Sexual dimorphism in cancer.

The incidence of many types of cancer arising in organs with non-reproductive functions is significantly higher in male populations than in female populations, with associated differences in survival. Occupational and/or behavioural factors are well-known underlying determinants. However, cellular and molecular differences between the two sexes are also likely to be important. In this Opinion article, we focus on the complex interplay that sex hormones and sex chromosomes can have in intrinsic control of cancer-initiating cell populations, the tumour microenvironment and systemic determinants of cancer development, such as the immune system and metabolism. A better appreciation of these differences between the two sexes could be of substantial value for cancer prevention as well as treatment

Revitalizing social work education through global and critical awareness : Examples from three Scandinavian schools of social work

Increasing globalisation, reorganisation of the Scandinavian welfare regimes and the awareness of increasing global roots of local social problems necessitated change in the curriculum of social work in three Scandinavian schools of social work in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Recent global transformations, increasing global inequalities, increasing forced migration and the emergence of glocal social problems make the traditional education and methods of social work ineffective and in some cases harmful for people in need of social work intervention. This article examines the need to provide critical, global and multilevel perspectives in social work education in order to prepare social work students for the increasing social problems with global roots. The article, which is based on cross-national collaborations in social work education between three Scandinavian countries, addresses global and critical components in theoretical courses, professional training and field practice in the social work education of the countries in question. It is argued that social work education should move beyond the old division of classical and international/intercultural toward including global and critical perspectives in an integrative manner in all programs

N6-methyladenosine induced miR-143-3p promotes the brain metastasis of lung cancer via regulation of VASH1

Abstract Background Brain metastasis (BM) is one of the principal causes of mortality for lung cancer patients. While the molecular events that govern BM of lung cancer remain frustrating cloudy. Methods The miRNA expression profiles are checked in the paired human BM and primary lung cancer tissues. The effect of miR-143-3p on BM of lung cancer cells and its related mechanisms are investigated. Results miR-143-3p is upregulated in the paired BM tissues as compared with that in primary cancer tissues. It can increase the invasion capability of in vitro blood brain barrier (BBB) model and angiogenesis of lung cancer by targeting the three binding sites of 3’UTR of vasohibin-1 (VASH1) to inhibit its expression. Mechanistically, VASH1 can increase the ubiquitylation of VEGFA to trigger the proteasome mediated degradation, further, it can endow the tubulin depolymerization through detyrosination to increase the cell motility. m6A methyltransferase Mettl3 can increase the splicing of precursor miR-143-3p to facilitate its biogenesis. Moreover, miR-143-3p/VASH1 axis acts as adverse prognosis factors for in vivo progression and overall survival (OS) rate of lung cancer. Conclusions Our work implicates a causal role of the miR-143-3p/VASH1 axis in BM of lung cancers and suggests their critical roles in lung cancer pathogenesis