A dual bacterial alliance removed erythromycin residues by immobilizing on activated carbon.

Removing erythromycin from the environment is a major challenge. In this study, a dual microbial consortium (Delftia acidovorans ERY-6A and Chryseobacterium indologenes ERY-6B) capable of degrading erythromycin was isolated, and the erythromycin biodegradation products were studied. Coconut shell activated carbon was modified and its adsorption characteristics and erythromycin removal efficiency of the immobilized cells were studied. It was indicated that alkali-modified and water-modified coconut shell activated carbon and the dual bacterial system had excellent erythromycin removal ability. The dual bacterial system follows a new biodegradation pathway to degrade erythromycin. The immobilized cells removed 95% of erythromycin at a concentration of 100 mg L-1 within 24 h through pore adsorption, surface complexation, hydrogen bonding, and biodegradation. This study provides a new erythromycin removal agent and for the first time describes the genomic information of erythromycin-degrading bacteria, providing new clues regarding bacterial cooperation and efficient erythromycin removal.

Circular RNAs Regulate Vascular Remodelling in Pulmonary Hypertension.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a newly identified type of noncoding RNA molecule with a unique closed-loop structure. circRNAs are widely expressed in different tissues and developmental stages of many species, participating in many important pathophysiological processes and playing an important role in the occurrence and development of diseases. This article reviews the discovery, characteristics, formation, and biological function of circRNAs. The relationship between circRNAs and vascular remodelling, as well as the current status of research and potential application value in pulmonary hypertension (PH), is discussed to promote a better understanding of the role of circRNAs in PH. circRNAs are closely related to the remodelling of vascular endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. circRNAs have potential application prospects for in-depth research on the possible pathogenesis and mechanism of PH. Future research on the role of circRNAs in the pathogenesis and mechanism of PH will provide new insights and promote screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of this disease.

Efficient degradation of tylosin by Klebsiella oxytoca TYL-T1.

Tylosin is widely used in livestock; however, the release of tylosin through animal manure can cause serious environmental problems. In this study, a new tylosin-degrading strain, TYL-T1, was isolated. Its phylogenetic similarity to Klebsiella oxytoca was found to be 99.17 %. TYL-T1 maintained good growth at 40 °C over a broad pH range (4.0-10). TYL-T1 degraded 99.34 % of tylosin in 36 h under optimal conditions (tylosin initial concentration: 25 mg/L, pH: 7.0, and temperature: 35 °C). After LC-MS-MS analysis, a new degradation pathway for tylosin was proposed, including ester bond breaking of the macrolide lactone ring, redox reaction, and loss of mycinose and mycarose. Based on a transcriptome analysis, 164 genes essential for degradation were upregulated through hydrolysis and redox of tylosin. Among various transferases, lipopolysaccharide methyltransferase, glycogen glucosyltransferase, and fructotransferase were responsible for tylosin degradation. The present study revealed the degradation mechanism of tylosin and highlighted the potential of Klebsiella oxytoca TYL-T1 to remove tylosin from the environment.

Regulation of circular RNAs act as ceRNA in a hypoxic pulmonary hypertension rat model.

To explore potential critical genes and identify circular RNAs (circRNAs) that act as the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) in a hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH) rat model. Constructed rat model, and a bioinformatics method was used to analyse differentially expressed (DE) genes and construct a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA regulatory network. Then, qRT-PCR was used to verify. The significant DEcircRNAs/DEmiRNAs/DEmRNAs was showed, and a ceRNA network with 8 DEcircRNAs, 9 DEmiRNAs and 46 DEmRNAs were constructed. The functional enrichment suggested the inflammatory response, NF-κB signalling, MAPK cascade and Toll-like receptor were associated with HPH. Further assessment confirmed that circ_002723, circ_008021, circ_016925 and circ_020581 could have a potential ceRNA mechanism by sponging miR-23a or miR-21 to control downstream target gene and be involved in the pathophysiology of HPH. The qRT-PCR validation results were consistent with the RNA-Seq results. This study revealed potentially important genes, pathways and ceRNA regulatory networks in HPH.

Can a one-on-one mentorship program reduce the turnover rate of new graduate nurses in China? A longitudinal study.

Nursing graduates experience "reality shock" upon entering the workplace as well as face challenges and stress during their transition from nursing student to qualified nurse. The high turnover rate of new graduate nurses not only increases an organization's human resources costs but also results in a shortage of nurses. In particular, a poor experience during the transition from nursing student to qualified nurse can lead to significant turnover. A three-year longitudinal study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of one-on-one mentorship program in reducing the turnover rate of nurses in China. A total of 199 new graduate nurses, recruited in 2013, were considered the control group and received a basic preceptorship, and 239 nurses in 2014 were considered the experimental group, for which a one-on-one mentorship program was implemented. Propensity-score-matching analysis was conducted to adjust the baseline of the two groups, and survival analysis was performed to compare the two groups. The findings showed that the turnover rates for the experimental group were 3.77%, 3.48%, and 8.11% as compared to 14.07%, 9.36%, and 14.19% for the control group at the end of the first three years, respectively. The survival curves of the two groups were significantly different (p < 0.001). The turnover rate for the first year in the experimental group was significantly lower than that for the control group, but the rates in the second and third years were not different. The results indicate that a one-on-one mentorship program is beneficial for the retention of new graduate nurses, particularly during the first year.

Serum cardiac troponin elevation predicts mortality in patients with pulmonary hypertension: A meta-analysis of eight cohort studies.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of serum cardiac troponin (cTn) with the mortality of pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients via a meta-analysis. DATE SOURCE: We searched PubMed and EMBASE from inception to October 25, 2017. STUDY SELECTION: The reference lists of the retrieved articles were also consulted. The Q test and I2 test were used for to assess heterogeneity. The relationship between cTn elevation and mortality was analysed. Studies were stratified according to type of troponin (cTnT vs cTnI), region (Europe vs America) and follow-up length (≤3 years vs >3 years). RESULTS: Eight studies with 739 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Cardiac troponin elevation ranged from 14.3% to 94.5%. Overall, 48.8% (39/80) of patients with elevated cTn died compared to 18.6% (45/242) of patients with normal cTn levels. These findings showed cTn elevation was significantly related to an increased mortality risk in PH patients [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.05, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 2.16-4.32, I2  = 24.9%]. cTnI was better at predicting mortality than cTnT (HR = 3.37, 95%CI = 2.05-5.55 vs HR = 2.80, 95%CI = 1.97-3.98, respectively). American populations had increased mortality compared to European populations (HR = 4.23, 95%CI = 2.29-7.80 vs HR = 2.70, 95% CI = 1.95-3.74, respectively). This finding was independent of the follow-up length of the studies (≤3 years: HR = 2.36, 95%CI = 1.65-3.38; >3 years: HR = 4.55, 95%CI = 2.80-7.39). CONCLUSIONS: Although different studies detected the expression cTnT or cTnI by various methods, the mortality in the cTn-positive group was higher than that in the cTn-negative group. Serum cTn elevation emerged as an independent predictor of increased risk of mortality in PH patients.