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Objective To observe the influence of moxibustion on learning and memory ability in the rats with vascular dementia (VD) and explore the potential effect mechanism. Methods A total of 80 rats, screened by Morris water maze, were randomly divided into a sham-operation group, a model group, a neural stem cells (NSCs) group, a NSCs + piracetam group and a NSCs + moxibustion group, 16 rats in each group. After corresponding treatments, Morris water maze and immunofluorescence technique were adopted to evaluate the therapeutic effect respectively. Results Comparison among groups after modeling: compared with the sham-operation group, the escape latency was longer (P Conclusion Moxibustion improves the spatial learning and memory ability of the VD rats and promotes the reconstruction of neurogenesis and synaptic function, which may be related to the up-regulation of the expressions of hippocampus NR2B and PKMζ expressions.

The kinetics of CO reduction of magnetite concentrate particles was investigated in drop-tube reactors (DTR) to obtain a rate equation for the design and analysis of a flash ironmaking reactor. The...

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate a Large-Scale Bench Reactor (LSBR) applied to the flash ironmaking technology, in which the kinetics of magnetite concentrate reduction, separately determined in a drop-tube reactor, was incorporated. This article reports on a CFD study to test the effects of operating conditions, including O2/natural gas ratio and gas flow rates, on the product gas composition, temperature, heat loss through the walls of the LSBR, and reduction degree of the magnetite concentrate. Further, a comprehensive, general, and realistic boundary condition for heat transfer through the wall is incorporated in the CFD model, and thus, the CFD model presented in this article is completely predictive for the design of an industrial reactor.

An experimental investigation of the reduction of magnetite concentrate particles was conducted in a laboratory-scale flash reactor representing a novel flash ironmaking process. In this reactor, methane was partially oxidized by oxygen to form a reducing H2 + CO gas mixtures. The test variables in this work included the particle residence time, the extent of excess reducing gases, particle feeding mode, and flame configuration. The experimental results obtained from this reactor proved that the concentrate particles can be reduced directly in a flash reactor utilizing natural gas. More than 80 pct reduction was achieved in this reactor despite its low operating temperature (1170 °C). In addition, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was developed to describe the reduction of concentrate particles in this reactor. The model was used to simulate the fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical reactions involved. The gas phase was simulated in the Eulerian frame of reference, while the particles were tracked in the Lagrangian framework. The partial combustion of methane by oxygen was also simulated in this study. The temperature profile obtained from the simulations satisfactorily agreed with the experimental measurements, while the calculated reduction degrees consistently over predicted the experimental values. This was attributed to the soot formation as a consequence of methane cracking due to large metal surface of the reactor. The soot formation led to a high-water vapor generation in the partial combustion, which lowered the excess of hydrogen.

Background: Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offers a new approach for adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). The study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tACS treating MDD. Methods: This is an 8-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Ninety-two drug-naive patients with MDD aged 18 to 65 years will receive 20 daily 40-min, 77.5-Hz, 15-mA sessions of active or sham tACS targeting the forehead and both mastoid areas on weekdays for 4 consecutive weeks (week 4), following a 4-week observation period (week 8). The primary outcome is the remission rate defined as the 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS-17) score ≤7 at week 8. Secondary outcomes are the rates of response at weeks 4 and 8 and rate of remission at week 4 based on HDRS-17, the proportion of participants having improvement in the clinical global impression-improvement, the change in HDRS-17 score (range, 0–52, with higher scores indicating more depression) over the study, and variations of brain imaging and neurocognition from baseline to week 4. Safety will be assessed by vital signs at weeks 4 and 8, and adverse events will be collected during the entire study. Discussion: The tACS applied in this trial may have treatment effects on MDD with minimal side effects. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800016479; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=22048. Key words: Major depressive disorder; Transcranial alternating current stimulation; Treatment; Trial

Objective To observe the effects on spatial long-term memory in the rats with vascular dementia (VD) treated with moxibustion for resolving stasis and promoting meridian circulation. Methods The modified 2-vascular occlusion (2-VO) method was used to prepare VD animal model. The rats were randomized into a sham-operation group, a model group, a moxibustion group and a western medication group, 15 rats in each one. In the moxibustion group, mild warm moxibustion was applied to “Baihui (百会 GV 20)” “Dazhuī (大椎 GV 14)” and “Shenting (神庭 GV 24)”, 20 min at each point, once a day, for 3 weeks consecutively. In the western medicaion group, mouse nerve growth factor (NGF) was injected intraperitoneally, 0.18 mL/kg, once a day, for 3 weeks consecutively. Morris water maze test was used, the time of the first passing platform, the frequency of passing-platform and swimming speed in 120 s were determined of the rats in each group. Western blot were used to test the protein expressions of hippocampal Nestin and DCX. Results At the end of three courses of treatment, compared with sham-operation group, the difference was not significant statistically in swimming speed in the model group, the moxibustion group and the western medication group separately (all P > 0.05). Three days after modeling, the mean of escape latency was prolonged obviously in the modeled rats compared with the rats in the sham-operation group (88.84 ± 19.94 vs 18.15 ± 9.41, P 0.05). Compared with the sham-operation group, the frequency of passing-platform was decreased in the model group (0.73 ± 0.96 vs 2.60 ± 1.45, P 0.05). After three courses of treatment, compared with the sham-operation group, DCX expression was decreased in the model group, but without significant difference (0.44 ± 0.20 vs 0.51 ± 0.26, P > 0.05), the expression was increased in the moxibustion group and the western medication group respectively (0.98 ± 0.25 vs 0.51 ± 0.26, P 0.05). Conclusion Moxibustion apparently improves the long-term memory in VD rats.

The development of a novel ironmaking technology based on fine iron ore concentrate in a flash reactor is summarized. The design of potential industrial reactors for flash ironmaking based on the computational fluid dynamics technique is described. Overall, this simulation work has shown that the size of the reactor used in the novel flash ironmaking technology (FIT) can be quite reasonable vis-à-vis the blast furnaces. A flash reactor of 12 m diameter and 35 m height with a single burner operating at atmospheric pressure would produce 1.0 million tons of iron per year. The height can be further reduced by either using multiple burners, preheating the feed gas, or both. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based design of potential industrial reactors for flash ironmaking pointed to a number of features that should be incorporated. The flow field should be designed in such a way that a larger portion of the reactor is used for the reduction reaction but at the same time excessive collision of particles with the wall must be avoided. Further, a large diameter-to-height ratio that still allows a high reduction degree should be used from the viewpoint of decreased heat loss. This may require the incorporation of multiple burners and solid feeding ports.

Aim To implement the nursing rounds to improve the quality and patient satisfaction of the outpatient department. Background Patient satisfaction is one of the most critical standards for judging the quality of hospitals. Clinical daily nursing rounds significantly increase patient satisfaction and influence safety. Method SQUIRE guidelines directed the execution of a quality improvement project, which used the Driver Model to improve patient satisfaction in a Chinese outpatient department with 15,000 visits per day (4 million/year). Patient satisfaction based on questionnaires (1,541), pre-intervention and (1,219) post-intervention provided increased satisfaction (p Results Improvements validated were satisfaction with outpatient services from patients, effective nurse-patient communications, an increase in the quality of nursing care, doctors' satisfaction with the outpatient department operations, reduced wait time and more efficient management, all impact safety. Conclusions The institution of daily nursing rounds made an overall improvement in the operations of the outpatient department, which increased patient satisfaction, quality of care and safety. Implications for nursing management Nursing rounds promote patient satisfaction through assessment of operations, addressing patient and staff needs, and appropriate interventions to rectify issues and reduce adverse outcomes. Patient satisfaction impacts quality, outcomes and safety in clinical settings.

This article describes the development of a novel ironmaking technology based on flash reduction. The development started with the proof of the kinetic feasibility, considering that a typical flash reactor provides only a few seconds of residence time. This was followed by tests in a laboratory flash reactor and finally a pilot plant operation. The rate equations formulated in this work were developed considering the optimum combination of temperature, residence time, and reducing gas partial pressure to achieve > 95% reduction degree. Experiments in the intermediate-scale laboratory flash reactor indicated that more than 90% reduction degree could be obtained in a few second residence time at temperature as low as 1175 °C. A pilot reactor operating at 1200–1550 °C was installed and run to collect data necessary for scaling up the process. The tests in this large reactor validated the design concept in terms of heat supply and residence time, and identified technical hurdles. This investigation proved the technical feasibility of the flash ironmaking technology. The results of this work will facilitate the design for the industrial flash ironmaking reactor. The novel technology is expected to decrease the energy consumption in ironmaking by up to 44% compared with the average blast furnace process, and will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 51%. When hydrogen is used, the proposed process would use up to 60% less energy with little carbon dioxide emissions. However, it is noted that the energy requirements and CO2 emissions during the production of natural gas, hydrogen or coal must be added for a comprehensive comparison.

The kinetic analysis of the reduction of hematite concentrate particles by individual reducing gas H2 or CO was performed using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based approach in this paper. The particle residence time was calculated through the integration of the equation of particle motion. Non-uniform particle temperature profiles inside the reactor were obtained, and were taken into consideration for the kinetic analysis. The calculated reduction degrees based on this approach are in good agreement with the experimental values.

Currently urban overpasses (new-construction, reconstruction and extension) are being constructed on a large scale in China. While the construction projects are beneficial to the economic and social development, they have also caused serious ecological and environmental problems. On one hand, the final disposal of construction wastes requires a large amount of land, and the extraction of virgin aggregate destroys the local ecological environment. On the other hand, the energy consumption and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the entire life cycle are massive. To reduce the ecological and environmental impacts and to improve the resource use efficiency during the overpass construction, it is necessary to change the traditional linear resource use mode (aggregate–buildings–garbage) into a circular mode (aggregate–buildings–reused/regenerated aggregate–buildings). Using the life cycle inventory (LCI) method, the energy consumption and the GHG emissions are investigated for two different kinds of reconstruction and extension projects for overpasses in Shanghai City, using virgin and regenerated aggregates, respectively. Through that, the actual energy conservation and the GHG reduction benefits from using the regenerated aggregate are determined. Important first-hand data on the extraction of aggregate, the regeneration of aggregate, and the demolition of the discarded overpass, in a real situation, are gathered. The results show that, for the life cycle of aggregate, the energy consumption and the GHG emissions from reused aggregate can be reduced to 45.27% and 43.91%, respectively, compared to the virgin aggregate. For the life cycle of road concrete, the figures mentioned above would be 3.48% and 1.33%, respectively. In order to reduce the total energy consumption and GHG emissions from the reconstruction and extension projects of the overpasses, it is essential to find a way to reduce the amount of cement used, as well as the energy consumed and the GHG emitted during the cement production.

Background: Not all adults with chronic insomnia respond to the recommended therapeutic options of cognitive behavioral therapy and approved hypnotic drugs. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) may offer a novel potential treatment modality for insomnia. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of tACS for treating adult patients with chronic insomnia. Methods: Sixty-two participants with chronic primary insomnia received 20 daily 40-min, 77.5-Hz, 15-mA sessions of active or sham tACS targeting the forehead and both mastoid areas in the laboratory on weekdays for 4 consecutive weeks, followed by a 4-week follow-up period. The primary outcome was response rate measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at week 8. Secondary outcomes were remission rate, insomnia severity, sleep onset latency (SOL), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency, sleep quality, daily disturbances, and adverse events at the end of the 4-week intervention and at the 4-week follow-up. Results: Of 62 randomized patients, 60 completed the trial. During the 4-week intervention, 1 subject per group withdrew due to loss of interest and time restriction, respectively. Based on PSQI, at 4-week follow-up, the active group had a higher response rate compared to the sham group (53.4% [16/30] vs. 16.7% [5/30], p = 0.009), but remission rates were not different between groups. At the end of the 4-week intervention, the active group had higher response and remission rates than the sham group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.026, respectively). During the trial, compared with the sham group, the active group showed a statistically significant decrease in PSQI total score, a shortened SOL, an increased TST, improved sleep efficiency, and improved sleep quality (p < 0.05 or p < 0.001). Post hoc analysis revealed that, in comparison with the sham group, the active group had improved symptoms, except for daily disturbances, at the end of the 4-week intervention, and significant improvements in all symptoms at the 4-week follow-up. No adverse events or serious adverse responses occurred during the study. Conclusion: The findings show that the tACS applied in the present study has potential as an effective and safe intervention for chronic insomnia within 8 weeks.

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to study the hydrogen reduction of magnetite concentrate particles in a laboratory flash reactor representing a novel flash ironmaking process. The model was used to simulate the fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical reactions involved. The governing equations for the gas phase were solved in the Eulerian frame of reference while the particles were tracked in the Lagrangian framework. The change in the particle mass was related to the chemical reaction and the particle temperature was calculated by taking into consideration the heat of reaction, convection, and radiation. The stochastic trajectory model was used to describe particle dispersion due to turbulence. Partial combustion of H2 by O2 injected through a non-premixed burner was also simulated in this study. The partial combustion mechanism used in this model consisted of seven chemical reactions involving six species. The temperature profiles and reduction degrees obtained from the simulations satisfactorily agreed with the experimental measurements.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach, coupled with experimental results, was developed to accurately evaluate the kinetic parameters of iron oxide particle reduction. Hydrogen reduction of magnetite concentrate particles was used as a sample case. A detailed evaluation of the particle residence time and temperature profile inside the reactor is presented. This approach eliminates the errors associated with assumptions like constant particle temperature and velocity while the particles travel down a drop tube reactor. The gas phase was treated as a continuum in the Eulerian frame of reference, and the particles are tracked using a Lagrangian approach in which the trajectory and velocity are determined by integrating the equation of particle motion. In addition, a heat balance on the particle that relates the particle temperature to convection and radiation was also applied. An iterative algorithm that numerically solves the governing coupled ordinary differential equations was developed to determine the pre-exponential factor and activation energy that best fit the experimental data.

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is an autoimmune disease in which bone marrow failure is mediated by activated myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and T lymphocytes. Recent research has identified a strong immunomodulatory effect of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) on dendritic cells in immune-mediated diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of PKM2 in the activation of mDCs in SAA. We observed conspicuously higher levels of PKM2 in mDCs from SAA patients compared to normal controls at both the gene and protein levels. Concurrently, we unexpectedly discovered that after the mDC-specific downregulation of PKM2, mDCs from patients with SAA exhibited weakened phagocytic activity and significantly decreased and shortened dendrites relative to their counterparts from normal controls. The expression levels of the costimulatory molecules CD86 and CD80 were also reduced on mDCs. Our results also suggested that PKM2 knockdown in mDCs reduced the abilities of these cells to promote the activation of CD8+ T cells (CTLs), leading to the decreased secretion of cytotoxic factors by the latter cell type. These findings demonstrate that mDC activation requires an elevated intrinsic PKM2 level and that PKM2 improves the immune status of patients with SAA by enhancing the functions of mDCs and, consequently, CTLs.

// Tao Qin 1,* , Yin-duo Zeng 1,2,* , Ge Qin 1,* , Fei Xu 1,* , Jia-bin Lu 1 , Wen-feng Fang 1 , Cong Xue 1 , Jian-hua Zhan 1 , Xin-ke Zhang 1 , Qiu-fan Zheng 1 , Rou-jun Peng 1 , Zhong-yu Yuan 1 , Li Zhang 1 and Shu-sen Wang 1 1 Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, The State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China 2 Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Shu-sen Wang, email: // Li Zhang, email: // Zhong-yu Yuan, email: // Keywords : PD-L1, breast cancer, ER, PR, prognosis, nomogram Received : July 07, 2015 Accepted : August 22, 2015 Published : September 10, 2015 Abstract Background: To investigate the role of PD-L1 expression in tumor recurrence and metastasis in Chinese patients with breast cancer. Methods: Suitable tissue samples were available from 870 patients with breast cancer. Paraffin-embedded tumor sections were stained with PD-L1 antibody. The correlations between PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics, ER/PR/HER2 status and survival parameters were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier and univariate Cox proportional hazards model analyses were used to compare the survival of patients with high PD-L1 expression and patients with no PD-L1 expression. Results: The median follow-up time was 98 months(range, 17–265 months).The positive rate of PD-L1 expression in breast cancer was 21.7% (189/870). PD-L1 high expression was inversely associated with larger tumor size, higher tumor grade, more positive lymph node number, as well as negative ER and PR status. PD-L1 expression was particularly higher in TNBC compared with non-TNBC, although no statistical significance was observed. Nomogram logistic regression results based on clinical and pathological features showed that the following factors were more likely associated with high PD-L1 expression: patient age younger than 35 years, larger tumor size, lymphovascular invasion and advanced stage. Our data indicated that patients with high PD-L1 expression had poor DFS, DMFS and overall survival compared with those with no PD-L1 expression. Univariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that PD-L1 was an independent prognostic factor for tumor prognosis. Conclusions: PD-L1 expression is an important indicator of unfavorable prognosis in breast cancer patients.

A novel flash ironmaking process is under development at the University of Utah. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach, coupled with experimental results, was developed for the analysis of the kinetics of reduction of hematite concentrate by H2 + CO mixtures at 1150–1350 °C in a drop tube reactor. Rate expressions of hematite concentrate reduction by single gases (H2 or CO) were used in the analysis of the experimental data under H2 + CO mixtures. Synergistic effects, which were found in the H2 + CO mixture experiments compared with simple summation of contributions of component gases, was considered in this paper. The gas phase was treated as a continuum in the Eulerian frame of reference, and the particles are tracked using a Lagrangian approach in the evaluation of the particle residence time and temperature profile inside the reactor. The calculated reduction degrees based on this approach are in good agreement with the experimental values.

A flash ironmaking process is being developed at the University of Utah in which iron is produced directly from magnetite concentrate. The kinetics of magnetite reduction by a mixture of H2 and CO gases was determined in the temperature range 1150–1600 °C. Over 90% reduction degree was achieved at a temperature as low as 1250 °C within 4–6 s which is the typical residence time available in a flash reactor. The kinetics results were applied to experimental data obtained in a laboratory flash reactor in which H2 and CO gas mixtures were produced from in situ partial oxidation of natural gas with oxygen. CFD was used to simulate the laboratory reactor, and the results were in good agreement with the experimental data.

The Flash Ironmaking Technology being developed at the University of Utah is aimed at producing iron directly from iron oxide concentrate. In this technology, the concentrate is reduced by H2 and CO gas mixtures formed from the partial oxidation of natural gas in a flash reactor. Natural gas represents an economically and environmentally superior reductant/fuel for the flash ironmaking. The rate equations for the reduction kinetics by H2, CO and H2 + CO gas mixtures were determined in the temperature range 1150–1600 °C. These rate equations were applied to experimental results from a laboratory flash reactor using Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD simulation. A new mini-pilot reactor, which is capable of operating at 1150–1550 °C with a concentrate feeding rate of 2–5 kg/h, has been installed. Commissioning of the reactor with an emphasis on preheating of the reactor, production of reducing gas mixtures and the feeding and collection of iron ore concentrate and product particles has been completed.

A mount of recent researches on scene parsing and semantic labeling, while few focus on obtaining joint semantic motion labeling. In this paper, we propose an approach to infer both the object class and motion status for each pixel of images. First, we extract and match sparse image features to estimate ego-motion between two consecutive stereo images, the result of feature points grouping is used to segment moving object in U-disparity map. Second, a Fully Convolutional Neural Network is employed for semantic segmentation. Moreover, semantic cues are utilized to remove pixels have no potential to be moved in motion mask. Finally, we use a fully connected CRF to integrate motion into semantic segmentation. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we present experimental results with KITTI stereo images that contain moving objects.

In this paper, a new type of ship lights controller is presented, which is based on AVR microcontroller, and adopts modular design with isolation between electricity and electronics. The control panel uses LED lattice to indicate the actual layout of the lights and vary lights brightness. Electrical current detection device is used to monitor ship lights. So that the alarm rings when any of the lights is burnt out. The software is developed based on Windows environment, with graphical interface, so that it is easy to use. The proposed controller can be redeveloped to adapt to different configuration of different ship lights.

Steel constructions located in marine environments are exposed to more serious corrosion than in other environments, which result in great loss in lives and economy. So it is very important to carry out research work on the influence factor and mechanism of marine corrosion with necessary methods. In this paper, influence factors in marine environment of steels were discussed, the corrosion mechanism of five different zones in marine environment was summarized and the progress of research methods for marine corrosion was reviewed.

IC- (Integrated circuits) sorting machine is a kind of special equipment used for testing, classifying and grading IC chips, which is of significances in IC industry. Traditionally, IC- sorting machine is controlled by industry personal computer (IPC), which bears disadvantages such as large size and high cost. By contrast, the control system for IC-sorting machines presented in this paper is based on micro control unit (MCU), which is of relatively high reliability as well as high stability but low cost. First, we gave an outline of the configuration and operation principle of the sorting machine. Second, the input and output (I/O) signals that should be controlled were classified. Last but not least, the control strategy was presented both from the hardware side and the software side. In terms of the hardware design, touch screen was adopted as the human interface device (HID) for the sake of convenience, and isolated power module as well as optical isolated module were applied to improve the anti- electro magnetic interference (EMI) performance; In terms of software design, mechanisms such as multi-task by-turn and timer interrupt delay were adopted to improve the operation efficiency.

In this paper, research and progress of corrosion inhibitors are reviewed from the aspects of history, classification, inhibition mechanism, evaluation methods and development trend. It is of great theoretical significance and high social and economic value for development of new efficient and low toxicity corrosion inhibitor and deep research on the inhibition mechanism.

Tradition lithographic techniques to produce micrlens array are complicated and time consuming. Due to the capability to replicate nanostructures repeatedly in a large area with high resolution and uniformity, hot embossing has been recognized as one of the promising approaches to fabricate microlens array with high throughput and low cost. This paper introduces processes to realize fabricating microlens array in mass production by direct hot embossing on silicon substrate. The mold is fabricated by multi-photolithography and etching steps and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is chosen as the resist. Processes include coating, heating, pressing, etc. Fidelity and optical performance of the embossed microlens array were measured. High fidelity and fine optical performance of the embossed microlens array demonstrate the possibility of hot embossing to fabricate microlens array in mass production.

Aiming at the plant automatic classification in the precision agriculture, the leaf shape recognition method based on the characteristics of the plant geometric figure was proposed. Several geometric parameters, such as the aspect ratio, lobe number, and invariant moments, were extracted as the features for leaves classification. The analytic hierarchy process was employed to identify leaf shapes. In the first layer of classification, the types of leaf shapes were determined by comparing threshold and the aspect ratio. In the second layer of classification, the broad leaf was classified into single-lobed leaf or multiple-lobed leaf according to lobe number. In the third layer of classification, the minimum distance decision rule was used to identify single-lobed leaf shapes according to their invariant moments. The experiments showed that the analytic hierarchy process can identify leaf shapes effectively and the results of classification were consistent with the human judgment. The leaf shape recognition method has laid the foundation for automatic plant classification.

We design a novel kind of polarization beam splitter based on a gold-filled dual-core photonic crystal fiber (DC-PCF). Owing to filling with two gold wires in this DC-PCF, its coupling characteristics can be changed greatly by the second-order surface plasmon polariton (SPP) and the resonant coupling between the surface plasmon modes and the fiber-core guided modes can enhance the directional power transfer in the two fiber-cores. Numerical results by using the finite element method show the extinction ratio at the wavethlengths of 1.327 μm and 1.55 μm can reach −58 dB and −60 dB and the bandwidths as the extinction ratio better than −12 dB are about 54 nm and 47 nm, respectively. Compared with the gold-unfilled DC-PCF, a 1.746-mm-long gold-filled DC-PCF is better applied to the polarization beam splitter in the two communication bands of λ = 1.327 μm and 1.55 μm.

We report a rare case of acute pulmonary and cerebral complication after transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma. The case involved a large tumor and hepatic vein invasion. Nonspecific pulmonary and cerebral symptoms such as acute dyspnoea and transient consciousness loss developed in the patient, a 49-year-old woman, following the TACE due to pulmonary and cerebral oil embolism. The chest and brain conditions of this patient improved after some supportive therapies and nursing interventions. She also subsequently completed the other three procedures of TACE.