Beyond task time: automated measurement augments fundamentals of laparoscopic skills methodology.

Background: Laparoscopic psychomotor skills are challenging to learn and objectively evaluate. The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Skills (FLS) program provides a popular, inexpensive, widely-studied, and reported method for evaluating basic laparoscopic skills. With an emphasis on training safety before efficiency, we present data that explore the metrics in the FLS curriculum.

mir-17-92, a cluster of miRNAs in the midst of the cancer network.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that function to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Although their functions were originally described during normal development, miRNAs have emerged as integral components of the oncogenic and tumor suppressor network, regulating nearly all cellular processes altered during tumor formation. In particular, mir-17-92, a miRNA polycistron also known as oncomir-1, is among the most potent oncogenic miRNAs.

miR-19 is a key oncogenic component of mir-17-92.

Recent studies have revealed the importance of multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) in promoting tumorigenesis, among which mir-17-92/Oncomir-1 exhibits potent oncogenic activity. Genomic amplification and elevated expression of mir-17-92 occur in several human B-cell lymphomas, and enforced mir-17-92 expression in mice cooperates with c-myc to promote the formation of B-cell lymphomas. Unlike classic protein-coding oncogenes, mir-17-92 has an unconventional gene structure, where one primary transcript yields six individual miRNAs.