Correction: Sepe et al. The Long Non-Coding RNA RP5-1024C24.1 and Its Associated-Gene MPPED2 Are Down-Regulated in Human Thyroid Neoplasias and Act as Tumour Suppressors. Cancers 2018, 10, 146.

In the original publication [...].

Evaluating the effectiveness of a single-day simulation-based program in psychiatry for medical students: a controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Training in psychiatry requires specific knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are obtainable by simulation, of which the use is only recent and still needs further development. Evidence is accumulating on its effectiveness but requires further validation for medical students. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a single-day optional teaching program in psychiatry by simulation for medical students and validate a scale measuring Confidence in Psychiatric Clinical Skills (CPCQ), as part of the assessment. METHODS: This was a controlled study in a French University that compared (using paired-sample Student t-tests) knowledge and attitudes (university grades and CPCQ scores) before, just after teaching with simulated patients, and 2 months later. Satisfaction with the program (including the quality of the debriefing) was also investigated. The CPCQ scale was validated by assessing the factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Finally, a comparison was run with a control group who received the usual psychiatric instruction using covariance analyses. RESULTS: Twenty-four medical students were included in the simulation group and 76 in the control group. Just after the simulation, knowledge and attitudes increased significantly in the simulation group. Satisfaction with the training and debriefing was very high. The CPCQ scale showed good psychometric properties: a single-factor structure, acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.73 [0.65-0.85]), and good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.71 [0.35-0.88]). Two months after the simulation, knowledge and attitudes were significantly higher in the simulation group than the control group, despite a lack of difference in knowledge before the simulation. CONCLUSIONS: Adding a simulation program in psychiatry to the usual teaching improved the knowledge and confidence of medical students. The CPCQ scale could be used for the evaluation of educational programs.

The Long Non-Coding RNA RP5-1024C24.1 and Its Associated-Gene MPPED2 Are Down-Regulated in Human Thyroid Neoplasias and Act as Tumour Suppressors.

Background: Well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) represents the thyroid neoplasia with the highest incidence. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found deregulated in several human carcinomas, and hence, proposed as potential diagnostic and prognostic markers. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate their role in thyroid carcinogenesis. Methods: We analysed the lncRNA expression profile of 12 PTC and four normal thyroid tissues through a lncRNA microarray. Results: We identified 669 up- and 2470 down-regulated lncRNAs with a fold change >2. Among them, we focused on the down-regulated RP5-1024C24.1 located in an antisense position with respect to the MPPED2 gene which codes for a metallophosphoesterase with tumour suppressor activity. Both these genes are down-regulated in benign and malignant thyroid neoplasias. The restoration of RP5-1024C24.1 expression in thyroid carcinoma cell lines reduced cell proliferation and migration by modulating the PTEN/Akt pathway. Inhibition of thyroid carcinoma cell growth and cell migration ability was also achieved by the MPPED2 restoration. Interestingly, RP5-1024C24.1 over-expression is able to increase MPPED2 expression. Conclusions: Taken together, these results demonstrate that RP5-1024C24.1 and MPPED2 might be considered as novel tumour suppressor genes whose loss of expression contributes to thyroid carcinogenesis.

Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is associated with RAS/TP53 mutations in lung adenocarcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: The systematic assessment of anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in lung adenocarcinomas is becoming standard practice. However, the assessment of PD-L1 expression on small tissue specimens needs to be evaluated and the association with other features more thoroughly analyzed. METHODS: This retrospective single center study evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of the SP263 anti-PD-L1 antibody on tissue microarrays (TMA) of 152 surgically resected lung adenocarcinomas, using a 25% positivity threshold. The positive cases and 50 randomly chosen negative cases in tissue microarray (TMA) were reassessed on whole tissue sections. The results were correlated to clinical, histopathological and to molecular data obtained through the screening of 214 mutations in 26 genes (LungCarta panel, Agena Biosciences). RESULTS: Among 152 primary lung adenocarcinomas, 19 cases (13%) showed PD-L1 expression. The agreement between TMA and whole tissue sections was 89%, specificity was 97%. PD-L1 expression was correlated to RAS mutations (p = .04), RAS/TP53 co-mutations (p = .01) and to the solid or acinar subtype (p = .048). CONCLUSIONS: With the SP263 PD-L1 antibody, small samples appear as a reliable means to evaluate the PD-L1 status in lung adenocarcinoma. The association between PD-L1 expression and RAS/TP53 mutations may have clinical relevance to predict the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoints inhibitors.