Bone-Regulating MicroRNAs and Resistance Exercise: A Mini-Review

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a class of short noncoding RNA that play important roles in controlling gene expression. Many miRNAs have been identified as being important regulators of bone cell function, thus affecting the bone remodeling processes. In addition to being expressed in specific tissues and exerting intracellular effects, miRNAs can enter the blood where they can be taken up by other tissues. These circulating miRNAs (c-miRNA) also have clinical significance as biomarkers of musculoskeletal diseases as they are tissue-specific, are stable and easily detectable, and require minimally invasive procedures. This mini-review discusses miRNAs with regulatory roles in bone metabolism and c-miRNA responses to acute bouts of resistance exercise. MiRNA responses (e.g., upregulation/downregulation of expression) vary depending on the resistance exercise protocol characteristics and the age of the participants. There are gaps in the literature that need to be addressed as most of the resistance exercise studies focused on miRNAs that regulate skeletal muscle in male participants.

Autonomous Surgical Robotics at Task and Subtask Levels

The revolution of minimally invasive procedures had a significant influence on surgical practice, opening the way to laparoscopic surgery, then evolving into robotics surgery. Teleoperated master-slave robots, such as the da Vinci Surgical System, has become a standard of care during the last few decades, performing over a million procedures per year worldwide. Many believe that the next big step in the evolution of surgery is partial automation, which would ease the cognitive load on the surgeon, making them possible to pay more attention on the critical parts of the intervention. Partial and sequential introduction and increase of autonomous capabilities could provide a safe way towards Surgery 4.0. Unfortunately, autonomy in the given environment, consisting mostly of soft organs, suffers from grave difficulties. In this chapter, the current research directions of subtask automation in surgery are to be presented, introducing the recent advances in motion planning, perception, and human-machine interaction, along with the limitations of the task-level autonomy.

Toward precision oncology: SERS microfluidic systems for multiplex biomarker analysis in liquid biopsy

Liquid biopsy-based diagnosis in precision oncology exhibits significant advantages over the traditional tumour biopsies by offering dynamic assessment of tumour heterogeneity, minimally invasive procedures for frequent sampling, and cost-effective tests....

P068 ROBOTIC REPAIR OF VENTRAL AND INCISIONAL HERNIAS: A STUDY ON 118 PATIENTS OPERATED BY RV-TAPP AND R-RIVES

Aim The purpose of this study is to compare the results of robotic ventral TAPP and robotic retrorectus repair for ventral and incisional hernias. Material and Methods The results of 118 consecutive rv-TAPP (88) and r-Rives (30) surgeries are presented. The study was approved by the ethics committee (Ref. No. 2019-02046). Primary ventral hernias were treated mainly by rv-TAPP approach, incisional hernias by r-Rives Technique. Patients were followed up six weeks postoperatively. Results In every third patient, an additional finding at the linea alba was found. Patients in the r-Rives group were significantly older (p = 0.001). Hernia gaps were significantly larger and meshes were significantly larger in the r-Rives group (p < 0.001). The ratio of mesh area to hernia gap area was comparable in both groups (p = 0.142). OR time was significantly shorter for rv-TAPP (82min) than r-Rives (109min). Hospital stay was shorter in the rv-TAPP group than in the r-Rives group (1.5 vs. 2.7 days, respectively) (p < 0.001). There was a significant clustering of type II seromas in the r-Rives group (p < 0.001), however, the total number of seromas was comparable. Conclusions rv-TAPP and r-Rives have the advantages of minimally invasive procedures (low complication rate) and most of the advantages of open procedures (morphological reconstruction). Both techniques allow consistent extraperitonealization of meshes. Umbilical and epigastric hernias (<4cm) are treated as rv-TAPP; incisional hernias, large hernia gaps (4-7cm), as well as in case of planned suturing of the linea alba, the r-Rives is indicated. Concomitant hernia gaps of the linea alba are also treated. Both procedures have few complications and are suitable for residents training.

Surgical Improvement of Breast Abscess in Lactating Mothers

Objective: To examine the overall diagnostic and the surgical outcomes among lactating females of breast abscesses who were treated using minimally invasive procedures. Methods: This descriptive case series study was conducted during the seven months from May 2019 to November 2019. At the general surgery department of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro, treated 60 lactating female patients with probable breast abscesses, with an age of more than 18 years. Percutaneous drainage insertion and ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) were used in the treatment of breast abscesses in a minimally invasive manner. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was performed during drainage installation, followed by the insertion percutaneously of the ordinary drainage catheter through a prick incision. Data was collected by study proforma and SPSS version 20 was used for the analysis of data. Results: Average age of the females was 40 years. Clinical inflammation like puerperal mastitis was in 24(40%) patients, non-puerperal mastitis was in 27(45%) of the cases and other inflammation like as folliculinids and infected seroma were in 9(15%) patients. Fibrocystic variation was seen in 58 percent of the participants. 67 percent of non-puerperal mastitis patients had fibrocystic variations, 17 percent of puerperal mastitis patients had fibrocystic variations, and 56 percent of the other patients with other inflammatory forms had fibrocystic variations. Early problems occurred in 12 of every 60 patients (20%) whose are treated using minimally invasive procedures. Conclusion: As per study conclusion, fine needle aspiration (FNA) as per ultrasound guidance minimally invasive therapy combined with antibiotic treatment was observed to be the effective treatment approach for breast abscesses, and it is also a feasible and safe in terms of less post-operative recovery duration, complications, and hospital stay. Keywords: lactating mothers, Abscess, breast, surgery

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection by microRNA profiling of the upper respiratory tract

Host biomarkers are increasingly being considered as tools for improved COVID-19 detection and prognosis. We recently profiled circulating host-encoded microRNA (miRNAs) during SARS-CoV-2 infection, revealing a signature that classified COVID-19 cases with 99.9% accuracy. Here we sought to develop a signature suited for clinical application by analyzing specimens collected using minimally invasive procedures. Eight miRNAs displayed altered expression in anterior nasal tissues from COVID-19 patients, with miR-142-3p, a negative regulator of interleukin-6 (IL-6) production, the most strongly upregulated. Supervised machine learning analysis revealed that a three-miRNA signature (miR-30c-2-3p, miR-628-3p and miR-93-5p) independently classifies COVID-19 cases with 100 % accuracy. This study further defines the host miRNA response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and identifies candidate biomarkers for improved COVID-19 detection.

Investigation of the Indications for Endoscopic Papillectomy and Transduodenal Ampullectomy for Ampullary Tumors

Objective: The standard treatment for ampullary tumors is pancreaticoduodenectomy. However, minimally invasive procedures such as endoscopic papillectomy (EP) and transduodenal ampullectomy (TDA) have recently gained popularity. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of these minimally invasive procedures for ampullary tumors. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 42 patients who underwent either EP or TDA for ampullary tumors between June 2011 and November 2020. Results: We found that in patients with significantly larger tumors, TDA was often selected. Patients who underwent EP had significantly shorter hospital stays. No significant differences were observed regarding procedural accidents, tumor size, and recurrence. Conclusion: No differences were observed regarding the treatment outcomes of EP and TDA except hospital stay. EP is less invasive and can be the initial choice of procedure. TDA is performed when EP is not technically feasible. No significant relationship was noted between tumor size and recurrence, and careful observation of the patient’s postoperative course is required.