Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 197 in total

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  1. Fulltext Probable Pangolin Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with the COVID-19 Outbreak
    Zhang T, Wu Q, Zhang Z
    Curr Biol, 2020 04 06;30(7):1346-1351.e2.
    PMID: 32197085 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.022
    An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) began in the city of Wuhan in China and has widely spread worldwide. Currently, it is vital to explore potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2 to control COVID-19 spread. Therefore, we reinvestigated published data from pangolin lung samples from which SARS-CoV-like CoVs were detected by Liu et al. [1]. We found genomic and evolutionary evidence of the occurrence of a SARS-CoV-2-like CoV (named Pangolin-CoV) in dead Malayan pangolins. Pangolin-CoV is 91.02% and 90.55% identical to SARS-CoV-2 and BatCoV RaTG13, respectively, at the whole-genome level. Aside from RaTG13, Pangolin-CoV is the most closely related CoV to SARS-CoV-2. The S1 protein of Pangolin-CoV is much more closely related to SARS-CoV-2 than to RaTG13. Five key amino acid residues involved in the interaction with human ACE2 are completely consistent between Pangolin-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, but four amino acid mutations are present in RaTG13. Both Pangolin-CoV and RaTG13 lost the putative furin recognition sequence motif at S1/S2 cleavage site that can be observed in the SARS-CoV-2. Conclusively, this study suggests that pangolin species are a natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2-like CoVs.
  2. Adhesion of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms to glass, stainless steel and cellulose
    Wan Dagang WR, Bowen J, O'Keeffe J, Robbins PT, Zhang Z
    Biotechnol Lett, 2016 May;38(5):787-92.
    PMID: 26892223 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-016-2047-x
    The adhesion of colloidal probes of stainless steel, glass and cellulose to Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms was examined using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to allow comparisons between surfaces to which biofilms might adhere.
  3. Spatial Ecology of Asian Water Monitors Adjacent to a Sea Turtle Nesting Beach
    Lei J, Booth DT, Rusli MU, Zhang Z
    Zoolog Sci, 2021 Feb;38(1):1-7.
    PMID: 33639712 DOI: 10.2108/zs200071
    Nest predation is the main cause of hatching failure for many turtle populations. For green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Chagar Hutang in Redang Island, Malaysia, Asian water monitors (Varanus salvator) are a potential nest predator. However, no studies have documented the space use of this species in coastal habitat adjacent to a sea turtle nesting beach to assess its potential impact on turtle nests. Here, we used Global Positioning System (GPS) data loggers to quantify space use of Asian water monitors in order to establish the extent to which they use sea turtle nesting areas. Asian water monitors had a diurnal activity pattern and spent most of their time in rain forest habitat behind the sea turtle nesting beach. The home range occupied by Asian water monitors varied between 0.015 and 0.198 km2 calculated by the Kernel Brownian Bridge method. The space use patterns of individual Asian water monitors varied between individuals. Two males had relatively small home ranges, whereas one male and the female had a relatively large home range. Because tracked Asian water monitors in this study rarely visited the sea turtle nesting areas, it is probable that only a few individuals are responsible for opening nests.
  4. Aesthetic refinements in second toe-to-thumb transfer surgery
    Zhao J, Tien HY, Abdullah S, Zhang Z
    Plast Reconstr Surg, 2010 Dec;126(6):2052-2059.
    PMID: 21124145 DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181f44994
    BACKGROUND: Second toe-to-thumb transfer is a good alternative to using the great toe for reconstruction of the thumb. It achieves excellent function and reduces morbidity to the donor foot. However, cosmesis is often poor. The second toe has three unattractive features, a narrow "neck," a bulbous tip, and a short nail.

    METHODS: The authors describe a modified second toe transfer that addresses cosmesis in six patients. These include (1) harvesting a flap from the adjacent side of the great toe and insetting it into the volar aspect of the second toe to give more bulk, (2) making skin excisions on each side of the tip to reduce the bulbous appearance, and (3) excising the eponychium to produce apparent lengthening of the nail.

    RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 18 months (range, 6 to 36 months). The procedure resulted in good function and improved cosmesis in all six cases. Part of the great toe flap was lost in one case. The mean two-point discrimination in the transferred toes was 10.1 mm, with protective sensation present in the flaps. The range of motion of the transferred toe was 14 to 38 degrees at the metatarsophalangeal joint, 16 to 55 degrees at the proximal interphalangeal joints, and 20 to 36 degrees in the distal interphalangeal joints. All patients except one were happy with the appearance of the transferred toe.

    CONCLUSION: This novel approach will allow patients to take advantage of the lower morbidity to the donor site afforded by second toe-to-thumb transfer and provide the patients with a more aesthetic appearance of the new thumb.

  5. Fulltext The Preparations of Fluorographene Nanosheets and Research in Tribological Properties in High Vacuum
    Zhang L, Zhang Z, Gao X, Matlan SJ, Taha NA
    Materials (Basel), 2023 May 24;16(11).
    PMID: 37297063 DOI: 10.3390/ma16113929
    In this study, fluorographene nanosheets (FG nanosheets) were prepared via the solvent-ultrasonic exfoliation method. The fluorographene sheets were observed using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The microstructure of the as-prepared FG nanosheets was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a thermal analyzer (TG). The tribological properties of FG nanosheets as an additive in ionic liquids in high vacuum were compared to that of ionic liquid (IL) with graphene (IL-G). The wear surfaces and transfer films were analyzed via an optical microscope, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that FG nanosheets can be obtained from the simple solvent-ultrasonic exfoliation method. The prepared G nanosheets are a sheet, and the longer the ultrasonic time is, the thinner the sheet is. Ionic liquids with FG nanosheets had low friction and a low wear rate under high vacuum conditions. The improved frictional properties were attributed to the transfer film of FG nanosheets and more formation film of Fe-F.
  6. Unraveling the nexus: Microplastics, antibiotics, and ARGs interactions, threats and control in aquaculture - A review
    Xie S, Hamid N, Zhang T, Zhang Z, Peng L
    J Hazard Mater, 2024 Apr 16;471:134324.
    PMID: 38640666 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134324
    In recent years, aquaculture has expanded rapidly to address food scarcity and provides high-quality aquatic products. However, this growth has led to the release of significant effluents, containing emerging contaminants like antibiotics, microplastics (MPs), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). This study investigated the occurrence and interactions of these pollutants in aquaculture environment. Combined pollutants, such as MPs and coexisting adsorbents, were widespread and could include antibiotics, heavy metals, resistance genes, and pathogens. Elevated levels of chemical pollutants on MPs could lead to the emergence of resistance genes under selective pressure, facilitated by bacterial communities and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). MPs acted as vectors, transferring pollutants into the food web. Various technologies, including membrane technology, coagulation, and advanced oxidation, have been trialed for pollutants removal, each with its benefits and drawbacks. Future research should focus on ecologically friendly treatment technologies for emerging contaminants in aquaculture wastewater. This review provided insights into understanding and addressing newly developing toxins, aiming to develop integrated systems for effective aquaculture wastewater treatment.
  7. Integration of biological method and membrane technology in treating palm oil mill effluent
    Zhang Y, Yan L, Qiao X, Chi L, Niu X, Mei Z, et al.
    J Environ Sci (China), 2008;20(5):558-64.
    PMID: 18575108
    Palm oil industry is the most important agro-industry in Malaysia, but its by-product-palm oil mill effluent (POME), posed a great threat to water environment. In the past decades, several treatment and disposal methods have been proposed and investigated to solve this problem. A two-stage pilot-scale plant was designed and constructed for POME treatment. Anaerobic digestion and aerobic biodegradation constituted the first biological stage, while ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane units were combined as the second membrane separation stage. In the anaerobic expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor, about 43% organic matter in POME was converted into biogas, and COD reduction efficiency reached 93% and 22% in EGSB and the following aerobic reactor, respectively. With the treatment in the first biological stage, suspended solids and oil also decreased to a low degree. All these alleviated the membrane fouling and prolonged the membrane life. In the membrane process unit, almost all the suspended solids were captured by UF membranes, while RO membrane excluded most of the dissolved solids or inorganic salts from RO permeate. After the whole treatment processes, organic matter in POME expressed by BOD and COD was removed almost thoroughly. Suspended solids and color were not detectable in RO permeate any more, and mineral elements only existed in trace amount (except for K and Na). The high-quality effluent was crystal clear and could be used as the boiler feed water.
  8. Fulltext The extraction of different proteins in selenium enriched peanuts and their antioxidant properties
    Zhao P, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Guo T, Zhang Z, Zhang WJ, et al.
    Saudi J Biol Sci, 2016 May;23(3):353-7.
    PMID: 27081360 DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2015.08.007
    In this study, the selenium enriched peanuts and the different solubility proteins extracted from them were investigated. The dried defatted selenium enriched peanuts (SeP) powder (0.3147 μg/g) had a 2.5-fold higher mean total selenium concentration than general peanuts (GP) power (0.1233 μg/g). The SeP had higher concentration of selenium, manganese and zinc than that of GP, but less calcium. The rate of extraction of protein was 23.39% for peanuts and alkali soluble protein was the main component of protein in SeP, which accounted for 92.82% of total soluble protein and combined selenium was 77.33% of total selenium protein. In different forms of proteins from SeP, the WSePr due to higher concentration of selenium had higher DPPH free-radical scavenging activity, higher reducing activity and longer induction time than other proteins.
  9. NES-REBS: A novel nuclear export signal prediction method using regular expressions and biochemical properties
    Wu T, Wang X, Zhang Z, Gong F, Song T, Chen Z, et al.
    J Bioinform Comput Biol, 2016 06;14(3):1650013.
    PMID: 27225342 DOI: 10.1142/S021972001650013X
    A nuclear export signal (NES) is a protein localization signal, which is involved in binding of cargo proteins to nuclear export receptor, thus contributes to regulate localization of cellular proteins. Consensus sequences of NES have been used to detect NES from protein sequences, but suffer from poor predictive power. Some recent peering works were proposed to use biochemical properties of experimental verified NES to refine NES candidates. Those methods can achieve high prediction rates, but their execution time will become unacceptable for large-scale NES searching if too much properties are involved. In this work, we developed a novel computational approach, named NES-REBS, to search NES from protein sequences, where biochemical properties of experimental verified NES, including secondary structure and surface accessibility, are utilized to refine NES candidates obtained by matching popular consensus sequences. We test our method by searching 262 experimental verified NES from 221 NES-containing protein sequences. It is obtained that NES-REBS runs in 2-3[Formula: see text]mins and performs well by achieving precision rate 47.2% and sensitivity 54.6%.
  10. Fulltext Whole-Genome Sequence of the Microcystin-Degrading Bacterium Sphingopyxis sp. Strain C-1
    Okano K, Shimizu K, Maseda H, Kawauchi Y, Utsumi M, Itayama T, et al.
    Genome Announc, 2015;3(4).
    PMID: 26227601 DOI: 10.1128/genomeA.00838-15
    This report describes the whole-genome sequence of an alkalitolerant microcystin-degrading bacterium, Sphingopyxis sp. strain C-1, isolated from a lake in China.
  11. Effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on aerobic granulation of algal-bacterial symbiosis system and nutrients removal from synthetic wastewater
    Li B, Huang W, Zhang C, Feng S, Zhang Z, Lei Z, et al.
    Bioresour Technol, 2015;187:214-220.
    PMID: 25855527 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.03.118
    The influence of TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) (10-50mg/L) on aerobic granulation of algal-bacterial symbiosis system was investigated by using two identical sequencing batch reactors (SBRs). Although little adverse effect was observed on their nitritation efficiency (98-100% in both reactors), algal-bacterial granules in the control SBR (Rc) gradually lost stability mainly brought about by algae growth. TiO2-NPs addition to RT was found to enhance the granulation process achieving stable and compact algal-bacterial granules with remarkably improved nitratation thus little nitrite accumulation in RT when influent TiO2-NPs⩾30mg/L. Despite almost similar organics and phosphorus removals obtained in both reactors, the stably high nitratation efficiency in addition to much stable granular structure in RT suggests that TiO2-NPs addition might be a promising remedy for the long-term operation of algal-bacterial granular system, most probably attributable to the stimulated excretion of extracellular polymeric substances and less filamentous TM7.
  12. Estimates of mineral intakes using food composition tables vs measures by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry: Part 1. calcium, phosphorus and iron
    Zhang ZW, Shimbo S, Miyake K, Watanabe T, Nakatsuka H, Matsuda-Inoguchi N, et al.
    Eur J Clin Nutr, 1999 Mar;53(3):226-32.
    PMID: 10201805
    To examine the accuracy of food composition table (FCT)-based estimation of dietary nutrient element intake in reference to the instrumental measurement by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
  13. Estimates of mineral intakes using food composition tables vs measures by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry: Part 2: sodium, potassium, magnesium, copper, zinc
    Shimbo S, Zhang ZW, Miyake K, Watanabe T, Nakatsuka H, Matsuda-Inoguchi N, et al.
    Eur J Clin Nutr, 1999 Mar;53(3):233-8.
    PMID: 10201806
    To examine the accuracy of food composition table (FCT)-based estimation of dietary nutrient element intake in reference to the instrumental measurement by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), as an extension of the first part of this study.
  14. Non-occupational exposure of Malay women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to cadmium and lead
    Moon CS, Zhang ZW, Watanabe T, Shimbo S, Ismail NH, Hashim JH, et al.
    Biomarkers, 1996;1(2):81-5.
    PMID: 23888917 DOI: 10.3109/13547509609088674
    Abstract Peripheral blood and 24-h total food duplicate samples were obtained from 49 adult Malay women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in July, 1995. Samples of boiled and uncooked (raw) rice were also collected from the subjects. The blood samples, homogenates of each food duplicates and rice samples (both cooked and raw) were digested by heating in the presence of mineral acids, and the digests were subjected to analysis for cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) with a system composed of a fully automated liquid sampler, a graphiie furnace atomic absorption spectrometer and a data processor. The geometric mean metal concentrations in blood were 0.71 ng Cd per ml and 45.6 ng Pb per ml, and the dietary metal intakes were 7.31 μg Cd per day and 10.1 μg Pb per day. The metal intake via rice accounted for 53% and 13% of total dietary intake of cadmium and lead, respectively. When the absorption from the air and foods was compared, the cadmium burden came almost exclusively from foods, whereas the lead burden came both from air (44%) and foods (56%).
  15. Nutritional evaluation of working Malay women in Kuala Lumpur as studied by total food duplicate method
    Shimbo S, Moon CS, Zhang ZW, Watanabe T, Ismail NH, Ali RM, et al.
    Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 1996 Oct;180(2):99-114.
    PMID: 9111760
    Nutrient intake was surveyed by the total food duplicate method in 49 adult ethnically Malay women (at the ages of 18 to 47 years and mostly at 30-39 years) working in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Simultaneously, hematological examinations, serum biochemistry, anthropometry and clinical examination were conducted. Nutrient intakes were estimated in reference to the weight of each food item and the standard food composition tables. Lunch was the most substantial meal of the day with rice as a staple food. Compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) values, daily intakes of energy (1,917 kcal as an arithmetic mean), protein (62.2 g), vitamin B1 (0.83 mg) and vitamin B2 (1.18 mg) were sufficient, but intakes of minerals [i.e., calcium (347.8 mg) and iron (12.5 mg)] and some vitamins [i.e., vitamin A (equivalent to 627 micrograms retinol) and niacin (7.84 mg)] were less than RDA. When evaluated on an individual basis, the prevalence of those who took less than 80% RDA was highest for iron (92%), followed by niacin (80%), calcium (57%) and vitamin A (57%). The presence of 7 hypohemoglobinemia cases may be related to the insufficient iron intake. Overweight cases (14 women) were also detected, the prevalence of which increased at advanced ages. Lipid intake was rather high (28% of total food on energy basis), for which the major source was plants with limited contribution from fish/shellfish.
  16. Measuring Ultrafast Spectral Diffusion and Correlation Dynamics by Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy
    Do TN, Khyasudeen MF, Nowakowski PJ, Zhang Z, Tan HS
    Chem Asian J, 2019 Nov 18;14(22):3992-4000.
    PMID: 31595651 DOI: 10.1002/asia.201900994
    The frequency fluctuation correlation function (FFCF) measures the spectral diffusion of a state's transition while the frequency fluctuation cross-correlation function (FXCF) measures the correlation dynamics between the transitions of two separate states. These quantities contain a wealth of information on how the chromophores or excitonic states interact and couple with its environment and with each other. We summarize the experimental implementations and theoretical considerations of using two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to characterize FFCFs and FXCFs. Applications can be found in systems such as the chlorophyll pigment molecules in light-harvesting complexes and CdSe nanomaterials.
  17. Effect of different implant configurations on biomechanical behavior of full-arch implant-supported mandibular monolithic zirconia fixed prostheses
    Zhong J, Guazzato M, Chen J, Zhang Z, Sun G, Huo X, et al.
    J Mech Behav Biomed Mater, 2020 02;102:103490.
    PMID: 31877512 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.103490
    Mechanical failure of zirconia-based full-arch implant-supported fixed dental prostheses (FAFDPs) remains a critical issue in prosthetic dentistry. The option of full-arch implant treatment and the biomechanical behaviour within a sophisticated screw-retained prosthetic structure have stimulated considerable interest in fundamental and clinical research. This study aimed to analyse the biomechanical responses of zirconia-based FAFDPs with different implant configurations (numbers and distributions), thereby predicting the possible failure sites and the optimum configuration from biomechanical aspect by using finite element method (FEM). Five 3D finite element (FE) models were constructed with patient-specific heterogeneous material properties of mandibular bone. The results were reported using volume-averaged von-Mises stresses (σVMVA) to eliminate numerical singularities. It was found that wider placement of multi-unit copings was preferred as it reduces the cantilever effect on denture. Within the limited areas of implant insertion, the adoption of angled multi-unit abutments allowed the insertion of oblique implants in the bone and wider distribution of the multi-unit copings in the prosthesis, leading to lower stress concentration on both mandibular bone and prosthetic components. Increasing the number of supporting implants in a FAFDPs reduced loading on each implant, although it may not necessarily reduce the stress concentration in the most posterior locations significantly. Overall, the 6-implant configuration was a preferable configuration as it provided the most balanced mechanical performance in this patient-specific case.
  18. Preparation and photodynamic bactericidal effects of curcumin-β-cyclodextrin complex
    Lai D, Zhou A, Tan BK, Tang Y, Sarah Hamzah S, Zhang Z, et al.
    Food Chem, 2021 Nov 01;361:130117.
    PMID: 34058659 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130117
    To overcome the poor water solubility of curcumin, a curcumin-β-cyclodextrin (Cur-β-CD) complex was prepared as a novel photosensitizer. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to verify the formation of Cur-β-CD. Furthermore, the ROS generation capacity and photodynamic bactericidal effect were measured to confirm this Cur-β-CD complex kept photodynamic activity of curcumin. The result showed Cur-β-CD could effectively generate ROS upon blue-light irradiation. The plate count assay demonstrated Cur-β-CD complex possess desirable photodynamic antibacterial effect against food-borne pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli. The cell morphology determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) showed Cur-β-CD could cause cell deformation, surface collapse and cell structure damage of the bacteria, resulting in the leakage of cytoplasmic; while agarose gel electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE further illustrated the inactivation mechanisms by Cur-β-CD involve bacterial DNA damage and protein degradation.
  19. Effect of aquaculture salinity on nitrification and microbial community in moving bed bioreactors with immobilized microbial granules
    Gao Y, Wang X, Li J, Lee CT, Ong PY, Zhang Z, et al.
    Bioresour Technol, 2020 Feb;297:122427.
    PMID: 31784249 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122427
    The novel immobilized microbial granules (IMG) shows a significant effect of nitrification for freshwater aquaculture. However, there is lack of evaluation study on the performance of nitrification at high salinity due to the concentration of recycled water or seawater utilization. A laboratory scale moving bed bioreactor (MBBR) with IMG was tested on recycled synthetic aquaculture wastewater for the nitrification at 2.5 mg/L NH3-N daily. The results indicated that IMG showed a high salinity tolerance and effectively converted ammonia to nitrate up to 92% at high salinity of 35.0 g/L NaCl. As salinity increased from near zero to 35.0 g/L, the microbial activity of nitrite oxidation bacteria (NOB) in the IMG decreased by 86.32%. The microbial community analysis indicated that salinity significantly influenced the community structure. It was found that Nitrosomonas sp. and Nitrospira sp. were the dominant genera for ammonia oxidation bacteria (AOB) and NOB respectively at different salinity levels.
  20. Fulltext MLife: a lite framework for machine learning lifecycle initialization
    Yang C, Wang W, Zhang Y, Zhang Z, Shen L, Li Y, et al.
    Mach Learn, 2021;110(11-12):2993-3013.
    PMID: 34664001 DOI: 10.1007/s10994-021-06052-0
    Machine learning (ML) lifecycle is a cyclic process to build an efficient ML system. Though a lot of commercial and community (non-commercial) frameworks have been proposed to streamline the major stages in the ML lifecycle, they are normally overqualified and insufficient for an ML system in its nascent phase. Driven by real-world experience in building and maintaining ML systems, we find that it is more efficient to initialize the major stages of ML lifecycle first for trial and error, followed by the extension of specific stages to acclimatize towards more complex scenarios. For this, we introduce a simple yet flexible framework, MLife, for fast ML lifecycle initialization. This is built on the fact that data flow in MLife is in a closed loop driven by bad cases, especially those which impact ML model performance the most but also provide the most value for further ML model development-a key factor towards enabling enterprises to fast track their ML capabilities. Better yet, MLife is also flexible enough to be easily extensible to more complex scenarios for future maintenance. For this, we introduce two real-world use cases to demonstrate that MLife is particularly suitable for ML systems in their early phases.
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