Publications by authors named "N-Z Zhang"

Background: Anecdotal experience suggests that WHO Safer Surgery Checklist has become a 'tickbox' exercise, resulting in variable team engagement and efficacy.

Aims: To observe the quality and completeness of 'Time Out', together with the level of team engagement during obstetrics and gynaecology procedures.

Materials And Methods: Observational study where the following data were collected during 'Time Out': % of the 19 items correctly responded to after 'challenge'.

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Multivariate longitudinal ordinal and continuous data exist in many scientific fields. However, it is a rigorous task to jointly analyse them due to the complicated correlated structures of those mixed data and the lack of a multivariate distribution. The multivariate probit model, assuming there is a multivariate normal latent variable for each multivariate ordinal data, becomes a natural modeling choice for longitudinal ordinal data especially for jointly analysing with longitudinal continuous data.

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King (Chinook) salmon is the only salmon species farmed in Aotearoa New Zealand and accounts for over half of the world's production of king salmon. Determining the health status of king salmon effectively is important for farming. However, it is a challenging task due to the complex biotic and abiotic factors that influence health.

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Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the tumors with the highest morbidity and mortality rates in China and the world. Regorafenib is a targeted drug for standard third-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Regorafenib monotherapy has shown certain efficacy in the elderly population, but more robust evidence is needed.

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  • Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cancer threat, and this study focuses on the role of Natural Killer (NK) cells in combatting it, particularly how the tumor microenvironment hinders their effectiveness.
  • The researchers analyzed transcriptomic data from 734 HCC patients and created radiomics models based on CT imaging from 239 patients to identify key NK cell-related biomarkers and their relationship to patient outcomes.
  • The study found that CD2 is a significant prognostic biomarker associated with NK cell activity, and the integration of genetic information and imaging data can help classify HCC into subtypes, which may enhance personalized treatment strategies.
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  • Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) can induce tumor ferroptosis, but many patients don't respond because tumors evade this process within the tumor microenvironment (TME).
  • Researchers found that SLC13A3 acts as a transporter for itaconate in tumor cells, contributing to resistance against ferroptosis, which weakens tumor immunity and reduces ICB effectiveness.
  • Targeting SLC13A3 through various methods, like genetic alteration or using a specific inhibitor, can sensitize tumors to ferroptosis, slow down tumor growth, and enhance the effectiveness of ICB treatments, highlighting SLC13A3 as a potential target for cancer therapy.
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Background And Purpose: The underlying transcriptomic signatures driving brain functional alterations in MS and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) are still unclear.

Materials And Methods: Regional fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) values were obtained and compared among 209 patients with MS, 90 patients with antiaquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4)+ NMOSD, 49 with AQP4- NMOSD, and 228 healthy controls from a discovery cohort. We used partial least squares (PLS) regression to identify the gene transcriptomic signatures associated with disease-related fALFF alterations.

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  • - This clinical trial compared the safety and effectiveness of an inhaled COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-nCoV-IH) against an intramuscular vaccine (BNT-IM) in 540 vaccinated adults in Malaysia from September 2022 to May 2023.
  • - While Ad5-nCoV-IH exhibited lower immunogenicity (with a GMC ratio of 0.22) compared to BNT-IM, it resulted in fewer adverse drug reactions (39.26% vs. 64.68%) and no serious side effects were documented.
  • - Both vaccines demonstrated similar efficacy against COVID-19 variants, but the study concluded that Ad5-nCoV-IH did not meet the non
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bacteria are enriched on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) microplastics in wastewaters and urban rivers, but the PET-degrading mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated these mechanisms with KF-1, a wastewater isolate, by combining microscopy, spectroscopy, proteomics, protein modeling, and genetic engineering. Compared to minor dents on PET films, scanning electron microscopy revealed significant fragmentation of PET pellets, resulting in a 3.

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Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogs are important therapeutics for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Ecnoglutide (XW003) is a novel, long-acting GLP-1 analog. We conducted a Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolling 145 adults with T2DM.

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Three mononuclear nickel(II), cadmium(II) and zinc(II) complexes, [NiL2]·2CH3OH·H2O (1), [CdI2(HL)]·CH3OH (2) and [ZnL2] (3), have been synthesized from 3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-N'-[(Z)-(pyridin-2-yl)methylidene]benzohydrazide (HL) by microwave irradiation method. All complexes were characterized by CHN elemental analyses and infrared spectra. Structures of the complexes were further studied by single crystal X-ray determination, which reveals that the Ni and Zn atoms in complexes 1 and 3 are in octahedral coordination, and the Cd atom in complex 2 is in square pyramidal coordination.

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  • Calcium deficiency in women can increase the risk of preeclampsia, possibly due to its impact on mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) function.
  • Research involved analyzing human spiral arteries from women with and without preeclampsia, as well as conducting animal experiments to test the effects of modifying calcium levels.
  • Results indicated that preeclamptic VSMCs showed disrupted calcium uptake, leading to abnormal vessel function and changes in cell behavior, with the mitochondrial Na/Ca exchanger identified as a potential target for improving outcomes in preeclampsia cases.
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Background: Influenza remains a global public health concern. Understanding the vaccination-induced response in an aging population, which is susceptible and at high risk, is essential for disease prevention and control. Here, we report findings on the safety and immunogenicity of a quadrivalent influenza split-virion vaccine (15 µg/subtype/0.

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Rationale And Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) shows small structural changes in nigrostriatal pathways, which can be sensitively captured through diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). However, the value of DKI and its radiomic features in the classification performance of PD still need confirmation. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic efficiency of DKI-derived kurtosis metric and its radiomic features with different machine learning models for PD classification.

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Two-dimensional (2D) materials with excellent properties and widespread applications have been explosively investigated. However, their conventional synthetic methods exhibit concerns of limited scalability, complex purification process, and incompetence of prohibiting their restacking. The blowing strategy, characterized by gas-template, low-cost, and high-efficiency, presents a valuable avenue for the synthesis of 2D-based foam materials and thereby addresses these constraints.

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  • The study aimed to describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients with myelopathy and neuropathy linked to recreational nitrous oxide use from 2016 to 2023.
  • Twelve patients (6 women, average age 27.5) showed symptoms like numbness, weakness, and mental changes, with some using large amounts of nitrous oxide and vitamin B12 supplements.
  • At follow-up, 75% of patients managed to achieve functional independence, highlighting the significant health concerns related to nitrous oxide abuse. *
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  • Preoperative local-regional tumor staging for gastric cancer is essential for effective treatment planning, and a study aimed to compare the accuracy of multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) and dual-energy CT (DECT) in this context.
  • The research involved 202 patients undergoing both imaging techniques before surgery, with diagnostic accuracy evaluated by six radiologists against the surgical specimens as the reference standard.
  • Results indicated that mpMRI outperformed DECT in T staging, while also providing equal or better accuracy in N staging, highlighting its potential as a more reliable imaging option for gastric cancer patients.
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Background: Leukocyte Ig-like receptor B family 4 (LILRB4) as an immune checkpoint on myeloid cells is a potential target for tumor therapy. Extensive osteolytic bone lesion is the most characteristic feature of multiple myeloma. It is unclear whether ectopic LILRB4 on multiple myeloma regulates bone lesion.

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Spatial transcriptomics measures in situ gene expression at millions of locations within a tissue, hitherto with some trade-off between transcriptome depth, spatial resolution and sample size. Although integration of image-based segmentation has enabled impactful work in this context, it is limited by imaging quality and tissue heterogeneity. By contrast, recent array-based technologies offer the ability to measure the entire transcriptome at subcellular resolution across large samples.

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Bone tissue represents the most frequent site of cancer metastasis. We developed a hemichannel-activating antibody, Cx43-M2. Cx43-M2, directly targeting osteocytes in situ, activates osteocytic hemichannels and elevates extracellular ATP, thereby inhibiting the growth and migration of cultured breast and osteosarcoma cancer cells.

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Chemotherapy such as cisplatin is widely used to treat ovarian cancer either before or after surgical debulking. However, cancer relapse due to chemotherapy resistance is a major challenge in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The underlying mechanisms related to chemotherapy resistance remain largely unclear.

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Background And Objectives: Spinal CSF leaks lead to spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). While International Classification of Headache Disorders, Third Edition (ICHD-3) criteria necessitate imaging confirmation or low opening pressure (OP) for SIH diagnosis, their sensitivity may be limited. We offered epidural blood patches (EBPs) to patients with symptoms suggestive of SIH, with and without a documented low OP or confirmed leak on imaging.

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Background: β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) is a pharmacological inhibitor of LOX (lysyl oxidase) and LOXLs (LOX-like proteins). Administration of BAPN promotes aortopathies, although there is a paucity of data on experimental conditions to generate pathology. The objective of this study was to define experimental parameters and determine whether equivalent or variable aortopathies were generated throughout the aortic tree during BAPN administration in mice.

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In acral melanoma (AM), progression from in situ (AMis) to invasive AM (iAM) leads to significantly reduced survival. However, evolutionary dynamics during this process remain elusive. Here, we report integrative molecular and spatial characterization of 147 AMs using genomics, bulk and single-cell transcriptomics, and spatial transcriptomics and proteomics.

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Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) holds promise as a biomarker for predicting clinical responses to therapy in solid tumors, and multiple ctDNA assays are in development. However, the heterogeneity in ctDNA levels prior to treatment (baseline) across different cancer types and stages and across ctDNA assays has not been widely studied. Friends of Cancer Research formed a collaboration across multiple commercial ctDNA assay developers to assess baseline ctDNA levels across five cancer types in early- and late-stage disease.

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