatography method. Using the data of EC rates obtained from Golestan population-based cancer registry, the province was divided into high and low risk areas for EC. Student t-test and multivariate regression analysis were used to compare the levels of aflatoxins as well as the condition of silos between the two areas. Results: One hundred WF samples were collected. The mean levels of total aflatoxin and aflatoxin B1 was 1.99 and 0.53 ng g^?1, respectively. The levels of total AF (p = 0.03), AFG2 (p = 0.02) and AFB1 (p = 0.003) were significantly higher in samples obtained from high risk area. Multivariate regression analysis showed that humidity of silo was the most important source of difference between silos of the two areas (p = 0.04). Conclusion: We found a positive relationship between AF level of WF samples and the risk of EC. So, AF contamination may be a possible risk factor for EC in our region. We also found that humidity of silos was the most important determinant of AF contamination of WF. Intensive control of silos conditions including humidity and temperature are needed especially in high EC-risk areas.     

The dietary patterns are a modifying risk factor for breast cancer: An ecological study

A comparative study of dietary patterns (DPs) with breast cancer (BC) incidence in different countries has been performed. It was established that in the countries with a high incidence of BC (76 per 100 000 people) the levels of consumption of the “nutrients of animal foods,” “fruits and beverages,” and “alcoholic drinks” are 1.5–2 times higher and that of “cereals and vegetables” is 1.5 times lower than in the countries with a low incidence of BC (35 per 100 000). In Mediterranean countries, where incidence of BC is 51 per 100 000, the levels of consumption of “animal foods” is two times lower than the levels of consumption of “cereals and vegetables.” A method of assessing the impact of DPs on the incidence of BC has been proposed.     

A population at high risk for esophageal cancer in the north-east of Italy

Esophageal cancer is generally characterised by relatively low incidence and mortality rates in Europe. However, a high-risk population for this tumour is resident in the north-east of Italy. Several studies have been conducted on this population of males confirming the major role of alcohol and tobacco consumption alone and in combination. The inhabitants of this area of Italy constitute an ideal target population for studies of molecular epidemiology aimed at elucidating the natural history of the disease which is still ill-defined, and the distribution of genetic alterations at a population level.     

Mutagenic substances in red and white wine in Chile, a high risk area for gastric cancer

Chilean home-made and commercial wines were analyzed for the presence of mutagenic substances using the Salmonella mutagenicity test with preincubation. Strains TA98 and TA100 were used in the absence and in the presence of S9 mix. 90% of red wines from a total of 30 samples and 54% of white wines from a total of 22 were found to be mutagenic. In all cases, S9 mix did not affect the mutagenicity of the samples. At least in one case, more than one mutagen was present, since the mutagenicity with TA98 could be selectively inactivated without affecting that with TA100. This study supports the hypothesis that wine consumption may be an important risk factor for upper gastrointestinal cancer, particularly for adenocarcinoma of the stomach, which is highly prevalent in Chile.     

Tobacco and alcohol as risk factors for oesophageal cancer in a high incidence area in South Africa

BackgroundThe Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which includes the former Transkei has high rates of squamous cell oesophageal cancer (OC), thought to be caused mainly by nutritional deficiencies and fungal contamination of staple maize. A hospital-based case-control study was conducted at three of the major referral hospitals in this region to measure, among other suspected risk factors, the relative importance of tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption for the disease in this population.MethodsIncident cases (n = 670) of OC and controls (n = 1188) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire which included questions on tobacco and alcohol-related consumption. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals for each of the risk factors were calculated using unconditional multiple logistic regression models.ResultsA monotonic dose-response was observed across the categories of each tobacco-related variable in both sexes. Males and females currently smoking a total of >14 g of tobacco per day were observed to have over 4-times the odds of developing OC (males OR = 4.36, 95% CI 2.24–8.48; females OR = 4.56, 95% CI 1.46–14.30), with pipe smoking showing the strongest effect. Similar trends were observed for the alcohol-related variables. The quantity of ethanol consumed was the most important factor in OC development rather than any individual type of alcoholic beverage, especially in smokers. Males and females consuming >53 g of ethanol per day had approximately 5-times greater odds in comparison to non-drinkers (males OR = 4.72, 95% CI 2.64–8.41; females OR = 5.24, 95% CI 3.34–8.23) and 8.5 greater odds in those who smoked >14 g tobacco daily. The attributable fractions for smoking and alcohol consumption were 58% and 48% respectively, 64% for both factors combined.ConclusionTobacco and alcohol use are major risk factors for OC development in this region.ImpactThis study provides evidence for further reinforcement of cessation of smoking and alcohol consumption to curb OC development.     

多尺度滑坡灾害生态风险评价与风险管理——以三峡库区万州-巫山段为例

进行生态风险多尺度综合评价,对环境管理及风险决策具有重要意义。以三峡库区滑坡重点监测县域为例,基于“危险性-脆弱性-潜在损失”三维模型,以随机森林模型评估滑坡危险性,采用景观格局指数表征生态脆弱性,利用生境质量核算潜在生态损失,进行格网、行政、子流域多尺度下的滑坡灾害生态风险评价,提出适合各尺度的风险管理措施,在此基础上选择最适宜尺度并结合研究区实际情况进行验证。结果表明,生态风险等级较高区域集中于长江两岸沿线,三峡库区建设对研究区滑坡生态风险产生较大影响;两两尺度风险分布结果具有一定相似性,而三种尺度共同作用结果又存在一定差异;子流域尺度在保证生态结构完整性的前提下评价结果好于其他两种尺度,更适合三峡库区县域的生态风险评价;研究区东部风险防范类型相对单一,而西部风险防范类型较多,需做到精细化管理。研究增加了多尺度综合评价实例,对今后开展整个三峡库区滑坡生态风险研究奠定一定理论和实践基础。     

Serum selenium level in patients with colorectal cancer

Serum selenium levels were determined by fluorometric procedure in 37 patients of both sexes suffering from colorectal cancer. The diagnosis was verified with histopathological examination during surgical treatment. The values found were 46.8±11.2 μg/L. The control group consisted of 230 healthy persons from the same environment as the group of patients. The values found were 64.2±11.5 μg/L. The results of this study are compared with the results of the other research groups analyzing the level of selenium in colorectal cancer.     

露天煤矿区生态风险评价方法

以露天煤矿区这一脆弱生态系统为对象进行了生态风险评价方法的探讨 ,阐述了生态风险评价的基本概念。针对露天矿区生态环境特点 ,通过描述露天矿区的主要生态环境问题 ,分析了矿区风险源、风险受体以及评价终点 ,最后建立了典型露天煤矿区生态风险的评价指标体系 ,对露天矿区这一典型退化生态系统进行了生态风险评价方法及评价步骤的探索     

An image analysis method for assessment of prognostic risk in prostate cancer: a pilot study

Fully automated computerized image analysis at medium resolution (1 micron per pixel space) was applied in a study of 17 patients with stage D1 prostate cancer. For this pilot study, patients were selected on the basis of very good or very poor outcome. This selection was made in the hope of identifying morphometric features that are useful in prognostic assessment. Nine patients with good outcome were alive after 7 or more years of follow-up and eight patients with poor prognosis were dead of disease in less than 3 years. All patients were treated with 125I seed implantation to the prostate and pelvic lymph node dissection. Hormone therapy was not administered until the time of distant failure. Routine hematoxylin and eosin tissue sections of lymph nodal tissue bearing metastatic neoplasm were used for this analysis. A minimum of eight scenes per case was analysed. Of 50 measured parameters on each cluster, five (gray level distribution, number of cell clusters per scene, bending energy, average cluster area and cluster polarity) were useful to distinguish patients with good outcome from those with a poor outcome. Thirteen of the 17 patients were correctly classified by image analysis (P = 0.044, Fischer's exact test). By comparison, flow cytometry of the identical tissue samples correctly classified 14 of 17 patients (diploid, good outcome; aneuploid, poor outcome; P = 0.009). Only one patient was incorrectly classified by both image analysis and flow cytometry, implying a complementary prognostic role for the two methods. The encouraging result, successful identification of useful morphometric features, justifies a larger study of unselected patients.     

基于GIS的三峡库区生态风险评估及生态分区构建

快速城市化与土地利用变化导致的一系列问题不断影响着生态系统健康。开展生态系统服务供给和生态风险的空间量化研究,有助于科学管控区域生态用地,促进生态文明建设。采用GIS技术,利用生态系统服务价值核算模型、生态风险指数模型,研究了2000年以来三峡库区生态系统服务供给值和生态风险指数的时空演化特征,并利用Z-score标准化法进行生态功能分区构建。结果表明：(1)2000—2015年,三峡库区生态系统服务供给值总体变化较小,生态系统服务以调节服务为主且林地供给值最高。高供给值区主要分布于湖北省夷陵区、秭归县和兴山县等植被覆盖度高的区域,低供给值区分布在库区西南部的渝中区、渝北区和沙坪坝区等人口密集区。(2)三峡库区生态风险值总体呈小幅上升趋势,“西高东低”的分布特征明显,生态安全逐步向中等风险类型转移,其中低、较低生态风险区占区域总面积的55%以上,高风险区主要集中在重庆市主城区。(3)研究期间4种生态分区变化程度较小,表明生态分区处于较为稳定的状态。高供给值-高风险区(Ⅰ)的分布连续性最差,低供给值-高风险区(Ⅱ)和高供给值-低风险区(Ⅳ)分布较为集中。对三峡库区生态系统服务供给、生态风...     

Prognostic factors for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma--a population-based study in Golestan Province, Iran, a high incidence area

Golestan Province in northern Iran is an area with a high incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We aimed to investigate prognostic factors for ESCC and survival of cases in Golestan, on which little data were available. We followed-up 426 ESCC cases participating in a population-based case-control study. Data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazard models. Median survival was 7 months. Age at diagnosis was inversely associated with survival, but the association was disappeared with adjustment for treatment. Residing in urban areas (hazard ratio, HR?=?0.70; 95% CI 0.54-0.90) and being of non-Turkmen ethnic groups (HR?=?0.76; 95% CI 0.61-0.96) were associated with better prognosis. In contrast to other types of tobacco use, nass (a smokeless tobacco product) chewing was associated with a slightly poorer prognosis even in models adjusted for other factors including stage of disease and treatment (HR?=?1.38; 95% CI 0.99-1.92). Opium use was associated with poorer prognosis in crude analyses but not in adjusted models. Almost all of potentially curative treatments were associated with longer survival. Prognosis of ESCC in Golestan is very poor. Easier access to treatment facilities may improve the prognosis of ESCC in Golestan. The observed association between nass chewing and poorer prognosis needs further investigations; this association may suggest a possible role for ingestion of nass constituents in prognosis of ESCC.     

Sodium ditiocarb as adjuvant immunotherapy for high risk breast cancer: A randomized study

Sixty-four patients with non metastatic high risk breast cancer were randomized in a double blind trial of adjuvant immunotherapy with sodium ditiocarb (DDC) versus placebo. All patients underwent prior surgery (mammectomy according to Patey) then adjuvant FAC chemotherapy +/- DDC. With a median follow-up of 5 years we observed 6 relapses and 5 deaths in DDC group; 13 relapses and 12 deaths in control group. At 6 years, overall survival is 81% in DDC group versus 55%. Disease free survival (DFS) is 76% in DDC group versus 55%. DDC associated to chemotherapy and locoregional treatment can improve survival and probably DFS in this high risk breast cancer subgroup.Abbreviations DDC sodium ditiocarb - DFS disease free survival - OS overall survival - N node - FAC 5 Fluorouracil, Adrianycin, Cyclopho-pharmide     

矿区生态风险评价研究述评

作为世界上矿产资源最丰富的国家之一,我国的矿山开采活动在给经济发展注入强大拉动力的同时,也给矿区生态环境带来了巨大的生态风险。总结前人相关研究,在对比分析了矿区生态风险及其评价与区域生态风险评价异同的基础上,初步明晰矿区生态风险具有风险源的多样性、空间影响边界的模糊性、随空间距离的衰减性及时间累积的延续性等特性。目前矿区生态风险评价的矿区类型过多集中于金属矿区的重金属污染等单项风险,对综合生态风险评价的重视不充分,多基于景观格局、生态环境问题视角,结果多对斑块或生态系统风险评价进行拼接,欠缺基于空间异质性的整体综合;风险度量模型、指标体系法和空间分析法则是较为常用的矿区生态风险评价方法,但在模型模拟方面略显不足。基于现有研究进展,预期矿区独特性的体现、空间格局的关注、"3S"技术的综合应用、生态安全阈值的设定、不确定性表征、基于评价结果的风险规避等将有望成为未来研究的重点。     

Forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) tagging polymorphisms and esophageal cancer risk in a Chinese population: a fine-mapping study

Esophageal cancer was the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in China in 2009. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) accounts for more than 90% of esophageal cancers. Besides environmental risk factors, genetic factors such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play an important role in ESCC carcinogenesis. We performed a hospital-based case–control study to evaluate the Forkhead-box protein A1 (FOXA1) rs12894364 C?>?T, rs2145146 C?>?A and rs7144658 T?>?C tag SNPs in the risk of developing ESCC. We recruited 629 ESCC cases and 686 controls. Genotypes were determined using ligation detection reaction. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the three FOXA1 SNPs were not associated with ESCC risk. However, there was significantly decreased ESCC risk associated with the FOXA1 rs12894364 C?>?T and rs2145146 C?>?A polymorphisms among older patients. There was significantly increased ESCC risk associated with the FOXA1 rs7144658 T?>?C polymorphism among male patients. This study demonstrates an association between FOXA1 polymorphisms and ESCC susceptibility. Additional larger studies are required to confirm our findings.     

mtDNA evidence: genetic background associated with related populations at high risk for esophageal cancer between Chaoshan and Taihang Mountain areas in China

There are three major geographic regions in China known for their high incidences of esophageal cancer (EC): the Taihang Mountain range of north-central China, the Minnan area of Fujian province, and the Chaoshan plain of Guangdong province. Historically, waves of great population migrations from north-central China through coastal Fujian to the Chaoshan plain were recorded. To study the genetic relationship among the related EC high-risk populations, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups based on 30 EC patients from Chaoshan and used control samples from the high-risk populations, including 48, 73, and 89 subjects from the Taihang, Fujian, and Chaoshan areas, respectively. The principal component of all haplogroups, correlation analysis of haplogroup frequency distributions between populations, and haplogroup D network analysis showed that compared with other Chinese populations, populations in the three studied areas are genetically related. The highest haplogroup frequency shared by all studied populations was haplogroup D, with much higher frequency in the Chaoshan area EC patients. The majority of haplogroup D individuals among the Chaoshan area EC patients belonged to subhaplogroups D4a and D5a, with the total frequency of these two haplogroups significantly higher than that in the high-risk population in the same area (chi(2)=9.017, p<0.01). In conclusion, EC high-risk populations in these three areas share a similar matrilineal genetic background, and D4a and D5a might be candidate genetic markers for screening populations susceptible to EC in the Chaoshan area. Ours is the first report to show the association between mtDNA haplogroups (D4a and D5a) and esophageal cancer.     

An ecological study of chimpanzees in a savanna woodland

From May, 1964, to September, 1965, the author made ecological and sociological studies of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Western Tanzania, East Africa. The vegetation of this area belongs to theBrachystegia andIsoberlinia savanna woodland. During the dry season, chimpanzees go out into the open forest and chiefly eat the hard seeds ofJulbernardia, Brachystegia, Isoberlinia, Pterocarpus, etc.The continuity of the group of chimpanzees is not stable but temporary, as has been reported byGoodall, etc. The author termed such a temporary group nomadic group. A big nomadic group, such as that consisting of 43 individuals at Filabanga, seems to be one unit of a chimpanzee's society.The nomadic range of the chimpanzees in the savanna woodland covers about 100 km² (201 km² in the Kasakati area). This is greater than that of the chimpanzees living in the forest, and such a large range has not been previously known among other non-human primates.This study was made possible by the Overseas Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Education.     

典型喀斯特区生态与贫困耦合特征分析——以贵州省9000个省级贫困村为例

生态环境与贫困具有较强的空间耦合性,深入研究二者耦合互动机制对喀斯特地区生态修复和精准扶贫具有重要意义。以代表中国南方喀斯特中心的贵州高原为研究对象,构建多维贫困与生态脆弱性指标体系,利用综合耦合协调度模型与热点分析法,剖析贵州9000个省级贫困村生态环境与贫困的耦合关系,并进行贫困村类型划分。研究结果表明：在空间上,贵州南部、北部和西北部多维贫困指数高,而生态环境脆弱指数整体呈西高东低的态势,二者空间分布格局存在明显差异,只存在点状重叠。贵州贫困村生态环境与贫困耦合度介于0.29-0.56之间,以微度、轻度耦合为主。从村域尺度看,生态环境对贫困村致贫原因的贡献不高,只占9.5%左右,贵州省69.3%的贫困村属于生态良好-一般贫困型,贵州在扶贫开发中应根据贫困村生态与贫困的耦合关系,加强东部贫困村的经济开发,强化西部贫困村的生态修复。     

川滇生态屏障区景观生态风险评价及影响因素

探究重点生态功能区景观生态风险时空演变特征,揭示人类活动对景观生态风险恶化的潜在影响,对防范和化解景观生态风险、促进区域可持续发展具有重要意义.以2000、2010、2020年土地覆被数据为基础,运用ArcGIS 10.8和Fragstats 4.2等软件,基于景观格局指数和脆弱度指数构建景观生态风险评价模型,借助空间...