Displaying publications 21 - 36 of 36 in total

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  1. Lin XF, Wong SY, Zhou W, Shen W, Li W, Tsai CC
    Int J Sci Math Educ, 2023 May 04.
    PMID: 37363784 DOI: 10.1007/s10763-023-10376-9
    Research evidence indicated that a specific type of augmented reality-assisted (AR-assisted) science learning design or support might not suit or be effective for all students because students' cognitive load might differ according to their experiences and individual characteristics. Thus, this study aimed to identify undergraduate students' profiles of cognitive load in AR-assisted science learning and to examine the role of their distinct profiles in self-efficacy together with associated behavior patterns in science learning. After ensuring the validity and reliability of each measure, a latent profile analysis confirmed that 365 Chinese undergraduates carried diverse dimensions of cognitive load simultaneously. The latent profile analysis findings revealed four fundamental profiles: Low Engagement, Immersive, Dabbling, and Organized, characterized as carrying various respective cognitive loads. The multivariate analysis of variance findings revealed different levels of the six AR science learning self-efficacy dimensions across profiles. Low Engagement students displayed the lowest self-efficacy among all dimensions. Organized students recorded better conceptual understanding and higher-order cognitive skills than Dabbling ones. Students with the Immersive profile had the highest science learning self-efficacy. The lag sequential analysis results showed significant differences in behavior patterns among profiles. Among them, profiles with social interaction, test, and reviewing feedback behavior had a significantly higher score for self-efficacy than those patterns mainly based on test learning and resource visits. This finding provides a unified consideration of students' diverse profiles and can inform interventions for effective design of AR-assisted science learning to match appropriate strategies to facilitate the science learning effect.
  2. Yu J, Zhong Y, Wu X, Sunarso J, Ni M, Zhou W, et al.
    Adv Sci (Weinh), 2018 Sep;5(9):1800514.
    PMID: 30250794 DOI: 10.1002/advs.201800514
    Hydrogen production from renewable electricity relies upon the development of an efficient alkaline water electrolysis device and, ultimately, upon the availability of low cost and stable electrocatalysts that can promote oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Normally, different electrocatalysts are applied for HER and OER because of their different reaction intermediates and mechanisms. Here, the synthesis of a heterostructured CoP@a-CoOx plate, which constitutes the embedded crystalline cobalt phosphide (CoP) nanoclusters and amorphous cobalt oxides (CoOx) nanoplates matrix, via a combined solvothermal and low temperature phosphidation route is reported. Due to the presence of synergistic effect between CoP nanoclusters and amorphous CoOx nanoplates in the catalyst, created from the strong nanointerfaces electronic interactions between CoP and CoOx phases in its heterostructure, this composite displays very high OER activity in addition to favorable HER activity that is comparable to the performance of the IrO2 OER benchmark and approached that of the Pt/C HER benchmark. More importantly, an efficient and stable alkaline water electrolysis operation is achieved using CoP@a-CoOx plate as both cathode and anode as evidenced by the obtainment of a relatively low potential of 1.660 V at a 10 mA cm-2 current density and its marginal increase above 1.660 V over 30 h continuous operation.
  3. Zhang Y, Ren H, Li B, Udin SM, Maarof H, Zhou W, et al.
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2023 Jul 01;242(Pt 2):124829.
    PMID: 37210053 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124829
    Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) composed by amino acids (L-arginine, L-proline, L-alanine) as the hydrogen bond acceptors (HBAs) and carboxylic acids (formic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, levulinic acid) as hydrogen bond donors (HBDs) were prepared and used for the dissolution of dealkaline lignin (DAL). The mechanism of lignin dissolution in DESs was explored at molecular level by combining the analysis of Kamlet-Taft (K-T) solvatochromic parameters, FTIR spectrum and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of DESs. Firstly, it was found that the formation of new hydrogen bonds between lignin and DESs mainly drove the dissolution of lignin, which were accompanied by the erosion of hydrogen bond networks in both lignin and DESs. The nature of hydrogen bond network within DESs was fundamentally determined by the type and number of functional groups in both HBA and HBD, which affected its ability to form hydrogen bond with lignin. One hydroxyl group and carboxyl group in HBDs provided active protons, which facilitated proton-catalyzed cleavage of β-O-4, thus enhancing the dissolution of DESs. The superfluous functional group resulted in more extensive and stronger hydrogen bond network in the DESs, thus decreasing the lignin dissolving ability. Moreover, it was found that lignin solubility had a closed positive correlation with the subtraction value of α and β (net hydrogen donating ability) of DESs. Among all the investigated DESs, L-alanine/formic acid (1:3) with the strong hydrogen-bond donating ability (acidity), weak hydrogen-bond accepting ability (basicity) and small steric-hindrance effect showed the best lignin dissolving ability (23.99 wt%, 60 °C). On top of that, the value of α and β of L-proline/carboxylic acids DESs showed some positive correlation with the global electrostatic potential (ESP) maxima and minima of the corresponding DESs respectively, indicating the analysis of ESP quantitative distributions of DESs could be an effective tool for DESs screening and design for lignin dissolution as well as other applications.
  4. Altharan YM, Shamsudin S, Lajis MA, Al-Alimi S, Yusuf NK, Alduais NAM, et al.
    PLoS One, 2024;19(3):e0300504.
    PMID: 38484005 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300504
    Direct recycling of aluminum waste is crucial in sustainable manufacturing to mitigate environmental impact and conserve resources. This work was carried out to study the application of hot press forging (HPF) in recycling AA6061 aluminum chip waste, aiming to optimize operating factors using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Genetic algorithm (GA) strategy to maximize the strength of recycled parts. The experimental runs were designed using Full factorial and RSM via Minitab 21 software. RSM-ANN models were employed to examine the effect of factors and their interactions on response and to predict output, while GA-RSM and GA-ANN were used for optimization. The chips of different morphology were cold compressed into billet form and then hot forged. The effect of varying forging temperature (Tp, 450-550°C), holding time (HT, 60-120 minutes), and chip surface area to volume ratio (AS:V, 15.4-52.6 mm2/mm3) on ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was examined. Maximum UTS (237.4 MPa) was achieved at 550°C, 120 minutes and 15.4 mm2/mm3 of chip's AS: V. The Tp had the largest contributing effect ratio on the UTS, followed by HT and AS:V according to ANOVA analysis. The proposed optimization process suggested 550°C, 60 minutes, and 15.4 mm2 as the optimal condition yielding the maximum UTS. The developed models' evaluation results showed that ANN (with MSE = 1.48%) outperformed RSM model. Overall, the study promotes sustainable production by demonstrating the potential of integrating RSM and ML to optimize complex manufacturing processes and improve product quality.
  5. Wang X, Chen B, Bhullar KS, Yang H, Luo X, Fu J, et al.
    Antioxidants (Basel), 2024 Jul 23;13(8).
    PMID: 39199134 DOI: 10.3390/antiox13080888
    Sixteen novel antioxidant peptides from Asian swamp eel (ASE) were identified in previous studies. However, their chemical and cellular antioxidant mechanisms remain unclear. Molecular docking of these peptides with ABTS and DPPH radicals revealed the critical role of hydrogen bonding and Pi-Pi stacking hydrophobic interactions between hydrophobic amino acid residues and free radicals. Residues, such as tryptophan, proline, leucine, and valine, played significant roles in these interactions. All these peptides exhibited notable erythrocyte morphoprotective effects in a model of AAPH-induced oxidative damage of human erythrocytes. Erythrocyte hemolysis was reduced primarily through the modulation of both non-enzymatic (GSH/GSSG) and enzymatic antioxidant systems (SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px) by these peptides. A decrease in levels of MDA, LDH release, and hemoglobin oxidation was observed. Among the peptides, VLYPW demonstrated superior chemical and cellular antioxidant activities, which may be attributed to its higher levels of tyrosine and tryptophan, as well as to its increased hydrophobic amino acid content.
  6. Xiao Y, Zhang S, Dai N, Fei G, Goh KL, Chun HJ, et al.
    Gut, 2020 02;69(2):224-230.
    PMID: 31409606 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2019-318365
    OBJECTIVE: To establish the non-inferior efficacy of vonoprazan versus lansoprazole in the treatment of Asian patients with erosive oesophagitis (EO).

    DESIGN: In this phase III, double-blind, multicentre study, patients with endoscopically confirmed EO were randomised 1:1 to receive vonoprazan 20 mg or lansoprazole 30 mg, once daily for up to 8 weeks. The primary endpoint was EO healing rate at 8 weeks. The secondary endpoints were EO healing rates at 2 and 4 weeks. Safety endpoints included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs).

    RESULTS: In the vonoprazan (n=238) and lansoprazole (n=230) arms, 8-week EO healing rates were 92.4% and 91.3%, respectively (difference 1.1% (95% CI -3.822% to 6.087%)). The respective 2-week EO healing rates were 75.0% and 67.8% (difference 7.2% (95% CI -1.054% to 15.371%)), and the respective 4-week EO healing rates were 85.3% and 83.5% (difference 1.8% (95% CI -4.763% to 8.395%)). In patients with baseline Los Angeles classification grade C/D, 2-week, 4-week and 8-week EO healing rates were higher with vonoprazan versus lansoprazole (2 weeks: 62.2% vs 51.5%, difference 10.6% (95% CI -5.708% to 27.002%); 4 weeks: 73.3% vs 67.2%, difference 6.2% (95% CI -8.884 to 21.223); and 8 weeks: 84.0% vs 80.6%, difference 3.4% (95% CI -9.187% to 15.993%)). Overall, EO healing rates appeared higher with vonoprazan versus lansoprazole. TEAE rates were 38.1% and 36.6% in the vonoprazan and lansoprazole group, respectively.

    CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate the non-inferior efficacy of vonoprazan versus lansoprazole in terms of EO healing rate at 8 weeks in this population. Safety outcomes were similar in the two treatment arms.

    TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02388724.

  7. Hu T, Qiu W, He B, Zhang Y, Yu J, Liang X, et al.
    BMC Microbiol, 2014;14:293.
    PMID: 25433675 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-014-0293-4
    In recent years novel human respiratory disease agents have been described for Southeast Asia and Australia. The causative pathogens were classified as pteropine orthoreoviruses with a strong phylogenetic relationship to orthoreoviruses of bat origin.
  8. Hu T, Zheng Y, Zhang Y, Li G, Qiu W, Yu J, et al.
    BMC Microbiol, 2012;12:305.
    PMID: 23268691 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-12-305
    The identification of new virus strains is important for the study of infectious disease, but current (or existing) molecular biology methods are limited since the target sequence must be known to design genome-specific PCR primers. Thus, we developed a new method for the discovery of unknown viruses based on the cDNA--random amplified polymorphic DNA (cDNA-RAPD) technique. Getah virus, belonging to the family Togaviridae in the genus Alphavirus, is a mosquito-borne enveloped RNA virus that was identified using the Virus-Discovery-cDNA RAPD (VIDISCR) method.
  9. Pagliuca S, Gurnari C, Hercus C, Hergalant S, Nadarajah N, Wahida A, et al.
    Leukemia, 2023 Jan;37(1):202-211.
    PMID: 36253429 DOI: 10.1038/s41375-022-01723-w
    Idiopathic aplastic anemia (IAA) pathophysiology is dominated by autoreactivity of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-restricted T-cells against antigens presented by hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Expansion of PIGA and HLA class I mutant HSPCs have been linked to immune evasion from T-cell mediated pressures. We hypothesized that in analogy with antitumor immunity, the pathophysiological cascade of immune escape in IAA is initiated by immunoediting pressures and culminates with mechanisms of clonal evolution characterized by hits in immune recognition and response genes. To that end, we studied the genetic and transcriptomic make-up of the antigen presentation complexes in a large cohort of patients with IAA and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) by using single-cell RNA, high throughput DNA sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-array platforms. At disease onset, HSPCs displayed activation of selected HLA class I and II-restricted mechanisms, without extensive inhibition of immune checkpoint apparatus. Using a newly implemented bioinformatic framework we found that not only class I but also class II genes were often impaired by acquisition of genetic aberrations. We also demonstrated the presence of novel somatic alterations in immune genes possibly contributing to the evasion from the autoimmune T-cells. In contrast, these hits were absent in myeloid neoplasia. These aberrations were not mutually exclusive with PNH and did not correlate with the accumulation of myeloid-driver hits. Our findings shed light on the mechanisms of immune activation and escape in IAA and define alternative modes of clonal hematopoiesis.
  10. Pfister NT, Fomin V, Regunath K, Zhou JY, Zhou W, Silwal-Pandit L, et al.
    Genes Dev., 2015 Jun 15;29(12):1298-315.
    PMID: 26080815 DOI: 10.1101/gad.263202.115
    Mutant p53 impacts the expression of numerous genes at the level of transcription to mediate oncogenesis. We identified vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), the primary functional VEGF receptor that mediates endothelial cell vascularization, as a mutant p53 transcriptional target in multiple breast cancer cell lines. Up-regulation of VEGFR2 mediates the role of mutant p53 in increasing cellular growth in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) culture conditions. Mutant p53 binds near the VEGFR2 promoter transcriptional start site and plays a role in maintaining an open conformation at that location. Relatedly, mutant p53 interacts with the SWI/SNF complex, which is required for remodeling the VEGFR2 promoter. By both querying individual genes regulated by mutant p53 and performing RNA sequencing, the results indicate that >40% of all mutant p53-regulated gene expression is mediated by SWI/SNF. We surmise that mutant p53 impacts transcription of VEGFR2 as well as myriad other genes by promoter remodeling through interaction with and likely regulation of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex. Therefore, not only might mutant p53-expressing tumors be susceptible to anti VEGF therapies, impacting SWI/SNF tumor suppressor function in mutant p53 tumors may also have therapeutic potential.
  11. Jani P, Mishra U, Buchmayer J, Walker K, Gözen D, Maheshwari R, et al.
    Pediatr Res, 2023 May;93(6):1701-1709.
    PMID: 36075989 DOI: 10.1038/s41390-022-02297-0
    BACKGROUND: Are thermoregulation and golden hour practices in extremely preterm (EP) infants comparable across the world? This study aims to describe these practices for EP infants based on the neonatal intensive care unit's (NICUs) geographic region, country's income status and the lowest gestational age (GA) of infants resuscitated.

    METHODS: The Director of each NICU was requested to complete the e-questionnaire between February 2019 and August 2021.

    RESULTS: We received 848 responses, from all geographic regions and resource settings. Variations in most thermoregulation and golden hour practices were observed. Using a polyethylene plastic wrap, commencing humidity within 60 min of admission, and having local protocols were the most consistent practices (>75%). The odds for the following practices differed in NICUs resuscitating infants from 22 to 23 weeks GA compared to those resuscitating from 24 to 25 weeks: respiratory support during resuscitation and transport, use of polyethylene plastic wrap and servo-control mode, commencing ambient humidity >80% and presence of local protocols.

    CONCLUSION: Evidence-based practices on thermoregulation and golden hour stabilisation differed based on the unit's region, country's income status and the lowest GA of infants resuscitated. Future efforts should address reducing variation in practice and aligning practices with international guidelines.

    IMPACT: A wide variation in thermoregulation and golden hour practices exists depending on the income status, geographic region and lowest gestation age of infants resuscitated. Using a polyethylene plastic wrap, commencing humidity within 60 min of admission and having local protocols were the most consistent practices. This study provides a comprehensive description of thermoregulation and golden hour practices to allow a global comparison in the delivery of best evidence-based practice. The findings of this survey highlight a need for reducing variation in practice and aligning practices with international guidelines for a comparable health care delivery.

  12. Peters R, Li B, Swinburn B, Allender S, He Z, Lim SY, et al.
    Bull World Health Organ, 2023 Nov 01;101(11):690-706F.
    PMID: 37961057 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.23.289973
    OBJECTIVE: To identify and analyse ongoing nutrition-related surveillance programmes led and/or funded by national authorities in countries in South-East Asian and Western Pacific Regions.

    METHODS: We systematically searched for publications in PubMed® and Scopus, manually searched the grey literature and consulted with national health and nutrition officials, with no restrictions on publication type or language. We included low- and middle-income countries in the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China. We analysed the included programmes by adapting the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public health surveillance evaluation framework.

    FINDINGS: We identified 82 surveillance programmes in 18 countries that repeatedly collect, analyse and disseminate data on nutrition and/or related indicators. Seventeen countries implemented a national periodic survey that exclusively collects nutrition-outcome indicators, often alongside internationally linked survey programmes. Coverage of different subpopulations and monitoring frequency vary substantially across countries. We found limited integration of food environment and wider food system indicators in these programmes, and no programmes specifically monitor nutrition-sensitive data across the food system. There is also limited nutrition-related surveillance of people living in urban deprived areas. Most surveillance programmes are digitized, use measures to ensure high data quality and report evidence of flexibility; however, many are inconsistently implemented and rely on external agencies' financial support.

    CONCLUSION: Efforts to improve the time efficiency, scope and stability of national nutrition surveillance, and integration with other sectoral data, should be encouraged and supported to allow systemic monitoring and evaluation of malnutrition interventions in these countries.

  13. Al-Alimi S, Yusuf NK, Ghaleb AM, Adam A, Lajis MA, Shamsudin S, et al.
    Heliyon, 2024 Jun 30;10(12):e33138.
    PMID: 38984305 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33138
    The optimal conditions of applied factors to reuse Aluminium AA6061 scraps are (450, 500, and 550) ⁰C preheating temperature, (1-15) % Boron Carbide (B4C), and Zirconium (ZrO2) hybrid reinforced particles at 120 min forging time via Hot Forging (HF) process. The response surface methodology (RSM) and machine learning (ML) were established for the optimisations and comparisons towards materials strength structure. The Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) strength and Microhardness (MH) were significantly increased by increasing the processed temperature and reinforced particles because of the material dispersion strengthening. The high melting point of particles caused impedance movements of aluminium ceramics dislocations which need higher plastic deformation force and hence increased the material's mechanical and physical properties. But, beyond Al/10 % B4C + 10 % ZrO2 the strength and hardness were decreased due to more particle agglomeration distribution. The optimisation tools of both RSM and ML show high agreement between the reported results of applied parameters towards the materials' strength characterisation. The microstructure analysis of Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) provides insights mapping behavioural characterisation supports related to strength and hardness properties. The distribution of different volumes of ceramic particle proportion was highlighted. The environmental impacts were also analysed by employing a life cycle assessment (LCA) to identify energy savings because of its fewer processing steps and produce excellent hybrid materials properties.
  14. Zheng X, Ratnasekera D, Fan J, Henry RJ, Song BK, Olsen KM, et al.
    Mol Plant, 2024 Apr 01;17(4):516-518.
    PMID: 38444157 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2024.03.001
  15. Shang X, Peng Z, Ye Y, Asan, Zhang X, Chen Y, et al.
    EBioMedicine, 2017 Sep;23:150-159.
    PMID: 28865746 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2017.08.015
    Hemoglobinopathies are among the most common autosomal-recessive disorders worldwide. A comprehensive next-generation sequencing (NGS) test would greatly facilitate screening and diagnosis of these disorders. An NGS panel targeting the coding regions of hemoglobin genes and four modifier genes was designed. We validated the assay by using 2522 subjects affected with hemoglobinopathies and applied it to carrier testing in a cohort of 10,111 couples who were also screened through traditional methods. In the clinical genotyping analysis of 1182 β-thalassemia subjects, we identified a group of additional variants that can be used for accurate diagnosis. In the molecular screening analysis of the 10,111 couples, we detected 4180 individuals in total who carried 4840 mutant alleles, and identified 186 couples at risk of having affected offspring. 12.1% of the pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants identified by our NGS assay, which were undetectable by traditional methods. Compared with the traditional methods, our assay identified an additional at-risk 35 couples. We describe a comprehensive NGS-based test that offers advantages over the traditional screening/molecular testing methods. To our knowledge, this is among the first large-scale population study to systematically evaluate the application of an NGS technique in carrier screening and molecular diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies.
  16. Machiela MJ, Zhou W, Karlins E, Sampson JN, Freedman ND, Yang Q, et al.
    Nat Commun, 2016 06 13;7:11843.
    PMID: 27291797 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11843
    To investigate large structural clonal mosaicism of chromosome X, we analysed the SNP microarray intensity data of 38,303 women from cancer genome-wide association studies (20,878 cases and 17,425 controls) and detected 124 mosaic X events >2 Mb in 97 (0.25%) women. Here we show rates for X-chromosome mosaicism are four times higher than mean autosomal rates; X mosaic events more often include the entire chromosome and participants with X events more likely harbour autosomal mosaic events. X mosaicism frequency increases with age (0.11% in 50-year olds; 0.45% in 75-year olds), as reported for Y and autosomes. Methylation array analyses of 33 women with X mosaicism indicate events preferentially involve the inactive X chromosome. Our results provide further evidence that the sex chromosomes undergo mosaic events more frequently than autosomes, which could have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of mosaic events and their possible contribution to risk for chronic diseases.
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