The multifaceted role of periostin in tumorigenesis

Periostin, also called osteoblast-specific factor 2 (OSF-2), is a member of the fasciclin family and a disulfide-linked cell adhesion protein that has been shown to be expressed preferentially in the periosteum and periodontal ligaments, where it acts as a critical regulator of bone and tooth formation and maintenance. Furthermore, periostin plays an important role in cardiac development. Recent clinical evidence has also revealed that periostin is involved in the development of various tumors, such as breast, lung, colon, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers. Periostin interacts with multiple cell-surface receptors, most notably integrins, and signals mainly via the PI3-K/Akt and other pathways to promote cancer cell survival, epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, and metastasis. In this review, aspects related to the function of periostin in tumorigenesis are summarized.     

预测死亡率分布的一个最小叉熵模型

被保人的死亡率分布是确定寿险费率的一个重要依据,而根据其生活的环境、时间预测被保人的死亡率是保险精算研究中的一个热点问题.基于最小叉熵原理,建立了预测被保人死亡率分布的一个模型--最小叉熵模型,该模型以叉熵函数作为目标函数,以被保人的预期寿命作为约束条件,通过最小化叉熵预测被保人的死亡率.以从事特殊职业的被保人为研究对象,通过最小叉熵模型计算了该类人的死亡率.该方法计算简便,具有较好的客观性和实用性,为死亡率预测研究提供了一种有效的新方法.     

A Flexible Functional Form Approach To Mortality Modeling: Do We Need Additional Cohort Dummies?

The increasing amount of attention paid to longevity risk and funding for old age has created the need for precise mortality models and accurate future mortality forecasts. Orthogonal polynomials have been widely used in technical fields and there have also been applications in mortality modeling. In this paper we adopt a flexible functional form approach using two‐dimensional Legendre orthogonal polynomials to fit and forecast mortality rates. Unlike some of the existing mortality models in the literature, the model we propose does not impose any restrictions on the age, time or cohort structure of the data and thus allows for different model designs for different countries' mortality experience. We conduct an empirical study using male mortality data from a range of developed countries and explore the possibility of using age–time effects to capture cohort effects in the underlying mortality data. It is found that, for some countries, cohort dummies still need to be incorporated into the model. Moreover, when comparing the proposed model with well‐known mortality models in the literature, we find that our model provides comparable fitting but with a much smaller number of parameters. Based on 5‐year‐ahead mortality forecasts, it can be concluded that the proposed model improves the overall accuracy of the future mortality projection. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forecasting Longevity Gains Using a Seemingly Unrelated Time Series Model

In this paper a multivariate time series model using the seemingly unrelated time series equation (SUTSE) framework is proposed to forecast longevity gains. The proposed model is represented in state space form and uses Kalman filtering to estimate the unobservable components and fixed parameters. We apply the model both to male mortality rates in Portugal and the USA. Our results compare favorably, in terms of mean absolute percentage error, in‐sample and out‐of‐sample, to those obtained by the Lee–Carter method and some of its extensions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forecasting Death Rates Using Exogenous Determinants

Mortality models used for forecasting are predominantly based on the statistical properties of time series and do not generally incorporate an understanding of the forces driving secular trends. This paper addresses three research questions: Can the factors found in stochastic mortality‐forecasting models be associated with real‐world trends in health‐related variables? Does inclusion of health‐related factors in models improve forecasts? Do resulting models give better forecasts than existing stochastic mortality models? We consider whether the space spanned by the latent factor structure in mortality data can be adequately described by developments in gross domestic product, health expenditure and lifestyle‐related risk factors using statistical techniques developed in macroeconomics and finance. These covariates are then shown to improve forecasts when incorporated into a Bayesian hierarchical model. Results are comparable or better than benchmark stochastic mortality models. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Avian mortality due to power lines in the Canary Islands with special reference to the steppe-land birds

Biodiversity is being lost worldwide at an increased rate particularly as the result of human activities and infrastructure. Avian mortality through collision with power lines has been an important topic in animal ecology research, but studies of this kind have never been undertaken in the Canary Islands, a volcanic archipelago located near the northwest African coast that has important seabird colonies, several endemic bird species and endemic races of steppe-land birds of conservation concern. During two contrasting periods in 2008 (breeding vs post-breeding), a total of 366 km of power lines were surveyed on this archipelago covering the entire distributional range of the most important steppe-land bird species (i.e. 232 km, Fuerteventura; 134 km, Lanzarote). In all, 310 carcasses representing 23 families and 26 species were detected. We estimated with distance Sampling that 25.5% and 6.3% of individuals of the total population of Houbara bustards, Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae, and Eurasian stone curlews, Burhinus oedicnemus insularum, respectively, were killed in a year. We encourage the Canary Islands authorities (Consejería de Medio Ambiente del Gobierno de Canarias) to try to minimize the Houbara bustard collision rate, particularly in the northern plains of Lanzarote (i.e. Jables de Famara), as a means to reduce mortality of this emblematic species in this insular environment.     

肿瘤电化学疗法的体外实验

肿瘤电化学疗法的体外实验梁基选，张长弓，苏金华，陈宝　（抗癌中心）肿瘤电化学治疗是根据瑞典放射医学专家Ｎｏｒｄｅｎｓｔｒｏｍ提出的血管－间质闭合电路理论，开展的一项新的临床治疗恶性肿瘤方法。主要是将正负电极分别插入瘤体及周围组织，形成电回路，干扰肿瘤...     

榄香烯乳、微波透热联合应用治疗卵巢癌腹水临床观察

为探讨药物对卵巢癌腹水的疗效,对30例卵巢癌腹水患者采用榄香烯乳及微波透热治疗,并与30例单纯应用榄香烯乳进行对照,结果发现,此药合并应用抗卵巢癌腹水优于单纯应用,此法可值得推广应用.     

The mutator phenotype theory can explain the complex morphology and behaviour of cancers

Almost all solid malignancies exhibit complex cytological and architectural abnormalities, which vary from cell to cell and area to area within the same tumour, and between tumours of the same type. The degrees of these abnormalities do not correlate perfectly with the biological behaviour (especially growth rate and metastatic potential) among the various tumour types. These features of tumours have long been considered to invalidate simple mutational or 'abnormal gene expression' (epigenetic) theories of carcinogenesis. The 'mutator phenotype/clonal selection' hypothesis is based on the now well-established phenomenon of genetic instability of cancer cells, and proposes that this instability is an essential requirement for the development of tumours, and not an irrelevant side-effect of some other process. This paper argues that this hypothesis can provide a satisfactory explanation for the diverse histological and biological features of solid malignancies. Further, because virtually all solid tumours are histologically abnormal, genetic instability is likely to be essential for the malignant process. The concepts of mutator phenotype and clonal selection are therefore supported. Received 8 April 2002; accepted 25 April 2002     

阿密茴素拮抗多柔比星诱发的组织毒性及其机制研究

多柔比星(Doxorubicin, DOX)是临床上使用最广泛的蒽环家族化疗药物.为了研究阿密茴素(Visnagin, VIS)能否缓解DOX诱发的肝、肾毒性及其相关机制,此研究首先构建DOX急性、慢性肝肾损伤小鼠模型,通过观察小鼠肝肾细胞死亡率、肝肾功能变化评价VIS对肝肾损伤的保护作用.在急性和慢性损伤模型中,原位末端凋亡实验(TUNEL)结果表明VIS可以显著降低肝肾细胞凋亡率;而慢性模型中,VIS还能缓解肝肾功能损伤.此外,实验结果表明VIS可以显著抑制DOX诱发的TOP2-DNA共价复合物形成,提示VIS可能通过抑制DOX下游的TOP2通路起保护作用.研究结果将为后续深入探究降低DOX毒副作用的课题提供参考.