1,570 results on '"Jian Zuo"'
Search Results
2. Time series monitoring and analysis of Pakistan’s mangrove using Sentinel-2 data
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Syed Ahmed Raza, Li Zhang, Jian Zuo, and Bowei Chen
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mangrove extent mapping ,mangrove health mapping ,Sustainable Development Goal-14 ,Sustainable Development Goal target 14.2 ,Google Earth Engine ,Environmental sciences ,GE1-350 - Abstract
Sustainable Development Goal-14 (SDG-14) directly demands the protection, conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of the global mangrove ecosystem. Assessment of the development Pakistan has made toward the sustainable management of mangrove ecosystems necessitates the remote sensing-based evaluation of national-level mangrove cover. Using Google Earth Engine (GEE) for geoprocessing 12,000+ 10-m high-spatial resolution Sentinel-2 time-series images (2016–23) and applying random forest (RF) classifier, the current research provides the latest spatial distribution of mangroves along Pakistan’s coastline and changes observed for a duration of 8 years. Additionally, this research provides the first spatiotemporal health assessment of Pakistan’s national mangrove cover as well. Rational analysis of the results indicated splitting the entire timeline based on two seasons (Jan–Jun and Jul–Dec). Results revealed an overall increase of 1,210 km2 (2023) in the mangrove cover on the national-level; a 3.42 km2 average annual increase from 2016 (1,186 km2). Mangrove gain/loss assessment based on the land use land cover (LULC) transition matrix illustrated 223 km2 gain and 199 km2 loss; a 24 km2 net gain. Declines of 20.28% and 7.91% were found in maximum- and mean-NDVI (2016-23), depicting the deteriorating mangrove health conditions. Likewise, significant Sen’s slope analysis (p < 0.05) indicated that 88.8% of all the mangrove-NDVI pixels exhibited an overall decrease, whereas 11.2% pixels showed an overall increase (2016-23). It was concluded that despite showing a growth in the extent, mangrove cover in Pakistan has shown a decline in health, primarily due to deforestation for urban operations and sea-level rise, still making them vulnerable and potentially leading to a disrupted ecosystem, including carbon release in the atmosphere. This study will assist in the formulation of mangrove conservation and management strategies, whereas future research can explore the potentials of land surface temperature (LST) and evapotranspiration in combination to the NDVI for an in-depth analysis of the health status of mangroves.
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- 2024
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3. Dynamic regulation of alternative polyadenylation by PQBP1 during neurogenesis
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Xian Liu, Hao Xie, Wenhua Liu, Jian Zuo, Song Li, Yao Tian, Jingrong Zhao, Meizhu Bai, Jinsong Li, Lan Bao, Junhai Han, and Zi Chao Zhang
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CP: Neuroscience ,CP: Developmental biology ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Summary: Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is a critical post-transcriptional process that generates mRNA isoforms with distinct 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs), thereby regulating mRNA localization, stability, and translational efficiency. Cell-type-specific APA extensively shapes the diversity of the cellular transcriptome, particularly during cell fate transition. Despite its recognized significance, the precise regulatory mechanisms governing cell-type-specific APA remain unclear. In this study, we uncover PQBP1 as an emerging APA regulator that actively maintains cell-specific APA profiles in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and delicately manages the equilibrium between NPC proliferation and differentiation. Multi-omics analysis shows that PQBP1 directly interacts with the upstream UGUA elements, impeding the recruitment of the CFIm complex and influencing polyadenylation site selection within genes associated with the cell cycle. Our findings elucidate the molecular mechanism by which PQBP1 orchestrates dynamic APA changes during neurogenesis, providing valuable insights into the precise regulation of cell-type-specific APA and the underlying pathogenic mechanisms in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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- 2024
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4. Assessment of spatial cyclone surge susceptibility through GIS-based AHP multi-criteria analysis and frequency ratio: a case study from the Bangladesh coast
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M. M. Abdullah Al Mamun, Li Zhang, Bowei Chen, Zahid Ur Rahman, Tarana Mahzabin, Jian Zuo, Qinglan Zhang, and Syed Ahmed Reza
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Surge flooding ,susceptibility mapping ,analytical hierarchy process ,receiver operating characteristic ,coastal area ,Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ,TD1-1066 ,Environmental sciences ,GE1-350 ,Risk in industry. Risk management ,HD61 - Abstract
Tropical cyclones, including surge inundation, are a common event in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. The surge washes out the area within a very short period and remains in flooded condition for several days. Spatial analysis to understand the surge susceptibility level can assist the cyclone management system. Surge susceptibility analysis could be one of the most essential parts of disaster risk reduction through which cyclone vulnerability can be minimized. A Geographic Information Systems-based analytical hierarchy process (AHP) multi-criteria analysis and bivariate frequency ratio (FR) techniques were conducted to understand the surge susceptibility level of a cyclone-prone area on the Bangladesh coast. A total of 10 criteria were considered influential to surge flooding, i.e. Topographic Wetness Index, elevation, wind velocity, slope, distance from sea and rivers, drainage density, Land Use and Land Cover, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, precipitation, and soil types. The final surge susceptibility maps were categorized into five classes, i.e. very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. Conferring to these susceptibility classes, policymakers can make decisions for future land use management and disaster risk reduction activities. According to this research, AHP showed better precision (Receiver Operating Characteristic) than FR for surge susceptibility prediction on the Bangladesh coast.
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- 2024
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5. Improved indicators for the integrated assessment of coastal sustainable development based on Earth Observation Data
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Li Zhang, Jian Zuo, Bowei Chen, Jingjuan Liao, Min Yan, Linyan Bai, Dewayany Sutrisno, Mazlan Hashim, and M. M. Abdullah Al Mamun
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Coastal marine ecosystem ,Maritime Silk Road ,SDG 14 ,Earth Observation Data ,Mathematical geography. Cartography ,GA1-1776 - Abstract
ABSTRACTTarget 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14) depicts a better future regarding the capacity of coastal environments to cope with several developmental challenges. However, gaps in the data and indicators restrict the effective implementation of this global plan. In this context, under the umbrella of the Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) Program, the DBAR_COAST working group (WG) aims to solve the problems of coastal sustainable development along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). This paper demonstrates the recent efforts of the DBAR_COAST WG to develop indicators based on Earth observation (EO) data (i.e. the natural coastal protection index (NCPI), the local proportion of habitats protected index (LPHPI), and the coastal eco-erosion index (CEEI)), which complement the existing indicators related to SDGs 14.2, 14.5 and 14.7. These indicators all satisfy indicative, robust, scientifically sound and accessible data principles. Based on them, both the coastal protection (NCPI = 0.97) and protected area coverage (LPHPI = 0.38) in the MSR still had much room for improvement in 2020, and pressure from aquaculture expansion (CEEI = 0.11) showed significant regionally spatial heterogeneity. These indicators serve to provide a guideline for indicator-based assessment in monitoring the progress toward achieving SDG 14.
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- 2024
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6. Paving a traceable green pathway towards sustainable construction: A fuzzy ISM-DEMATEL analysis of blockchain technology adoption barriers in construction waste management
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Hongping Yuan, Wenbo Du, Jian Zuo, and Xiaozhi Ma
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Blockchain technology ,Construction waste management ,Barriers ,Sustainable development ,Fuzzy ISM-MICMAC-DEMATEL ,Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) ,TA1-2040 - Abstract
Construction waste management (CWM) and blockchain technology (BT) are two crucial topics for sustainable production and development. As a fundamental infrastructure for artificial intelligence, BT enables real-time, reciprocal, and immutable information provision in tracing construction waste and holds a significant potential to advance CWM. However, the barriers to adopting BT in CWM and their impact on CWM practices remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to identify BT adoption barriers in CWM, assess their criticality, and clarify their correlations through a fuzzy empirical analysis. Results show that, due to interdependence, actions on one or some of the barriers can have a closed-loop impact. The findings suggest that the government and the stakeholders have a critical influence on the further adoption of BT in CWM. This exploratory study advances sustainable construction by clarifying those BT adoption barriers and providing implications to integrate BT into CWM practices.
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- 2024
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7. Multi-Objective Ecological Long-Term Operation of Cascade Reservoirs Considering Hydrological Regime Alteration
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Changjiang Xu, Di Zhu, Wei Guo, Shuo Ouyang, Liping Li, Hui Bu, Lin Wang, Jian Zuo, and Junhong Chen
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hydropower generation ,hydrological regime ,DTW-SBR framework ,cascade reservoirs ,multi-objective optimal operation ,Hydraulic engineering ,TC1-978 ,Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes ,TD201-500 - Abstract
Constructing and operating cascade reservoirs significantly contribute to comprehensive basin water resource management, while altering natural hydrological regimes of rivers, which imposes negative impacts on riverine ecology. The main aim of this study is to synergistically optimize the objectives of increasing hydropower generation and alleviating hydrological regime alteration for cascade reservoirs. This study first proposed a dynamic time warping scenario backward reduction (DTW-SBR) framework to extract streamflow scenarios from the historical streamflow series regarded as benchmarks for calculating deviation degrees of hydrological regimes. Then a multi-objective long-term operation model considering the hydrological regime and hydroelectricity was formed for minimizing the deviation degrees of hydrological regimes at the downstream section (O1) and maximizing the hydropower generation of cascade reservoirs (O2). The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) combined with the long-term conventional operation (CO) rules of cascade reservoirs was adopted to produce the Pareto-front solutions to derive the recommended policies for guiding the long-term operation of cascade reservoirs. The six large reservoirs in the middle reaches of the Jinsha River, China with a 10-day runoff dataset spanning from 1953 to 2015 constitute a case study. The results showed that nine streamflow scenarios were extracted for calculating the O1 by the DTW-SBR framework, which could reflect the intra- and inter- annual variability of hydrological regimes at the Panzhihua hydrological station. The Pareto-front solutions obtained by the NSGA-II revealed competitive relationships between the O1 and O2. As compared to the long-term CO rules of cascade reservoirs, the O1 value could be reduced by up to 42,312 (corresponding rate of 10.51%) and the O2 value could be improved by up to 1752 × 108 kW·h (corresponding rate of 5.14%). Based on the inclination to be dominated by different objectives, three typical operation schemes, A, B and C, were chosen from the Pareto-front solutions; Scheme A could be considered as the recommended solution, which simultaneously reduced the O1 value by 23,965 with the rate of 5.95% and increased the O2 value by 1752 × 108 kW·h with the rate of 5.14%, as compared to the long-term CO rules. This study can provide references on boosting the synergies of hydropower production and hydrological regime restoration for the long-term ecological operation of cascade reservoirs.
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- 2024
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8. An Object-Based Approach to Extract Aquaculture Ponds with 10-Meter Resolution Sentinel-2 Images: A Case Study of Wenchang City in Hainan Province
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Yingwen Hu, Li Zhang, Bowei Chen, and Jian Zuo
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Hainan ,aquaculture ponds ,object-based ,decision tree ,Sentinel-2 image ,Science - Abstract
Coastal aquaculture has made an important contribution to global food security and the economic development of coastal zones in recent decades. However, it has also damaged these coastal zones’ ecosystems. Moreover, coastal aquaculture is poised to play a key role in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consequently, extracting aquaculture has become crucial and valuable. However, due to the limitations of remote sensing image spatial resolution and traditional extraction methods, most research studies focus on aquaculture areas containing dikes rather than individually separable aquaculture ponds (ISAPs). This is not an accurate estimation of these aquaculture areas’ true size. In our study, we propose a rapid and effective object-based method of extracting ISAPs. We chose multi-scale segmentation to generate semantically meaningful image objects for various types of land cover, and then built a decision tree classifier according to the unique features of ISAPs. The results show that our method can remove small rivers and other easily confused features, which has thus far been difficult to accomplish with conventional methods. We obtained an overall precision value of 85.61% with a recall of 84.04%; compared to the support vector machine’s (SVM) overall precision value of 78.85% and recall rate of 61.21%, our method demonstrates greater accuracy and efficiency. We used this method to test the transferability of the algorithm to nearby areas, and the obtained accuracy exceeded 80%. The method proposed in this study could provide a readily available solution for the simple and efficient extracting of ISAPs and shows high spatiotemporal transferability.
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- 2024
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9. Unravelling effects of project complexity on project success and project management success: a meta-analytic review
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Zhibin Hu, Guangdong Wu, Junwei Zheng, Xianbo Zhao, and Jian Zuo
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construction project complexity ,project success ,project management success ,meta-analysis ,Building construction ,TH1-9745 - Abstract
Construction project complexity can be daunting, so both academics and practitioners have been looking for guidance. Previous studies have attempted to reconcile the inconsistencies and complexities in the relationships among project complexity, project success, and project management success. However, such research has failed to establish these clear relationships. Accordingly, the approach of systematic review and meta-analysis is applied in this study to investigate and compare how different project complexity affects project success and project management success by selecting 22 articles and 77 effect sizes. The results indicate that integrational complexity significantly positively affects project success, whereas it is not significantly negatively associated with project management success. Within a technical-organizational-environmental (TOE) framework, effects of organizational, environmental, and technical complexity on project success and project management success are also discussed here. A possible moderator (the national/regional income level) is tested and verified. The findings contribute to the system of knowledge on project complexity and provide guidelines for decision-makers to achieve a balance between project success and project management success in routine operation of construction projects.
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- 2023
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10. Operational safety risk assessment of water diversion infrastructure based on FMEA with fuzzy inference system
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Huimin Li, Mengxuan Liang, Feng Li, Jian Zuo, Chengyi Zhang, and Ying Ma
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failure mode and effect analysis (fmea) ,fuzzy inference system (fis) ,risk prioritization ,water diversion infrastructure ,Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes ,TD201-500 ,River, lake, and water-supply engineering (General) ,TC401-506 - Abstract
Water diversion infrastructure is characterized by a wide range of impacts and complex geological conditions. There are a large number of risk factors that affect its operational safety. Accidents that have occurred during operation have caused devastaing disasters to water diversion infrastructure. In this study, the failure modes for the operational risks of water diversion infrastructure are identified from four aspects, i.e.,environment, engineering technology, operation management, and society. A failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) risk poiorization model is established based on the fuzzy inference system (FIS). A fuzzy rule base is established according to IF-THEN rules, and the risk priority is calculated and ranked via FIS. Lastly, a case study of the Huixian section of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project is carried out to verify the proposed method. The results show that the risks of rainstorms, floods, and foundation failure are regarded as high priority. The validity and applicability of the proposed method are tested via comparison with traditional FMEA. These findings provide valuable information for the operational safety of water diversion infrastructure. HIGHLIGHTS Operational safety failure modes of water diversion infrastructure were identified in four areas: environmental, engineering, operational management, and social.; A risk prioritization model of FMEA is established that is based on Fuzzy Inference System (FIS).; A fuzzy rule base is established according to IF-THEN rules, and the risk priority is calculated and ranked via a FIS.;
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- 2022
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11. Analysis of carbon emission, carbon displacement and heterogeneity of Guangdong power industry
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Jian Zuo, Yashan Zhong, Yun Yang, Cong Fu, Xiangzhen He, Bo Bao, and Feng Qian
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Marginal carbon emission factor ,Marginal carbon displacement ,Average carbon emission ,Heterogeneity ,Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering ,TK1-9971 - Abstract
The marginal carbon emission factor can more accurately reflect the real-time carbon emission of the system. Based on the hourly output, load and external power data of Guangdong Province from 2017 to 2020, this paper uses the seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) model to calculate the marginal carbon emission factor and carbon displacement coefficient of Guangdong’s power industry and compares them with the average carbon emission intensity, which can provide support for the formulation of emission reduction policies in the province. The study shows that the average carbon emission factor underestimates the actual carbon emission of the power system, and the marginal carbon emission factor is a more appropriate indicator to reflect the carbon emission of the system in policy regulation. In addition, this paper also analyzes the annual, quarterly and peak–valley heterogeneity of marginal carbon emissions. The results show that the marginal carbon emission factor at peak demand times increases significantly, featuring more gas turbines participating in power generation.
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- 2022
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12. Assessment of coastal sustainable development along the maritime silk road using an integrated natural-economic-social (NES) ecosystem
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Jian Zuo, Li Zhang, Bowei Chen, Jingjuan Liao, Mazlan Hashim, Dewayany Sutrisno, Mohammad Emran Hasan, Riffat Mahmood, and Dalhatu Aliyu Sani
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Sustainable development ,Coastal marine ecosystem ,Natural-economic-social ecosystem ,Maritime silk road ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 ,Social sciences (General) ,H1-99 - Abstract
Understanding spatial change and its driving factors behind coastal development is essential for coastal management and restoration. There is an urgent need for quantitative assessments of sustainable development in the coastal ecosystems that are most affected by anthropogenic activities and climate change. This study built a theme-based evaluation methodology with the Natural-Economic-Social (NES) complex ecosystem and proposed an evaluation system of coastal sustainable development (CSD) to understand the complex interactions between coastal ecosystems and anthropogenic activities. The approach revealed the levels of coastal natural, economic, and social sustainable development in the countries along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) from 2010 to 2020. The results showed (1) a decreasing trend for coastal sustainable development between 2010 and 2015 and a rapid increasing trend between 2015 and 2020; (2) spatially varied CSD, with higher levels in Europe and Southeast Asia and lower levels in South and West Asia and North Africa; and (3) a strong influence on CSD by a combination of economic and social factors and relatively little influence by natural factors. The study further assessed the natural, economic, and social development scores for 41 countries and compared them with the mean scores (MSR) to classify coastal development patterns into three stages (favorable, transitional, and unfavorable). Finally, in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the study highlighted the importance of more refined global indicators for CSD assessments.
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- 2023
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13. Semi-Supervised Detection of Detailed Ground Feature Changes and Its Impact on Land Surface Temperature
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Pinghao Wu, Jiacheng Liang, Jianhui Xu, Kaiwen Zhong, Hongda Hu, and Jian Zuo
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semi-supervised detection ,detailed ground feature changes ,Deeplab V3+ ,LST ,spatiotemporal heterogeneity ,Meteorology. Climatology ,QC851-999 - Abstract
This paper presents a semi-supervised change detection optimization strategy as a means to mitigate the reliance of unsupervised/semi-supervised algorithms on pseudo-labels. The benefits of the Class-balanced Self-training Framework (CBST) and Deeplab V3+ were exploited to enhance classification accuracy for further analysis of microsurface land surface temperature (LST), as indicated by the change detection difference map obtained using iteratively reweighted multivariate alteration detection (IR-MAD). The evaluation statistics revealed that the DE_CBST optimization scheme achieves superior change detection outcomes. In comparison to the results of Deeplab V3+, the precision indicator demonstrated a 2.5% improvement, while the commission indicator exhibited a reduction of 2.5%. Furthermore, when compared to those of the CBST framework, the F1 score showed a notable enhancement of 6.3%, and the omission indicator exhibited a decrease of 8.9%. Moreover, DE_CBST optimization improves the identification accuracy of water in unchanged areas on the basis of Deeplab V3+ classification results and significantly improves the classification effect on bare land in changed areas on the basis of CBST classification results. In addition, the following conclusions are drawn from the discussion on the correlation between ground object categories and LST on a fine-scale: (1) the correlation between land use categories and LST all have good results in GTWR model fitting, which shows that local LST has a high correlation with the corresponding range of the land use category; (2) the changes of the local LST were generally consistent with the changes of the overall LST, but the evolution of the LST in different regions still has a certain heterogeneity, which might be related to the size of the local LST region; and (3) the local LST and the land use category of the corresponding grid cells did not show a completely consistent correspondence relationship. When discussing the local LST, it is necessary to consider the change in the overall LST, the land use types around the region, and the degree of interaction between surface objects. Finally, future experiments will be further explored through more time series LST and land use data.
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- 2023
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14. Interaction mechanism of BIM application barriers in prefabricated construction and driving strategies from stakeholders’ perspectives
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Hongyu Xu, Ruidong Chang, Na Dong, Jian Zuo, and Ronald J. Webber
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Prefabricated construction (PC) ,Building Information Modeling (BIM) ,Stakeholder ,Social network analysis (SNA) ,Critical barriers ,Driving strategies ,Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) ,TA1-2040 - Abstract
Although building information modeling application in prefabricated construction (PC-BIM) has become an inevitable trend, current PC-BIM is far from ideal. There are some researches on PC-BIM barriers, however, which stakeholder these barriers come from, what influences they have on each other and how to find the effective transmission paths have not been explored yet which is essential to overcome barriers effectively. Thus, this study aims to make deep analysis of PC-BIM barriers based on stakeholder’s perspectives. After literature review and focus group interviews with 13 authoritative experts, the barrier network based on stakeholders was established and analyzed. With the social network analysis, the critical barriers, stakeholders, together with their interaction relationships and the transmission paths were found and corresponding strategies based on path mining are proposed. This study is of great significance to promote PC-BIM in practice and shed light on the interaction mechanism analysis and driving path mining.
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- 2023
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15. Systematic single cell RNA sequencing analysis reveals unique transcriptional regulatory networks of Atoh1-mediated hair cell conversion in adult mouse cochleae.
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Shu Tu and Jian Zuo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Regeneration of mammalian cochlear hair cells (HCs) by modulating molecular pathways or transcription factors is a promising approach to hearing restoration; however, immaturity of the regenerated HCs in vivo remains a major challenge. Here, we analyzed a single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) dataset during Atoh1-induced supporting cell (SC) to hair cell (HC) conversion in adult mouse cochleae (Yamashita et al. (2018)) using multiple high-throughput sequencing analytical tools (WGCNA, SCENIC, ARACNE, and VIPER). Instead of focusing on differentially expressed genes, we established independent expression modules and confirmed the existence of multiple conversion stages. Gene regulatory network (GRN) analysis uncovered previously unidentified key regulators, including Nhlh1, Lhx3, Barhl1 and Nfia, that guide converted HC differentiation. Comparison of the late-stage converted HCs with the scRNA-seq data from neonatal mouse cochleae (Kolla et al. (2020)) revealed that they closely resemble postnatal day 1 wild-type OHCs, in contrast to other developmental stages. Using ARACNE and VIPER, we discovered multiple key regulators likely to promote conversion to a more mature OHC-like state, including Zbtb20, Nfia, Zmiz1, Gm14418, Bhlhe40, Six2, Fosb and Klf9. Our findings provide insights into the regulation of HC regeneration in adult mammalian cochleae in vivo and demonstrate an approach for analyzing GRNs in large scRNA-seq datasets.
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- 2023
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16. Incentive mechanism for performance-based payment of infrastructure PPP projects: coupling of reputation and ratchet effects
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Huimin Li, Limin Su, Jian Zuo, Xianbo Zhao, Ruidong Chang, and Fuqiang Wang
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infrastructure project ,public-private partnership ,incentive mechanism ,reputation effects ,ratchet effects ,Management. Industrial management ,HD28-70 ,Finance ,HG1-9999 - Abstract
The performance-based payment PPP model has been widely used in the infrastructure projects. However, the ratchet effect derived from performance-based reputation incentives has been largely overlooked. To overcome this shortcoming, ratchet effect is considered in the performance-based payment incentive process. A multi-period dynamic incentive mechanism is developed by coupling the reputation and ratchet effect. The main results show that: (1) Under the coupling of reputation and ratchet effects, the optimal incentive coefficient in the last performance assessment period is always greater than that of the first period. The bargaining power can replace part of the incentive effect; (2) Due to the ratchet effect, if the government improve performance targets through performance adjustment coefficients, it needs to increase incentives to overcome the decreasing effort of the private sector; (3) When the bargaining power and punishment coefficient are small, the reputation incentive is replacing the explicit incentive. The increasing incentive coefficient would make the ratchet effect dominant the reputation effect; (4) To prevent the incentive incompatibility derived from the ratchet effect, the government should increase the incentive while increasing the punishment to achieve the “penalties and rewards”. This study provides theoretical and methodological guidance to design incentive contracts for infrastructure PPP projects. First published online 06 January 2022
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- 2022
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17. What leads to variations in the results of life-cycle energy assessment? An evidence-based framework for residential buildings
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Hossein Omrany, Veronica Soebarto, Jian Zuo, Ehsan Sharifi, and Ruidong Chang
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Life cycle energy assessment ,Life cycle assessment ,Residential buildings ,Energy efficiency ,Embodied energy ,Operational energy ,Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ,TD1-1066 ,Building construction ,TH1-9745 - Abstract
Residential buildings are one of the major contributors to climate change due to their significant impacts on global energy consumption. Hence, most countries have introduced regulations to minimize energy use in residential buildings. To date, the focus of these regulations has mainly been on operational energy while excluding embodied energy. In recent years, extensive studies have highlighted the necessity of minimizing both embodied energy and operational energy by applying the life-cycle energy assessment (LCEA) approach. However, the absence of a standardized framework and calculation methodology for the analysis of embodied energy has reportedly led to variations in the LCEA results. Retrospective research endeavoured to explore the causes of variations, with a limited focus on calculating embodied impacts. Despite the undertaken attempts, there is still a need to investigate the key parameters causing variations in LCEA results by examining methodological approaches of the current studies toward quantifications of embodied and operational energies. This paper aims to address three primary questions: ‘what is the current trend of methodological approach for applying LCEA in residential buildings?’; ‘what are the key parameters causing variations in LCEA results?’; and ‘how can the continued variations in the application of LCEA in residential buildings be overcome?’. To this end, 40 LCEA studies representing 157 cases of residential buildings across 16 countries have been critically reviewed. The findings reveal four principal categories of parameters that potentially contribute to the varying results of LCEAs: system boundary definition, calculation methods, geographical context, and interpretation of results. This paper also proposes a conceptual framework to minimize variations in LCEA studies by standardizing the process of conducting LCEAs.
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- 2021
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18. Genetic predisposition to tinnitus in the UK Biobank population
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Madeleine E. Urbanek and Jian Zuo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Tinnitus, the phantom perception of noise originating from the inner ear, has been reported by 15% of the world’s population, with many patients reporting major deficits to cognition and mood. However, both objective diagnostic tools and targeted therapeutic strategies have yet to be established. To better understand the underlying genes that may preclude tinnitus, we performed a genome-wide association study of the UK Biobank’s 49,960 whole exome sequencing participants to identify any loci strongly associated with tinnitus. We identified 17 suggestive single nucleotide polymorphisms (p
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- 2021
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19. Profiling mouse cochlear cell maturation using 10× Genomics single-cell transcriptomics
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Zhenhang Xu, Shu Tu, Caroline Pass, Yan Zhang, Huizhan Liu, Jack Diers, Yusi Fu, David Z. Z. He, and Jian Zuo
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scRNA-seq ,transcriptome ,cochlear cells ,hair cell ,cochlear maturation ,lncRNA ,Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry ,RC321-571 - Abstract
Juvenile and mature mouse cochleae contain various low-abundant, vulnerable sensory epithelial cells embedded in the calcified temporal bone, making it challenging to profile the dynamic transcriptome changes of these cells during maturation at the single-cell level. Here we performed the 10x Genomics single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of mouse cochleae at postnatal days 14 (P14) and 28. We attained the transcriptomes of multiple cell types, including hair cells, supporting cells, spiral ganglia, stria fibrocytes, and immune cells. Our hair cell scRNA-seq datasets are consistent with published transcripts from bulk RNA-seq. We also mapped known deafness genes to corresponding cochlear cell types. Importantly, pseudotime trajectory analysis revealed that inner hair cell maturation peaks at P14 while outer hair cells continue development until P28. We further identified and confirmed a long non-coding RNA gene Miat to be expressed during maturation in cochlear hair cells and spiral ganglia neurons, and Pcp4 to be expressed during maturation in cochlear hair cells. Our transcriptomes of juvenile and mature mouse cochlear cells provide the sequel to those previously published at late embryonic and early postnatal ages and will be valuable resources to investigate cochlear maturation at the single-cell resolution.
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- 2022
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20. Clinical profiles and outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection and intramural hematoma in the current era: lessons from the first registry of aortic dissection in China
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Wei-Xun Duan, Wei-Guang Wang, Lin Xia, Chao Xue, Bo Yu, Kai Ren, Wei Yi, Hong-Liang Liang, Xiao-Chao Dong, Jian Zuo, Jin-Cheng Liu, Shi-Qiang Yu, Ding-Hua Yi, Ning-Ning Wang., and On Behalf of the Registry of Aortic Dissection in China (Sino-RAD) investigators
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Medicine - Abstract
Abstract. Background:. Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) and acute type A intramural hematoma (ATAIMH) are life-threatening diseases with high mortality. To better understand their clinical features in the Chinese population, we analyzed the data from the first Registry of Aortic Dissection in China (Sino-RAD) to promote the understanding and management of the diseases. Methods:. All patients with ATAAD and ATAIMH enrolled in Sino-RAD from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016 were involved. The data of patients’ selection, history, symptoms, management, outcomes, and postoperation complications were analyzed in the study. The continuous variables were compared using the Student's t test for normal distributions and the Mann-Whitney U test for non-normal distributions. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test or Fisher exact test. Results:. A total of 1582 patients with ATAAD and 130 patients with ATAIMH were included. The mean age of all patients was 48.4 years. Patients with ATAAD were significantly younger than patients with ATAIMH (48.9 years vs. 55.6 years, P
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- 2021
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21. Data-Driven Platform Framework for Digital Whole-Process Expressway Construction Management
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Shu-Yang Chen, Jing-Xiao Zhang, Qi-Chang Ni, Martin Skitmore, Pablo Ballesteros-Pérez, Yong-Jian Ke, Jian Zuo, and Hao-Jie Sun
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data-driven platform ,digitalization process ,expressway ,smart construction ,BIM ,Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry ,RC321-571 - Abstract
To increase the speed and efficiency of expressways construction, information management is being gradually introduced into the construction process. However, progress is limited due to the complexity of expressway engineering and application limitations of information technology. Design and delivery are still dominated by paper files, and the management of test and inspection data is still relatively extensive. Research to date into digital expressway construction has been piecemeal and fragmented with a lack of research related to the whole construction process and a data-centric information management system yet to be realized. In response, through literature research and semi-structured interviews, the framework of a data-driven digital whole-process highway construction management platform was determined. A whole process management platform was established according to the framework, and the functional application of the proposed platform was explained through a case. The framework is proposed from the perspective of the whole process of collaborative sharing., which provides a new way of thinking to solve the problems existing in the current field of expressway construction whole-process management. It also provides data-centric management, electronic design and delivery, a refined workflow, and an efficient management process.
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- 2022
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22. Glycolysis aggravates methotrexate toxicity by fueling RFC1-controlled intestinal absorption in rheumatic rats
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Qi-Hai Wang, Shu Pan, Kui Yang, Yi-Jin Wu, Xiu-Ping Cheng, Opeyemi Joshua Olatunji, Qingcheng Mao, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
Rheumatoid arthritis ,Drug absorption ,Drug transporter ,Methotrexate ,Energy metabolism ,ATP ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 - Abstract
Methotrexate (MTX) is a first line anti-rheumatic drug. This study was designed to investigate the impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) conditions on its oral absorption, and clarify the relevance with changes of MTX absorption-related transporters in rheumatic models. MTX was orally administered to healthy, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), and adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats. MTX plasma concentrations were determined by a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. We found that intestinal MTX absorption was significantly increased in CIA/AIA rats versus healthy controls. This finding was supported by small intestine-based MTX uptake assay in vitro. Meanwhile, intestinal expression of both reduced folate carrier 1 (RCF1) and proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT) remained unchanged. The everted intestinal sac assay confirms RFC1 is the key transporter accounting for intestinal MTX absorption, as its antagonist salicylazosulfapyridine showed potent capacity in reducing MTX uptake. No correlation between RA-related cytokines and RCF1 expression was observed in clinical samples. We further revealed that when cultured with AIA rat or RA patient serum, lactate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production as well as MTX uptake in MDCKII cells were significantly increased, and this increase was completely abrogated by ATP production-related metabolic inhibitors. Thanks to its inhibitory effects on MTX bioavailability, the glycolysis inhibitor shikonin diminished MTX-induced injuries of kidney and liver in AIA rats. These data demonstrate that glycolysis-driven high energy metabolism increases MTX absorption in rheumatic subjects, leading to the exacerbated toxicity. These findings will have important implications in optimizing MTX regimens for RA treatment with better efficacy and lower toxicity.
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- 2022
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23. Analysis of China’s Coastline Changes during 1990–2020
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Kaixin Li, Li Zhang, Bowei Chen, Jian Zuo, Fan Yang, and Li Li
- Subjects
mainland China ,coastline ,landsat ,index of coastline type diversity ,fractal dimensions ,Science - Abstract
As the boundary between the sea and the land, information on the location and type of coastline constantly changes with environmental changes in coastal zones. Monitoring of coastline changes in long time series becomes important for the monitoring and assessment of the coastal zone environment. In this study, Landsat series images from five time periods (1990, 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020) were selected for monitoring and analyzing the changes in coastline length, sea–land pattern, the index of coastline diversity, and fractal dimension characteristics. Our conclusions are as follows: (1) The lengths of the entire coastline and the artificial coastline of mainland China increased from 30,041.22 km and 10,022.49 km in 1990 to 32,977.34 km and 17,660.84 km in 2020, with annual change rates of 97.87 km/year and 254.61 km/year, respectively. From 1990 to 2020, the rate of natural coastline decreased from 66.68% to 42.29%, and the artificial coastline increased from 33.32% to 57.71%. (2) The length of natural coastline decreased from 20,018.73 km to 15,316.5 km; among the types of natural coastline, the length of sandy coastline and bedrock coastline decreased the most, at 2062.95 km and 1815.8 km, respectively. (3) The coastal zone of mainland China had a significant increase in land area, with a net increase of about 10,902.55 km2. (4) The index of coastline diversity continued to decrease, and the coastline structure tended to be simple. The fractal dimension of the mainland coastline was consistent with the trend of the length of the coastline, which basically shows an increasing trend. Therefore, the length of the mainland coastline and artificial coastline displayed an upward trend between 1990 and 2020, which also led to simpler coastline diversity and more complex coastline shapes. Since the first year of the SDGs (2015), the growth rate of the artificial coastline has decreased by 158.32 km/year compared with that between 2010 and 2015. In recent years, China has enacted a number of laws, regulations, and action plans to protect its coastline, and it has proposed that by 2020, the proportion of natural coastline will be no less than 35%. The rapid development of China’s coastal areas drives the construction of coastal zone cities but also creates a variety of challenges for the ecological environment of the coastal zone, and the management and sustainable use of the mainland coastline resources should be further strengthened.
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- 2023
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24. System Framework for Digital Monitoring of the Construction of Asphalt Concrete Pavement Based on IoT, BeiDou Navigation System, and 5G Technology
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Jingxiao Zhang, Zhe Zhu, Hongyong Liu, Jian Zuo, Yongjian Ke, Simon P. Philbin, Zhendong Zhou, Yunlong Feng, and Qichang Ni
- Subjects
asphalt pavement ,digital monitoring ,system construction ,semi-structured interview ,Building construction ,TH1-9745 - Abstract
In the construction of asphalt pavement, poor quality is often the main reason for damage to the pavement, which necessitates the use of monitoring systems during the construction stage. Therefore, this study focuses on building an asphalt concrete pavement construction monitoring system to monitor the construction phase. Through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with industry experts, this paper provides an in-depth understanding of the goals and obstacles of asphalt pavement monitoring and discusses directions for improvement. Subsequently, based on the analysis of the interview results, a system framework for asphalt concrete pavement construction monitoring was constructed, and the system was successfully developed and applied to a highway construction project. The results show that the monitoring system significantly improves the construction quality of asphalt concrete pavement, improves the intelligent level of pavement construction management, and promotes the digital development of highway construction.
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- 2023
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25. Metabolic Enzyme Triosephosphate Isomerase 1 and Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase, Two Independent Inflammatory Indicators in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Evidences From Collagen-Induced Arthritis and Clinical Samples
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Ming Lei, Meng-Qing Tao, Yi-Jin Wu, Liang Xu, Zhe Yang, Yan Li, Opeyemi Joshua Olatunji, Xiao-Wan Wang, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
triosephosphate isomerase 1 (TPI1) ,rheumatoid arthritis (RA) ,collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) ,metabolism reprogramming ,glycolysis ,monocytes ,Immunologic diseases. Allergy ,RC581-607 - Abstract
Metabolic intervention is a novel anti-rheumatic approach. The glycolytic regulator NAMPT has been identified as a therapeutic target of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), while other metabolic regulators coordinating NAMPT to perpetuate inflammation are yet to be investigated. We continuously monitored and validated expression changes of Nampt and inflammatory indicators in peripheral while blood cells from rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Gene transcriptional profiles of Nampt+ and Nampt++ samples from identical CIA rats were compared by RNA-sequencing. Observed gene expression changes were validated in another batch of CIA rats, and typical metabolic regulators with persistent changes during inflammatory courses were further investigated in human subjects. According to expression differences of identified genes, RA patients were assigned into different subsets. Clinical manifestation and cytokine profiles among them were compared afterwards. Nampt overexpression typically occurred in CIA rats during early stages, when iNos and Il-1β started to be up-regulated. Among differentially expressed genes between Nampt+ and Nampt++ CIA rat samples, changes of Tpi1, the only glycolytic enzyme identified were sustained in the aftermath of acute inflammation. Similar to NAMPT, TPI1 expression in RA patients was higher than general population, which was synchronized with increase in RFn as well as inflammatory monocytes-related cytokines like Eotaxin. Meanwhile, RANTES levels were relatively low when NAMPT and TPI1 were overexpressed. Reciprocal interactions between TPI1 and HIF-1α were observed. HIF-1α promoted TPI1 expression, while TPI1 co-localized with HIF-1α in nucleus of inflammatory monocytes. In short, although NAMPT and TPI1 dominate different stages of CIA, they similarly provoke monocyte-mediated inflammation.
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- 2022
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26. Bioactive fractions from Securidaca inappendiculata alleviated collagen‐induced arthritis in rats by regulating metabolism‐related signaling
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Jian Zuo, Cong‐Lan Ji, Opeyemi Joshua Olatunji, Zhe Yang, Hui‐Fang Xu, Jun Han, and Jiyang Dong
- Subjects
energy metabolism ,inflammation ,rheumatoid arthritis ,xanthone ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Abstract Securidaca inappendiculata is a xanthone rich medicinal plant that has been used in the treatment of inflammation and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for centuries; however, the material base and mechanism of action responsible for its anti‐arthritis effect still remains elusive. The objective of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic effects of xanthone‐enriched extract of the plant against collagen‐induced arthritis (CIA) in rats and explore the underlying mechanisms. The xanthone‐deprived fraction (XDF) and xanthone‐rich fraction (XRF) were obtained by using a resin adsorption coupled with acid‐base treatment method, and their chemical composition difference was characterized by UPLC‐MS/MS analysis. Effects of the two on CIA were analyzed using radiographic, histological, and immunohistochemical analyses. The results indicated that XRF alleviated joint structures destructions with the higher efficacy than XDF, and decreased levels of TNF‐α, IL‐6, and anti‐cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody in CIA rats significantly. Furthermore, XRF inhibited nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (NAMPT) mediated fat biosynthesis and utilization indicated by clinical evidences and metabonomics analysis, which thereby disrupted energy‐metabolism feedback. In addition, Toll‐like Receptor 4 and High Mobility Group Protein 1 expressions were downregulated in XRF‐treated CIA rats. Collective evidences suggest NAMPT could be an ideal target for RA treatments and reveal a novel antirheumatic mechanism of S. inappendiculata by regulating NAMPT controlled fat metabolism.
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- 2020
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27. α-Mangostin Alleviated HIF-1α-Mediated Angiogenesis in Rats With Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis by Suppressing Aerobic Glycolysis
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Tian-Tian Jiang, Chao-Fan Ji, Xiu-Ping Cheng, Shao-Fei Gu, Rui Wang, Yan Li, Jian Zuo, and Jun Han
- Subjects
glycometabolism ,rheumatoid arthritis (RA) ,hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) ,metabolism reprogramming ,oxidative stress MAN suppressed glycolysis-related angiogenesis ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 - Abstract
A previously validated anti-rheumatic compound α-mangostin (MAN) shows significant metabolism regulatory effects. The current study aimed to clarify whether this property contributed to its inhibition on synovial angiogenesis. Male wistar rats with adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) were orally treated by MAN for 32 days. Afterwards, biochemical parameters and cytokines in plasma were determined by corresponding kits, and glycometabolism-related metabolites were further accurately quantified by LC-MS method. Anti-angiogenic effects of MAN were preliminarily assessed by joints based-immunohistochemical examination and matrigel plug assay. Obtained results were then validated by experiments in vitro. AIA-caused increase in circulating transforming growth factor beta, interleukin 6, hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in blood and local HIF-1α/VEGF expression in joints was abrogated by MAN treatment, and pannus formation within matrigel plugs implanted in AIA rats was inhibited too. Scratch and transwell assays revealed the inhibitory effects of MAN on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) migration. Furthermore, MAN inhibited tubule formation capability of HUVECs and growth potential of rat arterial ring-derived endothelial cells in vitro. Meanwhile, MAN eased oxidative stress, and altered glucose metabolism in vivo. Glycolysis-related metabolites including glucose 6-phosphate, fructose 6-phosphate, 3-phosphoglyceric acid and phosphoenolpyruvic acid in AIA rats were decreased by MAN, while the impaired pyruvate-synthesizing capability of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was recovered. Consistently, MAN restored lipopolysaccharide-elicited changes on levels of glucose and LDH in HUVECs culture system, and exerted similar effects with LDH inhibitor stiripentol on glycometabolism and VEGF production as well as tubule formation capability of HUVECs. These evidences show that MAN treatment inhibited aerobic glycolysis in AIA rats, which consequently eased inflammation-related hypoxia, and hampered pathological neovascularization.
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- 2021
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28. A Novel Method for the Enhancement of Composite Materials’ Terahertz Image Using Unsharp Masking and Guided Filtering Technology
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Zhilong Li, Jian Zuo, Yuanmeng Zhao, Zhongde Han, Zhihao Xu, Yunzhang Zhao, Chao Yang, Weidong Hu, and Cunlin Zhang
- Subjects
terahertz imaging ,image enhancement ,discrete wavelet ,hard threshold shrinkage denoising ,guided filtering ,unsharp masking ,Physics ,QC1-999 - Abstract
When terahertz imaging technology is used for the nondestructive testing of composite materials, the signal is often affected by the experimental environment and internal noise of the system, as well as the absorption and scattering effect of the tested materials. The obtained image has degradation phenomena such as low contrast, poor resolution of small targets and blurred details. In order to improve the image quality, this paper proposes a novel method for the enhancement of composite materials’ terahertz image by using unsharp masking and guided filtering technology. The method includes the processing steps of hard threshold shrinkage denoising based on discrete wavelet transform, amplitude imaging, unsharp masking, guided filtering, contrast stretching, and pseudo-color mapping. In this paper, these steps are reasonably combined and optimized to obtain the final resulting image. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a 150–220 GHz high frequency terahertz frequency modulated radar imaging system was used to image three commonly used sandwich structure composites, and the enhancement processing were carried out. The resulting images with significantly enhanced contrast, detail resolution and edge information were obtained, and the prefabricated defects were all detected; Five objective evaluation indexes including standard deviation, mean gradient, information entropy, energy gradient and local contrast were used to compare and analyze the processing results of different image enhancement methods. The subjective and objective evaluation results showed that the proposed method can effectively suppress the noise in terahertz detection signals, enhance the ability of defect detection and positioning, and improve the accuracy of detection. The proposed method in this paper is expected to play a positive role in improving the practicability of terahertz imaging detection technology and expanding its application fields.
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- 2021
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29. TUB and ZNF532 Promote the Atoh1-Mediated Hair Cell Regeneration in Mouse Cochleae
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Zhenhang Xu, Vikrant Rai, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
hearing loss ,hair cell ,regeneration ,transcription factors ,atoh1 ,Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry ,RC321-571 - Abstract
Hair cell (HC) regeneration is a promising therapy for permanent sensorineural hearing loss caused by HC loss in mammals. Atoh1 has been shown to convert supporting cells (SCs) to HCs in neonatal cochleae; its combinations with other factors can improve the efficiency of HC regeneration. To identify additional transcription factors for efficient Atoh1-mediated HC regeneration, here we optimized the electroporation procedure for explant culture of neonatal mouse organs of Corti and tested multiple transcription factors, Six2, Ikzf2, Lbh, Arid3b, Hmg20 a, Tub, Sall1, and Znf532, for their potential to promote Atoh1-mediated conversion of SCs to HCs. These transcription factors are expressed highly in HCs but differentially compared to the converted HCs based on previous studies, and are also potential co-reprograming factors for Atoh1-mediated SC-to-HC conversion by literature review. P0.5 cochlear explants were electroporated with these transcription factors alone or jointly with Atoh1. We found that Sox2+ progenitors concentrated within the lateral greater epithelial ridge (GER) can be electroporated efficiently with minimal HC damage. Atoh1 ectopic expression promoted HC regeneration in Sox2+ lateral GER cells. Transcription factors Tub and Znf532, but not the other six tested, promoted the HC regeneration mediated by Atoh1, consistent with previous studies that Isl1 promotes Atoh1-mediated HC conversionex vivo and in vivo and that both Tub and Znf532 are downstream targets of Isl1. Thus, our studies revealed an optimized electroporation method that can transfect the Sox2+ lateral GER cells efficiently with minimal damage to the endogenous HCs. Our results also demonstrate the importance of the Isl1/Tub/Znf532 pathway in promoting Atoh1-mediated HC regeneration.
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- 2021
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30. Energy Retrofitting Assessment of Public Building Envelopes in China’s Hot Summer and Cold Winter Climate Region
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Changchun Liu, Wenting Ma, Jianli Hao, Daiwei Luo, Jian Zuo, and Cheng Zhang
- Subjects
building energy retrofit ,energy efficiency design standard ,building envelope thermal property ,hot summer and cold winter ,building energy simulation ,Building construction ,TH1-9745 - Abstract
The retrofitting of existing public buildings to save energy and reduce carbon emissions is a priority for China’s building sector. Accordingly, the Chinese government requires all public buildings to be energy retrofitted based on the Design Standard for Energy Efficiency of Public Buildings GB50189-2015. However, few studies have been conducted to assess the energy efficiency of this design standard in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) climate region of China. The aim of this study was therefore to provide sensitivity analysis for the thermal properties of the envelope of a typical public building energy retrofit in China’s HSCW climate region. The results show that the thermal performance of the existing envelope of the sample building was very poor, with heating and cooling energy consumption 18.94% higher than the GB90189-2015 baseline model. It was found that better optimized parameters could reduce the heating and cooling energy load by 28.26% compared with the parameters of the sample building. The findings from this study provide valuable references for local governments and practitioners eager to improve the energy efficiency of existing public buildings in China’s HSCW region.
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- 2022
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31. Protocol for visualizing newly synthesized proteins in primary mouse hepatocytes
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Yuqian Shen, Wenhua Liu, Jian Zuo, Junhai Han, and Zi Chao Zhang
- Subjects
Cell culture ,Cell isolation ,Cell-based Assays ,Microscopy ,Gene Expression ,Molecular/Chemical Probes ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Summary: Selective identification of newly synthesized proteins is challenging because all proteins, both existing and nascent, have the same amino acid pool and are therefore chemically indistinguishable. L-homopropargylglycine is an amino acid analog of methionine containing an alkyne moiety that can undergo a classic click chemical reaction with azide containing Alexa Fluor. Here, we present an integrated tool based on immunofluorescence staining to accurately trace and localize the newly synthesized protein in isolated primary mouse hepatocytes.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Shen et al. (2021).
- Published
- 2021
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32. Cytokine Signature Associated With Disease Severity in COVID-19
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Jing Guo, Shuting Wang, He Xia, Ding Shi, Yu Chen, Shufa Zheng, Yanfei Chen, Hainv Gao, Feifei Guo, Zhongkang Ji, Chenjie Huang, Rui Luo, Yan Zhang, Jian Zuo, Yunbo Chen, Yan Xu, Jiafeng Xia, Chunxia Zhu, Xiaowei Xu, Yunqing Qiu, Jifang Sheng, Kaijin Xu, and Lanjuan Li
- Subjects
COVID-19 ,SARS-CoV-2 ,hypercytokinaemia ,biomarker ,disease severity ,Immunologic diseases. Allergy ,RC581-607 - Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) broke out and then became a global epidemic at the end of 2019. With the increasing number of deaths, early identification of disease severity and interpretation of pathogenesis are very important. Aiming to identify biomarkers for disease severity and progression of COVID-19, 75 COVID-19 patients, 34 healthy controls and 23 patients with pandemic influenza A(H1N1) were recruited in this study. Using liquid chip technology, 48 cytokines and chemokines were examined, among which 33 were significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients compared with healthy controls. HGF and IL-1β were strongly associated with APACHE II score in the first week after disease onset. IP-10, HGF and IL-10 were correlated positively with virus titers. Cytokines were significantly correlated with creatinine, troponin I, international normalized ratio and procalcitonin within two weeks after disease onset. Univariate analyses were carried out, and 6 cytokines including G-CSF, HGF, IL-10, IL-18, M-CSF and SCGF-β were found to be associated with the severity of COVID-19. 11 kinds of cytokines could predict the severity of COVID-19, among which IP-10 and M-CSF were excellent predictors for disease severity. In conclusion, the levels of cytokines in COVID-19 were significantly correlated with the severity of the disease in the early stage, and serum cytokines could be used as warning indicators of the severity and progression of COVID-19. Early stratification of disease and intervention to reduce hypercytokinaemia may improve the prognosis of COVID-19 patients.
- Published
- 2021
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33. α-Mangostin Alleviated Inflammation in Rats With Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis by Disrupting Adipocytes-Mediated Metabolism-Immune Feedback
- Author
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Ying-Hao Hu, Jun Han, Lin Wang, Chao Shi, Yan Li, Opeyemi Joshua Olatunji, Xiu Wang, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
macrophage ,rheumatoid arthritis ,PPAR-γ ,adjuvant- induced arthritis ,fat metabolism ,adipocytes ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 - Abstract
A previously identified anti-rheumatic compound α-mangostin (MAN) possesses notable metabolism regulatory properties. In this study, we investigated the immune implication of MAN-altered fat metabolism on adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) in rats. Seven days after AIA induction, the rats received oral treatment of MAN at 50 mg/kg/day for 30 days. Metabolic indicators and basic clinical parameters were evaluated using samples collected on day 20 and 38 since immunization. Expression of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), stearoyl-coa desaturase 1 (SCD-1), toll like receptor 4 (TLR4), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX-2), (p)-JNK, (p)-p65 and IL-1β were investigated by either RT-qPCR or immunobloting methods. In in vitro experiments, we treated (pre)-adipocytes with monocytes/macrophages and MAN, and investigated the changes of macrophages brought by pre-adipocytes co-culture. Generally, MAN restored the impaired fat anabolism in AIA rats, indicated by increased fat reservoir, leptin and adiponectin secretion, and PPAR-γ and SCD-1 expression. Meanwhile, it decreased circulating IL-1β and IL-6 levels, restored serological lipid profile changes, and relieved oxidative stresses, demonstrating potent therapeutic effects on AIA. AIA rats-derived monocytes inhibited mRNA PPAR-γ and SCD-1 expression in pre-adipocytes. Contrarily, MAN facilitated adipocyte differentiation in vitro, and increased free fatty acids production. It also significantly increased PPAR-γ and SCD-1 expression, which can be abrogated by PPAR-γ inhibitor T0070907. Similarly, lipopolysaccharide-primed macrophages inhibited PPAR-γ expression in the co-cultured pre-adipocytes, which was reversed by MAN. In the same co-culture system, lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation was amplified by the co-existence of pre-adipocytes. More secretion of IL-1β and IL-6 and higher levels expression of COX-2, p-JNK, p-p65 and TLR4 were observed in lipopolysaccharide-treated macrophages when co-cultured by pre-adipocytes. The intensified inflammatory situation was eased by MAN. The treatment with pre-adipocytes culture medium achieved similar effects. Medium from lipopolysaccharide-treated adipocytes promoted IL-1β, IL-6 and MCP-1 production in separately cultured macrophages, and COX-2, p-JNK, p-p65 and TLR4 expression were increased at the meantime. MAN treatment on pre-adipocytes impaired these changes. It suggests that fat anabolism in AIA rats was deficient due to increased energy expenditure caused by inflammatory conditions. MAN restored fat metabolism homeostasis by up-regulating PPAR-γ, and reshaped secretion profile of adipocytes.
- Published
- 2021
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34. Local Delivery of Therapeutics to the Cochlea Using Nanoparticles and Other Biomaterials
- Author
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Shreshtha Dash, Jian Zuo, and Peter S. Steyger
- Subjects
drug delivery ,blood–labyrinth barrier ,otoprotective therapeutics ,local delivery ,cochlea ,Medicine ,Pharmacy and materia medica ,RS1-441 - Abstract
Hearing loss negatively impacts the well-being of millions of people worldwide. Systemic delivery of ototherapeutics has limited efficacy due to severe systemic side effects and the presence of the blood–labyrinth barrier that selectively limits or enables transfer of molecules between plasma and inner ear tissues and fluids. Local drug delivery into the middle and inner ear would be preferable for many newly emerging classes of drugs. Although the cochlea is a challenging target for drug delivery, recent technologies could provide a safe and efficacious delivery of ototherapeutics. Local drug delivery routes include topical delivery via the external auditory meatus, retroauricular, transtympanic, and intracochlear delivery. Many new drug delivery systems specifically for the inner ear are under development or undergoing clinical studies. Future studies into these systems may provide a means for extended delivery of drugs to preserve or restore hearing in patients with hearing disorders. This review outlines the anatomy of the (inner) ear, describes the various local delivery systems and routes, and various quantification methodologies to determine the pharmacokinetics of the drugs in the inner ear.
- Published
- 2022
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35. A Zero-Brine Discharge Seawater Desalination Using a Pilot-Scale Membrane Distillation System Integrated with Crystallizer
- Author
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Jian Zuo, Chin Ann Chow, Ludovic F. Dumée, and Antony J. Prince
- Subjects
reverse osmosis ,brine management ,membrane distillation ,zero liquid discharge ,water recovery ,selective crystallization ,Chemical technology ,TP1-1185 ,Chemical engineering ,TP155-156 - Abstract
The management of brines generated from reverse osmosis operation remains a critical challenge requiring new approaches and processes to limit the impact of brine discharge onto ecosystems and to enhance both water and valuable resource recovery. The treatment of real seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brines (45,000 ppm TDS) obtained from a local Singaporean desalination plant with a crystallizer integrated pilot-scale membrane distillation unit (MDC) was studied. Commercial STOMATE® hollow fiber membranes were used in vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) configuration, leading to an average flux of around 3.7 L/m2-h at a permeate vacuum of 80 kPa and an average feed temperature of 65 °C. Consistent separation operations were achieved for the treatment of real SWRO brine over a period of 280 h; this led to a water recovery of >95% and to the collection of salt slurries, containing up to ~10–20 wt% of moisture, from the crystallizer. This approach demonstrates the potential of MDC systems to achieve zero brine discharge efficiently from seawater desalination systems, providing an environmentally friendly alternative to manage brines by increasing water recovery and generating salt slurries of economic value.
- Published
- 2022
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36. Application of Artificial Neural Networks in Construction Management: A Scientometric Review
- Author
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Hongyu Xu, Ruidong Chang, Min Pan, Huan Li, Shicheng Liu, Ronald J. Webber, Jian Zuo, and Na Dong
- Subjects
artificial neural network (ANN) ,construction management ,scientometric analysis ,future trends ,Building construction ,TH1-9745 - Abstract
As a powerful artificial intelligence tool, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been increasingly applied in the field of construction management (CM) during the last few decades. However, few papers have attempted to draw up a systematic commentary to appraise the state-of-the-art research on ANNs in CM except the one published in 2000. In the present study, a scientometric analysis was conducted to comprehensively analyze 112 related articles retrieved from seven selected authoritative journals published between 2000 and 2020. The analysis identified co-authorship networks, collaboration networks of countries/regions, co-occurrence networks of keywords, and timeline visualization of keywords, together with the strongest citation burst, the active research authors, countries/regions, and main research interests, as well as their evolution trends and collaborative relationships in the past 20 years. This paper finds that there is still a lack of systematic research and sufficient attention to the application of ANNs in CM. Furthermore, ANN applications still face many challenges such as data collection, cleaning and storage, the collaboration of different stakeholders, researchers and countries/regions, as well as the systematic design for the needed platforms. The findings are valuable to both the researchers and industry practitioners who are committed to ANNs in CM.
- Published
- 2022
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37. Prestin amplifies cardiac motor functions
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Xiao-Dong Zhang, Phung N. Thai, Lu Ren, Maria Cristina Perez Flores, Hannah A. Ledford, Seojin Park, Jeong Han Lee, Choong-Ryoul Sihn, Che-Wei Chang, Wei Chun Chen, Valeriy Timofeyev, Jian Zuo, James W. Chan, Ebenezer N. Yamoah, and Nipavan Chiamvimonvat
- Subjects
prestin ,Slc26a5 ,solute carrier gene family ,cardiomyocytes ,cardiac contraction ,actin-myosin force generation ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Summary: Cardiac cells generate and amplify force in the context of cardiac load, yet the membranous sheath enclosing the muscle fibers—the sarcolemma—does not experience displacement. That the sarcolemma sustains beat-to-beat pressure changes without experiencing significant distortion is a muscle-contraction paradox. Here, we report that an elastic element—the motor protein prestin (Slc26a5)—serves to amplify actin-myosin force generation in mouse and human cardiac myocytes, accounting partly for the nonlinear capacitance of cardiomyocytes. The functional significance of prestin is underpinned by significant alterations of cardiac contractility in Prestin-knockout mice. Prestin was previously considered exclusive to the inner ear’s outer hair cells; however, our results show that prestin serves a broader cellular motor function.
- Published
- 2021
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38. Long-term dynamic durability test datasets for single proton exchange membrane fuel cell
- Author
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Jian Zuo, Hong Lv, Daming Zhou, Qiong Xue, Liming Jin, Wei Zhou, Daijun Yang, and Cunman Zhang
- Subjects
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell ,Dynamic durability test ,Polarization test ,Degradation ,Prediction models ,Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics ,R858-859.7 ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
This dataset collects the long-term dynamic durability test data and the polarization characterization test data used in our research article [1]. The dynamic durability test and the polarization characterization test of a single proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are all performed on the Greenlight 20 test station. The European harmonized test protocol is adapted to construct the fuel cell dynamic load test cycle (FC-DLC) used in this work. The overall durability test is composed of 3076 FC-DLC cycles, around 1008 h. To access the degradation information of the test fuel cell, the polarization characterization tests are performed periodically during the durability test. In this work, the characterizations were performed at time: 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 h. During the test period, G20 test station records all measured data, includes the dynamic load durability test dataset and the polarization test dataset. The output voltage degradation trend as well as the polarization curves are plotted and described in this work. This dataset provides the possibilities to study the degradation phenomenon of fuel cell operating by dynamic load cycles, moreover, this dataset can be directly used to various prediction models build for fuel cells.
- Published
- 2021
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- View/download PDF
39. Novel Sandwich-Structured Hollow Fiber Membrane for High-Efficiency Membrane Distillation and Scale-Up for Pilot Validation
- Author
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Marn Soon Qua, Yan Zhao, Junyou Zhang, Sebastian Hernandez, Aung Thet Paing, Karikalan Mottaiyan, Jian Zuo, Adil Dhalla, Tai-Shung Chung, and Chakravarthy Gudipati
- Subjects
PVDF ,hollow fiber membranes ,vacuum membrane distillation ,flux ,liquid entry pressure ,wastewater treatment ,Chemical technology ,TP1-1185 ,Chemical engineering ,TP155-156 - Abstract
Hollow fiber membranes were produced from a commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer, Kynar HSV 900, with a unique sandwich structure consisting of two sponge-like layers connected to the outer and inner skin layers while the middle layer comprises macrovoids. The sponge-like layer allows the membrane to have good mechanical strength even at low skin thickness and favors water vapor transportation during vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). The middle layer with macrovoids helps to significantly reduce the trans-membrane resistance during water vapor transportation from the feed side to the permeate side. Together, these novel structural characteristics are expected to render the PVDF hollow fiber membranes more efficient in terms of vapor flux as well as mechanical integrity. Using the chemistry and process conditions adopted from previous work, we were able to scale up the membrane fabrication from a laboratory scale of 1.5 kg to a manufacturing scale of 50 kg with consistent membrane performance. The produced PVDF membrane, with a liquid entry pressure (LEPw) of >3 bar and a pure water flux of >30 L/m2·hr (LMH) under VMD conditions at 70–80 °C, is perfectly suitable for next-generation high-efficiency membranes for desalination and industrial wastewater applications. The technology translation efforts, including membrane and module scale-up as well as the preliminary pilot-scale validation study, are discussed in detail in this paper.
- Published
- 2022
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40. Fatty oil from Securidaca inappendiculata exerted therapeutic effects on adjuvant-induced arthritis in mice via suppression on fibroblast-like synoviocyte
- Author
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Hui Jiang, Cong-Lan Ji, Kui Yang, Wen Zhang, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Securidaca inappendiculata Hassk. (SI) is a medicinal plant used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in South China. A substantial amount of fatty oil was isolated from SI (SIF), however little knowledge about its chemical composition and medicinal potentials was obtained. In this study, we analyzed its chemical composition with methyl esterification based GC–MS method, and investigated the therapeutic potentials on adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) in mice. MTT and western-blot methods were employed to investigate its effects on proliferation rate and protein expressions in MH7A cells, respectively. It was revealed SIF was mainly comprised of saturated and monosaturated fatty acids, and the two predominant compounds were palmitic acid (36.89%) and oleic acid (31.12%). Treatment with SIF at 100 mg/kg resulted in significant alleviation of AA severity in mice, together with reduced synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory infiltration in joints, and decreased levels of sialic acid, malondialdehyde and alkaline phosphatase in serum. Results from immunohistochemical assays hinted the protective effects of SIF on joints were associated to the inhibition on production of some pathological factors in synovium, including IL-1β, TNF-α and MMP-9. SIF inhibited the proliferation of MH7A cells in a concentration dependent manner, and abrogated phosphorylation of p65 in vitro. These evidences collectively suggested SIF could suppress the pathological functions of fibroblast-like synoviocyte, and protect joints from destruction under AA conditions. Keywords: GC-MS, Chemical composition, Rheumatoid arthritis, MH7A cells
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- 2018
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41. Characterization of quinoxaline derivatives for protection against iatrogenically induced hearing loss
- Author
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Marisa Zallocchi, Santanu Hati, Zhenhang Xu, William Hausman, Huizhan Liu, David Z. He, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
Neuroscience ,Therapeutics ,Medicine - Abstract
Hair cell loss is the leading cause of hearing and balance disorders in humans. It can be caused by many factors, including noise, aging, and therapeutic agents. Previous studies have shown the therapeutic potential of quinoxaline against drug-induced ototoxicity. Here, we screened a library of 68 quinoxaline derivatives for protection against aminoglycoside-induced damage of hair cells from the zebrafish lateral line. We identified quinoxaline-5-carboxylic acid (Qx28) as the best quinoxaline derivative that provides robust protection against both aminoglycosides and cisplatin in zebrafish and mouse cochlear explants. FM1-43 and aminoglycoside uptake, as well as antibiotic efficacy studies, revealed that Qx28 is neither blocking the mechanotransduction channels nor interfering with aminoglycoside antibacterial activity, suggesting that it may be protecting the hair cells by directly counteracting the ototoxin’s mechanism of action. Only when animals were incubated with higher doses of Qx28 did we observe a partial blockage of the mechanotransduction channels. Finally, we assessed the regulation of the NF-κB pathway in vitro in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and in vivo in zebrafish larvae. Those studies showed that Qx28 protects hair cells by blocking NF-κB canonical pathway activation. Thus, Qx28 is a promising and versatile otoprotectant that can act across different species and toxins.
- Published
- 2021
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42. Recent advances of thin film composite membranes for pervaporation applications: A comprehensive review
- Author
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Tengyang Zhu, Qing Xia, Jian Zuo, Shutong Liu, Xi Yu, and Yan Wang
- Subjects
Thin film composite membrane ,Pervaporation ,Liquid-liquid separation ,Desalination ,Chemical engineering ,TP155-156 ,Technology - Abstract
Thin film composite (TFC) membrane, composed of an ultrathin selective layer and a microporous support layer, has exhibited its great potential for pervaporation applications, because of the high permeability, facile fabrication, and individual optimization of the support and selective layers. In this review paper, we summarize the research progress of TFC membranes in pervaporation applications detailly. Herein, pervaporation fundamentals are briefed, including performance parameters and transport mechanisms involved in liquid-liquid separation and pervaporation desalination. The fabrication methods of support and selective layers, i.e., non-solvent induced phase inversion and electrospunning for the former, as well as interfacial polymerization and layer by layer assembly for the latter are elaborated respectively. Furthermore, the optimization strategies of support and selective layers are also summarized, including material section, filler incorporation, membrane-forming condition, co-solvent assistance, and surface modification. Subsequently, the performance status of TFC membranes is analyzed for various applications, including organic dehydration, organic recovery, and desalination. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives are also presented. We hope that this review can give researchers some guidance for the design and further development of TFC membrane in pervaporation processes.
- Published
- 2021
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43. Research Status and Challenges of Data-Driven Construction Project Management in the Big Data Context
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Yao Huang, Qian Shi, Jian Zuo, Feniosky Pena-Mora, and Jindao Chen
- Subjects
Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) ,TA1-2040 - Abstract
The construction industry is facing a data tsunami, while emerging information technologies (IT) show great potential for the effective processing of these data or information. However, a comprehensive review for technological change, the resulting process, and organizational changes in the Big Data context, especially from the angle of whole lifecycle of construction project, is lacking. To fill the void, related works published in the databases of Web of Science, Science Direct, and American Society of Civil Engineers library are systematically reviewed. The general trend in emerging IT application in terms of construction project management (CPM) phases, technology and application, and research topics are revealed. Following this analysis, the particularized proposals in relation to each of the main topics within CPM is discussed. Furthermore, according to the advances and limitations of the current literature, corresponding future agendas such as the implementation of comprehensive data-driven CPM scenario are proposed to bridge the gaps between theoretical research and practical demands.
- Published
- 2021
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44. Time Series Visualization and Forecasting from Australian Building and Construction Statistics
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Wei Emma Zhang, Ruidong Chang, Minhao Zhu, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
Australian Bureau of Statistics ,building and construction ,time series data analysis ,Technology ,Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) ,TA1-2040 ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 ,Physics ,QC1-999 ,Chemistry ,QD1-999 - Abstract
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) regularly releases statistical information, for the whole of Australia, for public access. Building- and construction-related statistics are important to reflect the status of this pillar industry of Australia and help researchers, practitioners, and investors with decision-making. Due to complex retrieval hierarchy of ABS’s website and irregular update frequency, it is usually time-consuming to find relevant information. Moreover, browsing the raw data from ABS’s webpages could not provide the insights to the future. In this work, we applied techniques from computer science to help users in the building and construction domain to better explore the ABS statistics and forecast the future trends. Specifically, we built an integrated Web application that could help collect, sort, and visualize the ABS statistics in a user-friendly and customized way. Our Web application is publicly accessible. We further injected our insights into the Web application, based on the existing data by providing online forecasting on user’s interested information. To achieve this, we identified a series of related economic factors as features and adjusted a multi-variant, LSTM-based time series forecasting model by considering the most informative factors. We also compared our approach with the most widely used SARIMA-based forecasting model to show the effectiveness of the deep learning-based models. The forecast values are depicted at the end of the time series plots, selected by the users.
- Published
- 2022
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45. The Thermal Environment of Housing and Its Implications for the Health of Older People in South Australia: A Mixed-Methods Study
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Alana Hansen, Terence Williamson, Dino Pisaniello, Helen Bennetts, Joost van Hoof, Larissa Arakawa Martins, Renuka Visvanathan, Jian Zuo, and Veronica Soebarto
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health and wellbeing ,older people ,housing ,thermal comfort ,indoor temperature ,Australia ,Meteorology. Climatology ,QC851-999 - Abstract
Older people are often over-represented in morbidity and mortality statistics associated with hot and cold weather, despite remaining mostly indoors. The study “Improving thermal environment of housing for older Australians” focused on assessing the relationships between the indoor environment, building characteristics, thermal comfort and perceived health/wellbeing of older South Australians over a study period that included the warmest summer on record. Our findings showed that indoor temperatures in some of the houses reached above 35 °C. With concerns about energy costs, occupants often use adaptive behaviours to achieve thermal comfort instead of using cooling (or heating), although feeling less satisfied with the thermal environment and perceiving health/wellbeing to worsen at above 28 °C (and below 15 °C). Symptoms experienced during hot weather included tiredness, shortness of breath, sleeplessness and dizziness, with coughs and colds, painful joints, shortness of breath and influenza experienced during cold weather. To express the influence of temperature and humidity on perceived health/wellbeing, a Temperature Humidity Health Index (THHI) was developed for this cohort. A health/wellbeing perception of “very good” is achieved between an 18.4 °C and 24.3 °C indoor operative temperature and a 55% relative humidity. The evidence from this research is used to inform guidelines about maintaining home environments to be conducive to the health/wellbeing of older people.
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- 2022
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46. Aldh inhibitor restores auditory function in a mouse model of human deafness.
- Author
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Guang-Jie Zhu, Sihao Gong, Deng-Bin Ma, Tao Tao, Wei-Qi He, Linqing Zhang, Fang Wang, Xiao-Yun Qian, Han Zhou, Chi Fan, Pei Wang, Xin Chen, Wei Zhao, Jie Sun, Huaqun Chen, Ye Wang, Xiang Gao, Jian Zuo, Min-Sheng Zhu, Xia Gao, and Guoqiang Wan
- Subjects
Genetics ,QH426-470 - Abstract
Genetic hearing loss is a common health problem with no effective therapy currently available. DFNA15, caused by mutations of the transcription factor POU4F3, is one of the most common forms of autosomal dominant non-syndromic deafness. In this study, we established a novel mouse model of the human DFNA15 deafness, with a Pou4f3 gene mutation (Pou4f3Δ) identical to that found in a familial case of DFNA15. The Pou4f3(Δ/+) mice suffered progressive deafness in a similar manner to the DFNA15 patients. Hair cells in the Pou4f3(Δ/+) cochlea displayed significant stereociliary and mitochondrial pathologies, with apparent loss of outer hair cells. Progression of hearing and outer hair cell loss of the Pou4f3(Δ/+) mice was significantly modified by other genetic and environmental factors. Using Pou4f3(-/+) heterozygous knockout mice, we also showed that DFNA15 is likely caused by haploinsufficiency of the Pou4f3 gene. Importantly, inhibition of retinoic acid signaling by the aldehyde dehydrogenase (Aldh) and retinoic acid receptor inhibitors promoted Pou4f3 expression in the cochlear tissue and suppressed the progression of hearing loss in the mutant mice. These data demonstrate Pou4f3 haploinsufficiency as the main underlying cause of human DFNA15 deafness and highlight the therapeutic potential of Aldh inhibitors for treatment of progressive hearing loss.
- Published
- 2020
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47. Analysis of the Influence of Renewable Generator Frequency Endurance Capability on Low-Frequency Load Shedding: A Hunan Case Study
- Author
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Yang-Wu Shen, Ding Wang, Hao Chen, Jian Zuo, Min Xu, and Wei Cao
- Subjects
Electronic computers. Computer science ,QA75.5-76.95 - Abstract
With the rapid development of renewable generators such as distributed photovoltaic and profound changes of the power structure, this paper analyzes the frequency characteristics of the power system with high penetration of renewable generations in the process of low-frequency load shedding and discusses the influence of the distributed renewable generator frequency endurance capabilities on the implementation effect of low-frequency load shedding in detail. Finally, the influences of the distributed renewable generator frequency endurance capability and the capacities of the distributed renewable generator on frequency response characteristics of an actual Hunan power grid are simulated. The simulation results show that more distributed photovoltaic capacity without frequency endurance capability leads to deeper frequency drops after the disturbance and requires more basic rounds of load shedding. When the penetration rate of distributed photovoltaic is too high, it may cause load shedding, resulting in power grid load losses and, at the same time, leading to an overshoot phenomenon in the process of frequency recovery. Therefore, the influence of distributed photovoltaic on the control of low-frequency load shedding should be considered when designing low-frequency load shedding schemes for the power grid with high penetration of distributed photovoltaic.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. Mangosteen ethanol extract alleviated the severity of collagen-induced arthritis in rats and produced synergistic effects with methotrexate
- Author
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Jian Zuo, Qin Yin, Lin Wang, Wen Zhang, Yan Fan, Yu-Yan Zhou, Yan Li, and Guo-Dong Wang
- Subjects
rheumatoid arthritis ,α- mangostin ,t cells ,disease modifying antirheumatic drug ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 - Abstract
Context: Garcinia mangostana Linn. (Guttiferae) pericarp is used as a traditional medicine in South Asia to treat inflammatory diseases. Objective: This study investigates therapeutic effects of G. mangostana pericarp ethanol extract (MAN) on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and interactions with methotrexate in vivo. Materials and methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats with CIA were treated with MAN (0.5 g/kg/day), methotrexate (0.5 mg/kg, bw) or combination of both for 36 days, respectively (n = 8/group). Another eight healthy and CIA rats served as normal and model control, respectively. Therapeutic effects were evaluated based on paw edema and arthritis score during the experiment and serological markers at the end of the study period. Histological and radiological examinations were used to assess joint destructions. The immune status was investigated by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Results: All treatments decreased the arthritis score and paw inflammation in CIA rats. Combination regimen significantly reduced anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody in CIA rats to 85.83% (p
- Published
- 2018
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49. Molecular Pathways Modulating Sensory Hair Cell Regeneration in Adult Mammalian Cochleae: Progress and Perspectives
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Vikrant Rai, Shu Tu, Joseph R. Frank, and Jian Zuo
- Subjects
hair cells ,adult cochlea ,regeneration ,transcription factor ,bioinformatics ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 ,Chemistry ,QD1-999 - Abstract
Noise-induced, drug-related, and age-related disabling hearing loss is a major public health problem and affect approximately 466 million people worldwide. In non-mammalian vertebrates, the death of sensory hair cells (HCs) induces the proliferation and transdifferentiation of adjacent supporting cells into new HCs; however, this capacity is lost in juvenile and adult mammalian cochleae leading to permanent hearing loss. At present, cochlear implants and hearing devices are the only available treatments and can help patients to a certain extent; however, no biological approach or FDA-approved drug is effective to treat disabling hearing loss and restore hearing. Recently, regeneration of mammalian cochlear HCs by modulating molecular pathways or transcription factors has offered some promising results, although the immaturity of the regenerated HCs remains the biggest concern. Furthermore, most of the research done is in neonates and not in adults. This review focuses on critically summarizing the studies done in adult mammalian cochleae and discusses various strategies to elucidate novel transcription factors for better therapeutics.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Layer-Resolving Terahertz Light-Field Imaging Based on Angular Intensity Filtering Method
- Author
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Nanfang Lyu, Jian Zuo, Yuanmeng Zhao, and Cunlin Zhang
- Subjects
computational imaging ,light field imaging ,non-destructive evaluation ,terahertz imaging ,Chemical technology ,TP1-1185 - Abstract
Terahertz focal plane array imaging methods, direct camera imaging and conventional light field imaging methods are incapable of resolving and separating layers of multilayer objects. In this paper, for the purpose of fast, high-resolution and layer-resolving imaging of multilayer structures with different reflection characteristics, a novel angular intensity filtering (AIF) method based on terahertz light-field imaging is purposed. The method utilizes the extra dimensional information from the 4D light field and the reflection characteristics of the imaging object, and the method is capable to resolve and reconstruct layers individually. The feasibility of the method is validated by experiment on both “idealized” and “practical” multilayer samples, and the advantages in performance of the method are proven by quantitative comparison with conventional methods.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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