ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: An accessory ovary is a rare congenital anomaly of the female reproductive tract. This report illustrates a case of a cyst arising from an accessory ovary complicated by torsion. CASE: A 39-year-old nulliparous woman presented with lower abdominal pain and was found on physical examination to have an 8-cm mass anterior to the uterus. Ultrasonography of the pelvis showed a 9.3×6.7 cm cystic lesion with a solid component anterior to the uterus suggestive of a left ovarian cyst. Laparoscopy was performed for presumed ovarian torsion. Torsion of a tumor arising from an accessory ovary was found intraoperatively. CONCLUSION: Patients suspected to have ovarian torsion should have emergency surgery for diagnosis and attempted ovarian preservation. Physicians should consider complications of paraovarian anomalies in the differential diagnosis.
Subject(s)
Abdominal Pain/surgery , Ovarian Cysts/diagnostic imaging , Ovary/abnormalities , Ovary/ultrastructure , Torsion Abnormality/diagnostic imaging , Abdominal Pain/diagnosis , Adult , Female , Humans , Laparoscopy , Ovarian Cysts/surgery , Ovary/surgery , Torsion Abnormality/surgery , Treatment Outcome , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
Minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins 2-7 are important in DNA replication licensing. Functional roles beyond licensing are speculated. In addition, significances in medulloblastoma (MB) remain unclear. In this study, we showed the frequent deregulation of MCM2 and MCM3 expression in 7 MB cell lines and 31 clinical samples. Moreover, DAOY and ONS76 and the clinical samples expressed elevated MCM7 transcripts with genomic gain of the gene. Immunopositivity restricted to tumor cells was found in 41, 37 and 53 out of 73 MB cases for MCM2, MCM3 and MCM7, respectively. High-MCM3 expression was associated with poor prognosis. Knockdowns of these MCMs significantly inhibited anchorage-dependent and -independent MB cell growth. The inhibition of MCM3 expression by small interfering RNA knockdown was related to G1 arrest with reduced cyclin A expression, whereas the MCM2- and MCM7-knocked-down cells arrested at G2/M with increased cyclin A expression. Interestingly, we demonstrated the links of these MCMs with cell migration and invasion using wound-healing and Transwell migration/invasion assays. Exogenous overexpression of MCM2, MCM3 and MCM7 increased anchorage-independent cell growth, and also cell migration and invasion capabilities in MB cells. The knockdown reduced the number of filopodial cells and the cells with intense stress fibers by blocking cdc42 and Rho activation. Taken together, deregulation of MCM2, MCM3 and MCM7 expression might be involved in MB tumorigenesis and we revealed undefined roles of these MCMs in control of MB cell migration and invasion.
Subject(s)
Cell Cycle Proteins/metabolism , Cell Movement/genetics , DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism , Medulloblastoma/metabolism , Nuclear Proteins/metabolism , Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Cell Cycle Proteins/genetics , Cell Separation , Cerebellar Neoplasms/genetics , Cerebellar Neoplasms/metabolism , Cerebellar Neoplasms/pathology , Comparative Genomic Hybridization , DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics , Flow Cytometry , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Gene Knockdown Techniques , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Medulloblastoma/genetics , Medulloblastoma/pathology , Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 2 , Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 3 , Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 7 , Neoplasm Invasiveness/genetics , Nuclear Proteins/genetics , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis , Prognosis , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
This study explored the potential of lead and copper leaching from brass plumbing in the Auckland region of New Zealand. A five-month field investigation, at six representative locations, indicated that Auckland's water can be characterized as soft and potentially corrosive, having low alkalinity and hardness levels and a moderately alkaline pH. More than 90% of the unflushed samples contained lead above the maximum acceptable value (MAV) of 10 microg/L (New Zealand Standards). In contrast, the copper level of unflushed samples remained consistently below the corresponding MAV of 2 mg/L. Flushing however reduced sharply metal concentrations, with lead values well below the MAV limit. Generally, metal leaching patterns showed a limited degree of correlation with the variations in temperature, dissolved oxygen and free chlorine residual at all sampling locations. Furthermore, a series of bench-scale experiments was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of pH and alkalinity adjustment, as well as orthophosphate addition as corrosion control tools regarding lead and copper dissolution. Results demonstrated that lead and copper leaching was predominant during the first 24 hr of stagnation, but reached an equilibrium state afterwards. Since the soluble fraction of both metals was small (12% for lead, 29% for copper), it is apparent that the non-soluble compounds play a predominant role in the dissolution process. The degree of leaching however was largely affected by the variations in pH and alkalinity. At pH around neutrality, an increase in alkalinity promoted metal dissolution, while at pH 9.0 the effect of alkalinity on leaching was marginal. Lastly, addition of orthophosphate as a corrosion inhibitor was more effective at pH 7.5 or higher, resulting in approximately 70% reduction in both lead and copper concentrations.
