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Training with adolescent simulated patients (ASP) is increasingly recognized as an effective form of teaching interviewing skills with adolescent patients. Beyond the acknowledged effectiveness and satisfaction of training with ASP, little is known on medical students' actual experience and specific learning needs related to simulated encounters with ASP, as well as factors influencing their learning experience. The aim of this study was an in-depth exploration of medical students' perspectives about training with ASP. Using a qualitative design with grounded theory methods, we conducted in-field observation of training sessions with ASP and individual interviews with eighteen fourth-year medical students participating in training. When provided with an actual experience in a simulated setting, students go through a process of anticipating then modulating the challenge of the encounter with an adolescent patient. This challenge is influenced and modulated within 3 main dimensions: preconceptions about adolescents, level of experience with adolescent patients and professional distance. This process is also influenced by how students perceive and cope with the educational setting. Training with ASP, as a first concrete experience of an adolescent consultation, is an opportunity to address important aspects of students' attitudes towards adolescent patients such as students' preconceptions, personal experiences and feelings that could influence the doctor-patient relationship later on. Training should focus on ways to reflect upon and handle such attitudes and the emotional resonance experienced by medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Programmed necrosis, such as necroptosis and pyroptosis, is a highly pro-inflammatory cellular event that is associated with chronic inflammation. Although there are various triggers of pyroptosis and necroptosis in autoimmune tissue inflammation and subsequent lytic forms of cell death release abundant inflammatory mediators, including damage-associated molecular patterns and IL-1β, capable of amplifying autoimmune Th17 effector functions, it remains largely unclear whether the programs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune arthritis. We herein report that Gasdermin D (Gsdmd) and receptor interacting serine/threonine kinase 3 (Ripk3)—key molecules of pyroptosis and necroptosis, respectively—are upregulated in inflamed synovial tissues, but dispensable for IL-1β production and the development of IL-17-producing T helper (Th17) cell-mediated autoimmune arthritis in SKG mice. Gsdmd−/−, Ripk3−/−, or Gsdmd−/−Ripk3−/− SKG mice showed severe arthritis with expansion of arthritogenic Th17 cells in the draining LNs and inflamed joints, which was comparable to that in wild-type SKG mice. Despite the marked reduction of IL-1β secretion from Gsdmd−/− or Ripk3−/− bone marrow-derived DCs by canonical stimuli, IL-1β levels in the inflamed synovium were not affected in the absence of Gsdmd or Ripk3. Our results revealed that T cell-mediated autoimmune arthritis proceeds independently of the pyroptosis and necroptosis pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature sensing is critical for the survival of living organisms. 1,2 Thermosensitive transient receptor-potential (TRP) cation channels function as thermosensors in mammals. 2,3,4,5,6 In contrast to animals, land plants lack TRP genes. 7,8,9 Previous patch-clamp studies in plant cells suggested the presence of ion channels whose activities are related to temperature, implying the presence of TRP-like channels. 10,11,12,13,14 However, the molecular entities of such temperature-sensitive ion channels were still unknown in land plants. In this study, we observed that the unique rainfall-induced leaf-folding movement of the legume tree Samanea saman 15 was temperature-sensitive by using a rainfall-mimicking assay. Chilling-induced leaf folding in S. saman was shown to be related to the swelling of the motor cells 16,17 at the base of the leaflet. This swelling suggested involvement of temperature-sensitive inactivation of K+ currents, independent of fluctuations in ion channel gene expression in motor cells. These findings led us to examine the temperature sensitivity of an outward-rectifying K+ channel, SPORK2, which was reported as an ion channel responsible for the nyctinastic (circadian-rhythmic) leaf movement of S. saman. 18 We also discovered that SPORK2 exhibits temperature-sensitive K+ transport activity in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. Using chimeric channels, we showed that two domains of SPORK2 regulated the temperature sensitivity. Furthermore, heterologously expressed SPORK2 in Arabidopsis guard cells induced temperature-dependent stomatal closure. Therefore, SPORK2 is an ion channel in land plants with temperature-sensitive ion-transport activity that functions similarly to mammalian TRP channels. Our current findings advance the molecular understanding of temperature-sensing mechanisms in plants. [Display omitted] • Rainfall-induced leaf-folding movement of Samanea saman is temperature-sensitive • SPORK2 is identified as a temperature-sensitive K+ channel from Samanea motor cell • The temperature sensitivity is conserved among SPORK2 orthologs • TM3 and C-linker are essentially involved in the thermosensitivity of SPORK2 Transient receptor-potential ion channels are important for thermosensing in animals. In contrast, such temperature-sensitive ion channels in land plants are still mysterious. Muraoka et al. find that the rainfall-induced leaf-folding movement of Samanea saman is thermosensitive and identify SPORK2 as a temperature-sensitive K+ channel in land plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]