Analysis of differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs associated with slow­transit constipation.

Slow transit constipation (STC) is a refractory gastrointestinal disease, accounting for approximately 13 âˆ¼ 37 % of chronic constipation. However, the molecular mechanism of STC remains poorly understood. Herein, this study aims to identify the key mRNAs and lncRNAs associated with STC. To this end, we performed high-throughput RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs and lncRNAs in the whole-layer sigmoid intestinal tissues from 4 STC patients and 4 non-STC patients. The identified DE lncRNAs and mRNAs were validated through quantitative real-time PCR. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted to determine the significantly correlated DE mRNA-lncRNA pairs. A total of 1420 DE lncRNAs and 1634 DE mRNAs were identified. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis of DE mRNAs indicated that these DE mRNAs might be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus, alcoholism, intestinal immune network for IgA production, inflammatory bowel disease, NF-kappa B signaling pathway. WGCNA and Pearson correlation analyses jointly identified 16,577 significantly correlated DE mRNA-lncRNA pairs. Furthermore, lncRNAs LINC00641, LINC02268, LINC03013 were identified as hub lncRNAs. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of proteins encoded by DE mRNAs was established, and PPI-based analysis revealed that Interleukin 2(IL2), CD80 molecule (CD80), interleukin-17A (IL-17A) might play significant roles in the development of STC. This study analyzes the expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs associated with STC. Our findings will contribute to further understanding of the molecular mechanism of STC and provide potential diagnostic or therapeutic biomarkers for STC.

Effectiveness of hierarchical, diversified soft skills training in clinical nursing training.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the application effects of hierarchical, diversified soft skills training in clinical nursing training. METHODS: This is a prospective study. There involved a total of 124 nurses who participated in the training in our hospital. The participants were randomly allocated to the study group and the control group, with 62 nurses in each group. Study group received hierarchical, diversified nursing soft skills training and control group received conventional nursing training only. The core competence, knowledge, operation skills and clinical competence of nurses in the two groups before and after training were measured and compared, and the satisfaction of doctors and patients in the two groups after training were observed. RESULTS: The scores of education and consultation, professional development, legal and ethical practice, interpersonal relationship, leadership, clinical nursing and critical thinking were compared between the two groups before the training (P > .05). After the training, however, the scores of abovementioned items in the two groups were higher than those before treatment, and compared with the control group, the scores in the study group were significantly higher (P < .05). Before the training, the scores of theoretical knowledge, operation skills and clinical competence of nurses in the two groups were compared (P > .05). After training, the scores of those items of nurses in the two groups were higher than those before treatment. Compared with the control group, the scores of theory, operation skills and clinical competence of nurses in the study group were significantly higher (P < .05). Moreover, the study group showed significant higher satisfaction of doctors and patients (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Hierarchical, diversified soft skills training in clinical nursing training programme obtained better outcomes in the core competence, knowledge, operation skills and clinical competence of nursing staff, and promoted the satisfaction of doctors and patients, which can be utilised for clinical practice.

Alkaline Pretreatment of Sugarcane Bagasse and Filter Mud Codigested to Improve Biomethane Production.

To enhance the codigestion of degradation and improve biomethane production potential, sugarcane bagasse and filter mud were pretreated by sodium hydroxide NaOH 1 N at 100°C for 15, 30, and 45 minutes, respectively. Biomethane generation from 1-liter batch reactor was studied at mesophilic temperature (37 ± 1)°C, solid concentrations of 6%, and five levels of mixing proportion with and without pretreatment. The results demonstrate that codigestion of filter mud with bagasse produces more biomethane than fermentation of filter mud as single substrate; even codigested substrate composition presented a better balance of nutrients (C/N ratio of 24.70) when codigestion ratio between filter mud and bagasse was 25 : 75 in comparison to filter mud as single substrate (C/N ratio 9.68). All the pretreatments tested led to solubilization of the organic matter, with a maximum lignin reduction of 86.27% and cumulative yield of biomethane (195.8 mL·gVS-1, digestion of pretreated bagasse as single substrate) obtained after 45 minutes of cooking by NaOH 1 N at 100°C. Under this pretreatment condition, significant increase in cumulative methane yield was observed (126.2 mL·gVS-1) at codigestion ratio of 25 : 75 between filter mud and bagasse by increase of 81.20% from untreated composition.

Anaerobic digestion in mesophilic and room temperature conditions: Digestion performance and soil-borne pathogen survival.

Tomato plant waste (TPW) was used as the feedstock of a batch anaerobic reactor to evaluate the effect of anaerobic digestion on Ralstonia solanacearum and Phytophthora capsici survival. Batch experiments were carried out for TS (total solid) concentrations of 2%, 4% and 6% respectively, at mesophilic (37±1°C) and room (20-25°C) temperatures. Results showed that higher digestion performance was achieved under mesophilic digestion temperature and lower TS concentration conditions. The biogas production ranged from 71 to 416L/kg VS (volatile solids). The inactivation of anaerobic digestion tended to increase as digestion performance improved. The maximum log copies reduction of R. solanacearum and P. capsici detected by quantitative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) were 3.80 and 4.08 respectively in reactors with 4% TS concentration at mesophilic temperatures. However, both in mesophilic and room temperature conditions, the lowest reduction of R. solanacearum was found in the reactors with 6% TS concentration, which possessed the highest VFA (volatile fatty acid) concentration. These findings indicated that simple accumulation of VFAs failed to restrain R. solanacearum effectively, although the VFAs were considered poisonous. P. capsici was nearly completely dead under all conditions. Based on the digestion performance and the pathogen survival rate, a model was established to evaluate the digestate biosafety.

Methane enhancement through oxidative cleavage and alkali solubilization pre-treatments for corn stover with anaerobic activated sludge.

In the present study, thermo-chemical pre-treatment was adopted to evaluate methane production potential from corn stover by co-digesting it with anaerobic activated sludge. Three chemicals H2O2, Ca(OH)2 and NaOH were selected with two levels of concentration. All thermo-chemical pre-treatments were found significant (P<0.05) to enhance lignocellulosic digestibility and methane production. The results indicated that the methane yield by H2O2-1, H2O2-2, and NaOH-2 treated corn stover were 293.52, 310.50 and 279.42ml/g.VS which were 57.18%, 66.27% and 49.63% higher than the untreated corn stover respectively. In the previous studies pre-treatment time was reported in days but our method had reduced it to about one hour. H2O2-2 and NaOH-2 treatments remained prominent to increase lignocellulosic degradation vigorously up to 45% and 42% respectively. Process biochemistry during the anaerobic digestion process was taken into consideration to optimize the most feasible thermo-chemical pre-treatment for corn stover.