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Background Few studies have used spatially resolved ambient particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of <10 µm (PM10) to examine the impact of PM10 on ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality in China. The aim of our study is to evaluate the short-term effects of PM10 concentrations on IHD mortality by means of spatiotemporal analysis approach. Methods We collected daily data on air pollution, weather conditions and IHD mortality in Beijing, China during 2008 and 2009. Ordinary kriging (OK) was used to interpolate daily PM10 concentrations at the centroid of 287 township-level areas based on 27 monitoring sites covering the whole city. A generalized additive mixed model was used to estimate quantitatively the impact of spatially resolved PM10 on the IHD mortality. The co-effects of the seasons, gender and age were studied in a stratified analysis. Generalized additive model was used to evaluate the effects of averaged PM10 concentration as well. Results The averaged spatially resolved PM10 concentration at 287 township-level areas was 120.3 ± 78.1 µg/m³. Ambient PM10 concentration was associated with IHD mortality in spatiotemporal analysis and the strongest effects were identified for the 2-day average. A 10 µg/m³ increase in PM10 was associated with an increase of 0.33% (95% confidence intervals: 0.13%, 0.52%) in daily IHD mortality. The effect estimates using spatially resolved PM10 were larger than that using averaged PM10. The seasonal stratification analysis showed that PM10 had the statistically stronger effects on IHD mortality in summer than that in the other seasons. Males and older people demonstrated the larger response to PM10 exposure. Conclusions Our results suggest that short-term exposure to particulate air pollution is associated with increased IHD mortality. Spatial variation should be considered for assessing the impacts of particulate air pollution on mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: To analyze the outcomes and incidence of postoperative complications in a large series of patients undergoing LASIK for myopia. METHODS: All 5081 patients (10,052 eyes) diagnosed with myopia at The Third Hospital of Handan, China, from September 2003 through March 2005 were studied. All study eyes underwent LASIK with 1-month follow-up. Spherical equivalent refraction, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), and uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) were measured before and after surgery and intra- and postoperative complications were recorded. RESULTS: Uncorrected visual acuity at 1-month follow- up of 9555 (95.1%) eyes reached or exceeded the preoperative BSCVA. Hemorrhage of corneal limbus during surgery occurred in 1060 (10.5%) eyes, Sands of Sahara syndrome occurred in 232 (2.3%) eyes, interface infection responsive to treatment occurred in 4 (0.04%) eyes, and epithelial ingrowth occurred in 1 (0.01%) eye. CONCLUSIONS: LASIK is a safe and effective method for the treatment of myopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]