Baseline elevated Lp-PLA2 is associated with increased risk for re-stenosis after stent placement

BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a novel biomarker for cardiovascular risk prediction. Whether increased Lp-PLA2 level is associated with re-stenosis after stent-placement is unclear. METHODS: Totally 326 participants eligible for stent-placement were enrolled and divided into two groups according to baseline Lp-PLA2 levels (named normal and elevated groups). Baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared between normal and elevated groups. The relationships between Lp-PLA2 and other risk factors with re-stenosis were evaluated. RESULTS: Only the between-group difference of Lp-PLA2 was significant (123.2 ± 33.6 ng/mL vs 336.8 ± 85.4 ng/mL, P < 0.001) while other demographic and clinical characteristics between these two groups were comparable. Approximately 55.1% and 58.5% of participants in normal and elevated groups presented with acute coronary syndrome, and the percentage of tri-vessels stenoses was significantly higher in elevated group (40.8% vs 32.1%, P = 0.016). Nearly 96.0% and 94.0% of participants in normal and elevated Lp-PLA2 groups were placed with drug-eluting stents, and the others were with bare-metal stents. After 1 year’s follow-up, the incidence of clinical end-points was comparable (13.3% vs 15.4%, P = 0.172). Nevertheless, the incidence of re-stenosis was marginally higher in elevated Lp-PLA2 group (8.5% versus 4.6%, P = 0.047). With multivariate analysis, after adjustment for other risk factors, Lp-PLA2 remained an independent predictor for re-stenosis with a hazard ratio of 1.140. No synergistic effect between Lp-PLA2 and other risk factors for re-stenosis was found. CONCLUSION: Increased Lp-PLA2 level is associated with an increased risk of re-stenosis. Lp-PLA2 assessment may be useful in predicting subjects who are at increased risk for re-stenosis

China’s internationalized higher education during Covid-19: Collective student autoethnography

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Postdigital Science and Education on 08/05/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00128-1 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.This article presents 15 autoethnographical texts detailing student experiences at Beijing Normal University in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Contributions have been collected over 6 weeks between 15 February and 1 April 2020, edited by Hejia Wang (assisted by Moses Oladele Ogunniran and Yingying Huang), and supervised by Michael Peters. Through shared in-depth empirical feelings and representations from a wide variety of cultural, historical, and social contexts, the article outlines an answer to the question: How do students, connected virtually but separated physically in an internationalized university, deal with disruption brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic? Student testimonies offer reflections on Covid-19 and Chinese international education, experiences of online teaching and learning, reflections on university coping mechanisms, an account of realities and feelings related to changes in academic life, and discussions on coping strategies in Chinese international higher education. Contributors expose their individual feelings, effects, benefits, challenges, and risk management strategies. Collected at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, these testimonies are unable to offer systemic answers to challenges facing the whole world. However, these experiences and feelings will provide important inputs to global discussions about the future of the world, after Covid-19.Published onlin

The Application based on Fourier Transform in Time Lens

Using the similarity between the transmission of narrow band light pulses in the dispersion media and the transmission of spatial beam in paraxial diffraction, build a time lens system similar to the space lens. Space lens can achieve compression and amplification of imaging function, and it has the nature of Fourier transform in light field. Then the time lens can also realize the compression and amplification of the light pulse and its Fourier transform. Using the function of Fourier transform in the time domain of time lens system, achieved the effect of eliminating noise and removing side lobe, improved the white noise which generally exist in the communication system and the side lobe effect which will produce in the relevant processes

The Application based on Fourier Transform in Time Lens

Using the similarity between the transmission of narrow band light pulses in the dispersion media and the transmission of spatial beam in paraxial diffraction, build a time lens system similar to the space lens. Space lens can achieve compression and amplification of imaging function, and it has the nature of Fourier transform in light field. Then the time lens can also realize the compression and amplification of the light pulse and its Fourier transform. Using the function of Fourier transform in the time domain of time lens system, achieved the effect of eliminating noise and removing side lobe, improved the white noise which generally exist in the communication system and the side lobe effect which will produce in the relevant processes

Consistent Improvement on Both Exchange and Correlation within Hybrid Multiconfiguration Pair-density Functional Theory: tB4LYP

The great success of hybrid density functional approximations, e.g.~B3LYP and PBE0, is demonstrated by their substantial improvements over their parent methods, i.e.~the Hartree-Fock approximation and the generalized gradient approximation. They also surpass the second-order M\o{}ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) having a much higher computational cost. Here, we generalize the linear scheme of hybrid multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (HMC-PDFT) by introducing a cross-entropy approximation to achieve a balanced description of the static and dynamic correlation effects, providing a consistent improvement in describing both exchange and correlation energies. We demonstrated that the B3LYP-like translated on-top functional (tB4LYP) established within the new hybrid scheme is not only more accurate than the parent methods of the complete active space self consistent field (CASSCF) and the pure and hybrid MC-PDFT functional (tBLYP and tB3LYP), but also outdoes the complete active space second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2), which is one of the most popular multi-reference wave-function methods in quantum chemistry. Given that the computational cost of tB4LYP is much cheaper than that of CASPT2, we recommend tB4LYP for the study of complex molecular systems where dynamic and static correlation effects are of comparable importance

The 3D-Printing-Accelerated Design for a Biodegradable Respirator from Tree Leaves (TRespirator)

The unpredictable coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has led to a sudden and massive demand for face masks, leading to severe plastic pollution. Here, we propose a method for manufacturing biodegradable masks using high-precision 3D printing technology, called “TRespirator”, mainly made of banana leaves and dental floss silk fibers. By adding plastic recycling waste appropriately, TRespirator can achieve similar protection and mechanical properties as N95 masks. In addition, microorganisms attracted during the degradation of plant fibers will accelerate the degradation of microplastics. This respirator provides a new idea for solving the global problem of plastic pollution of masks

Dual-Structure PVDF/SDS Nanofibrous Membranes for Highly Efficient Personal Protection in Mines

Pneumoconiosis in miners is considered a global problem. Improving the performance of individual protective materials can effectively reduce the incidence of pneumoconiosis. In this study, the blend membrane of sodium dodecyl sulfate and polyvinylidene fluoride with a dual structure was prepared using electrospinning techniques, and the morphological structure, fiber diameter, and filtration performance of the nanofiber membranes were optimized by adjusting the PVDF concentration and SDS content. The results show that the incorporation of SDS enabled the nanofiber membranes to show tree-like and beaded fibers. Compared with the original PVDF membrane, the small content of tree-like fibers and beaded fibers can improve the filtration efficiency and reduce the resistance of the fiber membrane. The prepared nanofiber membrane has excellent comprehensive filtration performance, and the quality factor is 0.042 pa−1 when the concentration of PVDF is 10 wt% and the addition of SDS is 0.1 wt%. Furthermore, after high-temperature treatment, the membrane could still maintain good filtration performance. The PVDF/SDS blend nanofiber membrane has outstanding filtration efficiency and good thermal stability and can fully meet the personal protection of miners in underground high-temperature operation environments

Comparative Analyses Concerning Triaxial Compressive Yield Criteria of Coal with the Presence of Pore Water

The least absolute deviation is used as a metric to analyze the applicability of five yield criteria, to describe the yield characteristics of coal based on triaxial compressive strength tests on natural, water-saturated, and seepage coal samples with the presence of pore water. The results show that the strength of coal exhibits nonlinear characteristics with the increase of confining pressure, which the linear Coulomb criterion fails to authentically describe. Although the parabolic Mohr criterion can describe the nonlinearity feature more decently than the linear yield criterion, the fitting error is significant, and the uniaxial compressive strength of coal is overestimated. The Hoek-Brown criterion, quadratic polynomial criterion, and exponential criterion yield decent fitting quality for the coal rock. In particular, the exponential strength criterion can accurately reflect the actual uniaxial compressive strength of the rock. However, the differential principle yield stress for an infinite confining pressure calculated from the exponential strength criterion is lower than the measured value. Furthermore, by employing effective stress principle to analyze the yield criteria for the saturated and seepage coal samples, one can find that the quadratic polynomial criterion and the exponential criterion can also reflect the changes of yield characteristics during the fluid-solid coupling triaxial compression test