Half-Space Sound Field Reconstruction Based on the Combination of the Helmholtz Equation Least-Squares Method and Equivalent Source Method.

In practical conditions, near-field acoustic holography (NAH) requires the measurement environment to be a free sound field. If vibrating objects are located above the reflective ground, the sound field becomes non-free in the presence of a reflecting surface, and conventional NAH may not identify the sound source. In this work, two types of half-space NAH techniques based on the Helmholtz equation least-squares (HELS) method are developed to reconstruct the sound field above a reflecting plane. The techniques are devised by introducing the concept of equivalent source in HELS-method-based NAH. Two equivalent sources are tested. In one technique, spherical waves are used as the equivalent source, and the sound reflected from the reflecting surface is regarded as a linear superposition of orthogonal spherical wave functions of different orders located below the reflecting surface. In the other technique, some monopoles are considered equivalent sources, and the reflected sound is considered a series of sounds generated by simple sources distributed under the reflecting surface. The sound field is reconstructed by matching the pressure measured on the holographic surface with the orthogonal spherical wave source in the vibrating object and replacing the reflected sound with an equivalent source. Therefore, neither technique is related to the surface impedance of the reflected plane. Compared with the HELS method, both methods show higher reconstruction accuracy for a half-space sound field and are expected to broaden the application range of HELS-method-based NAH techniques.

Effects of miR-202-5p silencing PIK3CA gene expression on proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of cervical cancer SiHa cells through inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway activation.

To explore the mechanism of miR-202-5p targeting the expression of PIK3CA and mediating the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway on the proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cervical cancer. The objects of study were 105 cases of cervical cancer and their corresponding normal tissues. qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-202-5p and PIK3CA in adjacent normal tissue and cervical cancer tissue. Dual luciferase reporter assay was used to verify the targeting relationship between miR-202-5p and PIK3CA gene. Human cervical cancer cell lines HPV-16E6, SiHa, HeLa, and CaSki were purchased for our cell experiments. The expression levels of PIK3CA in the cells were detected by qRT-PCR. The cell line with higher expression levels was selected to complete the follow-up experiment. The cultured cells were transfected and divided into the miR-202-5p mimic NC group, miR-202-5p mimic group, miR-202-5p inhibitor NC group, miR-202-5p inhibitor group, siRNA-PIK3CA NC group, siRNA-PIK3CA group, miR-202-5p inhibitor NC + siRNA-PIK3CA NC group, miR-202-5p inhibitor + siRNA-PIK3CA NC group, and miR-202-5p inhibitor + siRNA-PIK3CA group. QRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-202-5p. Western blot and qRT-PCR were applied to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of related pathway proteins (PIK3CA, PI3K, PTEN, p-Akt1, and p-mTOR) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related factors (N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and vimentin). Cell proliferation was detected by plate colony formation assay. Transwell assay was used to detect the invasion ability of each group. When compared with the adjacent tissues, PIK3CA mRNA expression level was significantly increased and miR-202-5p expression level was significantly decreased in cervical cancer tissues (all P < 0.05). PIK3CA was a target gene of miR-202-5p. The mRNA expression level of PIK3CA in SiHa cervical cancer cells was significantly higher than that in CaSki, HeLa, and HPV-16E6 cells (all P < 0.05), and SiHa cervical cancer cells were selected to complete the follow-up experiments. When compared with the corresponding NC group, the expression of miR-202-5p in miR-202-5p mimic group was increased. In addition, the mRNA and protein expression levels of E-cadherin and PTEN in miR-202-5p mimic and siRNA-PIK3CA groups were increased, and the protein expression of p-Akt1 and p-mTOR was decreased, and also, the mRNA and protein expression levels of PIK3CA, PI3K, N-cadherin, and vimentin were decreased (all P < 0.05); in miR-202-5p inhibitor group, the expression levels of miR-202-5p, E-cadherin, and PTEN decreased, the protein expression of p-Akt1 and p-mTOR increased, and the mRNA and protein expression of PIK3CA, PI3K, N-cadherin, and vimentin increased in miR-202-5p inhibitor group (all P < 0.05); in miR-202-5p inhibitor + siRNA-PIK3CA group, the expression of miR-202-5p decreased (P < 0.05), but the mRNA and protein expression of PIK3CA, PI3K, p-Akt1, p-mTOR, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and vimentin had no significant changes (all P > 0.05). When compared with the corresponding NC group, the number of cell clones in miR-202-5p mimic group and siRNA-PIK3CA group was decreased, and the invasion ability of miR-202-5p inhibitor group was increased, and the invasion ability was enhanced (all P < 0.05); miR-202-5p inhibitor + siRNA-PIK3CA group showed no significant change in the number of cell clones and the rate of invasion (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the overexpression of miR-202-5p can suppress PIK3CA gene expression and the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway to suppress the proliferation, invasion, and EMT of cervical cancer.

Ultrasound examination assisted clinical diagnosis of Leydig cell tumor of ovary: An extremely rare case report.

INTRODUCTION: Leydig cell tumor (LCT) is a sex cord-stromal tumor, which is a clinically rare ovarian tumor. It is characterized by endocrine hormonal changes and usually occurs in postmenopausal women. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report the clinical case of a 38-year-old female of childbearing age with LCT of the right ovary who presented with significantly decreased menstrual flow and elevated androgen levels, with persistent hypoechoic areas in the ovary as demonstrated by transvaginal ultrasound. DIAGNOSIS: The transvaginal ultrasound suggested the presence of a hypoechoic area in the right ovary with elevated androgens, interstitial tumor of the ovarian sex cord may be considered. INTERVENTIONS: The patient underwent laparoscopic right adnexectomy. OUTCOMES: Postoperative pathology confirmed the morphology and immunohistochemistry of the right adnexa consistent with LCT, and no areas of malignant transformation were found on multiple sections of the surgical specimen. The patient had normal androgen levels at postoperative day 2, day 45 and month 3. There was no sign of recurrence. CONCLUSION: This case suggests that when women of childbearing age have abruptly decreased menstrual flow with increased testosterone, clinicians should pay attention to intra-ovarian occupying lesions and consider the possibility of LCT. In such cases, ultrasound examination can determine the presence, location, shape and size of occupying ovarian lesions and play an important role in the diagnosis of condition.