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Background: Thrombotic occlusion of the coronary artery, which succeeds the atherosclerotic plaquerupture or erosion, gives rise to a major portion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) incidences.Nevertheless, coronary embolism is gaining increasing recognition as another important factor contributingto AMI. Case presentation: A 72-year-old woman with atrial fibrillation (AF) and diabetes mellitus histories,presented with chest pain radiating to the left arm and shoulder that began 6 hours prior to admission.Electrocardiogram revealed AF plus ST-segment elevation in the anterior leads.Intervention: Patient was first treated with anti-platelet agents (aspirin plus ticagrelor) and atorvastatin.Emergency coronary angiography depicted multi-site coronary embolization of the left circumflex artery(LCX) and the left anterior descending artery (LAD). Blood flow was not restored after intracoronaryinjection of 600 ug tirofiban. 40 mg recombinant human prourokinase was then administered via aspirationthrombectomy catheter. Outcome: Two weeks later, coronary angiography showed no residual obstructive lesion in the LCX andLAD with TIMI (thrombolysis in myocardial infarction) 3 flow. Conclusion: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention is the most effective measure. In the case offailed blood flow restoration, thrombolytic treatment in both intravenous and intracoronary route should beconsidered.

Coronary microembolization (CME)‐induced inflammation and cardiomyocyte apoptosis are two key factors contributing to CME‐induced myocardial dysfunction. High‐mobility group box‐1 (HMGB1) plays essential role in progression of CME‐induced injury and inhibition of HMGB1 has been shown to be protective. In present study, the potential effects of glycyrrhizin, a HMGB1 inhibitor, on CME‐induced myocardial dysfunction are evaluated. Using a rat model of CME, we administrated glycyrrhizin in rats prior to CME induction. The level of HMGB1, TNF‐α, iNOS, IL‐6, IL‐1β, cleaved caspase‐3, Bax, and Bcl‐2 were measured. The serum level of cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase, was detected. The cardiac function and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were evaluated. The activation of TLR4/NF‐κB signaling pathway was analyzed. Glycyrrhizin prevented CME‐induced production of HMGB1, TNF‐α, iNOS, IL‐6, and IL‐1β. Glycyrrhizin inhibited CME‐induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the expression of cleaved caspase‐3 and Bax, while enhanced the expression of Bcl‐2. Glycyrrhizin decreased cardiac troponin I and creatine kinase levels and improved cardiac function. Glycyrrhizin prevented the activation of HMGB1/TLR4/NF‐κB signaling pathway. Glycyrrhizin ameliorated myocardial dysfunction in CME rats by preventing inflammation and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes., Glycyrrhizin prevented CME‐induced production of HMGB1, TN‐α, iNOS, IL‐6, IL‐1β. Glycyrrhizin inhibted CME‐induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the expression of cleaved caspase‐3 and Bax, while enhanced the expression of Bcl‐2. Glycyrrhizin decreased cardiac troponin I and creatine kinase levels and improved cardiac function. Glycyrrhizin prevented the activation of HMGB1/TLR4/NF‐κB signaling pathway. Glycyrrhizin ameliorated myocardial dysfunction in CME rats by preventing inflammation and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes.

Background Endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) is a rare condition and a major cause of death in tropical countries. The etiology of EMF remains elusive, and no specific treatment has been developed yet, therefore it carries poor prognosis. Case presentation An 81-year-old male Chinese patient with a history of long-standing exertional breathlessness, presented with worsening symptoms rapidly evolving to orthopnea. A proper specific treatment was prescribed to the patient in the following days, including diuretics, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor and beta blockers. The patient died of progressive multiple organ failure. Conclusion Echocardiography is technically limited due to the acoustic shadowing as a result of the calcification. Chest computed tomography is a more accurate diagnostic tool to examine the anatomic distribution and extent of endomyocardial calcification in this rare case.

To investigate whether the presence of micropapillary and solid patterns are associated with nodal upstaging and survival patterns in patients with cT1N0M0 lung adenocarcinoma. We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathologic data of 2571 patients undergoing lobectomy and lymph node dissection or sampling. Logistic and Cox regression analysis were applied to determine the association between histological patterns and nodal upstaging and survival. Nodal upstaging was detected in 115 patients (4.5%) through postoperative pathologic examination. Tumors absent of lepidic pattern, and present with acinar, micropapillary and solid patterns had significantly higher nodal upstaging rate (all P

Small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have transformed the management of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring activating epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, while the efficacy of TKIs in the adjuvant setting remains unclear. We collected the data of 209 EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients receiving complete resection from 2010 to 2013. Study end points were disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Among the eligible patients, 41 (19.6%) received EGFR TKIs in the adjuvant treatment. The 3-year DFS of adjuvant EGFR TKIs treatment group (70.5%, 95% CI, 54.6–86.4%) was significantly superior that control group (50.2%, 95% CI, 40–60.4%; log-rank P = 0.014). TKIs treatment (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29–0.97; P = 0.04) was significantly associated with improved DFS in multivariate Cox analysis. No significant difference was observed in 3-year OS between two groups (73.1% [58.0–88.2%] vs 61.8% [52.2–71.4%], log-rank P = 0.21). Propensity-score matching further confirmed that adjuvant TKIs treatment extended the DFS (log-rank P = 0.024), but did not improve OS (log-rank P = 0.40). Our analysis revealed that adjuvant EGFR TKIs treatment was beneficial for early-stage NSCLC patients harboring activating EGFR mutations after complete resection.

Background The evaluation of the eighth edition of ypTNM staging system for patients with esophageal cancer was limited in the setting of neoadjuvant therapy. Methods A total of 2324 patients with esophageal cancer receiving radio(chemo)therapy prior to surgery from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2004 and 2013 were eligible for the analysis. Kaplan‐Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate overall survivals. Results Among patients with preoperative therapy, both the seventh edition TNM grouping and the eighth edition ypTNM grouping could significantly stratify the overall survival (both log‐rank P, Analysis of the national SEER database revealed that lymph node status (ypN category) was an important prognostic factor, and supported the combination of ypT1 and ypT2 in grouping. Tumor grade ramained an independent predictor of survival in the setting of neoadjuvant therapy, and could improve the performance of ypTNM staging system.

Background Patients of coronary artery disease (CAD) with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) show increased mortality risk than CAD patients without DM2, while few biomarkers can be used to discriminate them. Methods Fifty‐nine patients of CAD with DM2 (DM2‐CAD group), 79 patients of CAD without DM2 (CAD group), and 63 healthy control subjects were recruited. Circulating miR‐130 (miR‐130a and miR‐130b) and PPAR‐γ (peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma) were measured and their Pearson correlation was analyzed. 3′ UTR binding prediction and luciferase assay were used to determine the target relationship between miR‐130 and PPAR‐γ. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was performed to test the discrimination ability of miR‐130 between DM2‐CAD and CAD groups. Results miR‐130a and miR‐130b showed decreased expression in DM2‐CAD group when compared with the CAD group and health control. Both bioinformatics and luciferase assays showed that miR‐130 could bind the 3′ UTR of PPAR‐γ. Furthermore, miR‐130 negatively correlated with PPAR‐γ in both CAD and DM2‐CAD group in Pearson's coefficient analysis. Both miR‐130a and miR‐130b were able to discriminate DM2‐CAD group from CAD group and control subjects. Conclusion Circulating miR‐130 may regulate the expression of PPAR‐γ and can be used as a biomarker to discriminate DM2‐CAD from CAD.

Background A previous meta-analysis of our research team suggested survival advantage from epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) after surgery in patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aims to follow up on the findings of the previous one and presents our latest updates through the past few years. Methods The study advanced the previous meta-analysis and included a comprehensive range of relevant studies in PubMed. Disease-free survival (DFS) with hazard ratios (HRs) was calculated using random and/or fixed-effects models. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression analysis were also performed. Results A total of 2,223 patients in seven studies were eligible for the analysis. Adjuvant EGFR-TKIs administration was significantly associated with superior DFS [HR, 0.60; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.42-0.87], corresponding to an absolute benefit of 3.4% at 3 years, yet with significant heterogeneity (I2=80.0%, P

Background: Unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease is associated with high mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on gender-specific patients with ULMCA in the Chinese population and provide a basis for further treatment of PCI in ULMCA disease. Methods: 173 patients (female, N = 52; male, N = 121; mean age = 61.02 ± 7.95) with ULMCA disease, who underwent PCI between January 2010 and December 2014, were investigated in our study. The mean follow-up time was 23.8 ± 7.3 months. The baseline clinical characteristics, coronary angiography (CAG) and PCI procedures, and in-hospital and follow-up outcomes of gender-specific patients were evaluated. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in baseline clinical characteristics with the exception of body weight, height, and smoking indexes between women and men. During PCI procedure, femoral artery puncture was more preferred in women than men (P < .05), whereas radial artery puncture was more preferred in men than women (P < .05). The characteristics of CAG and PCI procedures (except puncture path) were showed with no markedly difference between women and men. The incidences of MACCEs in male patients during the in-hospital and follow-up periods were slightly higher than those of the female patients although with no statistical differences. Conclusion: In northern China, the incidence of ULMCA disease in men is likely to be higher than in women, whereas PCI for ULMCA disease shows similarly favorable outcomes in women as well as in men. During the PCI procedure, femoral artery puncture in women and radial artery puncture in men are recommended.

OBJECTIVE Coronary artery perforation (CAP) is a rare, serious complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Many studies have addressed the incidence, risk factors, and management of CAP in different countries except China. The aim of this study is to determine the risk factors and types of treatment for coronary perforation occurring in patients undergoing PCI and living in the Cangzhou Chinese population. METHODS AND RESULTS A retrospective cohort of 12,113 patients who underwent PCI was used: 64 patients with CAP and 192 case-control patients were evaluated. Clinical data and findings from coronary arteriography and PCI were analysed. Logistic regression was used to evaluate candidate risk factors for CAP. The treatments were also evaluated. The incidence of CAP in patients undergoing PCI was 0.53%, and the mortality was 7.8% (5/64). Risk factors included female gender, hypertension, non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS), right coronary artery (RCA) lesion, calcified lesion, and chronic total occlusion (CTO) (all P 1). CTO had the highest risk (OR = 5.077, P < 0.001). Patients with class I CAP underwent conservative treatment. Patients with class II CAP underwent conservative treatment or low-pressure balloon dilatation (61.1% and 22.2%, respectively). Patients with class III CAP underwent low-pressure balloon dilatation, coated-stent implantation, and emergency surgery (40.9%, 27.3%, and 22.7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS CAP risk factors in Cangzhou Chinese patients undergoing PCI included CTO, NSTE-ACS, hypertension, calcified and RCA lesions, and female gender. Different treatment methods should be used according to the different classes of CAP.

This paper reports the development of solar-blind aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) 128x128 UV Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs). The back-illuminated hybrid FPA architecture consists of an 128x128 back-illuminated AlGaN PIN detector array that is bump-mounted to a matching 128x128 silicon CMOS readout integrated circuit (ROIC) chip. The 128x128 p-i-n photodiode arrays with cuton and cutoff wavelengths of 233 and 258 nm, with a sharp reduction in response to UVB (280-320 nm) light. Several examples of solar-blind images are provided. This solar-blind band FPA has much better application prospect.

FPGA(Field-programmable gate array) is programmable device, characterized by high speed and reconfiguration. We could test the circuit programmed by HDL (Hardware Description Language). By observing results of simulations through ModelSim, developers could fix logic errors. Also, they could analyze performance of circuits by the results. In the system, we build the Gigabit Ethernet development platform based on a FPGA. This paper presents the technique of FPGA and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as relevant techniques. On the basis of merits and drawbacks of different design proposals and real demands, we take the EP3C10E144C8N chip belonging to the series of Cyclone III produced by Altera corp. as main controller chip. By the use of an AX88180 MAC chip produced by ASIX Electronics Corporation and a RTL8211E physical chip by Realtek Semiconductor Corporation, we build the development platform. At the receiving end, we capture data frames from the network adapter by winpcap programming and throw video data in the buffer. Considering large amounts of data in the real-time transportation, we design fixed-length queue as the primary structures for buffer. Size of a buffer unit is 32KB, which means that 32 packets can fill the buffer. When the buffer is full, we put the buffer unit to the end of the queue. We get data from buffer and hand it over to application process to display and store video data. When packet loss is detected by the system, log file will record it and thus we can check how many packets lose. The simulations by Quartus II and practical application proves that the system is stable, featuring high speed and low cost. It can be used in various high speed real-time transmission with little modification.

The ratio of optical pulse numbers to corona current (ROPC) is proposed to study the correlation between UV radiation intensity and current strength during AC corona discharge. It’s found that the ROPC curves rose rapidly before a critical voltage and then the curves flatten with the supplied voltage rising, even if the voltage is increased approximately 1 fold higher than the critical voltage. Finally, according to ROPC curves, a new method of determining the voltage for corona inception is introduced, and a novel quantitative analysis method is put forward to judge the level of corona discharge by the means of optical measurement.

Two types of readout integrated circuit named SFD and CTIA are proposed to match the PVDF pyroelectric IR detector. By employing macro model and analyzing the parameters of detector, the best matching conditions including the input reference noise, input impedance, input capacitance, and working point are investigated in details. Based on the property of the AC output for PVDF detector, we propose a novel readout method, with which the ratio of signal to noise can be greatly improved. Furthermore, the linearity and sensitivity for both circuits are discussed by the means of Spectre tools.

In this paper, specific issues in designing an avalanche photodiode (APD)-based non-line-of-sight (NLOS) ultraviolet (UV) communication system are investigated. A proper wavelength of the UV LEDs and a system configuration should be considered carefully to assure the feasibility of this system. Using the single scattering model, the received optical power at the sensitive area of the APD can be calculated. According to the calculation, it revealed that the scattered ultraviolet signal level was very low; therefore, a post signal processing circuit was necessary. The authors put forward the key components of the circuit based on the compromise between signal bandwidth and gain. The performance of this circuit was evaluated by means of software simulation, and continued work was involved to improve its signal noise ratio (SNR). The transmitter used in this system was 365 nm UV LED array. Strictly speaking, this was not the practical outdoor UV communication system. Since the scattering coefficient of 365 nm UV only drops a little compared with solar blind UV, the research-grade UV communication could be carried out in a darkroom without a great influence. By combining an APD with a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) optical system, the effective collection area and field of view (FOV) of the detector could be adjusted. Several issues were also raised to improve the performance of UV communication system, including using more powerful UV LEDs and choosing suitable modulation schemes.

Recently, AlGaN-based material and related devices have been investigated intensiv ely because of their applications in ultraviolet solar-blind detectors, blue light-emitting diodes, UV laser diodes, and high-power-temperature devices. Due to intrinsic difficulty to grow high aluminum fraction material, achieving reasonable good quality of wafers is the key aspect to fabricate high performance solar-blind AlGaN-based detectors. Transmission spectra, XRD, and a two dimension transmission scanning system were employed to evaluate the properties of AlGaN-based material. Wet chemical etching process of n-type AlGaN in 20% aqueous KOH solutions was performed to reduce dry etching damages and the average leakage current. I-V characterization indicated that the average leakage current of the wet etching treated detectors was lower than that of the detectors without treatment by about one order of magnitude. Ti/Al/Ti/Au contact on n-type Al 0.63 Ga 0.37 N was optimized to get a low series resistance. 128 ™ 128 solar-blind AlGaN UV Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) we re fabricated and the performance were char acterized. A CTIA (capacitive-transimpedance) readout circuit architecture has been pr oven to be well suited for AlGaN detect ors arrays. The results show that 128 ™ 128 back-illuminated AlGaN PIN detector SNR is as high as 74 db at a speed of above 30 frames per second. Keywords: Al

Thermal oxidation interfacial layer was inserted into the GaN-based material and Schottky contact interface during the device preparation to increase the barrier height. Different thickness of thermal oxidation interfacial layer was created by keeping the chips in the Rapid Thermal Processor (RTP) in atmosphere ambient for different periods of time before evaporating transparent Schottky contact. For GaN Schottky diodes, as the time kept in RTP increases, the diodes' zero-bias resistances decrease and the dark current increase considerably, and the peak photoresponse and UV-visible rejection factor of the responsivity of the diodes decrease abruptly. For Al 0.45 Ga 0.55 N Schottky diodes, as the time increase, the diodes' zero-bias resistances and dark current increase slightly, while the peak photoresponse and the UV/visible rejection factor of the responsivity of the diodes decrease a little.

GaN-based avalanche photodiodes (APDs) have become of increased interest in the UV detection arenas. However, numerous material-, fabrication-, and design-related problems are exactly settled before GaN-based APDs can be commercialized. In this study, we, first, discussed recent development of the GaN-based APDs. Then front- and back-illumination (respectively realizing electron and hole initial impact-ionization) p-i-n heterostructure devices with various mesa diameters were fabricated. The device with a diameter of 40 μm exhibited a multiplication gain of ~680, at reverse bias of ~76 V corresponding to the magnitude of the electric field of ~ 3 MV/cm by experiment indicating and simulation verifying. To confirm the origin of dark current under different reverse bias, the dark current-voltage characteristic of various sized mesa devices were performed. The dark current could be linearly fitted to the device diameter (or circumference) implied that the surface leakage along the mesa sidewall was the dominant component of the dark current. At zero bias, the spectral peak responsivity reached ~ 0.14A/W for front illumination, and ~ 0.152A/W for back illumination at a wavelength of 358 nm. The positive breakdown voltage coefficient from the temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics was 0.02 V/K.

The influence of larger constant current burning was studied and analyses on the failed detectors were given. "1/f" noise is observed in the reign of g-r noise, and the exponential factor had a trend of increasing with burning time. Peak wavelength and cutoff wavelength of the detectors had no apparent change during electrical burning, but there were decreases on the short wavelength side in spectral response. After a long time burning, minority carrier lifetime of the detectors decreased as well as black-body signals. Analyses showed that defects increased at the surface of detectors after burning, which was responsible for decreasing the detector performance, even detector failure.

Three LED-based signal transmitting schemes were presented to build the transmitter of UV communication system. Microprogrammed Control Unit (MCU) was taken to generate digital driving signal and to accomplish modulation with Keil C51 development tool. The modulated signal with a certain pulse width was sent to a LED driving circuit. High power 365nm UV LED was adopted according to the trade-off between its scattering coefficient and price. Utilization of high power UV LED improved the integration density of printed circuit board (PCB), which was beneficial to assemble a beam shaping system. The whole transmitter was installed on a four-dimensional optical stage for system adjustments and measurements. The radiant optical power of UV LED was measured. Some issues about the PCB design were also discussed. The MCU output waveforms were demonstrated on an oscilloscope and the UV LED output optical pulse were verified by a Hamamatsu APD module. Different modulation data rates were investigated. Experimental result showed that this signal transmitter for UV communication system could transmit optical signal well and greatly shorten the system development cycle.

Dark current is critical for GaN-based avalanche photodiodes because it significantly increases the noise current and limits the multiplication factor. It has been found that the band-to-band tunneling current is the dominant origin of the dark current for avalanche photodiodes at the onset of breakdown voltage. Experimentally, for GaN-based avalanche photodiodes with a thinner intrinsic layer, the dark current increases nearly exponentially with the applied voltage even at a lower bias voltage. In this paper, the intrinsic layer (i-layer) width of GaN-based avalanche photodiodes has been varied to study its effect on the band-to-band tunneling current. A widely used equation was used to calculate the band-to-band tunneling current of avalanche photodiodes with different i-layer widths (i-layer 0.1 μm, 0.2 μm and 0.4 μm). At −40 V, the band-to-band tunneling current significantly reduces by a magnitude of 10 −15 A with an increase in the i-layer width from 0.1 μ mt o 0.2μm, and a magnitude of 10 −29 A with an increase in the i-layer width from 0.2 μ mt o 0.4μm. Then, GaN-based avalanche photodiodes (i-layer 0.1 μm, 0.2 μm and 0.4 μm) with different-sized mesa were fabricated. Also, the measurement of dark current of all three different structures was performed, and their multiplication factors were given.