Meng Zhang

• Lecturer at Northumbria University

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has gained significant interest for various applications due to its useful properties which include chemical stability and strong physical properties as well as its biocompatibility. However, conventional fabrication methods are limited by a lack of control over the form, particularly depth and thickness, restricting BC app...

Background and Aims The performance of neurodegenerative biomarkers—neurofilament light chain (NfL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), tau, and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1)—in diagnosing minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) has not been systematically evaluated, simultaneously, nor have their associations with the developme...

The temperature coefficient of the resonant frequency (τf) of low-permittivity (εr) microwave dielectric ceramics is required to be near 0 ppm/°C for practical application. However, owing to the polarization mechanism, τf of low-εr microwave dielectric ceramics is generally negative. Here, a novel microwave dielectric ceramic, Ba3−xSrxMgSi2O8, with...

Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats (BFfTH) is a Special Interest Group within the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment that aims to explore and enable interdisciplinary research on transplanetary habitats and habitats within extreme environments through an emphasis on the biosocial and biotechnological relations. BFfTH organized the...

Formation of bacterial films on structural surfaces often leads to severe contamination of medical devices, hospital equipment, and implant materials. Currently antimicrobial resistance of microorganisms has become a global health...

Transdermal drug delivery provides therapeutic benefits over enteric or injection delivery because its transdermal routes provide more consistent concentrations of drug and avoid issues of drugs affecting kidneys and liver functions. Many technologies have been evaluated to enhance drug delivery through the relatively impervious epidermal layer of...

The precise mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in alleviating colitis remains incompletely understood. A strong correlation existed between the elevation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)⁺/S100 calcium binding protein B (S100β)⁺ enteric glial cells (EGCs) in inflamed colonic tissues and the disruption o...

In this study we investigate the use of in situ bioprocessing for the production and surface modification of bacterial cellulose (BC) with silicon additives. The surface properties and tensile strength of the BC were studied and compared with plain BC. The effect the modification exhibited on the survivability of the bacteria was assessed by optica...

Background Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation has been extensively researched for geoengineering applications as well as diverse uses within the built environment. Bacteria play a crucial role in producing calcium carbonate minerals, via enzymes including carbonic anhydrase—an enzyme with the capability to hydrolyse CO2, commonly e...

In the last few years, the investigation and findings of alternative and biobased raw material sources has been a focal point of research with respect to reduced impact on the environment. Bacterial cellulose (BC), a biopolymer generated by biosynthesis process, is known for its purity, crystallinity and mechanical properties. Electrospinning of BC...

The urgency for energy efficient, responsive architectures has propelled smart material development to the forefront of scientific and architectural research. This paper explores biological, physical, and morphological factors influencing the programming of a novel microbial-based smart hybrid material which is responsive to changes in environmenta...

The Living Manufacture project is a collaboration between architects and bio-scientists to build a new Engineered Living Fabrication (ELF) system. The project aims to develop a novel digital manufacturing approach by integrating biological growth and digital fabrication to make 3D functionally graded materials and objects. Based on controlled biolo...

The employment of Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) is of increasing interest as a technique for environmentally sustainable soil stabilisation. Recent advancements in synthetic biology have allowed for the conception of a pressure-responsive MICP process, wherein bacteria are engineered to sense environmental loads, thereb...

As the largest transporter family impacting on tumor genesis and development, the prognostic value of solute carrier (SLC) members has not been elucidated in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to identify a prognostic signature from the SLC members and comprehensively analyze their roles in CRC. Firstly, we downloaded transcriptome data and clinical...

Aim: This study aimed to understand the morphological effects of (in)organic additives on microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP). Methods and results: MICP was monitored in real-time in the presence of (in)organic additives: bovine serum albumin (BSA), biofilm surface layer protein A (BslA), magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and pol...

Background Previous studies have demonstrated that natural killer (NK) cells migrated into the liver from peripheral organs and exerted cytotoxic effects on hepatocytes in virus-induced liver failure. Aim This study aimed to investigate the potential therapeutic role of chemokine receptors in the migration of NK cells in a murine hepatitis virus s...

This research presents the development and application of an Engineered Living Fabrication (ELF) system, a novel approach for fabricating materials using biological self-assembly and robotic hardware. The ELF system incorporates microbial cellulose, grown via custom fermentation vessels, into a bio-manufacturing process enhanced by synthetic biolog...

Fire retardancy for textiles is important to prevent the rapid spread of fire and minimize damage to property and harm to human life. To infer fire‐resistance on textile materials such as cotton or nylon, chemical coatings are often used. These chemicals are usually toxic, and economically and environmentally unsustainable, however, some naturally...

Body composition measurement plays an important role in the nutritional diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In the past 30 years, the detection of body composition based on bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) has been widely used and explored in a variety of diseases. With the development of technology, bioelectrical impedance analysis has grad...

Body composition measurement plays an important auxiliary role in the nutritional assessment of diseases, nutritional diagnosis and the evaluation of the effect of nutritional therapy. There are many techniques and methods available for the measurement of body composition. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA ) of body composition has been widely...

In this paper, a novel design of ultra-wideband (UWB) filtering antenna integrated with the multimode resonator (MMR) bandpass filter is proposed, aiming to enhance band-edge selectivity. At the beginning, a MMR bandpass filter is modified and studied. Based on the classic MMR filter, the proposed filter folds the microstrip transmission line to re...

The prospect of establishing human habitats on Mars presents numerous challenges due to its distance from Earth and the Sun. These include limited access to building materials and machinery, communication lags, and difficulty in obtaining energy. Moreover, Mars' unique environmental conditions, such as different gravity levels, lack of a breathable...

The option to heal our built environment, as an alternative to new construction, has the potential to become a more ethical approach. The Healing Masonry prototype investigates the application of emergent biological self-healing systems to masonry materials. It seeks to engage a wider audience in the repair of the built environment, specifically hi...

Novel BaCa2M3O9 (M = Si, Ge) microwave dielectric ceramics were prepared via solid‐state reaction with sintering at 1125°C–1275°C for 5 h. Single‐phase BaCa2M3O9 (M = Si, Ge) ceramics were obtained according to stoichiometry. The single‐phase BaCa2Ge3O9 ceramic was confirmed through Rietveld refinement and high‐resolution transmission electron micr...

Purpose Patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) lose the capacity of renal potassium excretion and often suffer from persistent hyperkalemia, especially for those requiring maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC) is the most recently approved K + binding agent in China. It is reported SZC is an effective and well-to...

Fire retardancy for textiles is important to prevent the rapid spread of fire and minimize damage to property and harm to human life. To infer fire-resistance on textile materials such as cotton or nylon, chemical coatings are often used. These chemicals are usually toxic and economically and environmentally unsustainable, however, some naturally p...

Engineered living materials (ELMs) composed entirely of fungal cells offer significant potential due to their functional properties such as self‐assembly, sensing, and self‐healing. Alongside rapid developments in the ELM field, there is significant and growing interest in mycelium materials, which are made from the vegetative part of filamentous f...

Renal tubular epithelial cells (TECs) undergoing partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition (pEMT) during renal fibrosis has been recognized as a featuring and detrimental event. However, the mechanism for redirecting the cell fate of pEMT remains unclear. Here we mapped the temporal expression trajectories of a series of EMT-related molecules in re...

Background Aberrant glycosylation is one of the most common post-translational modifications leading to heterogeneity in colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aims to construct a risk prediction model based on glycosyltransferase to forecast the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in CRC patients. Methods Based on the TCGA dataset and glycosylt...

Recently, nanofluids have attained a vast field of application in the engineering industry and biomedical research due to unique physicochemical properties such as small and controllable size, large surface area to mass ratio, high reactivity and functionalize structure. Numerous antimicrobial drugs using nanofluids have been prescribed to kill or...

A new topology of the power dividers is proposed, which has both good isolation performance and tunable wideband filtering. Based on the Wilkinson structure, on the one hand, to achieve good performance wideband port-to-port isolation, the two output ports are first connected in parallel through a resistor, and then through a quarter-wavelength par...

Backgrounds Cuproptosis is the most recently identified copper-dependent cell death form that influences tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. However, the relationship between cuproptosis and clinical prognosis, tumor microenvironment infiltration (TME), and response to immunotherapy remains unclear. Methods Single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis (...

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been explored for use in a range of applications including tissue engineering and textiles. BC can be produced from waste streams, but sustainable approaches are needed for functionalisation. To this end, BslA, a B. subtilis biofilm protein was produced recombinantly with and without a cellulose binding module (CBM) and...

A critical aspect of human space exploration and eventual settlement is the ability to construct habitats while minimizing payload mass launched from Earth. To respond to this challenge, we have proposed the use of fungal bio-composites for growing extra-terrestrial structures, directly at the destination, significantly lowering the mass of structu...

Cuproptosis is the most recently identified copper-dependent cell death form that influences tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. However, the relationship between cuproptosis and clinical prognosis, tumor microenvironment infiltration (TME), and response to immunotherapy remains unclear. Thus, we performed the following analysis. Single-sample gene-set...

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is one of the most common complications in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD), which increases the risk of short-term mortality. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are frequently used in patients with ESLD, in which controversies about the risk of PPI treatment in the occurrence of SBP are largely raised...

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are typically related to metastasis, recurrence, and drug resistance in malignant tumors. However, the biomarker and mechanism of CSCs need further exploration. This study is aimed at comprehensively depicting the stemness characteristics and identify a potential stemness-associated biomarker in hepatocellular...

This paper will introduce the Living Manufacturing Project to develop a novel digital manufacturing approach by integrating biological growth and digital fabrication to make 3D functionally graded materials and objects. The paper will introduce this concept and initial experiments which connect the design of bacteria at the genetic level with the d...

Background and study aim Chronic atrophic gastritis plays an important role in the process of gastric cancer. Deep learning is gradually introduced in the medical field, and how to better apply a convolutional neural network (CNN) to the diagnosis of chronic atrophic gastritis remains a research hotspot. This study was designed to improve the perfo...

Parasitic co-infection is commonly observed in natural populations, yet rare in the laboratory. Multiparasitism can have negative effects on the host, ranging from the atypical manifestations to increased mortality, consequently, it may be misdiagnosed and treated with unsuitable anthelmintic medicines. Therefore, reliable diagnosis is critical for...

Designing with biological materials as a burgeoning approach in the architecture field requires the development of new design strategies and fabrication methods. In this paper, we question if designers can use a parametric design approach while working with living materials. The research uses fungi as a biomaterial probe to experiment with the para...

Backgrounds Proficient-mismatch-repair or microsatellite stability (pMMR/MSS) colorectal cancer (CRC) has limited efficacy for immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. Guanylate binding protein 2 (GBP2) is a member of the GTPase family and is crucial to host immunity against pathogens. However, the corr...

High-speed signal propagation systems require dielectric ceramics with low relative permittivity (εr) and a high-quality factor (Qxf). In this paper, a novel low-permittivity borate ceramic (LiBO2) was synthesized using a conventional solid-state reaction method. Based on the X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement, the LiBO2 crystallized into a...

Dormant cancer cells drive recurrence and drug resistance, which lead to poor prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). The mechanisms that regulate the entry of cancer cells into dormancy remain to be extensively studied. Nanog is a master transcription factor to maintain the self-renewal and pluripotency of stem cells. Since dormant cancer cells are...

Background and objectives: Malnutrition, mainly caused by inadequate energy intake, predicts poor prognostic outcome in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. In this study, we aim to explore the effect of non-protein energy supplement in CKD stage 3b-5 (CKD3b-5) malnourished patients with or without receiving continuous peritoneal dialysis (PD)....

Background Bacterial infection is one of the most frequent complications in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), which leads to high mortality. However, a specific prognostic model for ACLF patients with bacterial infection has not been well established.AimTo establish and validate a nomogram for predicting 30-day mortality of hepatitis B virus-r...

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic recurrent disease of unknown etiology. Recently, it has been reported that autophagy-related gene polymorphism is closely associated with increased risk of UC, and the therapeutic effect of some UC drugs is mediated by regulating autophagy pathways. This study aims to identify pivotal autophagy-relat...

This paper introduces a number of experimental prototypes for the OME, an experimental house built in the heart of Newcastle University campus, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, where the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE) researchers come together to collaborate, test and demonstrate their technologies at large scale, as well as to showc...

Bacterial Cellulose is a bacteria synthesized cellulose, secreted by a genus of bacteria, known as Komagataeibacter. Research on and use of Bacterial Cellulose has grown exponentially over recent decades, chiefly in the fields of biomedical, food, packaging, product and fashion design. However, in respect to its potential applications in the Built...

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remains a huge challenge in clinical treatment due to tumor metastasis and recurrence. Stem cell-like colon tumor-repopulating cells (TRCs) are a subpopulation of cancer cells with highly tumorigenic and chemotherapy resistant properties. The core transcription factor c-Myc is essential for maintaining CSC phenotypes, yet...

Designing with living materials require designers to look for new methods of fabrication since living cells exhibit their own agency, and are able to sense and respond to environmental stimuli. Therefore, there is an urgent demand to design a framework for fabricating living materials. This paper investigates the digital-fabrication of fungi as a n...

IntroductionSpontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a common infection in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). SBP significantly increases the mortality rate and medical costs. The association between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and SBP remains unclear. We conducted a retrospective study to inv...

The functional state of T cells is diverse and under dynamic control for adapting to the changes of microenvironment. Reversible protein phosphorylation represents an important post-translational modification that not only involves in the immediate early response of T cells, but also affects their functionality in the long run. Perturbation of glob...

Introduction: Bacterial infection is one of the most frequent complications in hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF), which leads to high mortality. However, a predictive model for bacterial infection in HBV-ACLF has not been well established. This study aimed to establish and validate a predictive model for bacterial...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant carcinomas worldwide with poor prognosis, imposing an increasingly heavy burden on patients. Previous experiments and epidemiological studies have shown that vitamin D and vitamin D-related genes play a vital role in CRC. Therefore, we aimed to construct a vitamin D-related gene signature...

This paper introduces a new active material which responds to changes in environmental humidity. There has been growing interest in active materials which are able to respond to their environment, creating dynamic architectural systems without the need for energy input or complex systems of sensors and actuators. A subset of these materials are hyg...

This article has been retracted. Please see the retraction notice for more detail: 10.1007/s11705-021-2039-9

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), consisting of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), is featured by overactive immune response and enduring course of unrestrained colitis. Genetic predisposition and environmental factors are fundamental in disease progression. Notably, microbiota dysregulation and its interaction with host mucosal barr...

Gilbert’s syndrome (GS) is a mild condition characterized by periods of hyperbilirubinemia, which results in variations in the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1 (UGT1A1) gene. Variant genotypes of UGT1A1 vary in different populations in the world. The present study aimed to determine the genotype of the UGT1A1 promoter and exon that are related to the...

Kdm2a catalyzes H3K36me2 demethylation to play an intriguing epigenetic regulatory role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Herein we found that myeloid-specific knockout of Kdm2a ( LysM- Cre- Kdm2a f/f , Kdm2a −/− ) promoted macrophage M2 program by reprograming metabolic homeostasis through enhancing fatty acid uptake and lipol...

The high heterogeneity of colorectal cancer (CRC) is the main clinical challenge for individualized therapies. Molecular classification will contribute to drug discovery and personalized management optimizing. Here, we aimed to characterize the molecular features of CRC by a classification system based on metabolic gene expression profiles. 435 CRC...

Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is a multifunctional protein whose specific function is determined by the type of located cell, its intracellular location, or organelle-specific interactions. In the different diseases setting, a newfound appreciation for the biological function of FATP2 has come into view. Two main functions of FATP2 are to...

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a major global health threat with a great number of deaths worldwide. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in patients admitted to the intensive care unit. We aimed to assess the incidence, risk factors and in-hospital outcomes of AKI in COVID-19 patients admitted to the...

This project explores the fabrication process and resulting materialities of bacterial-induced biomineralization, framing living bacteria as co-designers in a construction system. These experiments offer an exploration into form finding and challenge the idea, in casting, that the material takes the form of the cast.

Background Due to the high morbidity and poor clinical outcomes, early predictive and prognostic biomarker identification is desiderated in colorectal cancer (CRC). As a homologue of the Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC) gene, the role of Neogenin-1 (NEO1) in CRC remained unveiled. This study was designed to probe into the effects and potential fu...

Background and objectives: Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak occurred and has rapidly spread worldwide. However, little information is available about the AKI in COVID-19. We aimed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of AKI in adult patients with COVID-19. Design, setting, participants, & measure...

Background At present, novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a serious global public health problem. The current meta-analysis aimed to find risk factors for the COVID-19-related death, helping to enhance the efficacy and reduce the mortality of COVID-19.Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, medRxiv, and Cochrane Library for articles p...

In this paper, the bulk density, microstructure, porosity and pore size distribution of the selected aggregates, including hemp shiv, flax shiv, rape shiv and wheat straw, are fully studied due to these properties are highly related to their excellent characteristics and more or less linked to the properties of the final product. The scanning elect...

The mitochondrial citrate carrier (CIC) is a nuclear-encoded protein located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. By mediating efflux of citrate from the mitochondria to the cytosol, CIC links mitochondrial central carbon metabolism and cytosolic lipogenesis together. Abnormal activity or expression of CIC was found in cancers, developmental disord...

Weak and unstable soils can limit the building of new infrastructure. Current soil strengthening techniques such as chemical grouting have detrimental effects on the environment from greenhouse gas production, soil pH modification and groundwater contamination. Microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICCP) is a technique that utilises t...

As the global population grows there is an urgent need for increased, yet sustainable civil infrastructure. The ability to harness biological processes in order to improve ground stability; as well as creating construction materials without adding to climate damage is necessary. In almost every environment on earth, microorganisms and microbially m...