Publications by authors named "LiXin Zhao"

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an enveloped positive-sense RNA virus, is a member of the alphaviruses and cause fever and arthralgia in humans. We performed genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9-based screens and identified Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1) as an essential cellular factor for CHIKV. Deficiency of YBX1 inhibited CHIKV RNA replication and impaired virus production.

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  • The study examines how modified corn straw biochar impacts water-related soil properties by preparing biochar through pyrolysis and modifying it with specific solvents.
  • Various tests were conducted to analyze soil hydraulic conductivity, water evaporation, and moisture content using different concentrations and amounts of biochar.
  • Results indicated that adding modified biochar significantly reduced soil hydraulic conductivity, improved water retention, and affected evaporation rates, providing insights for enhancing soil water retention in arid regions.
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Effective livestock manure management is crucial for carbon neutrality. Scientific accounting methods and integrated management strategies can help guide reductions in carbon emissions and promote green development. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by livestock manure, this study analyzed current accounting systems and focused on the complete chain of "collection-treatment-storage-use-returning" of manure based on the theoretical framework of greenhouse gas emissions accounting in the IPCC 2019 Guidelines.

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  • Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious lung disease with few treatment options, making it necessary to explore new drugs to improve patient outcomes.
  • Researchers identified chlorquinaldol, an antimicrobial drug, as a potential new antifibrotic agent that helps prevent the conversion of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts and reduces lung fibrosis in mice.
  • The study revealed that chlorquinaldol targets methionine synthase reductase (MTRR), whose decreased expression is linked to IPF, by enhancing methionine metabolism and potentially offering a new therapeutic strategy for treating pulmonary fibrosis.
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  • The behavior of droplets impacting surfaces with different wettabilities is complex and important for engineering, and this study investigates it using high-speed photography.
  • The research identifies three types of droplet behavior upon impact: unbroken, tensile breakup, and shear breakup, influenced by factors like contact angle and Weber number.
  • A new model is proposed to predict droplet spreading, providing insights into droplet breakup dynamics and leading to quantitative measurements of critical Weber numbers related to different breakup types.
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Sterile inflammation occurs in various chronic diseases due to many nonmicrobe factors. Examples include endometrial hyperplasia (EH), endometriosis, endometrial cancer, and breast cancer, which are all sterile inflammation diseases induced by estrogen imbalances. However, how estrogen-induced sterile inflammation regulates EH remains unclear.

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  • - The study highlights an increased presence of mesenchymal homobox 1 (MEOX1) in patients with pulmonary fibrosis, identifying it as a key player in activating genes that contribute to the disease.
  • - Researchers discovered Ailanthone (AIL), a natural compound, which can directly inhibit MEOX1 and stop the harmful processes in fibroblasts and endothelial cells triggered by TGF-1.
  • - In experiments using an animal model, AIL was shown to significantly reduce fibrosis and improve lung function by blocking JUN's interaction with MEOX1, illustrating its potential as a targeted therapy for pulmonary fibrosis.
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  • - Hydrological models are essential for environmental management, but uncertainties in model parameters can significantly impact their outputs; therefore, improving calibration methods is crucial for more reliable predictions.
  • - This paper proposes a new parameter calibration strategy using a Self-Organizing Map (SM) technique to optimize the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model for simulating monthly streamflow in the Baishan Basin, China, and compares it to the widely used Sequential Uncertainty Fitting version 2 (SUFI-2).
  • - The results indicated that the SM approach outperformed the other methods, especially in accurately simulating spring snowmelt runoff, while also effectively controlling prediction uncertainty, making it a promising tool for enhancing the reliability of
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  • The study investigates how vibration affects the flow field in gas-liquid hydrocyclones, which are devices used for separating different phases in a mixture.
  • Using advanced computational methods, the research creates a fluid-solid coupling model to analyze changes in velocity components and turbulence due to vibration.
  • It finds that increased rotational speed from the screw pump decreases separation efficiency by over 10%, but this effect diminishes as the rotational speed continues to rise, indicating there’s a limit to the impact of vibration on the flow field.
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Stationary energy storage infrastructure based on zinc-ion transport and storage chemistry is attracting more attention due to favorable metrics, including cost, safety, and recycling feasibility. However, splitting water and liquid electrolyte fluidity lead to cathode dissolution and Zn corrosion, resulting in rapid attenuation of the capacity and service life. Herein, a new architecture of solid-state electrolytes with high zinc ionic conductivity at room temperature was prepared via solidification of deep eutectic solvents utilizing MXene as nucleation additives.

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Hydrochar, a sustainable fertilizer rich in humic substances, is made from lignocellulose through hydrothermal conversion. However, hydrothermal humification (HTH) is challenged by low yields and limited selectivity in the resulting hydrochar. This study proved humic-like acids production can be enhanced under fast non-catalytic conditions (260 ∼ 280 °C, 0 ∼ 1 h).

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  • Cardiopulmonary progenitor cells (CPPs) are important for developing the heart and lungs during embryogenesis but disappear after birth; their potential use in treating pulmonary heart disease (PHD) highlights the need for a consistent source of these cells.
  • In this research, human cardiac fibroblasts (HCFs) were reprogrammed into CPP-like cells (induced CPPs, or iCPPs) using specific genetic factors, and these cells were evaluated for their ability to treat acute lung injury (ALI).
  • The study found that exosomes from iCPPs could significantly reduce LPS-induced lung inflammation and improve lung function in a mouse model of ALI, suggesting a promising approach for treating lung injuries and aiding
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Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory genetic disease, mainly manifesting in the skin. Conventional therapies, such as glucocorticosteroids and corticosteroids, have adverse effects that limit drug use. Hence, it is imperative to identify a new therapeutic strategy that exhibits a favorable safety profile.

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  • * The structure of the immobilized filler allows for good connectivity and stable aggregation of AnAOB, which are evenly distributed and more abundant compared to traditional anammox granular sludge (AnGS).
  • * Metagenome analysis suggests that the immobilized filler supports diverse AnAOB interactions, promoting better coordination with other microorganisms, while AnGS shows cracks and inefficiencies that hinder overall nitrogen removal.
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  • Ischemic heart disease, particularly myocardial infarction (MI), is a major global health issue requiring new treatments, with a focus on cell therapy using cardiopulmonary progenitors (CPPs) from mouse embryos.
  • The study found that CPPs possess a mix of cell types and can differentiate within the heart and lungs, showing potential for improving cardiac function when injected into damaged heart tissue.
  • Key molecular mechanisms behind their repair capabilities were identified, highlighting exosomal miR-27b-3p and its interaction with the SIK1-CREB1 pathway, suggesting CPP-derived exosomes could be an effective therapeutic strategy for MI.
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  • * Researchers discovered that the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is crucial for CCHFV entry into cells, as its absence significantly decreases infection rates in various cell types.
  • * Targeting LDLR, either by gene knockout or use of blocking antibodies, shows promise for reducing viral loads and death in mice, suggesting potential strategies for preventing and treating CCHFV infections.
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The low-permeability characteristic of sandstone-type uranium deposits has become the key geological bottleneck during the in-situ leaching mining, seriously restricting the development and utilization of uranium resources in China. At present, the blasting-enhanced permeability (BEP) and acidizing-enhanced permeability (AEP) are confirmed to be mainstream approaches to enhance the reservoir permeability of low-permeability sandstone-type uranium deposit (LPSUD). To clarify the synergistic effect of BEP and AEP, the acid-rock reaction and dynamic impact experiments were conducted, aiming to study the effect of chemical reactions on pore structure, dynamic mechanical properties and failure pattern of sandstone.

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This study investigated the feasibility of alleviating the negative influence of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) on anaerobic digestion by biochar, micron zero-valent iron, micron-magnetite (mFeO) and their combination. The results demonstrate that co-addition of biochar and 6 g/L mFeO (BC+6 g/L mFeO) increased cumulative methane production by 50% as suffered from LCFAs inhibition exerted by 2 g/L glycerol trioleate. The BC+6 g/L mFeO did best in accelerating total organic carbon degradation and volatile fatty acids conversion, through successively enriching Bacteroides, Corynebacterium, and DMER64 to dominant the bacterial community.

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  • Fourier single-pixel imaging (FSI) is a cost-effective technique that reconstructs images by measuring Fourier coefficients using just one detector, gaining popularity for its broad spectrum range.
  • Current methods struggle to balance noise reduction and image details due to limited measurements, prompting the need for an improved sampling strategy.
  • The new method considers the unique spectral distribution of target images and the general properties of natural images, allowing for more efficient and detailed sampling of important Fourier coefficients, resulting in less noise and better overall image quality.
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In this study, the effects of CO-activated/non-activated pyrochars (PCs) from cornstalk, cotton straw, and rice straw on anaerobic digestion (AD) performances and microbial characteristics were investigated. The maximum biogas production rate (2.2 L/L/d) with a methane content of 73% was obtained from the AD with CO-activated cotton straw PC.

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  • The study explores how co-pyrolysis of corn stalk (CS) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) can improve the breakdown and utilization of agricultural waste.
  • The co-pyrolysis process occurs in two main stages, with the addition of LDPE increasing the yield of valuable gas products like alkanes and olefins.
  • Results show that co-pyrolysis reduces activation energy for thermal degradation, suggesting a synergistic effect that enhances the pyrolysis efficiency of both materials, providing insights into resource utilization of agricultural solid waste.
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The present study investigated the synergistic characteristics between abiotic and biotic transformation with a view to improving the methane production efficiency of thermophilic and mesophilic sequencing batch dry anaerobic digestion (SBD-AD). The pilot scale experiment consisted of a lignocellulosic material based on a mixture of corn straw and cow dung. A leachate bed reactor was used for an AD cycle of 40 days.

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  • - Recent research in modulation-based structured illumination microscopy focuses on improving modulation distribution extraction from images, as current frequency-domain algorithms often miss high-frequency details, leading to analytical errors.
  • - A new spatial area phase-shifting method enhances precision by retaining high-frequency information but struggles with abrupt changes in surface topography, like steps.
  • - To address this issue, a high-order spatial phase shift algorithm is introduced, effectively analyzing discontinuous surfaces and utilizing a residual optimization strategy, resulting in improved accuracy for complex topographies, which is supported by simulations and experimental findings.
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The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system is a natural adaptive immune system of prokaryotes. The CRISPR-Cas system is currently divided into two classes and six types: types I, III, and IV in class 1 systems and types II, V, and VI in class 2 systems. Among the CRISPR-Cas type VI systems, the CRISPR/Cas13a system has been the most widely characterized for its application in molecular diagnostics, gene therapy, gene editing, and RNA imaging.

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