Publications by authors named "HuiFang Zhang"

Background: Trace element and metal exposure is closely related to the occurrence of chronic diseases, particularly affecting blood pressure and blood glucose. Current studies suggest that heavy metal exposure is a risk factor for hypertension and diabetes. Aluminum can enter the human body through daily life and occupational exposure from food, environment, drugs, and other sources, affecting the cardiovascular, endocrine, and other systems.

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As one of the bulk solid wastes in the Yellow River basin in China, fluorite tailings urgently need to be utilized as resources. In this paper, NaOH and NaCO were used for alkali thermal activation of ground fluorite tailings under different temperature conditions, and the reactivity was analyzed by XRD, SEM and compressive strength after hydration, so as to evaluate the feasibility of fluorite tailings as geopolymer precursor. The results show that the fluorite tailings can exhibit certain reactivity under alkaline heat excitation, and significant amorphous glass phase can be detected.

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Objectives: Our objective was to explore the effects of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) on the pharmacokinetics of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride via vitro and in vivo experiments DESIGN: A single-center animal investigation.

Setting: An experimental animal facility in a tertiary hospital.

Participants: Eighteen male Landrace pigs.

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Boasting superior flexibility in beam manipulation and a simpler framework than traditional phased arrays, terahertz metasurface-based phased arrays show great promise for 5G-A/6G communication networks. Compared with the reflective reconfigurable intelligent surface (reflective RIS), the transmissive RIS (TRIS) offers more feasibility for transceiver multiplexing systems to meet the growing demand for high-performance beam tracking in terahertz communication and radar systems. However, the terahertz TRIS encounters greater challenges in phase shift, beam efficiency, and complex circuitry.

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Metallic bismuth is a promising anode electrode material for sodium ion batteries due to its high theoretical specific capacity. However, the formation of NaBi during the reaction process brings about significant volume changes and structural collapse of the electrode, resulting in the destruction of structures and a decrease in the cycling stability of sodium ion batteries. In this study, bismuth nanoparticles embedded in carbon fibers (Bi/CF) through a facile approach of electrospinning and calcination.

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Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has developed a rich theoretical system and practical experience in fighting to infectious diseases over the past thousands of years, and has played an important role in controlling the spread owing to its unique advantages. In particular, its significant contribution to the prevention and control of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is widely recognized. COVID-19 infection is mainly non-severe with a favorable overall outcome, but patients with comorbidities tend to have a poor prognosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • High-speed logic modulation of terahertz (THz) waves is essential for future communication technologies, but there is a current gap in technology.
  • This research introduces a dual gate-controlled metasurface that allows for independent control of electron transport, leading to multiple electronic states and diverse spectrum transformations.
  • The study successfully implements key logical functions (AND, OR, XOR, XNOR, NOR, NAND) at speeds exceeding 250 picoseconds, offering a new method for fast, secure THz wave communication.
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  • A novel protein glutaminase named FBPG, sourced from sp. 316, was studied for its structure-function relationship after being expressed in a bacterial model, yielding a mature peptide with significant activity and specific mass.
  • X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that FBPG's structure consists of seven α-helices and 14 β-sheets, with a critical residue (R225) identified as a "gatekeeper" for substrate entry.
  • Modification of R225 to lysine increased the enzyme's specific activity significantly, emphasizing the potential for enhancing the performance of glutaminase enzymes through structural insights.
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N6-methyladenosine (mA) is the most prevalent internal RNA modification. Here, we demonstrate that coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), a common causative agent of viral myocarditis, induces mA modification primarily at the stop codon and 3' untranslated regions of its genome. As a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus, CVB3 replicates exclusively in the cytoplasm through a cap-independent translation initiation mechanism.

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Despite the revolutionary achievements of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in treating cancers, especially leukemia, several key challenges still limit its therapeutic efficacy. Of particular relevance is the relapse of cancer in large part, as a result of exhaustion and short persistence of CAR-T cells in vivo. IL-2-inducible T cell kinase (ITK) is a critical modulator of the strength of T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling, while its role in CAR signaling is unknown.

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Objective: To investigate the interaction between plasma polymetallic exposure and lifestyle factors on cognitive function abnormalities in occupational aluminum workers. The aim is to develop a new occupational health management model that integrates lifestyle behaviors with occupational activities to comprehensively protect the health of these workers.

Method: 476 Participants were recruited from an aluminum factory in Shanxi, China.

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Article Synopsis
  • Anisotropic metasurfaces allow for independent control of electromagnetic waves with different polarizations, providing new options for communication and imaging systems.
  • The proposed dual-polarization modulation metasurface (DPMM) operates in the terahertz frequency range and can effectively modulate two orthogonally polarized waves using an anisotropic structure combined with GaN-based transistors.
  • Simulation and experiments show that the DPMM achieves high modulation isolation (over 45 dB) and impressive speeds (over 2 GHz for dual polarization), making it a strong candidate for improving data capacity and throughput in THz technologies.
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Objective: This study sought to investigate the relationship between burnout, perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived professional benefits (PPB)as well as to explore factors associated with burnout among nurses in Chinese public hospitals.

Methods: The purposive sampling method was used to collect data from May 2023 through August 2023. A total of 1058 nurses from 5 public hospitals in Beijing, China, completed the questionnaires.

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  • This study identifies the disconnect between known virulence genes and the infectivity of a certain strain that has infected approximately 4.4 billion people globally.
  • Researchers used whole-gene sequencing and microscopy to analyze 35 strains, observing no significant relationship between virulence genes, coccoid transformation, and cytotoxicity in various clinical cases.
  • The findings led to the development of a new virulence classification based on the strain's ability to defend and attack, though further verification of its correlation with pathogenic ability is still needed.
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Lysine succinylation (Ksu) has recently emerged as a protein modification that regulates diverse functions in various biological processes. However, the systemically and precise role of lysine succinylation in erythropoiesis remains to be fully elucidated. In this study, we noted a prominent increase of succinyl-CoA and lysine succinylation during human erythroid differentiation.

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Microbial biofilms provide advantages in fermentation processes. However, Corynebacterium glutamicum (C. glutamicum) usually exhibits relatively poor biofilm formation compared to other industrial strains.

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Nigrospora oryzae, a newly identified pathogen, is responsible for poplar leaf blight, causing significant harm to poplar growth. Here, we describe, for the first time, a biological control method for the control of poplar leaf blight via the applications of 3 dominant Trichoderma strains/species. In this study, dominant Trichoderma species/strains with the potential for biocontrol were identified and then further characterised via dual culture assays, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and culture filtrates.

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  • Early pregnancy loss (EPL) includes various subtypes like hydropic abortion and hydatidiform moles, but diagnosing these conditions is difficult due to misdiagnosis and varying prognoses.
  • The study aimed to identify diagnostic biomarkers for EPL using proteomic analysis on samples from different miscarriage types and controls, resulting in the selection of 14 key proteins for identifying specific groups.
  • One protein, SPTB, was found to play a significant role in supporting cell functions connected to trophoblasts, which could lead to better diagnosis and treatment approaches for EPL.
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Developing nanozyme-based free radical scavenging is a promising signal modulation approach for ECL sensing. Nevertheless, the relatively low antioxidant activity and inherent pro-oxidant activity of numerous nanozymes have significantly hindered the development of this strategy. Here a biofunctional copper-based metal-organic framework (CuMOF) with multiple enzyme-mimicking activities was employed for the modulation of the ECL immunosensor, guided by the self-cascade antioxidant reaction.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a highly heterogeneous myeloid malignancy, remains a challenge in terms of proper risk stratification. In this study, we developed a novel pyroptosis prognostic model based on pyroptosis-related gene pairs, which exhibited excellent prognostic performance across multiple cohorts (N = 1506) and accurately predicted both adult and pediatric AML prognosis. Additionally, we integrated the pyroptosis risk model with other clinical risk factors to construct a highly operational nomogram.

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We experimentally demonstrate a liquid crystal (LC)-integrated EIT metasurface for active THz polarization conversion and asymmetric transmission. By controlling the LC orientation under static magnetic field anchoring and an adjustable electric field, the device realizes the active control from the OFF state to the ON state, corresponding to the orthogonal polarization excitation modes of the EIT metasurface. Furthermore, based on the different polarization responses at forward and backward incidences, we achieve asymmetric transmission at the EIT peak and two nearby resonances, with its isolation actively manipulated by the external electric field.

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Zhari Namco is situated in the alpine grassland belt of northwestern Xizang with a fragile ecological environment. As the third-largest lake in Xizang, there has been a long-term lack of research data concerning its basin water environment. In an effort to elucidate the surface water environment characteristics of the basin and the factors influencing them, an extensive investigation was conducted from August 2021 to June 2022, encompassing periods of high flow, low flow, and base flow.

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Background: Qingfei Paidu Decoction (QFPDD) has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection in China. The present study aims to perform an econometric analysis and visualization of the literature on the treatment of COVID-19 with QFPDD in the Chinese databases and English databases.

Methods: Six databases including such as Chinese databases CNKI, VIP, CBM, WANFANG as well as English databases PubMed, Web of Science were searched for publications related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 with QFPDD.

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