Transglutaminase activation in neurodegenerative diseases

The following review examines the role of calcium in promoting the in vitro and in vivo activation of transglutaminases in neurodegenerative disorders. Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease exhibit increased transglutaminase activity and rises in intracellular calcium concentrations, which may be related. The aberrant activation of transglutaminase by calcium is thought to give rise to a variety of pathological moieties in these diseases, and the inhibition has been shown to have therapeutic benefit in animal and cellular models of neurodegeneration. Given the potential clinical relevance of transglutaminase inhibitors, we have also reviewed the recent development of such compounds

Transglutaminase 2 in human diseases

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Random-Matrix Theory of Quantum Transport

This is a comprehensive review of the random-matrix approach to the theory of phase-coherent conduction in mesocopic systems. The theory is applied to a variety of physical phenomena in quantum dots and disordered wires, including universal conductance fluctuations, weak localization, Coulomb blockade, sub-Poissonian shot noise, reflectionless tunneling into a superconductor, and giant conductance oscillations in a Josephson junction.Comment: 85 pages including 52 figures, to be published in Rev.Mod.Phy

Positive effects of lumbar puncture simulation training for medical students in clinical practice

International audienceBackground: Lumbar puncture (LP) is an invasive medical procedure that can be done by any doctor. Several simulation-based trainings have been built however the evaluations of the theoretical knowledge and the impact of the simulation-based training have never been performed in real life.The objective was to evaluate the impact of a LP training on the theoretical knowledge improvement and the performance of a LP in clinical practice.Methods: Before and after medical students’ training, theoretical knowledge and confidence level were assessed. Over a 6 months period, the impact of simulation training was evaluated by the success rate of students’ first LP carried out in hospitalized patients and compared to the results of a no-training control.Results: Students’ theoretical knowledge and confidence level showed significant improvement after simulation training on 115 students (p < 0.0001). The evaluation in real life based on 41 students showed that the success rate of the first LP in patients was higher in the LP simulation group compared to the control group (67% vs 14%, p = 0.0025). The technical assistance was also less frequently needed in the LP simulation group (19% vs 57%, respectively, p = 0.017). The rate of students who participated in this educational study was low.Discussion: Simulation-based teaching was an effective way to improve students’ theoretical and practical knowledge. Whether this approach translates to other procedural skills in real clinical settings merits further study. The low participation rate in the study is due to the fact that students are not used to be included in educational studies and to the complexity of evaluation in routine clinical practice