Browsing by Author "Zhang X"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Comparison of Cd(II) adsorption properties onto cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin extracted from rice bran
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2021-06) Wu C; Ren M; Zhang X; Li C; Li T; Yang Z; Chen Z; Wang L
    Rice bran, an underutilized by-product obtained from outer rice layers, has received wide interest due to its abundance, eco-friendliness, and low cost. In this research, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin as the main components of rice bran were fractionated, and their Cd(II) adsorption capacity, behavior and mechanism were further studied. The adsorption capacity of cellulose for Cd(II) was 5.79 mg/g within the equilibrium time of 10 min, which was 1.8 and 3.6 times those of hemicellulose and lignin, respectively. The Cd(II) adsorption onto cellulose exhibited monolayer surface behavior, whilst the heterogeneous adsorption behavior was observed for hemicellulose and lignin. These differences were related to the discrepancy of morphology and chemical composition in three polymers. The multi-hole sticks morphology of cellulose and porous blocky structure of hemicellulose were observed, while lignin showed compact and agglomerated blocky structure. Cellulose had numerous available adsorption sites including the oxygen-containing functional groups, which bonded with Cd(II) driven by chemical interaction. In conclusion, it highlights that cellulose from rice bran has the great potential of being applied as adsorbent for the Cd(II) removal.
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    Empowering middle-aged women? A discourse analysis of gendered ageing in the Chinese television reality show sisters who make waves
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-01-23) Zhang X; Riley S
    Sisters Who Make Waves is a popular Chinese reality show that affirmatively centres “middle-aged” women. Given its popularity and positive framing, the show has significant potential to shape Chinese discourses of gendered aging. To examine this potential, we performed a discourse analysis on Season 2 of Sisters Who Make Waves, identifying its discursive constructions of gendered aging; the subject positions within these discourses; and the rhetorical strategies interpellating the viewer to identify with these subject positions. Three discourses were evident: (1) “age is a problem for women” (an account articulated only to be refuted), (2) “age is a problem only if you let it;” and (3) “hyper resilience” (an expectation of psychological resilience in the face of severe challenges). Reading this analysis through the lens of a postfeminist sensibility, we show how the affirmative potential of Sisters Who Make Waves is undercut with the show’s entanglement of empowerment with regulation and synergies between postfeminist feeling rules and Chinese state ideology of Positive Energy 正能量.
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    Inactivation of salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis on chicken eggshells using blue light
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-08-10) Hu X; Sun X; Luo S; Wu S; Chu Z; Zhang X; Liu Z; Wu J; Wang X; Liu C; Wang X; Santini A
    Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) is a pathogen that poses a health risk. Blue light (BL), an emerging sanitization technology, was employed for the first time in the present study to inactivate S. Enteritidis on eggshell surfaces and its influence on maintaining eggshell freshness was investigated systematically. The results showed that 415 nm-BL irradiation at a dose of 360 J/cm2 reduced 5.19 log CFU/mL of S. Enteritidis in vitro. The test on eggshells inoculated with S. Enteritidis showed that a BL dose at 54.6 J/cm2 caused a 3.73 log CFU reduction per eggshell surface and the impact of BL inactivation could be sustained in post-5-week storage. The quality of the tested eggs (weight loss, yolk index, Haugh unit (HU) and albumen pH) demonstrated that BL treatments had negligible effects on the albumen pH of eggs. However, compared to the control, BL-treated eggs showed lower weight loss and higher HU after 5 weeks of storage at 25◦C and 65% humidity and yolk index in the control group could not be determined after 5 weeks of storage. Besides, the total amino acid content of the BL-treated egg was higher than the control, exhibiting an advantage of BL irradiation in maintaining the nutrient quality of whole eggs. The current study determined the efficacy of BL against S. Enteritidis on eggshell and suggested that BL could be an effective application in maintaining the freshness and quality of eggs.
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    Integrated transcriptome and proteome analyses reveal potential mechanisms in Stipa breviflora underlying adaptation to grazing
    (John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Chinese Grassland Society and Lanzhou University, 2024-03-14) Liu Y; Sun S; Zhang Y; Song M; Tian Y; Lockhart PJ; Zhang X; Xu Y; Dang Z; Matthew C
    Background: Long-term overgrazing has led to severe degradation of grasslands, posing a significant threat to the sustainable use of grassland resources. Methods: Based on the investigation of changes in functional traits and photosynthetic physiology of Stipa breviflora under no grazing, moderate grazing, and heavy grazing treatments, the changes in expression patterns of genes and proteins associated with different grazing intensities were assessed through integrative transcriptomic and proteomic analyses. Results: Differentially expressed genes and proteins were identified under different grazing intensities. They were mainly related to RNA processing, carbon metabolism, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. These findings suggest that long-term grazing leads to molecular phenotypic plasticity, affecting various biological processes and metabolic pathways in S. breviflora. Correlation analysis revealed low correlation between the transcriptome and the proteome, indicating a large-scale regulation of gene expression at the posttranscriptional and translational levels during the response of S. breviflora to grazing. The expression profiles of key genes and proteins involved in photosynthesis and phenylpropanoid metabolism pathways suggested their synergistic response to grazing in S. breviflora. Conclusions: Our study provides insight into the adaptation mechanisms of S. breviflora to grazing and provides a scientific basis for the development of more efficient grassland protection and utilization practices.
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    Natural Variation in Chromium Accumulation and the Development of Related EST-SSR Molecular Markers in Miscanthus sinensis
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2024-07-05) Nie G; Liu A; Ghanizadeh H; Wang Y; Tang M; He J; Feng G; Huang L; Zhang X; Tani E
    Soil pollution by heavy metals is a serious environmental concern globally. Hexavalent (VI) chromium (Cr) is one of the main pollutants causing groundwater and soil heavy metal pollution. Miscanthus sinensis is a C4 perennial grass species with a high level of heavy metal tolerance. This species can effectively remove Cr from soils and maintain desirable biomass production under Cr stress. This research aimed to characterize and compare Cr accumulation in 58 genotypes of M. sinensis and to develop Expressed Sequence Tag–Simple Sequence Repeat (EST-SSR) markers associated with Cr tolerance. The results show that the pattern of translocation of Cr in plants differed among the 58 M. sinensis genotypes following treatment of 200 mg/L of Cr6+; however, in most genotypes, the Cr was primarily accumulated in roots. A total of 43,367 EST-SSRs were identified, and 88 EST-SSR primer pairs corresponding to candidate genes involved in Cr accumulation in M. sinensis were selected for validation. Subsequently, 170 polymorphic loci generated from 24 validated EST-SSRs were used for the population structure and marker–trait association analysis. Based on a general linear model (GLM), a total of 46 associations were identified (p < 0.05), with 14 EST-SSRs markers associated with target traits. Among them, four genes related to ABC transporters, wall-associated receptor kinases, as well as two high-affinity sulfate transporters (ST), were identified under Cr stress (p < 0.05). The results of this study help to accelerate the screening across M. sinensis genotypes for desirable traits under Cr stress and provide a platform for M. sinensis genetic improvement and molecular-marker-assisted breeding.
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    Situational-aware multi-graph convolutional recurrent network (SA-MGCRN) for travel demand forecasting during wildfires
    (Elsevier B.V., 2024-09-10) Zhang X; Zhao X; Xu Y; Nilsson D; Lovreglio R
    Natural hazards, such as wildfires, pose a significant threat to communities worldwide. Real-time forecasting of travel demand during wildfire evacuations is crucial for emergency managers and transportation planners to make timely and better-informed decisions. However, few studies focus on accurate travel demand forecasting in large-scale emergency evacuations. To tackle this research gap, the study develops a new methodological framework for modeling highly granular spatiotemporal trip generation in wildfire evacuations by using (a) large-scale GPS data generated by mobile devices and (b) state-of-the-art AI technologies. Based on the travel demand inferred from the GPS data, we develop a new deep learning model, i.e., Situational-Aware Multi-Graph Convolutional Recurrent Network (SA-MGCRN), along with a model updating scheme to achieve real-time forecasting of travel demand during wildfire evacuations. The proposed methodological framework is tested using a real-world case study: the 2019 Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, CA. The results show that SA-MGCRN significantly outperforms all the selected state-of-the-art benchmarks in terms of prediction performance. Our finding suggests that the most important model components of SA-MGCRN are weekend indicator, population change, evacuation order/warning information, and proximity to fire, which are consistent with behavioral theories and empirical findings. SA-MGCRN can be directly used in future wildfire events to assist real-time decision-making and emergency management.
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    Systematic KMTNet Planetary Anomaly Search. II. Six New q < 2 × 10−4 Mass-ratio Planets
    (IOP Publishing on behalf of the American Astronomical Society, 2022-02-01) Hwang K-H; Zang W; Gould A; Udalski A; Bond IA; Yang H; Mao S; Albrow MD; Chung S-J; Han C; Jung YK; Ryu Y-H; Shin I-G; Shvartzvald Y; Yee JC; Cha S-M; Kim D-J; Kim H-W; Kim S-L; Lee C-U; Lee D-J; Lee Y; Park B-G; Pogge R; Mróz P; Poleski R; Skowron J; Szymański MK; Soszyński I; Pietrukowicz P; Kozłowski S; Ulaczyk K; Rybicki KA; Iwanek P; Wrona M; Gromadzki M; Abe F; Barry R; Bennett DP; Bhattacharya A; Fujii H; Fukui A; Hirao Y; Itow Y; Kirikawa R; Kondo I; Koshimoto N; Munford B; Matsubara Y; Miyazaki S; Muraki Y; Olmschenk G; Ranc C; Rattenbury NJ; Satoh YK; Shoji H; Silva SI; Sumi T; Suzuki D; Tristram PJ; Yonehara A; Zhang X; Zhu W; Penny MT; Fouqué P
    We apply the automated AnomalyFinder algorithm of Paper I to 2018-2019 light curves from the ≃13 deg2 covered by the six KMTNet prime fields, with cadences Γ ≥ 2 hr-1. We find a total of 11 planets with mass ratios q < 2 × 10-4, including 6 newly discovered planets, 1 planet that was reported in Paper I, and recovery of 4 previously discovered planets. One of the new planets, OGLE-2018-BLG-0977Lb, is in a planetary caustic event, while the other five (OGLE-2018-BLG-0506Lb, OGLE-2018-BLG-0516Lb, OGLE-2019-BLG-1492Lb, KMT-2019-BLG-0253, and KMT-2019-BLG-0953) are revealed by a "dip"in the light curve as the source crosses the host-planet axis on the opposite side of the planet. These subtle signals were missed in previous by-eye searches. The planet-host separations (scaled to the Einstein radius), s, and planet-host mass ratios, q, are, respectively, (s, q × 105) = (0.88, 4.1), (0.96 ± 0.10, 8.3), (0.94 ± 0.07, 13), (0.97 ± 0.07, 18), (0.97 ± 0.04, 4.1), and (0.74, 18), where the "± "indicates a discrete degeneracy. The 11 planets are spread out over the range . Together with the two planets previously reported with q ∼ 10-5 from the 2018-2019 nonprime KMT fields, this result suggests that planets toward the bottom of this mass-ratio range may be more common than previously believed.