Cancer incidence and mortality in people aged less than 75 years: Changes in Australia over the period 1987–2007

BackgroundAustralia has one of the highest rates of cancer incidence worldwide and, despite improving survival, cancer continues to be a major public health problem. Our aim was to provide simple summary measures of changes in cancer mortality and incidence in Australia so that progress and areas for improvement in cancer control can be identified.MethodsWe used national data on cancer deaths and newly registered cancer cases and compared expected and observed numbers of deaths and cases diagnosed in 2007. The expected numbers were obtained by applying 1987 age–sex specific rates (average of 1986–1988) directly to the 2007 population. The observed numbers of deaths and incident cases were calculated for 2007 (average of 2006–2008). We limited the analyses to people aged less than 75 years.ResultsThere was a 28% fall in cancer mortality (7827 fewer deaths in 2007 vs. 1987) and a 21% increase in new cancer diagnoses (13,012 more diagnosed cases in 2007). The greatest reductions in deaths were for cancers of the lung in males (?2259), bowel (?1797), breast (?773) and stomach (?577). Other notable falls were for cancers of the prostate (?295), cervix (?242) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (?240). Only small or no changes occurred in mortality for cancers of the lung (female only), pancreas, brain and related, oesophagus and thyroid, with an increase in liver cancer (267). Cancer types that showed the greatest increase in incident cases were cancers of the prostate (10,245), breast (2736), other cancers (1353), melanoma (1138) and thyroid (1107), while falls were seen for cancers of the lung (?1705), bladder (?1110) and unknown primary (?904).ConclusionsThe reduction in mortality indicates that prevention strategies, improvements in cancer treatment, and screening programmes have made significant contributions to cancer control in Australia since 1987. The rise in incidence is partly due to diagnoses being brought forward by technological improvements and increased coverage of screening and early diagnostic testing.     

Benthic ctenophores (Platyctenida: Coeloplanidae) in south Florida: environmental conditions,habitats, abundances,and behaviors

Two benthic ctenophores, Coeloplana waltoni and Vallicula multiformis, are contrasted in terms of their coastal environments, habitats, abundances, seasonal occurrences, and behavior in south Florida. Coeloplana waltoni occurs as an epibiont on octocorals in open water settings, and V. multiformis is present in bio‐fouling communities, associated with macroalgae, bryozoans, and inanimate substrates in protected, back‐water habitats. In our study, individuals of C. waltoni were found under moderate to strong current flow and relatively constant temperature and salinity (T/S) conditions, whereas individuals of V. multiformis occurred at sites of low current flow and more variable T/S conditions. In C. waltoni, individuals generally adhered tightly to host colony surfaces, whereas in V. multiformis, individuals often disassociated from substrates and floated free. Mean population densities of C. waltoni ranged ~500–850 individuals 100 mL^?1 (measured as the displacement volume of the octocoral habitat), and densities of V. multiformis ranged 5–360 individuals 100 mL^?1 (measured as the displacement volume of the biofouling habitat). Abundance of C. waltoni was significantly highest in the 2014 warm season (June–October) when numerous minute (≤0.5 mm body length) juveniles were present. Vallicula multiformis was abundant in the 2015 and 2016 warm seasons (July–October), and also relatively abundant in the 2016 cool season (March–April). Ctenophore abundance and surface seawater temperature indicate a significant positive response to warm‐season conditions in C. waltoni, whereas numbers of V. multiformis did not show any effect of seawater temperature. Recently settled individuals of V. multiformis (≤1.0 mm) occurred throughout the year. Individuals of V. multiformis recruited to fiber‐coated sponges during warm and cool periods, with mean body sizes increasing in one cohort from 1.41 to 6.46 mm over a 39‐d period, suggesting a growth rate of ~4% d^?1. Feeding in both species involves tentacle capture of water‐borne zooplankton and particulate organic matter. Individuals of C. waltoni were also observed inserting tentacles into octocoral polyps, possibly pilfering food. Chlorophyll a was detected in extracts of both ctenophore species. The high abundances and feeding behavior of benthic ctenophores could have a strong influence on octocoral and biofouling communities.     

High-yield expression and purification of a monotopic membrane glycosyltransferase

Membrane proteins are essential to many cellular processes. However, the systematic study of membrane protein structure has been hindered by the difficulty in obtaining large quantities of these proteins. Protein overexpression using Escherichia coli is commonly used to produce large quantities of protein, but usually yields very little membrane protein. Furthermore, optimization of the expressing conditions, as well as the choice of detergent and other buffer components, is thought to be crucial for increasing the yield of stable and homogeneous protein. Herein we report high-yield expression and purification of a membrane-associated monotopic protein, the glycosyltransferase monoglucosyldiacylglycerol synthase (alMGS), in E. coli. Systematic optimization of protein expression was achieved through controlling a few basic expression parameters, including temperature and growth media, and the purifications were monitored using a fast and efficient size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) screening method. The latter method was shown to be a powerful tool for fast screening and for finding the optimal protein-stabilizing conditions. For alMGS it was found that the concentration of detergent was just as important as the type of detergent, and a low concentration of n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside (DDM) (1× critical micelle concentration) was the best for keeping the protein stable and homogeneous. By using these simply methods to optimize the conditions for alMGS expression and purification, the final expression level increase by two orders of magnitude, reaching 170 mg of pure protein per litre culture.     

Inhibitory Effect of Eugenol and trans-Anethole Alone and in Combination with Antifungal Medicines on Candida albicans Clinical Isolates

One of the most common pathogens among yeasts is Candida albicans, which presents a serious health threat. The study aimed to check the antifungal properties of trans-anethole and eugenol with selected antifungal medicines (AMs) against C. albicans clinical isolates. The checkerboard method was used to tests of interactions between these compounds. Achieved results indicated that eugenol showed synergistic and additive activities with miconazole and econazole against investigated clinical isolates, respectively. Moreover, the combination – trans-anethole – miconazole also showed an additive effect against two clinical isolate. We tried to relate the results to changes in C. albicans cell sheaths under the influence of essential oils compounds (EOCs) performing the Fourier transform infrared spectra analysis to confirm the presence of particular chemical moieties in C. albicans cells. Nevertheless, no strong relationships was observed between synergistic and additive actions of used EOC-AMs combinations and chemical moieties in C. albicans cells.     

Functional recruitment of human complement inhibitor C4B-binding protein to outer membrane protein Rck of Salmonella

Resistance to complement mediated killing, or serum resistance, is a common trait of pathogenic bacteria. Rck is a 17 kDa outer membrane protein encoded on the virulence plasmid of Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis. When expressed in either E. coli or S. enterica Typhimurium, Rck confers LPS-independent serum resistance as well as the ability to bind to and invade mammalian cells. Having recently shown that Rck binds the inhibitor of the alternative pathway of complement, factor H (fH), we hypothesized that Rck can also bind the inhibitor of the classical and lectin pathways, C4b-binding protein (C4BP). Using flow cytometry and direct binding assays, we demonstrate that E. coli expressing Rck binds C4BP from heat-inactivated serum and by using the purified protein. No binding was detected in the absence of Rck expression. C4BP bound to Rck is functional, as we observed factor I-mediated cleavage of C4b in cofactor assays. In competition assays, binding of radiolabeled C4BP to Rck was reduced by increasing concentrations of unlabeled protein. No effect was observed by increasing heparin or salt concentrations, suggesting mainly non-ionic interactions. Reduced binding of C4BP mutants lacking complement control protein domains (CCPs) 7 or 8 was observed compared to wt C4BP, suggesting that these CCPs are involved in Rck binding. While these findings are restricted to Rck expression in E. coli, these data suggest that C4BP binding may be an additional mechanism of Rck-mediated complement resistance.     

Combined expression of S-VSPalpha in two different organelles enhances its accumulation and total lysine production in leaves of transgenic tobacco plants

Soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) accumulate to high levels in vacuoles of both wild types and heterologous plants. Here it is shown that directing S-VSPalpha to two different organelles-chloroplasts and vacuoles-in a single transgenic plant significantly increased its accumulation. Accumulation of S-VSPalpha in heterologous plants correlated with total soluble lysine. Using this approach with essential amino-acid-rich transgene proteins may lead to a breakthrough in improving plant nutritional quality.