Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 190 in total

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  1. Zhao Y, Xiao M, Yan C, Hu FC, Zhang S, Wang X, et al.
    Plant Dis, 2023 Feb 23.
    PMID: 36825316 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-11-22-2740-PDN
    Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is an important tropical commercial fruit crop grown in Hainan province, China. In recent years, severe jackfruit bronzing disease has been found in 11 cities and counties in Hainan. On average, 80% of trees in a jackfruit orchard are affected once bronzing disease is detected. The disease is characterized by yellow-orange to reddish discoloration of the pulp and rags of infected fruit (Hernández-Morales et al. 2017). Jackfruit bronzing disease has been reported previously in the Philippines (Gapasin et al. 2012), Malaysia (Zulperi et al. 2017), and Mexico (Hernández-Morales et al. 2017). Diseased samples of jackfruit 'Tai Eight' with the bronzing symptoms were collected from a plantation in Changjiang, Hainan. The samples were sterilized with 75% ethanol for 30 s, then soaked with 1% sodium hypochlorite for 8 min, and rinsed with sterilized distilled water. The sterilized tissues were ground in 2 mL sterile water, and allowed to stand for 30 min. Then, 500 μL of the supernatant was spread on Glucose-Yeast agar medium and incubated overnight at 28ºC. Representative bacterial colonies were lemon-yellow, convex and smooth, transparent with entire edges. Colonies were Gram-negative, positive for catalase and gelatin liquefaction, which were consistent with the characteristics of P. stewartii subsp. stewartii. In PCR amplifications, an 920 bp amplicon of strain JTPE2 with the primers ES16/ESIG2c (Coplin et al. 2002) and an 1100 bp amplicon of strain JTPC2 with the primers CPSL1/CPSR2c (Ibrahim et al. 2019) were obtained, whereas no bands were observed for the negative control samples. The ES16/ESIG2c and CPSL1/CPSR2c fragments were sequenced for nucleotide BLAST (BLASTn) searches of the NCBI database and phylogenetic tree construction. The obtained ES16/ESIG2c sequences (SAR accession no. SRR22405292) showed 99.07%-99.60% similarity with P. stewartii subsp. stewartii (CP017581, AJ311838 and MF598163). The obtained CPSL1/CPSR2c sequences (SAR accession no. SRR22405293) showed 99.40%-99.99% similarity with P. stewartii subsp. stewartii (MW971422, MH752485 and MH257287). Phylogenetic analysis based on cpsDE sequences (Ibrahim et al. 2019) using the maximum likelihood method revealed that strains JTPE2 and JTPC2 were clustered together with P. stewartii subsp. stewartii. A pathogenicity test was conducted by injecting 2 mL of 108 CFU/ml bacterial suspension into pulp from healthy, surface-sterilized jackfruit. Pulp injected with sterilized distilled water served as a negative control. All inoculated samples produced bronzing symptoms from 2-3 weeks post-inoculation similar to the field-observed symptoms, whereas control fruit were asymptomatic. The strains were reisolated from symptomatic jackfruit pulp to complete Koch's postulates. The bacterial suspension was inoculated on 2-week-old maize seedlings to supplement in vivo pathogenicity testing. Typical Stewart's disease leaf symptoms were visible at 2 weeks post-inoculation. Based on morphological, biochemical, and physiological evidence, pathogenicity tests, and molecular analyses, the pathogenic bacterium isolated from 'Tai Eight' jackfruit was identified as P. stewartii subsp. stewartii. To our knowledge, this is the first report of bronzing disease caused by P. stewartii subsp. stewartii on jackfruit in China, which may assist in preventing the global spread of jackfruit bronzing disease.
  2. Zhao S, Ching CK, Huang D, Liu YB, Rodriguez-Guerrero DA, Hussin A, et al.
    BMC Med, 2024 Mar 22;22(1):130.
    PMID: 38519982 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-024-03310-5
    BACKGROUND: Comprehensive data on patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in emerging countries are lacking. The aim was to deepen our understanding of the SCD phenotype and identify risk factors for death among patients at high risk of SCD in emerging countries.

    METHODS: Patients who met the class I indication for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation according to guideline recommendations in 17 countries and regions underrepresented in previous trials were enrolled. Countries were stratified by the WHO regional classification. Patients were or were not implanted with an ICD at their discretion. The outcomes were all-cause mortality and SCD.

    RESULTS: We enrolled 4222 patients, and 3889 patients were included in the analysis. The mean follow-up period was 21.6 ± 10.2 months. There were 433 (11.1%) instances of all-cause mortality and 117 (3.0%) cases of SCD. All-cause mortality was highest in primary prevention (PP) patients from Southeast Asia and secondary prevention (SP) patients from the Middle East and Africa. The SCD rates among PP and SP patients were both highest in South Asia. Multivariate Cox regression modelling demonstrated that in addition to the independent predictors identified in previous studies, both geographic region and ICD use were associated with all-cause mortality in patients with high SCD risk. Primary prophylactic ICD implantation was associated with a 36% (HR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.531-0.802, p 

  3. Zhang Y, Wang L, Wu W, Zhang S, Zhang M, She W, et al.
    Int J Nurs Stud, 2024 Jan;149:104631.
    PMID: 37963423 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2023.104631
    BACKGROUND: Factors that predict the quality of bowel preparation in older adults are unclear, and current guidelines do not provide specific recommendations.

    OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aimed to identify risk factors for inadequate bowel preparation in older patients.

    METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP databases were searched from their inception to February 2023. Cohort and cross-sectional studies exploring the risk factors for inadequate bowel preparation were included in this systematic review. Odds ratio (OR) values from individual studies were pooled using fixed-effects and random-effects models. In addition, a sensitivity analysis and assessment of publication bias were performed.

    RESULTS: This meta-analysis included six studies (n = 1553) on previous abdominal surgery, six studies (n = 1494) on constipation, seven studies (n = 1505) on diabetes, eight studies (n = 2093) on non-compliance with the diet regimen, seven studies (n = 1350) on incomplete intake of laxative, and nine studies (n = 2163) on inadequate exercise during preparation. The pooled analysis showed that history of abdominal surgery (OR = 2.72; 95 % confidence interval, CI: 2.07 to 3.56), constipation (OR = 3.56, 95 % CI: 2.41 to 5.25), diabetes (OR = 2.54, 95 % CI: 1.81 to 3.57), non-compliance with the diet regimen (OR = 2.51, 95 % CI: 1.96 to 3.21), incomplete intake of laxative (OR = 2.43, 95 % CI: 1.60 to 3.67), and inadequate exercise during preparation (OR = 3.13, 95 % CI: 2.39 to 4.11) were independent risk factors for inadequate bowel preparation in older patients undergoing colonoscopy.

    CONCLUSIONS: Three comorbid factors and three behavioral factors were significantly associated with inadequate bowel preparation in older adults. This meta-analysis provides valuable information for developing predictive models of poor bowel preparation.

  4. Zhang W, Jiang B, Zeng M, Duan Y, Wu Z, Wu Y, et al.
    J Virol, 2020 04 16;94(9).
    PMID: 32075929 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01850-19
    Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), which is similar to other mosquito-borne flaviviruses that replicate well in most mammalian cells, is an emerging pathogenic flavivirus that has caused epidemics in egg-laying and breeding waterfowl. Immune organ defects and neurological dysfunction are the main clinical symptoms of DTMUV infection. Preinfection with DTMUV makes the virus impervious to later interferon (IFN) treatment, revealing that DTMUV has evolved some strategies to defend against host IFN-dependent antiviral responses. Immune inhibition was further confirmed by screening for DTMUV-encoded proteins, which suggested that NS2A significantly inhibited IFN-β and IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE) promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner and facilitated reinfection with duck plague virus (DPV). DTMUV NS2A was able to inhibit duck retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I)-, and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5)-, mitochondrial-localized adaptor molecules (MAVS)-, stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-, and TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1)-induced IFN-β transcription, but not duck TBK1- and interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7)-mediated effective phases of IFN response. Furthermore, we found that NS2A competed with duTBK1 in binding to duck STING (duSTING), impaired duSTING-duSTING binding, and reduced duTBK1 phosphorylation, leading to the subsequent inhibition of IFN production. Importantly, we first identified that the W164A, Y167A, and S361A mutations in duSTING significantly impaired the NS2A-duSTING interaction, which is important for NS2A-induced IFN-β inhibition. Hence, our data demonstrated that DTMUV NS2A disrupts duSTING-dependent antiviral cellular defenses by binding with duSTING, which provides a novel mechanism by which DTMUV subverts host innate immune responses. The potential interaction sites between NS2A and duSTING may be the targets of future novel antiviral therapies and vaccine development.IMPORTANCE Flavivirus infections are transmitted through mosquitos or ticks and lead to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide with a spectrum of manifestations. Infection with an emerging flavivirus, DTMUV, manifests with clinical symptoms that include lesions of the immune organs and neurological dysfunction, leading to heavy egg drop and causing serious harm to the duck industry in China, Thailand, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries. Mosquito cells, bird cells, and mammalian cell lines are all susceptible to DTMUV infection. An in vivo study revealed that BALB/c mice and Kunming mice were susceptible to DTMUV after intracerebral inoculation. Moreover, there are no reports about DTMUV-related human disease, but antibodies against DTMUV and viral RNA were detected in serum samples of duck industry workers. This information implies that DTMUV has expanded its host range and may pose a threat to mammalian health. However, the pathogenesis of DTMUV is largely unclear. Our results show that NS2A strongly blocks the STING-induced signal transduction cascade by binding with STING, which subsequently blocks STING-STING binding and TBK1 phosphorylation. More importantly, the W164, Y167, or S361 residues in duSTING were identified as important interaction sites between STING and NS2A that are vital for NS2A-induced IFN production and effective phases of IFN response. Uncovering the mechanism by which DTMUV NS2A inhibits IFN in the cells of its natural hosts, ducks, will help us understand the role of NS2A in DTMUV pathogenicity.
  5. Zhang SS, Noordin MM, Rahman SO, Haron J
    Vet Hum Toxicol, 2000 Oct;42(5):261-4.
    PMID: 11003114
    The influence of copper (Cu) overload on hepatic lipid peroxidation and antioxidation defense capacity was studied by overloading rats with copper sulphate orally (500 mg Cu/kg bw) 5 d/w for 8 w. Malondialdehyde (MDA), Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD), and Se-glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were measured in serum and liver homogenate at 2, 4 and 8 w of dosing. Liver Cu concentration and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity were also determined. As Cu loading progressed, there were multiparameter changes with significant ALT elevation, increased MDA concentrations in serum and liver homogenate, and dramatic declines of SOD and GSH-Px activities in erythrocytes and whole blood respectively, along with marked elevation of hepatic Cu in the Cu-dosed group. Excessive Cu accumulation in the liver depressed SOD and GSH-Px activities and resulted in high MDA in serum and liver homogenate due to the lipid peroxidation induced by the Cu overload.
  6. Zhang SS, Noordin MM, Rahman SO, Haron MJ
    Vet Hum Toxicol, 2001 Apr;43(2):83-7.
    PMID: 11308125
    An attempt was made to clarify the association between zinc (Zn) and antioxidants due to Zn supplementation on lipid peroxidation occurring during Brachiaria decumbens intoxication. The concentration of Zn, copper, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and gluthathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were determined in tissues. There was a gradual increment in the concentration of Zn and MDA in serum and hepatocytic SOD in groups given Zn + B decumbens. A decline in erythrocytic GSH-Px and SOD, and lower concentration of reduced glutathione in hepatocyte cytosols were also detected in these sheep. It is highly suggestive that Zn supplementation may depress antioxidant status and enhance lipid peroxidation during B decumbens intoxication.
  7. Zhang S, Singh B, Rodriguez DA, Chasnoits AR, Hussin A, Ching CK, et al.
    Europace, 2015 Nov;17(11):1720-6.
    PMID: 26037794 DOI: 10.1093/europace/euv103
    This study aims to demonstrate that primary prevention (PP) patients with one or more additional risk factors are at a similar risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias when compared with secondary prevention (SP) patients, and would receive similar benefit from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), or cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) implant. The study evaluates the benefits of therapy for high-risk patients in countries where defibrillation therapy for PP of SCA is underutilized.
  8. Zhang S, Lee G, Davies JW, Hull R
    Arch Virol, 1997;142(9):1873-9.
    PMID: 9672645
    The variation in the sequence of the coat protein genes of four isolates of rice tungro spherical virus from different countries, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Bangladesh, was compared with an isolate from the Philippines. The evidence from RT-PCR, Southern blot hybridization and sequences of the coat protein genes indicated that the isolates appeared to fall into two groups. One comprised the Philippine and Malaysian isolates (about 95% sequence similarity) and the other the Bangladeshi and Indian isolates, the sequences of which differed by about 15% from that of the Philippine isolate. The Thai isolate seemed to be a mixture of these two subgroups.
  9. Zhang S, Davies JW, Hull R
    Virus Genes, 1997;15(1):61-4.
    PMID: 9354271
    Coat protein genes CP1, CP2 and CP3 of an isolate (MaP1) of rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) from Malaysia were isolated, cloned and sequenced. Comparative analysis indicated that MaP1 isolate is closely related to the Philippine isolate.
  10. Zhang S, Ching CK, Huang D, Liu YB, Rodriguez-Guerrero DA, Hussin A, et al.
    Heart Rhythm, 2020 03;17(3):468-475.
    PMID: 31561030 DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2019.09.023
    BACKGROUND: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are underutilized in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Improve SCA Study is the largest prospective study to evaluate the benefit of ICD therapy in underrepresented geographies. This analysis reports the primary objective of the study.

    OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study was to determine whether patients with primary prevention (PP) indications with specific risk factors (1.5PP: syncope, nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, premature ventricular contractions >10/h, and low ventricular ejection fraction <25%) are at a similar risk of life-threatening arrhythmias as patients with secondary prevention (SP) indications and to evaluate all-cause mortality rates in 1.5PP patients with and without devices.

    METHODS: A total of 3889 patients were included in the analysis to evaluate ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation therapy and mortality rates. Patients were stratified as SP (n = 1193) and patients with PP indications. The PP cohort was divided into 1.5PP patients (n = 1913) and those without any 1.5PP criteria (n = 783). The decision to undergo ICD implantation was left to the patient and/or physician. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to compute hazard ratios.

    RESULTS: Patients had predominantly nonischemic cardiomyopathy. The rate of ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation in 1.5PP patients was not equivalent (within 30%) to that in patients with SP indications (hazard ratio 0.47; 95% confidence interval 0.38-0.57) but was higher than that in PP patients without any 1.5PP criteria (hazard ratio 0.67; 95% confidence interval 0.46-0.97) (P = .03). There was a 49% relative risk reduction in all-cause mortality in ICD implanted 1.5PP patients. In addition, the number needed to treat to save 1 life over 3 years was 10.0 in the 1.5PP cohort vs 40.0 in PP patients without any 1.5PP criteria.

    CONCLUSION: These data corroborate the mortality benefit of ICD therapy and support extension to a selected PP population from underrepresented geographies.

  11. Zhang S, Wang W, Sawhney JPS, Krittayaphong R, Kim HS, Nhan VT, et al.
    Int J Cardiol, 2020 07 01;310:16-22.
    PMID: 32192746 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2020.01.008
    BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases account for approximately half of all deaths in Asia. The present analysis aimed to evaluate characteristics, antithrombotic management patterns (AMPs), and outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who underwent in-hospital percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and survived to hospital discharge, using data from the EPICOR Asia registry (NCT01361386).

    METHODS: Two-year post-discharge follow-up data were analyzed from 8757 ACS PCI patients from EPICOR Asia (218 centers, eight countries). Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; death, non-fatal myocardial infarction [MI], non-fatal ischemic stroke), PCI characteristics, and AMPs were recorded. For MACE, time - to - event was analyzed using Cox regression.

    RESULTS: Primary PCI was performed in 62.0% of ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI), 38.7% of non-STEMI (NSTEMI), and 24.2% of unstable angina (UA) patients. At 12 months, 88.1% of patients were on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), with no differences by index event. Most (61.5%) still received DAPT at 2 years. Two-year incidences of mortality, composite MACE, and bleeding were 3.6%, 6.2%, and 6.6%, respectively. Risk of death and MACE was increased with STEMI and NSTEMI vs. UA. Patients from East Asia showed lower mortality and more bleeding vs. Southeast Asia/India.

    CONCLUSIONS: Many patients in EPICOR Asia underwent PCI and received DAPT up to 2 years post-discharge. These real-world findings improve our understanding of AMP impact on outcomes in Asian patients with ACS undergoing PCI.

  12. Zhang S, Xu J, Lee LH, Chew EP, Wong WP, Chen CH
    IEEE Trans Evol Comput, 2017 Apr;21(2):206-219.
    PMID: 29170617 DOI: 10.1109/TEVC.2016.2592185
    Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a popular metaheuristic for deterministic optimization. Originated in the interpretations of the movement of individuals in a bird flock or fish school, PSO introduces the concept of personal best and global best to simulate the pattern of searching for food by flocking and successfully translate the natural phenomena to the optimization of complex functions. Many real-life applications of PSO cope with stochastic problems. To solve a stochastic problem using PSO, a straightforward approach is to equally allocate computational effort among all particles and obtain the same number of samples of fitness values. This is not an efficient use of computational budget and leaves considerable room for improvement. This paper proposes a seamless integration of the concept of optimal computing budget allocation (OCBA) into PSO to improve the computational efficiency of PSO for stochastic optimization problems. We derive an asymptotically optimal allocation rule to intelligently determine the number of samples for all particles such that the PSO algorithm can efficiently select the personal best and global best when there is stochastic estimation noise in fitness values. We also propose an easy-to-implement sequential procedure. Numerical tests show that our new approach can obtain much better results using the same amount of computational effort.
  13. Zhang S, Chen WJ, Sankardas MA, Ahmed WH, Liew HB, Gwon HC, et al.
    JACC Asia, 2022 Oct;2(5):559-571.
    PMID: 36518723 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacasi.2022.06.006
    BACKGROUND: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) in post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients varies by geography but remains low in many regions despite guideline recommendations.

    OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to characterize the care pathway of post-MI patients and understand barriers to referral for further SCD risk stratification and management in patients meeting referral criteria.

    METHODS: This prospective, nonrandomized, multi-nation study included patients ≥18 years of age, with an acute MI ≤30 days and left ventricular ejection fraction <50% ≤14 days post-MI. The primary endpoint was defined as the physician's decision to refer a patient for SCD stratification and management.

    RESULTS: In total, 1,491 post-MI patients were enrolled (60.2 ± 12.0 years of age, 82.4% male). During the study, 26.7% (n = 398) of patients met criteria for further SCD risk stratification; however, only 59.3% of those meeting criteria (n = 236; 95% CI: 54.4%-64.0%) were referred for a visit. Of patients referred for SCD risk stratification and management, 94.9% (n = 224) attended the visit of which 56.7% (n =127; 95% CI: 50.1%-63.0%) met ICD indication criteria. Of patients who met ICD indication criteria, 14.2% (n = 18) were implanted.

    CONCLUSIONS: We found that ∼40% of patients meeting criteria were not referred for further SCD risk stratification and management and ∼85% of patients who met ICD indications did not receive a guideline-directed ICD. Physician and patient reasons for refusing referral to SCD risk stratification and management or ICD implant varied by geography suggesting that improvement will require both physician- and patient-focused approaches. (Improve Sudden Cardiac Arrest [SCA] Bridge Study; NCT03715790).

  14. Zhang S, Chong LH, Woon JYX, Chua TX, Cheruba E, Yip AK, et al.
    Commun Biol, 2023 Jan 18;6(1):62.
    PMID: 36653484 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04421-0
    Biochemical signaling and mechano-transduction are both critical in regulating stem cell fate. How crosstalk between mechanical and biochemical cues influences embryonic development, however, is not extensively investigated. Using a comparative study of focal adhesion constituents between mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) and their differentiated counterparts, we find while zyxin is lowly expressed in mESCs, its levels increase dramatically during early differentiation. Interestingly, overexpression of zyxin in mESCs suppresses Oct4 and Nanog. Using an integrative biochemical and biophysical approach, we demonstrate involvement of zyxin in regulating pluripotency through actin stress fibres and focal adhesions which are known to modulate cellular traction stress and facilitate substrate rigidity-sensing. YAP signaling is identified as an important biochemical effector of zyxin-induced mechanotransduction. These results provide insights into the role of zyxin in the integration of mechanical and biochemical cues for the regulation of embryonic stem cell fate.
  15. Zhang S, Hasim Z
    Front Psychol, 2022;13:1030790.
    PMID: 36687912 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1030790
    INTRODUCTION: This systematic review aims to present the characteristics of the recent research in gamified EFL/ESL instruction, benefits and drawbacks of using gamification in EFL/ESL instruction, and gamification elements.

    METHODS: The researchers carried out database search in both Web of Science and the Scopus for relevant articles using 15 related key terms. Finally, forty journal articles aligned with the inclusion criteria.

    RESULTS: The results found that gamification has been widely utilized in more than ten non-English-speaking countries and various English language skills, which indicated that gamification has gained popularity in facilitating EFL/ESL learning. The benefits of using gamification included improving students' English language skills and abilities, positively affecting students' attitudes and emotional responses, providing an authentic language learning environment and cultivating students' comprehensive competence. The drawbacks of using gamification mainly included the technical problems, short-lived positive effect, and the negative influence caused by the gamified competition, and so forth. The most frequently used gamification elements were feedback, points, quiz, digital badges, leaderboard, and reward, followed by progress bar, story-telling, challenge, videos, time limit, and competition.

    DISCUSSION: The results provide a better understanding of the state of using gamification in EFL/ESL instruction in recent years. It will be useful for researchers seeking to understand and evaluate gamification as well as to practitioners interested in using gamification.

  16. Zhang S, Anser MK, Yao-Ping Peng M, Chen C
    Resour Policy, 2023 Jan;80:103182.
    PMID: 36530833 DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.103182
    After the COVID-19 outbreak, this study examines the influence of modifications in China's Sustainable Growth Goals (SDGs) and economic development goals on Chinese enterprises' energy conservation and emissions reduction behavior. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 epidemic has erupted, displacing the flimsy traditional techniques. As a result, the post-COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes the need for a long-term sustainable development method compatible with the local and regional environmental systems. The main objective of this study is used as a roadmap to steer the post-COVID-19 pandemic on a sustainable green path by emphasizing sustainable energy strategies to connect in SDG-related efforts. The investigation in this paper begins with examining significant impacts in the energy industry and their impact on progress toward sustainability. The empirical findings that the CO2 emissions reduction objectives in long-term development plans had a considerable impact on energy saving and emissions reduction, lowering energy consumption intensity by 3.33% and carbon emission intensity by 4.23% between 2010 and 2019. Besides, the results and long and short run techniques are built to describe the Sustainable Development Goals interface, with the result revealing that Sustainable Development Goals enhance the green economic recovery performance. Furthermore, this study recommends that the key natural resources and green economic recovery policies to overcome the climate change impacts by COVID-19 pandemic.
  17. Zhang S, Bani Y, Izah Selamat A, Abdul Ghani J
    PLoS One, 2023;18(6):e0287910.
    PMID: 37384722 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287910
    Income inequality is a good indicator reflecting the quality of people's livelihood. There are many studies on the determinants of income inequality. However, few studies have been conducted on the impacts of industrial agglomeration on income inequality and their spatial correlation. The goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of China's industrial agglomeration on income inequality from a spatial perspective. Using data on China's 31 provinces from 2003 to 2020 and the spatial panel Durbin model, our results show that industrial agglomeration and income inequality present an inverted "U-shape" relationship, proving that they are the non-linear change. As the degree of industrial agglomeration increases, income inequality will rise, after it reaches a certain value, income inequality will drop. Therefore, Chinese government and enterprises had better pay attention to the spatial distribution of industrial agglomeration, thereby reducing China's regional income inequality.
  18. Zhang S, Liu Q, Chang M, Pan Y, Yahaya BH, Liu Y, et al.
    Cell Death Dis, 2023 May 24;14(5):340.
    PMID: 37225709 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-05859-0
    Chemotherapy was conventionally applied to kill cancer cells, but regrettably, they also induce damage to normal cells with high-proliferative capacity resulting in cardiotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, peripheral nerve toxicity, and ovarian toxicity. Of these, chemotherapy-induced ovarian damages mainly include but are not limited to decreased ovarian reserve, infertility, and ovarian atrophy. Therefore, exploring the underlying mechanism of chemotherapeutic drug-induced ovarian damage will pave the way to develop fertility-protective adjuvants for female patients during conventional cancer treatment. Herein, we firstly confirmed the abnormal gonadal hormone levels in patients who received chemotherapy and further found that conventional chemotherapeutic drugs (cyclophosphamide, CTX; paclitaxel, Tax; doxorubicin, Dox and cisplatin, Cis) treatment significantly decreased both the ovarian volume of mice and the number of primordial and antral follicles and accompanied with the ovarian fibrosis and reduced ovarian reserve in animal models. Subsequently, Tax, Dox, and Cis treatment can induce the apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells (GCs), likely resulting from excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production-induced oxidative damage and impaired cellular anti-oxidative capacity. Thirdly, the following experiments demonstrated that Cis treatment could induce mitochondrial dysfunction through overproducing superoxide in GCs and trigger lipid peroxidation leading to ferroptosis, first reported in chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage. In addition, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment could alleviate the Cis-induced toxicity in GCs by downregulating cellular ROS levels and enhancing the anti-oxidative capacity (promoting the expression of glutathione peroxidase, GPX4; nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, Nrf2 and heme oxygenase-1, HO-1). Our study confirmed the chemotherapy-induced chaotic hormonal state and ovarian damage in preclinical and clinical examination and indicated that chemotherapeutic drugs initiated ferroptosis in ovarian cells through excessive ROS-induced lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to ovarian cell death. Consequently, developing fertility protectants from the chemotherapy-induced oxidative stress and ferroptosis perspective will ameliorate ovarian damage and further improve the life quality of cancer patients.
  19. Zhang S, Cao K, Wei Y, Jiang S, Ye J, Xu F, et al.
    Plant Physiol Biochem, 2023 Sep;202:107972.
    PMID: 37611487 DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2023.107972
    Brassinosteroids (BRs) are phytohormones that play numerous roles in a plant's response to environmental stress. While BES/BZR transcription factors are essential components in BR signaling, their role in regulating postharvest fruit responses to cold stress is largely unknown. In this study, the application of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) to peaches alleviated chilling injury (CI) during postharvest cold storage. We further characterized a key BES/BZR gene, PpBZR1, which regulates peach cold resistance. Transient expression PpBZR1 in peaches showed that PpBZR1 inhibits PpVIN2 expression and VIN activity, resulting in an elevated level of sucrose, which protects fruit from CI. Arabidopsis thaliana expressing PpBZR1 that had a high germination and seedling survival rate at low temperatures, which may be due to higher level of sucrose and lower oxidative damage. Mechanistically, we confirmed that PpBZR1 directly binds to the PpVIN2 promoter and functions as a negative regulator for sucrose metabolism. In addition, PpCBF1/5/6 were induced by EBR treatment and AtCBFs were upregulated in PpBZR1 transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. Combined with previous findings, we hypothesize that PpBZR1 regulates PpVIN2 and may also be mediated by CBF. In conclusion, PpBZR1 expression is induced by EBR treatment during cold storage, which futher inhibite sucrose degradation gene PpVIN2 transcription via direct binding its promoter and indirectly regulating PpVIN2, resulting in slower sucrose degradation and higher chilling tolerance of peach.
  20. Zhang S, Yahaya BH, Pan Y, Liu Y, Lin J
    Stem Cell Res Ther, 2023 Nov 13;14(1):327.
    PMID: 37957675 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03551-w
    Chemotherapy can cause ovarian dysfunction and infertility since the ovary is extremely sensitive to chemotherapeutic drugs. Apart from the indispensable role of the ovary in the overall hormonal milieu, ovarian dysfunction also affects many other organ systems and functions including sexuality, bones, the cardiovascular system, and neurocognitive function. Although conventional hormone replacement therapy can partly relieve the adverse symptoms of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), the treatment cannot fundamentally prevent deterioration of POI. Therefore, effective treatments to improve chemotherapy-induced POI are urgently needed, especially for patients desiring fertility preservation. Recently, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies have resulted in promising improvements in chemotherapy-induced ovary dysfunction by enhancing the anti-apoptotic capacity of ovarian cells, preventing ovarian follicular atresia, promoting angiogenesis and improving injured ovarian structure and the pregnancy rate. These improvements are mainly attributed to MSC-derived biological factors, functional RNAs, and even mitochondria, which are directly secreted or indirectly translocated with extracellular vesicles (microvesicles and exosomes) to repair ovarian dysfunction. Additionally, as a novel source of MSCs, menstrual blood-derived endometrial stem cells (MenSCs) have exhibited promising therapeutic effects in various diseases due to their comprehensive advantages, such as periodic and non-invasive sample collection, abundant sources, regular donation and autologous transplantation. Therefore, this review summarizes the efficacy of MSCs transplantation in improving chemotherapy-induced POI and analyzes the underlying mechanism, and further discusses the benefit and existing challenges in promoting the clinical application of MenSCs in chemotherapy-induced POI.
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