Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 196 in total

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  1. Tang Z, Zhang X
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Sep;30(44):99992-100005.
    PMID: 37624492 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29114-3
    Sustainable crowdfunding has emerged as a significant factor in the quest for alternative funding streams in recent times. The process has entailed the removal of financial obstacles and intermediaries, facilitating proximity between entrepreneurs' initiatives and fund providers, thereby initiating modifications in conventional investment and profitability criteria. The correlation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable business returns is a significant metric that may enhance funding costs. CSR initiatives and crowdfunding possess the potential for mutually beneficial outcomes in terms of fundraising. However, fundraisers encounter obstacles and competition in their efforts to attain their donation objectives. As an illustration, CSR endeavors may provide a chance to raise capital via crowdfunding. Conversely, crowdfunding has the potential to serve as a means of micro-funding various social initiatives that align with a corporation's corporate social responsibility objectives. The present research investigates the correlation between efficacious donation fundraising campaigns in the context of crowdfunding endeavors that hold the possibility of transforming into corporate social responsibility initiatives. The present study investigates the correlation between the initial amount of funds raised on the first day of a fundraising campaign and the target amount of funds sought by the fundraiser, as well as the type of activities involved. The present study utilizes data derived from crowdfunding endeavors in Southeast Asian nations to scrutinize the funds amassed through donations by juxtaposing trends, cultures, and characteristics of fundraisers employing donation-based crowdfunding. The present investigation employs data collected between the period spanning from the beginning of September 2021 to the end of September 2021 in the economies of Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The present investigation utilizes the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach for the estimation of the variables. The findings of the hypothesis indicate that there exists a positive correlation between crowdfunding, environmental nonprofit organizations, organizational profitability, and CSR.
  2. Zhang X, Dolah J
    PLoS One, 2024;19(7):e0305662.
    PMID: 39074094 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305662
    The continuous development of the economy and the constant improvement in living standards have led tourists to have higher expectations for the entire travel experience. However, outdated Pingyao lacquerware tourism souvenirs have struggled to attract tourists' attention and cannot better meet their demands. It is worth considering whether analyzing tourists' demands could solve the current issues with lacquerware tourism souvenirs. To address this question, tourists in the Pingyao region were surveyed, and semi-structured interviews and questionnaires as research methods. Initially, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourists in the Pingyao region to obtain the initial demand indicators for Pingyao lacquerware tourism souvenirs. Based on a literature review and expert summaries, 21 demand indicators were selected for the KANO model questionnaire, and 400 tourists were surveyed using stratified sampling. Data analysis revealed that of the 21 demand indicators evaluated by tourists, 5 as must-be quality, 7 as one-dimensional quality, 5 as attractive quality, and 4 as indifferent quality. The results of this study indicate that the demand attributes evaluated are related to tourists' satisfaction levels, and the lack of these attributes could lead to dissatisfaction with lacquerware tourism souvenirs. Tourists have shown a strong demand for appearance and a desire for functional diversification in lacquerware souvenirs, with higher expectations for regional and commemorative aspects. Due to the uniqueness of lacquerware materials, tourists have highly prioritized safety and environmental friendliness. Combining the KANO model and AHP have better-assisted researchers in identifying the quality types and importance of tourist demands, providing more targeted insights for designing Pingyao lacquerware tourism souvenirs.
  3. Xie Z, Zhang X, Liu X
    Sci Rep, 2025 Feb 20;15(1):6199.
    PMID: 39979319 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-85330-6
    The rapid development of Blockchain Internet of Things (IoT) has intensified the need for efficient and secure cross-chain transmission across heterogeneous systems. However, traditional cross-chain methods, such as hash time-locked contracts and relay chains, focus primarily on security and correctness while neglecting performance optimization. This limitation is particularly pronounced in high-dynamic environments like port areas, where network congestion, high latency, and uneven resource utilization are prevalent challenges. To address these gaps, this study proposes a novel load-adaptive cross-chain control method tailored for Blockchain IoT systems in port areas. The proposed method integrates multi-feature joint learning with adaptive multi-channel joint bus control, enabling dynamic resource allocation and interference suppression for enhanced transmission efficiency. Furthermore, a distributed intelligent scheduling mechanism is introduced to improve scalability and stability under high-concurrency conditions by decentralizing task coordination across blockchain nodes. Additionally, federated learning is employed to optimize cross-chain communication while preserving data privacy, ensuring secure and collaborative optimization in multi-party environments. Extensive simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, demonstrating significant improvements in throughput, latency, and packet loss rate compared to traditional centralized methods. The results highlight the method's ability to balance dynamic network loads, minimize interference, and adapt to real-time conditions. This work bridges the gap between performance-oriented optimizations and privacy-preserving mechanisms, offering a scalable and secure solution for Blockchain IoT systems in complex and dynamic environments.
  4. Du X, Wei H, Zhang X
    BMC Public Health, 2024 Oct 28;24(1):2984.
    PMID: 39468484 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-20422-y
    The rising healthcare costs due to population aging present a complex issue, with debate centering on whether these costs are driven by aging or end-of-life care. This study examines healthcare expenditures in Chinese households using data from the 2005 and 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. By applying the Heckman select model and a two-part model, the research innovatively includes time to death, income, social security and health level in the benchmark regression in order to validate the recent some new Red Herring hypothesis. The findings show that time to death is the primary determinant of healthcare expenditures, while the effect of aging is minimal. Income, social security, and health status also significantly influence health expenditure, but they do not function as Red Herring variables.
  5. Zhang X, Uchiyama Y, Nakayama A
    Mar Pollut Bull, 2019 Jul;144:265-274.
    PMID: 31179996 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.050
    An Eulerian passive tracer model coupled with a quadruple-nested 3D circulation model was used to assess the coastal dispersal of treated wastewater effluent from a sewage treatment plant and the associated impacts on an adjacent seaweed farm using three different operational scenarios. When the discharged volume and source effluent fluxes were decreased by ~16.7%, the accumulated effluent in the farm was reduced by ~25.4%. A tracer flux budget analysis revealed the apparent predominance of the transient component that accounts for the nonlinear interactions primarily from tidal currents and eddies. The transient flux promoted the effluent influx to impede effluent accumulation in the farm, whereas the mean flux contributed to the outgoing flux. A source flux reduction caused a remarkable decrease in the transient flux and thus an even greater effluent accumulation reduction. In turn, a modified source density scenario without total effluent volume change did not work as expected.
  6. Zhang M, Yang Q, Zhang X, Wu H
    Nat Prod Res, 2021 Oct;35(20):3426-3431.
    PMID: 31821060 DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2019.1700509
    A new cycloartane triterpene bisdesmoside, soulieoside T (1), and one known compound, oleanolic acid (2), were isolated from the ethanolic extract of the rhizomes of Actaea vaginata. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and by comparison with data reported in the literature. Compound 1 was evaluated for cytotoxic activities against three human cancer cell lines.
  7. Zhang X, Zhu H, Sang B, Guo L
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Aug;30(36):85611-85625.
    PMID: 37389755 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-28316-z
    Numerous studies have demonstrated that the development of low-carbon economy and industrial restructuring cannot occur in a coordinated manner. However, academic literature does not provide further explanations for this phenomenon. In this paper, we introduce a novel decomposition method to reassess the relationship between industrial restructuring and low-carbon economy, which yields similar findings. Next, we construct a straightforward theoretical model to investigate two fundamental reasons that interrelate with this issue: excessively high proportion of secondary sector and excessive carbon intensity of tertiary sector. Finally, we implement a rigorous causal identification using three-dimensional panel data at the provincial, industrial, and yearly levels by undergoing multiple robustness tests and mitigating endogeneity issues. Our heterogeneity tests suggest that the impact of industrial restructuring is greater in high-polluting industries, the Eastern region, and non-digital pilot regions. Overall, our theoretical and empirical analysis serves as a vital reference for other developing and developed countries to attain harmonious development between low-carbon economy and industrial restructuring.
  8. Chen Y, Mustafa H, Zhang X, Liu J
    PeerJ Comput Sci, 2023;9:e1231.
    PMID: 37346728 DOI: 10.7717/peerj-cs.1231
    Traditional financial accounting will become limited by new technologies which are unable to meet the market development. In order to make financial big data generate business value and improve the information application level of financial management, aiming at the high error rate of current financial data classification system, this article adopts the fuzzy clustering algorithm to classify financial data automatically, and adopts the local outlier factor algorithm with neighborhood relation (NLOF) to detect abnormal data. In addition, a financial data management platform based on distributed Hadoop architecture is designed, which combines MapReduce framework with the fuzzy clustering algorithm and the local outlier factor (LOF) algorithm, and uses MapReduce to operate in parallel with the two algorithms, thus improving the performance of the algorithm and the accuracy of the algorithm, and helping to improve the operational efficiency of enterprise financial data processing. The comparative experimental results show that the proposed platform can achieve the best the running efficiency and the accuracy of financial data classification compared with other methods, which illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed platform.
  9. Liu H, Zhang X, Liu H, Chong ST
    Int J Public Health, 2023;68:1605322.
    PMID: 36798738 DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605322
    Objective: To explore the predictive value of machine learning in cognitive impairment, and identify important factors for cognitive impairment. Methods: A total of 2,326 middle-aged and elderly people completed questionnaire, and physical examination evaluation at baseline, Year 2, and Year 4 follow-ups. A random forest machine learning (ML) model was used to predict the cognitive impairment at Year 2 and Year 4 longitudinally. Based on Year 4 cross-sectional data, the same method was applied to establish a prediction model and verify its longitudinal prediction accuracy for cognitive impairment. Meanwhile, the ability of random forest and traditional logistic regression model to longitudinally predict 2-year and 4-year cognitive impairment was compared. Results: Random forest models showed high accuracy for all outcomes at Year 2, Year 4, and cross-sectional Year 4 [AUC = 0.81, 0.79, 0.80] compared with logistic regression [AUC = 0.61, 0.62, 0.70]. Baseline physical examination (e.g., BMI, Blood pressure), biomarkers (e.g., cholesterol), functioning (e.g., functional limitations), demography (e.g., age), and emotional status (e.g., depression) characteristics were identified as the top ten important predictors of cognitive impairment. Conclusion: ML algorithms could enhance the prediction of cognitive impairment among the middle-aged and older Chinese for 4 years and identify essential risk markers.
  10. Liu H, Zhang X, Liu H, Chong ST
    Int J Public Health, 2023;68:1606127.
    PMID: 37273772 DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1606127
    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605322.].
  11. Li H, Zhang X, Ma F, Romanus O
    Afr J Reprod Health, 2024 Aug 31;28(8):122-132.
    PMID: 39225559 DOI: 10.29063/ajrh2024/v28i8.12
    This study examines the relationship between out-of-pocket medical expenditures, remittances and health outcomes in China using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) methods. The analysis is based on data from the Global Financial Inclusion database by the World Bank (2021), encompassing a sample of 3,446 individuals. The results indicate that out of-pocket expenditure has a negative impact on health outcomes, while remittance shows a positive association across all age groups, including reproductive and non-reproductive populations. These findings suggest that high out-of-pocket medical costs may hinder access to healthcare services and lead to poorer health outcomes. Conversely, remittance plays a beneficial role in improving health outcomes, highlighting the potential of financial support to positively impact the well-being of individuals.
  12. Wei R, Wang Z, Zhang X, Wang X, Xu Y, Li Q
    Public Health, 2023 Sep;222:75-84.
    PMID: 37531713 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2023.06.034
    OBJECTIVES: Understanding iodine deficiency (ID) burdens and trends in Asia can help guide effective intervention strategies. This study aims to report the incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of ID in 48 Asian countries during the period 1990-2019.

    STUDY DESIGN: Data on ID were retrieved from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 and estimated by age, sex, geographical region, and sociodemographic index (SDI).

    METHODS: The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was calculated to evaluate the changing trend of age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) related to ID during the period 1990-2019.

    RESULTS: In Asia, there were 126,983,965.8 cases with 5,466,213.1 new incidence and 1,765,995.5 DALYs of ID in 2019. Between 1999 and 2019, the EAPC in ASIR, ASPR and ASDR were -0.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.8 to -0.4), -0.9 (95% CI, -1.2 to -0.7), and -1.6 (95% CI, -1.8 to -1.5), respectively. Malaysia charted the largest decrease in ASIR, ASPR, and ASDR (82.4%, 85.3%, and 80.9% separately), whereas the Philippines and Pakistan were the only two countries that witnessed an increase in ASIR and ASPR. ID burdens were more pronounced in women, countries located to the south of the Himalayas, and low-middle SDI regions.

    CONCLUSIONS: The incidence, prevalence, and DALYs of ID in Asia substantially decreased from 1990 to 2019. Women and low-middle SDI countries have relatively high ID burdens. Governments need to pay constant attention to the implementation and monitoring of universal salt iodization.

  13. Asmawi A, Dong H, Zhang X, Sun L
    Heliyon, 2024 Jan 30;10(2):e24276.
    PMID: 38293544 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24276
    This paper thoroughly examines the time distribution, author collaboration, research institutions, research hotspots, theme clustering, and research changes and trends based on 345 CNKI literatures in the field of blended learning for Business English majors in China from 2012 to 2022. It reveals that: Research on blended learning for Business English majors in China from 2012 to 2022 can be divided into Steady Start Stage (2012-2017), Rapid Growth Stage (2018-2020) and Stable Development Stage (2021-2022). High-frequency keywords such as blended teaching mode, MOOC, flipped classroom, SPOC, etc. are hotspots of current scholars' attention. The themes of research on blended learning of business English majors in China mainly include Teaching Reform of Business English Majors, Exploration of Blended Teaching Mode and Design, and Application of Internet Teaching Platform. "Teaching Reform", "Online and Offline", "Application of Smart Platform" are the current research frontier issues in the development of blended learning for Business English majors in China. In general, China's research on blended learning for business English majors has achieved fruitful results under China's policies. Future research should concentrate on the construction of a technology environment for blended learning between learners, a variety of intelligent learning tools and mobile devices, and should be steadily bolstered in the field of blended learning for business English majors, particularly in practical application, effectiveness analysis, distance education, training and continuing education, innovation education, etc.
  14. Zhang X, Tang QQ, Cai YY
    Front Public Health, 2024;12:1445778.
    PMID: 39703487 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1445778
    INTRODUCTION: The role of social media in providing fitness-related health information has been widely discussed; however, there is a notable lack of research on fitness-related health information behaviors among youth within the social media context. This study aims to address this gap by integrating Self-Determination Theory (SDT)-based internal factors and external factors (social media algorithms and source credibility).

    METHODS: A voluntary sample of 600 participants, aged 15 to 29, was recruited. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the relationships between variables.

    RESULTS: The analysis revealed that all three intrinsic needs-competence, autonomy, and relatedness-along with social media algorithms and source credibility, positively correlated with fitness-related health information use behaviors among youth. Additionally, social media algorithms moderated the relationship between the need for relatedness and fitness-related health information behavior.

    DISCUSSION: These findings provide new insights into developing health communication strategies on social media, particularly targeted toward the youth demographic, enhancing our understanding of effective health information dissemination in digital environments.

  15. Chen Y, Ho CT, Zhang X
    J Food Sci, 2025 Mar;90(3):e70132.
    PMID: 40091756 DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.70132
    Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that promotes health and cognitive improvement through periodic fasting and eating. It has been shown to enhance neuroplasticity and reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Recent studies have demonstrated that probiotic supplementation enhances cognitive performance by modulating gut microbiota composition and increasing short-chain fatty acid production, which in turn promotes neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity. The microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA) is the communication bridge between gut microbiota and the brain, influencing cognitive function through the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems. The combination of probiotics and IF may exert complementary effects on cognitive function, with IF enhancing gut microbial diversity and metabolic efficiency, while probiotics further modulate gut barrier integrity and neurotransmitter synthesis. This review critically examines the interplay between probiotics and IF on cognitive function via the MGBA, identifying key mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies that remain underexplored in current research.
  16. Jiang H, Xiang X, Hao W, Room R, Zhang X, Wang X
    PMID: 29761160 DOI: 10.1186/s41256-018-0070-2
    Background: The paper reviews alcohol consumption patterns and alcohol-related social and health issues among 15-29-year old young people in Asian countries, and discusses strategies for preventing and controlling alcohol use and related harms.

    Methods: We searched Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science for reports, reviews and journal articles published in English between 1st Jan 1990 and 31st August 2016.

    Results: Forty-one reports, reviews and journal papers were identified and included in the final review. The current drinking levels and prevalence among young people are markedly different between eight included Asian countries, ranging from 4.2% in Malaysia to 49.3% in China. In a majority of the selected Asian countries, over 15% of total deaths among young men and 6% among young women aged 15-29 years are attributable to alcohol use. Alcohol use among young people is associated with a number of harms, including stress, family violence, injuries, suicide, and sexual and other risky behaviours. Alcohol policies, such as controlling sales, social supply and marketing, setting up/raising a legal drinking age, adding health warning labels on alcohol containers, and developing a surveillance system to monitor drinking pattern and risky drinking behaviour, could be potential means to reduce harmful use of alcohol and related harm among young people in Asia.

    Conclusions: The review reveals that drinking patterns and behaviours vary across eight selected Asian countries due to culture, policies and regional variations. The research evidence holds substantial policy implications for harm reduction on alcohol drinking among young people in Asian countries -- especially for China, which has almost no alcohol control policies at present.

  17. Tan SS, Aminah A, Zhang XG, Abdul SB
    Meat Sci, 2006 Mar;72(3):387-97.
    PMID: 22061722 DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2005.07.012
    This study was designed to explore the potential of refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm oil (PO) and palm stearin (POs) utilization in chicken frankfurters. A 10 points augmented simplex-centroid design was used to study the effect of chicken fat (CF), PO and POs as well as the interaction of these fats on the emulsion, textural and sensory properties of chicken frankfurters. All frankfurters were formulated to contain approx 25% fat, 52% moisture and 10% protein. No significant difference was found in end chopping temperatures of all meat batters even though the temperature of PO and POs upon incorporation into meat batters was 50°C higher than CF. Strong emulsions were formed as no fluid losses were observed in all the meat batters tested after heating. Texture profiles of the frankfurters containing PO and/or CF were quite similar, but increment of POs raised hardness, chewiness, and shear hardness of the frankfurters. Acceptability of the frankfurters was evaluated using hedonic test. Panelists found no difference in hardness preference between frankfurters made from totally CF and PO, while frankfurters made from POs were rated as hard and brittle. CF was important in determining acceptability of the frankfurters, as reduction of CF in formulation resulted in lower scores in chicken flavor, juiciness, oiliness and overall acceptance of the frankfurters. Frankfurters with sensory acceptability comparable to a commercial one were found to comprise of more than 17% CF, and less than 67% PO and 17% POs of the fat blend.
  18. Muhamad HM, Xu X, Zhang X, Jaaman SA, Muda AM
    J Acoust Soc Am, 2018 05;143(5):2708.
    PMID: 29857727 DOI: 10.1121/1.5036926
    Studies of Irrawaddy dolphins' acoustics assist in understanding the behaviour of the species and thereby conservation of this species. Whistle signals emitted by Irrawaddy dolphin within the Bay of Brunei in Malaysian waters were characterized. A total of 199 whistles were analysed from seven sightings between January and April 2016. Six types of whistles contours named constant, upsweep, downsweep, concave, convex, and sine were detected when the dolphins engaged in traveling, foraging, and socializing activities. The whistle durations ranged between 0.06 and 3.86 s. The minimum frequency recorded was 443 Hz [Mean = 6000 Hz, standard deviation (SD) = 2320 Hz] and the maximum frequency recorded was 16 071 Hz (Mean = 7139 Hz, SD = 2522 Hz). The mean frequency range (F.R.) for the whistles was 1148 Hz (Minimum F.R. = 0 Hz, Maximum F.R. = 4446 Hz; SD = 876 Hz). Whistles in the Bay of Brunei were compared with population recorded from the waters of Matang and Kalimantan. The comparisons showed differences in whistle duration, minimum frequency, start frequency, and number of inflection point. Variation in whistle occurrence and frequency may be associated with surface behaviour, ambient noise, and recording limitation. This will be an important element when planning a monitoring program.
  19. Zhang X, Seman NA, Falhammar H, Brismar K, Gu HF
    J Diabetes Res, 2020;2020:8305460.
    PMID: 32626783 DOI: 10.1155/2020/8305460
    Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a complex disease, in which local inflammatory stress results from both metabolic and hemodynamic derangements. Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is an acute-phase protein marker of inflammation. In the recent years, clinical observations have reported that increased serum/plasma ICAM-1 levels are positively correlated with albuminuria in the patients with type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Genetic association studies have demonstrated that genetic polymorphisms, including SNP rs5498 (E469K, G/A), in the ICAM1 gene is associated with DKD. rs5498 is a nonsynonymous SNP and caused by substitution between E (Glu) and K (Lys) for ICAM-1 protein. In this review, we first summarized the genetic effects of ICAM1 E469K polymorphism in DKD and then demonstrated the possible changes of ICAM-1 protein crystal structures according to the genotypes of this polymorphism. Finally, we discussed the genetic effects of the ICAM1 E469K polymorphism and the biological role of increased circulating ICAM-1 protein and its formation changes in DKD.
  20. Zhang X, Chan NW, Pan B, Ge X, Yang H
    Sci Total Environ, 2021 Nov 10;794:148388.
    PMID: 34217078 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148388
    The SAR has the ability of all-weather and all-time data acquisition, it can penetrate the cloud and is not affected by extreme weather conditions, and the acquired images have better contrast and rich texture information. This paper aims to investigate the use of an object-oriented classification approach for flood information monitoring in floodplains using backscattering coefficients and interferometric coherence of Sentinel-1 data under time series. Firstly, the backscattering characteristics and interference coherence variation characteristics of SAR time series are used to analyze whether the flood disaster information can be accurately reflected and provide the basis for selecting input classification characteristics of subsequent SAR images. Subsequently, the contribution rate index of the RF model is used to calculate the importance of each index in time series to convert the selected large number of classification features into low dimensional feature space to improve the classification accuracy and reduce the data redundancy. Finally, the SAR image features in each period after multi-scale segmentation and feature selection are jointly used as the input features of RF classification to extract and segment the water in the study area to monitor floods' spatial distribution and dynamic characteristics. The results showed that the various attributes of backscatter coefficients and interferometric coherence under time series could accurately correspond with the actual flood risk, and the combined use of backscattering coefficient and interferometric coherence for flood extraction can significantly improve the accuracy of flood information extraction. Overall, the object-based random forest method using the backscattering coefficient and interference coherence of Sentinel-1 time series for flood extraction advances our understanding of flooding's temporal and spatial dynamics, essential for the timely adoption of adaptation and mitigation strategies for loss reduction.
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