MicroRNA as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in brain gliomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Brain neoplasms and central nervous system (CNS) disorders, particularly gliomas, have shown a notable increase in incidence over the last three decades, posing significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising biomarkers due to their regulatory role in gene expression, offering potential enhancements in glioma diagnosis and prognosis. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis, adhering to PRISMA guidelines, included 25 studies for diagnostic accuracy and 99 for prognostic analysis, published until August 27th, 2023. Studies were identified through comprehensive searches of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Inclusion criteria encompassed peer-reviewed original research providing sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) for miRNAs in glioma diagnosis, as well as survival outcomes with hazard ratios (HRs) or mean survival. Results and discussion: Meta-analysis demonstrated miRNAs' high diagnostic accuracy, with a pooled sensitivity of 0.821 (95% CI: 0.781-0.855) and specificity of 0.831 (95% CI: 0.792-0.865), yielding an AUC of 0.893. Subgroup analysis by specimen type revealed consistent accuracy across blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and tissue samples. Our results also showed miRNAs can be potential prognostic biomarkers. miRNAs showed significant associations with overall survival (OS) (pooled HR: 2.0221; 95% CI: 1.8497-2.2105), progression-free survival (PFS) (pooled HR: 2.4248; 95% CI: 1.8888-3.1128), and disease-free survival (DFS) (pooled HR: 1.8973; 95% CI: 1.1637-3.0933) in tissue specimens. These findings underscore miRNAs' potential as valuable biomarkers for improving glioma diagnosis and prognosis, offering insights for enhancing clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

Myoelectric Control Systems for Upper Limb Wearable Robotic Exoskeletons and Exosuits-A Systematic Review.

In recent years, myoelectric control systems have emerged for upper limb wearable robotic exoskeletons to provide movement assistance and/or to restore motor functions in people with motor disabilities and to augment human performance in able-bodied individuals. In myoelectric control, electromyographic (EMG) signals from muscles are utilized to implement control strategies in exoskeletons and exosuits, improving adaptability and human-robot interactions during various motion tasks. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art myoelectric control systems designed for upper-limb wearable robotic exoskeletons and exosuits, and highlights the key focus areas for future research directions. Here, different modalities of existing myoelectric control systems were described in detail, and their advantages and disadvantages were summarized. Furthermore, key design aspects (i.e., supported degrees of freedom, portability, and intended application scenario) and the type of experiments conducted to validate the efficacy of the proposed myoelectric controllers were also discussed. Finally, the challenges and limitations of current myoelectric control systems were analyzed, and future research directions were suggested.

Expression Analysis of Aurora-C and Survivin, Two Testis-Specific Genes, in Patients with Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The high frequency of positive families shows the importance of public awareness and screening strategies in those families. Cancer/testis (CT) antigens such as Aurora-C and Survivin are a group of antigens expressed in various tumor types of human cancers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Aurora-C and Survivin genes in malignant and normal tissues and their correlation to clinicopathological characteristics. METHODS: Tumor samples were obtained from 33 patients and adjacent non-tumorous tissues from 7 patients were also used as control. Patients were diagnosed with various stages of colorectal cancer. The level of Aurora-C and Survivin genes were evaluated by using real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction. RESULTS: The expression pattern of Survivin and Aurora-C revealed significant changes in tumor tissues when compared with normal tissues (p < 0.05). Also, these expressions were associated with the grade of disease and tumor size. There was no significant relationship between the expression of Survivin and Aurora-C genes (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the overexpression of Aurora-C and Survivin genes may play an important role in the development of colorectal cancer and may play a potential role in cancer therapy.