Publications by authors named "Xiao-Min Zhao"

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is a widely used plastic, but its improper disposal has caused serious environmental pollution. The development of bioconversion for PET waste into high-value chemicals has gained significant attention as an innovative solution. In this study, a novel guided screening strategy involving mixed-bacteria fermentation and partitioned purification (MBF) was proposed to first successful isolate Rhodococcus jostii LETBE 8896, a strain capable of naturally producing 4 μg/L of lycopene from PET hydrolysate.

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Biodegradation, particularly via enzymatic degradation, has emerged as an efficient and eco-friendly solution for Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) pollution. The production of PET hydrolases plays a role in the large-scale enzymatic degradation. However, an effective variant, 4Mz, derived from Thermobifida fusca cutinase (Tfu_0883), was previously associated with a significant reduction in yield when compared to the wild-type enzyme.

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Article Synopsis
  • PET waste is tough to break down and poses environmental issues, but upcycling it into valuable chemicals can help solve this problem and support a circular economy.
  • A study developed a multi-enzyme system in E. coli to convert terephthalic acid, derived from PET, into vanillin, achieving high production levels through metabolic engineering.
  • The engineered E. coli efficiently converted post-consumer PET waste into vanillin, demonstrating an eco-friendly method that also turns low-value waste into profitable products.
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Article Synopsis
  • Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics are a major environmental and health concern due to their long-lasting nature, prompting research into their degradation.
  • Scientists engineered a bacterium, Stenotrophomonas pavanii JWG-G1, to overproduce a PET-degrading enzyme called DuraPETase, achieving significant degradation of PET microplastics at room temperature.
  • This research highlights the potential of using engineered bacteria for degrading microplastics in various environments and offers a new approach for environmental cleanup technologies.
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Natural killer (NK) cells typically function as frontline lymphocytes against cancer although little is known about their engagement in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study compared the performance and activity of NK cells and their subsets in the peripheral blood of NSCLC sufferers and healthy participants. In total, 67 healthy controls (40 males; 59.

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Rationale: Mitochondrial fragmentation contributes to the initiation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Baicalin plays a significant role in rescuing mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the effect of baicalin treatment on the modulation of mitochondrial fragmentation has not yet been assessed.

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Soil spectral information differ across different land use types. Understanding the appropriate modeling methods for different land use types can efficiently and accurately invert soil organic carbon content. We collected 248 samples from forest, cultivated land and orchard in the north-central part of Fengxin County, Jiangxi Province.

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Yingtan is a rapidly urbanizing city in Jiangxi Province, South China. During rapid urbanization, construction land is expanded at the expense of cropland and forest. Although economic benefits are gained, ecological and environmental damage is irreversible.

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The rational delimitation of urban development boundary plays an important role in guiding the orderly growth of urban space and ensure proper environment health of urban space. In this study, we evaluated the ecological sensitivity of Nanchang City from four aspects (soil erosion, habitat, geological disaster and water resource) and simulated urban expansion in 2020 based on CA-Markov and land use data in 2000, 2010 and 2015. Spatial decision-making analysis of the two aspects was carried out in combination to the future development of the study area.

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Aims: Hydrogen (H) has antioxidant effects. The pharmacologic function of H in platelets is not yet clear. Therefore, in this study we sought to investigate the inhibitory effects of H on in vitro platelet activation and in vivo prevention of thrombus formation.

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Land carrying capacity is one of the important research fields for land management and sustainable use. Urban-rural construction land is an essential component of land use type, the rationality of whose structure and layout is crucial to the sustainable use of land. Here, we executed the evaluation of the suitability of urban-rural construction land development, accounted the bearable critical threshold of urban-rural construction land, calculated the bearable abundance of urban-rural construction land, and compared with the current urban-rural construction land, analyzed the matching of the space layout, and then obtained the remaining development intensity of each county (city or district) of the Poyang Lake urban agglomeration.

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Second-generation antipsychotic drug (SGA)-induced metabolic abnormalities, such as dyslipidemia, are a major clinical problem for antipsychotic therapy. Accumulated evidences have shown the efficacy of statins in reducing SGA-induced dyslipidemia, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this study, we explored whether mTOR signaling was involved in olanzapine (OLZ)-induced dyslipidemia as well as the lipid-lowering effects of cotreatment of simvastatin (Sim) in rats.

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Two oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins named pedunsaponin D () and pedunsaponin E () were isolated from the roots of . The structures of the new compounds were elucidated based on chemical and physicochemical evidence as follows: pedunsaponin D, 3--β-glucopyranosyl-(1-3)-β-glucuronopyranosyl-3β,15α,23α-trihydroxy-11,13(18)-oleanadien-16-one (); pedunsaponin E, 3-O-β-glucopyranosyl-(1-2)-β-glucopy ranosyl(1-2)[β-glucopyranosyl(1-3)-β-glucuronopyranosyl]-3β-hydroxy-16-oxoolean-12-en-30-oic acid (). The two compounds showed moderate molluscicidal activity.

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It remains unclear whether plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) is involved in hyper-coagulation or hypo-coagulation. This study investigated the direct effect of PLTP on platelet aggregation and the underlying mechanism. Washed platelets from humans or mice and mouse platelet-rich plasma and human recombinant PLTP were isolated.

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Trichosanthin (TCS), isolated from the root tuber of Trichosantheskirilowii, a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plant, belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, was found to exhibit numerous biological and pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory. However, the effects of TCS on arterial injury induced neointimal hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration remains poorly understood. The aim of study was to examine the effectiveness of TCS on arterial injury-mediated inflammatory processes and underlying mechanisms.

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RNA interference (RNAi), including microRNAs, is an important player in the mediation of differentiation and migration of stem cells via target genes. It is used as a potential strategy for gene therapy for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Stem cells are considered vectors of RNAi due to their capacity to deliver RNAi to other cells.

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Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica is a rare but an emerging zoonotic pathogen. Here, we report the isolation and identification of W. chitiniclastica strain DZ2015 from hoof pus of an infected cow with hoof fetlow in Shandong, China by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

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A hemodynamic feature of chronic sinoaortic-denervated (SAD) rats is the increase in blood pressure variability (BPV) without significant changes in the average level of blood pressure (BP). The current study was designed to investigate the changes in BP V-shaped waves (V waves) in SAD rats. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into 2 groups: SAD rats and sham-operated rats (n=13).

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Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a life-threatening disease that is characterized by elevated pulmonary blood pressure, abnormally thickened pulmonary arteries, and right ventricular hypertrophy. Monocrotaline (MCT) has been used to generate an experimental model of PH in rats, with PH initiated from injuries of lung vascular endothelium. Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge.

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Background: Infusion with hydrogen gas-saturated saline has recently been reported to exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity that may protect against organ damage induced by oxidative stress. Therefore because oxidative stress plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of myocardial infarction (MI), the aim of our study was to investigate whether hydrogen-rich saline has cardioprotective effects against isoproterenol-induced MI in rats.

Methods: An acute MI model was induced in male Wistar rats by subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol.

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By introducing the second organic N-heterocyclic ligands 4'-(4-pyridyl)-4,2':6',4''-terpyridine (pyterpy) and 4,4'-bipyridyl (4,4'-bipy), two examples of Cu(II)-diphosphonates, [Cu(3)(HL)(2)(Hpyterpy)(2)]·2H(2)O 1 and [Cu(4)(HL)(2)(4,4'-bipy)(H(2)O)(5)] 2 based on 1-hydroxyethylidenediphosphonic acid (H(5)L = CH(3)C(OH)(PO(3)H(2))(2)), have been hydrothermally obtained and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR, TG-DSC. The single-crystal X-ray diffractions reveal that compound 1 has a one-dimensional fishbone-like chain constructed by anions [Cu(3)(HL)(2)(2-)](n) while simultaneously organic cations [Hpyterpy(+)](n) suspending both sides, and compound 2 exhibits two-dimensional inorganic-organic alternate arrangement layer built from 1-D ladder-like inorganic chain with tetranuclear cluster [Cu(4)O(10)] via 4,4'-bipy linkage. The results of electrochemical measurements indicate half-wave potential of 1 (E(1/2)(1) = 1.

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Most platelet-derived oxidants are produced through NAD (P) H-oxidase enzyme system. There are antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase and reduced glutathione in platelet. Oxidative stress alters platelet functions via regulation of platelet aggregation phase, impact on platelet nitric oxide and alpha II bbeta3 integrin, and imbalance between reduced and oxidized glutathione in platelet.

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Background: Hydrogen-rich saline has been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and effectively protect against organ damage. Oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to the pathogenesis and/or development of pulmonary hypertension. In this study, we investigated the effects of hydrogen-rich saline on the prevention of pulmonary hypertension induced by monocrotaline in a rat model.

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With sand culture in greenhouse, the responses of Fraxinus mandshurica seedlings growth, biomass, and N allocation to 2 levels of light intensity and 4 levels of N supply were studied. The results showed that under low light intensity, the seedlings shoot/root ratio (S/R) and net N uptake rate (NNUR) increased significantly (P < 0.01), but their relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) had a significant decrease (P < 0.

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