Lei Zhang

• University College Dublin

Background: Syndrome is a unique and crucial concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, much of the syndrome knowledge lacks systematic organization and correlation, and current information technologies are unsuitable for TCM ancient texts. Objectives: We aimed to develop a knowledge graph that presents this knowledge in a more orderly...

Untethered soft robots made of stimuli‐responsive materials hold great application potential in various fields. However, most robots of this type require artificial modulation of the stimuli to actuate, while it is a great challenge to achieve fast periodic locomotion under a constant external environment. Here, a double‐helical robot constructed w...

Conventional gas separation membranes are mostly aimed at improving the permeability and selectivity of membranes. However, the actual application environment is complex and changeable, and the failure of the material is a common problem in the use process. Fluorinated polyurethane acrylate was synthesized via the fluorinated unit alcohol end‐cappi...

Zinc metal batteries have been considered as an appealing candidate for grid‐scale energy storage devices, but are hindered by the instable interface. Herein, we design a sol‐to‐gel gradient electrolyte through the simultaneous electrochemical deposition of Zn²⁺ and alginate. The electrochemical gelation of alginate creates a gradient sol‐to‐gel in...

Zinc metal batteries have been considered as an appealing candidate for grid‐scale energy storage devices, but are hindered by the instable interface. Herein, we design a sol‐to‐gel gradient electrolyte through the simultaneous electrochemical deposition of Zn ²⁺ and alginate. The electrochemical gelation of alginate creates a gradient sol‐to‐gel i...

An animal’s behavior can directly reflect its psychological or physiological condition. The in-depth understanding of fish behavior, especially reproductive behavior, is an important safeguard to promote sustainable aquaculture. In this study, we used the Posture-Act-Environment (PAE) coding system to construct an ethogram of Odontobutis potamophil...

Soft machines crafted from stimuli‐responsive materials hold great potential for intelligent autonomous systems. To stably generate a self‐sustainable motion under constant stimuli, it is essential to overcome the challenges of geometric design, physical modeling, and mechanical‐guided parametric study. Here, inspired by the classical Möbius strip,...

In this study, we assessed the growth patterns and population characteristics of the Odontobutis potamophila in Nansi Lake to inform evidence-based management recommendations for the sustainable development of fisheries in the region. A collection of O. potamophila was taken from Nansi Lake between August 2017 and July 2018 (except February) to est...

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can survive inside nonprofessional phagocytes such as keratinocytes, enabling it to evade antibiotics and cause recurrent infections once treatment stops. New antibacterial strategies to eliminate intracellular, multidrug-resistant bacteria are needed. This study used a keratinocyte model infected with methicillin-...

Background Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has developed a rich theoretical system and practical experience in fighting to infectious diseases over the past thousands of years, and has played an important role in controlling the spread owing to its unique advantages. In particular, its significant contribution to the prevention and control of Co...

Tea, a globally cultivated crop renowned for its unique flavor profile and health-promoting properties, ranks among the most favored functional beverages worldwide. However, diseases severely jeopardize the production and quality of tea leaves, leading to significant economic losses. While early and accurate identification coupled with the removal...

Cryopreservation is a promising technique for the long-term storage of skin. However, the formation of ice crystals during cryopreservation unavoidably damages skin structure and functionality. Currently, the lack of thorough and systematic investigation into the internal mechanisms of skin cryoinjury obstructs the advancement of cryopreservation t...

Electrocatalytic oxidation of C−H bonds in hydrocarbons represents an efficient and sustainable strategy for the synthesis of value‐added chemicals. Herein, a highly selective and continuous‐flow electrochemical oxidation process of toluene to various oxygenated products (benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, and benzyl acetate) is developed with the elect...

Electrocatalytic oxidation of C−H bonds in hydrocarbons represents an efficient and sustainable strategy for the synthesis of value‐added chemicals. Herein, a highly selective and continuous‐flow electrochemical oxidation process of toluene to various oxygenated products (benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, and benzyl acetate) is developed with the elect...

Perovskite solar modules (PSMs) show outstanding power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), but long-term operational stability remains problematic. We show that incorporating N,N -dimethylmethyleneiminium chloride into the perovskite precursor solution formed dimethylammonium cation and that previously unobserved methyl tetrahydrotriazinium ([MTTZ] ⁺ )...

Objective To keep up with the progress of treatment for myopia in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) through literature research, so as to determine data source of TCM diagnosis and treatment for myopia, from which entities are extracted for integration of relevant knowledge, and further formal expression and visualization of knowledge. Methods Li...

Background Qingfei Paidu Decoction (QFPDD) has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection in China. The present study aims to perform an econometric analysis and visualization of the literature on the treatment of COVID-19 with QFPDD in the Chinese databases and English databases. Methods Six databases including...

Background Diabetes ranks among the most widespread diseases globally, with the kidneys being particularly susceptible to its vascular complications. The identification of proteins for pathogenesis and novel drug targets remains imperative. This study aims to investigate roles of circulating inflammatory proteins in diabetic renal complications. M...

Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) can survive inside nonprofessional phagocytes such as keratinocytes, enabling it to evade antibiotics and cause recurrent infections once treatment stops. New antibacterial strategies to eliminate intracellular, multidrug-resistant bacteria are needed. This study used a keratinocyte model infected with methicilli...

Background The research and utilization of ancient traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) books are relatively limited at present. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), knowledge graph related technology has brought light on this field. Objective To construct the knowledge graph of Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing , analyze basic knowledge...

Tea, a globally cultivated crop renowned for its unique flavor profile and health-promoting properties, ranks among the most favored functional beverages worldwide. However, pests and diseases severely jeopardize the production and quality of tea leaves, leading to significant economic losses.While early and accurate identification coupled with the...

Background In addition to abnormal liver inflammation, the main symptoms of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are often accompanied by gastrointestinal digestive dysfunction, consistent with the concept of spleen deficiency (SD) in traditional Chinese medicine. As an important metabolic sensor, whether peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor...

Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has become the leading cause of kidney failure, causing a significant socioeconomic burden worldwide. The usual care for DKD fails to achieve satisfactory effects in delaying the persistent loss of renal function. A Chinese herbal medicine, Tangshen Qushi Formula (TQF), showed preliminary clinical benefits w...

A lasting imbalance between fatty acid synthesis and consumption leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), coupled with hepatitis and insulin resistance. Yet the details of the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we unraveled that the expression of the transcription factor Zbtb18 is markedly decreased in the livers of bo...

Microbial proteins are promising substitutes for animal- and plant-based proteins. S. cerevisiae, a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) microorganism, has been frequently employed to generate heterologous proteins. However, constructing a universal yeast chassis for efficient protein production is still a challenge due to the varying properties of...

Two-dimensional nanomaterials (2D NMs) refer to nanomaterials that possess a planar topography with a thickness of one or several atomic layers. Due to their large specific surface areas, atomic thickness, rough edges, and electron confinement in two dimensions, they have emerged as promising antimicrobial agents over antibiotics in combating bacte...

Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a common and severe complication of diabetes that can lead to end-stage renal disease with no cure. The first-line drugs recommended by clinical guidelines fail to achieve satisfactory effects for people with DKD. A Chinese herbal medicine Tangshen Qushi Formula (TQF) shows preliminary efficacy and safety...

Layer cathode is among the most promising cathode for high-energy-density Li-ion batteries, yet hindered by the structural degradation from both bulk strain and surface oxygen loss at high voltage (above...

Staphylococcus aureus can survive inside nonprofessional phagocytes such as keratinocytes, demonstrating a novel strategy for evading antibiotic pressure. When antibiotic treatment ends, reinfection with staphylococci begins from the intracellular inoculum. This phenomenon is responsible for recurrent infections. The development of new antibacteria...

Enhancing the development of and thermogenesis in brown and beige fat represents a potential treatment for obesity. In this study, we show that Foxj3 expression in fat is stimulated by cold exposure and a β-adrenergic agonist. Adipose-specific Foxj3 knockout impaired the thermogenic function of brown fat, leading to morphological whitening of brown...

Objective: Clinical characteristics and outcome in COVID-19 with brucellosis patients has not been well demonstrated, we tried to analyze clinical outcome in local and literature COVID-19 cases with brucellosis before and after recovery. Methods: We retrospectively collected hospitalization data of comorbid patients and prospectively followed up...

The development of efficient and reusable Sr2+ adsorbent materials holds great significance for nuclear energy development and environmental protection. In order to address the low crown ether content in crown ether-based solid-phase adsorbents, this study employed condensation polymerization using di(aminobenzo)-18-crown-6 as monomers to prepare p...

In order to enhance the separation performance and reduce the heat loss of transmembrane for membrane distillation, the thermal efficiency and hydrophobicity of the membrane distillation need to be simultaneously enhanced. In this work, a polyvinylidene difluoride/polyethylene glycol terephthalate (PVDF/PET) hydrophobic/hydrophilic membrane has bee...

Staphylococcus aureus is a key pathogen in atopic dermatitis (AD) pathogenicity. Over half of AD patients are carriers of S. aureus. Clinical isolates derived from AD patients produce various staphylococcal enterotoxins, such as staphylococcal enterotoxin C or toxic shock syndrome toxin. The production of these virulence factors is correlated with...

Conductive hydrogels have shown great potential in wound healing and skin tissue engineering, owing to their electroactive, mechanical, and chemical properties. However, it still remains as a challenge to incorporate other functions into conductive hydrogels, such as antibacterial ability, controllable drug release, and biodegradability. In this st...

The immediate processing of whole blood specimen is required in circulating tumor cell-based liquid biopsy. Reliable blood specimen stabilization towards preserving circulating tumor cells can enable more extensive geographic sharing for precise rare-cell technology, but remains challenging due to the fragility and rarity of circulating tumor cells...

Most nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients develop severe fibrosis through extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, which can lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) is involved in serial types of cancer; however, the specific role of FGF9 in NASH‐driven HCC is not fully understood. This study finds that FGF...

Despite the outstanding proton conductivity of phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes as high-temperature proton exchange membranes (HT-PEMs), chemical stability is a critical issue for the operation life of PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, we introduced polymerized [HVIM]H2PO4 ionic liquids (PIL) into an OPBI membrane to acce...

in order to enhance the separation performance and to reduce the heat loss of the transmembrane for membrane distillation, the thermal efficiency and hydrophobicity of the membrane distillation should be simultaneously enhanced. In this work, a PVDF/PET hydrophobic/hydrophilic membrane is prepared by non-solvent phase inducing method. Nanosized sil...

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is a hemoglobin composed of a single peptide chain that catalyzes the oxidation of various substrates such as phenol and aniline in the presence of hydrogen peroxide via its iron-porphyrin catalytic center. This enzyme is widely used in industrial phenol removal, food additives, biomedicine, and clinical test reagents d...