Objective To evaluate the performance of artificial neural network(ANN) models for predicting ovarian malignancy in the patients with adnexal masses by using B-mode and color Doppler ultrasonography.Methods The data of 180 patients with adnexal masses were randomly divided into training and testing subsets.The training subsets were used to screen out significant single parameters and to compute the optimum statistic equations and to train the ANN.The testing subsets were used to estimate the performance of each of the two models in predicting ovarian malignancy.Results Thirteen of seventeen parameters were significant to diagnose malignancy in adnexal masses by single analysis(P

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of nano-lead exposure on learning and memory and iron homeostasis in the brain of the offspring rats on postnatal day 21 (PND21) and postnatal day 42 (PND42).

METHODSTwenty adult pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group and nano-lead group. Rats in the nano-lead group were orally administrated 10 mg/kg nano-lead, while rats in the control group were administrated an equal volume of normal saline until PND21. On PND21, the offspring rats were weaned and given the same treatment as the pregnant rats until 42 days after birth. The learning and memory ability of offspring rats on PND21 and PND42 was evaluated by Morris water maze test. The hippocampus and cortex s amples of offspring rats on PND21 and PND42 were collected to determine iron and lead levels in the hippocampus and cortex by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The distributions of iron in the hippocampus and cortex were observed by Perl's iron staining. The expression levels of ferritin, ferroportin 1 (FPN1), hephaestin (HP), and ceruloplasmin (CP) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTSAfter nano-lead exposure, the iron content in the cortex of offspring rats on PND21 and PND42 in the nano-lead group was significantly higher than those in the control group (32.63 ± 6.03 µg/g vs 27.04 ± 5.82 µg/g, P<0.05; 46.20 ±10.60 µg/g vs 36.61 ± 10.2µg/g, P<0.05). The iron content in the hippocampus of offspring rats on PND42 in the nano-lead group was significantly higher than that in the control group (56.9 ± 4.37µg/g vs 37.71 ± 6.92µg/g, P<0.05). The Perl's staining showed massive iron deposition in the cortex and hippocampus in the nano-lead group. FPNl level in the cotfex of offspring rats on PND21 in the nano-lead group was significantly lower than that in the control group (3.64 ± 0.23 ng/g vs 4.99 ± 0.95 ng/g, P<0.05). FPN1 level in the hippocampus of offspring rats on PND42 in the nano-lead group was significantly lower than that in the control group (2.28 ± 0.51 ng/g vs 3.69 ± 0.69 ng/g, P<0.05). The escape latencies of offspring rats on PND21 and PND42 in the nano-lead group were longer than those in the control group (15.54 ± 2.89 s vs 9.01 ± 4.66 s; 6.16 ± 1.42 s vs 4.26 ± 1.51 s). The numbers of platform crossings of offspring rats on PND21 and PND42 in the nano- lead group were significantly lower than those in the control group (7.77 ± 2.16 times vs 11.2 ± 1.61 times, P<0.05; 8.12 ± 1.51 times vs 13.0 ± 2.21 times, P<0.05).

ONCLUSIONn Nano-lead exposure can result in iron homeostasis disorders in the hippocampus and cortex of offspring rats and affect their learning and memory ability.

Animals ; Cerebral Cortex ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Homeostasis ; Iron ; metabolism ; Lead ; toxicity ; Learning ; drug effects ; Maternal Exposure ; adverse effects ; Memory ; drug effects ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Increasing attention is focused on the down-regulation of miRNAs in cancer process. Nuclear receptor subfamily 2 (NR2F2, also known as COUP-TFII) is involved in the development of many types of cancers, but its role in gastric cancer remains elusive. In this experiment, oncomine and Kaplan-meier database revealed that NR2F2 was up-regulated in gastric cancer and that the high NR2F2 expression contributed to poor survival. MicroRNA-27b was targeted and down-regulated by NR2F2 in human gastric cancer tissues and cells. The ectopic expression of miR-27b inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Assays suggested that the overexpression of miR-27b could promote MGC-803 cells' migration and invasion and retard their metastasis to the liver. In addition, down-regulation of miR-27b enhanced GES-1 cells' proliferation and metastasis in vitro. These findings reveal that miR-27b is a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer and a biomarker for improving patients' survival.
Animals ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; genetics ; metabolism ; COUP Transcription Factor II ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Heterografts ; Humans ; Male ; Mice, Nude ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; RNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology