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We study Toeplitz operators from Hardy spaces to weighted Bergman spaces in the unit ball of Cn. Toeplitz operators are closely related to many classical mappings, such as composition operators, the Volterra type integration operators and Carleson embeddings. We characterize the boundedness and compactness of Toeplitz operators from Hardy spaces Hp to weighted Bergman spaces A for the different values of p and q in the unit ball.

A comprehensive review of applying Taguchi’s optimization methodology to medical facilities was evaluated in this study. Taguchi’s optimization methodology is one kind of robust designation and is reputed for integrating multiple factors to pursue one goal. According to Taguchi’s suggestion, the efficient and reliable arrangement of experimental groups with numerous factors shortened the observed timing and provided bountiful statistical data. Although this method is widely used in mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering fields, it became adopted in medical facilities only in the last decade. Most of Taguchi’s analyses focused on optimizing the imaging quality for diagnosis. The medical facilities include regular X-ray, cardiac X-ray, CT (computed tomography), CTA (computed tomography angiography), LINAC (medical linear accelerator), or gamma camera scans. The images were all manipulated according to various radiation-induced interactions; thus, the optimization process of imaging resolution can offer an essential contribution to this kind of facility. In this study, we summarized the Taguchi-related papers in medical facilities and evaluated common principles in organizing the unique orthogonal array, assigning various signal-to-noise ratios, using quantified gauges, and ranking or grading the obtained imaging quality in the datum analysis process. The further elaboration on how to preset the user demanded goal in the optimization process, the necessity of focusing on cross interaction among factors, dynamic analysis superiority over static one preset in Taguchi’s analysis, and how to preset an ideal signal-to-noise ratio to satisfy the researcher demand, the importance of verification or testification in clinical cases or the assistance of ANOVA to depict a complete concept of applying Taguchi’s optimization methodology.

Lei Ran,* Shi-Ya Peng,* Wei Wang, Qian Wu, Yuan-Chao Li, Ru-Peng Wang Department of Rheumatology and Dermatology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, Chongqing, 430037, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ru-Peng Wang, Department of Rheumatology and Dermatology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, Chongqing, 430037, People’s Republic of China, Email wrp71@163.comPurpose: Developing the ideal drug or dressing is a serious challenge to controlling the occurrence of antibacterial infection during wound healing. Thus, it is important to prepare novel nanofibers for a wound dressing that can control bacterial infections. In our study, the novel self-assembled nanofibers of benzalkonium bromide with bioactive peptide materials of IKVAV and RGD were designed and fabricated.Methods: Different drug concentration effects of encapsulation efficacy, swelling ratio and strength were determined. Its release profile in simulated wound fluid and its cytotoxicity were studied in vitro. Importantly, the antibacterial efficacy, inhibition of biofilm formation effect and wound healing against MRSA infections in vitro and in vivo were performed after observing the tissue toxicity in vivo.Results: It was found that the optimized drug load (0.8%) was affected by the encapsulation efficacy, swelling ratio, and strength. In addition, the novel nanofibers with average diameter (222.0 nm) and stabile zeta potential (− 11.2 mV) have good morphology and characteristics. It has a delayed released profile in the simulated wound fluid and good biocompatibility with L929 cells and most tissues. Importantly, the nanofibers were shown to improve antibacterial efficacy, inhibit biofilm formation, and lead to accelerated wound healing following infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.Conclusion: These data suggest that novel nanofibers could effectively shorten the wound-healing time by inhibiting biofilm formation, which make it promising candidates for treatment of MRSA-induced wound infections.Keywords: nanofibers, wound enclosure, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, biofilm, antibacterial effect

Background Epidermal Growth Factor-like repeats and Discoidin I-Like Domains 3 (EDIL3) is a secretory protein that play important roles in embryonic development and various illnesses such as cancer. However, the biological function of EDIL3 in gastric cancer (GC) is still unclear. The objective of this research was to explore the role and potential mechanism of EDIL3 in GC. Methods EDIL3 expression was analyzed using the GEPIA and HPA databases. The prognostic significance of EDIL3 was assessed via the Kaplan–Meier Plotter database. These results were proved by qRT-PCR, Western blot, and Immunohistochemical in our collected GC tissues. To test the function of EDIL3 in GC, shRNA was used to knockdown the EDIL3 expression in two GC lines and several functional experiments were performed. Genetic alterations and DNA methylation were investigated via the cBioPortal, COSMIC, MethSurv, and SMART databases. Upstream regulators of EDIL3 were predicted using RegNetwork. The STRING and GeneMANIA databases were used to analyze the interactive networks for EDIL3. Differential genes correlated with EDIL3 in GC were obtained using LinkedOmics. The relationship between EDIL3 and immune features was analyzed using TIMER, TIMER2.0, and TISIDB databases. The relationship between EDIL3 and drug response was assessed by RNAactDrug database. Results The EDIL3 was highly expressed in GC and associated with adverse clinical features. In vitro assays revealed that EDIL3 promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of GC cells. 2.7% of patients harbored EDIL3 mutations and the missense substitution was the most common type. Five CpG sites of EDIL3 were positively related to prognosis in GC. The functions of EDIL3 and co-expression genes were significantly associated with extracellular structure organization and extracellular matrix receptor interaction. EDIL3 expression was positively associated with numerous tumour-infiltrating immune cells and their biomarkers. EDIL3 expression was associated with sensitivity of some GC chemotherapy and targeted drugs. Conclusions This study demonstrated that EDIL3 might function as an oncogene and is associated with immune infiltration in GC. EDIL3 could be used as a potential therapeutic target for GC.

Exoelectrogens possess extraordinary degradation ability to various pollutants through extracellular electron transfer (EET). Compared with extracellular electron release process, intracellular electron transfer network is not yet fully recognized. Especially, controversy remains regarding the role of CymA, an essential electron-transfer hub of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, in EET process. In this study, we thoroughly surveyed the intracellular transfer strategies during EET through dye decolorization. Loss of CymA severely impaired the reduction ability of S. oneidensis MR-1 to methyl orange (MO), but hardly affected the decolorization of aniline blue (AB). Complement of cymA fully restored the MO decolorization ability of ΔcymA mutant. The contribution of CymA to extracellular decolorization was subjected to MO concentrations. The defect in the decolorization ability of ΔcymA mutant was not evident at low MO concentration, but severe at high MO concentration. Further investigation revealed that EET rate determined the significance of CymA in the extracellular bioremediation by S. oneidensis MR-1. Coupled with MO concentrations increasing from 15 to 120 mg/L, the initial electron transfer rates of S. oneidensis MR-1 increased accordingly from 2.69 × 10

Due to the development of sequencing technology and the great reduction in sequencing costs, an increasing number of plant genomes have been assembled, and numerous genomes have revealed large amounts of variations. However, a single reference genome does not allow the exploration of species diversity, and therefore the concept of pan-genome was developed. A pan-genome is a collection of all sequences available for a species, including a large number of consensus sequences, large structural variations, and small variations including single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions. A simple linear pan-genome does not allow these structural variations to be intuitively characterized, so graph-based pan-genomes have been developed. These pan-genomes store sequence and structural variation information in the form of nodes and paths to store and display species variation information in a more intuitive manner. The key role of graph-based pan-genomes is to expand the coordinate system of the linear reference genome to accommodate more regions of genetic diversity. Here, we review the origin and development of graph-based pan-genomes, explore their application in plant research, and further highlight the application of graph-based pan-genomes for future plant breeding.

Simultaneous removal of SO2, NOx and Hg0 using O3 and corn stalk bio-charcoal (CR)/coconut shell activated carbon (CS) was compared in a fixed bed. The effects of temperature, adsorption time and ratio of O3/NO on the removal efficiency of NO, Hg0 and SO2 by CR/CS were studied, and the CR and CS was characterized and analyzed. The results indicated that the oxidation rate of NO and Hg0 increased with the increase of O3/NO ratio, while the oxidation rate of SO2 first increased and then decreased slightly. The increase of temperature inhibits the oxidation of NO but promotes the oxidation of Hg0 and SO2. At 140°C and O3/NO ratio was 1.4, the oxidation rate of NO, Hg0 and SO2 is 99%, 78.6% and 3.5%, respectively. As O3/NO ratio increased from 0.4 to 1.4, the removal efficiency of CR for NOx increased from 4.6% to 93%, and CS increases from 4.5% to 79%. CR and CS can reduce part of NO2 and increase NO concentration at the outlet. NOx adsorption performance on CR is relatively better, while those of Hg0 and SO2 on CS are relatively stronger. CS has stronger physical adsorption capacity than CR. The relative content of oxygen-containing functional groups C-O and C=O on the surface of CR is higher than that of CS, while its relative content of COOH and O=C-O is lower.

A Gram-stain positive, aerobic, rod-shaped actinobacterial strain designated as JXJ CY 27-2

BACKGROUND: Radiologists widely use the minimum detectable difference (MDD) concept for inspecting the imaging quality and quantify the spatial resolution of scans. OBJECTIVE: This study adopted Taguchi’s dynamic algorithm to optimize the MDD of cardiac CT angiography (CTA) using a V-shaped line gauge and three PMMA phantoms (50, 70, and 90 kg). METHODS: The phantoms were customized in compliance with the ICRU-48 report, whereas the V-shaped line gauge was indigenous to solidify the cardiac CTA scan image quality by two adjacent peaks along the V-shaped slit. Accordingly, the six factors A-F assigned in this study were A (kVp), B (mAs), C (CT pitch), D (FOV), E (iDose), and F (reconstruction filter). Since each factor could have two or three levels, eighteen groups of factor combinations were organized according to Taguchi’s dynamic algorithm. Three welltrained radiologists ranked the CTA scan images three times for three different phantoms. Thus, 27 (3 × 3 × 3) ranked scores were summed and averaged to imply the integrated performance of one specific group, and eventually, 18 groups of CTA scan images were analyzed. The unique signal-to-noise ratio (S/N, dB) and sensitivity in the dynamic algorithm were calculated to reveal the true contribution of assigned factors and clarify the situation in routine CTA diagnosis. RESULTS: Minimizing the cross-interactions among factors, the optimal factor combination was found to be as follows: A (100 kVp), B (600 mAs), C (pitch 0.200 mm), D (FOV 280 mm), E (iDose 5), and F (filter XCA). The respective MDD values were 2.15, 2.32, and 1.87 mm for 50, 70, and 90 kg phantoms, respectively. The MDD of the 90 kg phantom had the most precise spatial resolution, while that of the 70 kg phantom was the worst. CONCLUSION: The Taguchi static and dynamic optimization algorithms were compared, and the latter’s superiority was substantiated.

Carvedilol is a drug for the treatment of congestive heart failure whose solubility in solvent and crystallization process are poorly understood. In this study, the solubilities of carvedilol in wa...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in countless infections and caused millions of deaths since its emergence in 2019. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated mortality is caused by uncontrolled inflammation, aberrant immune response, cytokine storm, and an imbalanced hyperactive immune system. The cytokine storm further results in multiple organ failure and lung immunopathology. Therefore, any potential treatments should focus on the direct elimination of viral particles, prevention strategies, and mitigation of the imbalanced (hyperactive) immune system. This review focuses on cytokine secretions of innate and adaptive immune responses against COVID-19, including interleukins, interferons, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and other chemokines. In addition to the review focus, we discuss potential immunotherapeutic approaches based on relevant pathophysiological features, the systemic immune response against SARS-CoV-2, and data from recent clinical trials and experiments on the COVID-19-associated cytokine storm. Prompt use of these cytokines as diagnostic markers and aggressive prevention and management of the cytokine storm can help determine COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality. The prophylaxis and rapid management of the cytokine storm appear to significantly improve disease outcomes. For these reasons, this study aims to provide advanced information to facilitate innovative strategies to survive in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: This study optimized the minimum detectable difference (MDD) of gamma camera SPECT images via the Taguchi analysis and an indigenous V-shaped slit gauge. The latter was customized to satisfy the Taguchi analysis’ quantitative requirements. Methods: The slit gauge MDD quantification of derived SPECT images was based on a pair of overlapped-peak profiles obtained from a tangent slice of the V-shaped slit with two adjacent peaks. Using the revised Student’s t-test with a multiplied constant, 1.96, the MDD was defined as the minimum distance between two peak centers, which deviation was large enough to ensure a 95% confidence level of their separation. In total, eighteen combinations of six gamma camera scanned factors (A-F), namely (A) collimator, (B) detector to target distance, (C) total counts, (D) acquired energy width, (E) Matrix size, and (F) zoom of collected ROI with each of two or three levels were organized into 18 groups to collect the slit gauge images according to Taguchi L18 orthogonal array. Next, three well-trained radiologists ranked the scanned gauge images to derive the fish-bone-plot of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N, dB) and correlated ANOVA. Results: The quantified MDD was proposed to verify the optimal suggestion of gamma camera scanned protocol, and obtained the MDD as 8.44, 7.88, and 7.40 mm for the 2nd group of the original L18, conventional, and optimal presets, respectively. Conclusions: The optimal preset of gamma camera was achieved according to Taguchi analysis. The MDD-based approach was found more beneficial in evaluating the spatial resolution than the line pair/cm approach in routine quality control in this study.

The minimum detectable difference (MDD) at various beats/min (BPM) of CT angiography (CTA) was evaluated using an oblique V-shape line gauge and poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantom in this study. The customized phantom with the size of [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]cm3 was made from a 1[Formula: see text]cm-thick PMMA. The reciprocating mechanism in the phantom was run by a step motor with an eccentric gear connected to a crank rod to provide a stable harmonic motion, simulating the cardiac beats. The MDD has a unique feature in defining the quality characteristic of CT-scanned images and provides more information than simple line pair/cm in the previous studies. The derived MDD was quantified according to various BPM, and the CTA factor combination was preset following either the conventional recommendation or the optimal one. In doing so, the performance was substantiated by the Taguchi-based signal-to-noise ratio and integrated by another index, namely, figure of merit (FOM). The MDD and corresponding [Formula: see text] (dB) changed from [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm to [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm and from 16.7[Formula: see text]dB to 14.2[Formula: see text]dB, respectively, for conventional settings; while those obtained for the optimal preset changed from [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm to [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm and from 12.2 dB to 16.4 dB, respectively of CTA at 0–90 BPM. The integrated FOM values for conventional or optimal cases were 1240 and 1337, respectively. The MDD proved to be a useful technique in justifying the CTA-scanned images. For compliance with previous studies, MDD results can be converted to the line pair/cm results, but it is more informative than the quantized number of line pairs.

The liver and kidney fibrosis model was established by thioacetamide(TAA) and unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO) in SD rats. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: model group, low and high-dose groups of C21 steroidal glycosides of Cynanchum auriculatum. Another blank control group was set. Four weeks later, serum was taken to detect the biochemical indexes of liver and kidney function. Urine protein and urine creatinine were detected by kits. Liver and kidney tissue samples were stained with HE and Masson staining, and hydroxyproline content was detected. Western blot was used to detect expressions of fibrotic proteins, inflammatory factors and TLR4 signaling pathways, so as to observe the preventive and therapeutic effects of C21 steroidal glycosides from C. auriculatum on hepatic and renal fibrosis and explore its molecular mechanism. Four weeks later, serum biochemical results showed that liver and kidney functions were seriously damaged, and pathological sections showed that inflammatory cell infiltration, decrease of parenchymal cells, and increase of interstitial fibrosis in liver and kidney tissues. The results showed that low and high doses(150, 300 mg·kg~(-1)) of C21 steroidal glycosides could significantly reduce the collagen deposition and the pathological changes of liver and kidney fibrosis compared with the model group. At the same time, we found that the expression levels of TLR4 and MyD88 signaling pathway proteins were significantly increased in the liver and kidney tissues of the model group, and a large number of NF-κB signaling pathway proteins migrated into the nucleus. On the contrary, the expression levels of TLR4, MyD88 signaling pathway proteins and the nuclear migration of NF-κB were significantly inhibited in the low and high dose groups of C21 steroidal glycosides from C. auriculatum. Therefore, it was speculated that the mechanism of C21 steroidal glycoside for preventive and therapeutic effect on hepatic and renal fibrosis was related to inhibit TLR4/MYD88/NF-κB inflammatory pathway, thus preventing hepatic and renal fibrosis.