Fractional flow reserve measured via left internal mammary artery after coronary artery bypass grafting:Two case reports

BACKGROUND The fractional flow reserve(FFR)has made the treatment of coronary heart disease more precise.However,there are few reports on the measurement of FFR via the left internal mammary artery(LIMA).Herein,we described the determination of further treatments by measuring FFR via the LIMA in 2 cases after coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG).CASE SUMMARY Case 1 was a 66-year-old male who was admitted due to“chest tightness after CABG.”The patient underwent CABG 7 years prior due to coronary heart disease.Coronary artery angiography showed complete occlusion of the left anterior descending artery(LAD),and subtotal occlusion of the third segment of the right coronary artery.On arterial angiography,there was 85%stenosis at the distal end of the anastomosis of the LIMA-LAD graft.FFR via LIMA was determined at 0.75.Thus,balloon dilation was performed in Case 1.FFR after balloon dilation was 0.94.Case 2 was a 60-year-old male who was admitted due to“chest tightness after CABG.”The patient underwent CABG 6 years prior due to coronary heart disease.There was 60%segmental stenosis in the middle segment of LAD and 75%anastomotic stenosis.FFR measured via LIMA was 0.83(negative);thus the intervention was not performed.Case 2 was given drug treatments.At the 3-mo follow-up,there was no recurrence of chest tightness or shortness of breath in both cases.They are currently under continual follow-up.CONCLUSION We provided evidence that FFR measurement via grafted blood vessels,especially LIMA,after CABG is a good method to determine the intervention course.

An algorithm to resolve γ-rays from charged cosmic rays with DAMPE

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer（DAMPE）,also known as Wukong in China,which was launched on 2015 December 17,is a new high energy cosmic ray and γ-ray satellite-borne observatory.One of the main scientific goals of DAMPE is to observe Ge V-Te V high energy γ-rays with accurate energy,angular and time resolution,to indirectly search for dark matter particles and for the study of high energy astrophysics. Due to the comparatively higher fluxes of charged cosmic rays with respect to γ-rays,it is challenging to identify γ-rays with sufficiently high efficiency,minimizing the amount of charged cosmic ray contamination. In this work we present a method to identify γ-rays in DAMPE data based on Monte Carlo simulations,using the powerful electromagnetic/hadronic shower discrimination provided by the calorimeter and the veto detection of charged particles provided by the plastic scintillation detector. Monte Carlo simulations show that after this selection the number of electrons and protons that contaminate the selected γ-ray events at～10 Ge V amounts to less than 1% of the selected sample.Finally,we use flight data to verify the effectiveness of the method by highlighting known γ-ray sources in the sky and by reconstructing preliminary light curves of the Geminga pulsar.

Effect of Gd on microstructure and refinement performance of Al-5Ti-B alloy

Al-5Ti-B and Al-5Ti-B-Gd master alloy refiners were fabricated by fluorine salt casting method.The microstructure and phase constitution of the master alloys were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM),transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).The results show that Al-Ti-B alloy refiner consists of Al_(3)Ti phase and TiB2 phase.After Gd is introduced into the intermediate alloy,Ti_(2)Al_(20)Gd phase appears in the alloy,the size of Al_(3)Ti is significantly reduced,and Ti-Al-Gd phase is found in the edge of Al_(3)Ti phase.At the same time,some independent Ti-Al-Gd phases appear in local areas,which are Ti_(2)Al_(20)Gd phase determined by micro-area electron diffraction analysis.Analysis and calculation results of the high-resolution images of the Ti_(2)Al_(20)Gd/Al structure show that there is no other compound at the junction between the Ti_(2)Al_(20)Gd phase and Al,and Ti_(2)Al_(20)Gd phase has a great difference in atomic space with the α-Al,which cannot be directly used as heterogeneous nucleus.But,after being decomposed in the aluminum melt,the Ti_(2)Al_(20)Gd phase can promote the refinement effect of the refiner.In the Al-Ti-B-Gd master alloy,there are many dispersed Al_(3)Ti particles with a size of less than 1 μm,which can promote the Al-5Ti-B refining effect.

Position-sensitive plastic scintillator detector with WLS-fiber readout

In this paper,the design,construction,simulation,and performance of a position-sensitive plastic scintillator detector are presented.The readout of the detector uses wavelength-shifting fibers coupled with multi-anode photomultipliers(PMTs) for the x-and y-dimensions.After calibrating the multi-anode PMTs,a two-dimensional projection image of the square scintillator telescope hit by cosmic muons is demonstrated.By performing a cosmic test with the Micromegas telescope,the position resolution of the detector was determined to reach approximately8.6 mm,which is close to the value obtained in physical simulation.

Design and on-orbit status of the trigger system for the DAMPE mission

DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE), the first Chinese astronomical satellite, was successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 2015 Dec. 17. DAMPE consists of four subdetectors: Plastic Scintillator array Detector(PSD), Silicon-Tungsten tracKer-converter(STK), Bismuth Germanium Oxide(BGO) imaging calorimeter and NeUtron Detector(NUD). The global hardware trigger signal, which is generated by hits from the BGO calorimeter and the trigger logic board in the data acquisition system(DAQ), is responsible for event selection and DAQ synchronization of DAMPE. On orbit,to improve the detection efficiency, different trigger logics are used for event selection in different regions of latitude. The DAMPE trigger system compresses the average on-orbit trigger rate to 60 Hz and reduces science data mass to less than 13 GB per day to meet the requirement for the satellite’s data link. The whole trigger system has run stably up to now, ensuring excellent on-orbit operation of DAMPE.

Comparison of Proton Shower Developments in the BGO Calorimeter of the Dark Matter Particle Explorer between GEANT4 and FLUKA Simulations

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE)is a satellite-borne detector for high-energy cosmic rays and y-rays.To fully understand the detector performance and obtain reliable physical results,extensive simulations of the detector are necessary.The simulations are particularly important for the data analysis of cosmic ray nuclei,which relies closely on the hadronic and nuclear interactions of particles in the detector material.Widely adopted simulation softwares include the GEANT4 and FLUKA,both of which have been implemented for the DAMPE simulation tool.Here we describe the simulation tool of DAMPE and compare the results of proton shower properties in the calorimeter from the two simulation softwares.Such a comparison gives an estimate of the most significant uncertainties of our proton spectral analysis.

Effect of Biejiajian Oral Liquid on the Expression of RAAS in Hepatic Fibrosis Rats

Objective: To study the effect of Biejiajian Oral Liquid (BOL) on the rennin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) in plasma of hepatic fibrosis rats and in hepatic stellate cell (HSC) of normal rats. We explore the mechanism of BOL on inhibiting the activation of HSC and illustrate its mechanism of anti-hepatic fibrosis further. Methods: SD Rats were divided into 5 groups randomly: normal control group, model group, Enalapril group and BOL groups with different concentration (2.0 g/ml or 1.0 g/ml). Every group was administered with CCl4 and olive oil solution to induce hepatic fibrosis except normal one. Each group was treated with the respective drug for 5 weeks and then got the blood. The level of renin, angiotensin II and aldosterone in the plasma of liver fibrosis rats were detected by the radioimmunoassay. By using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to measure the gene expression of the rennin, ACE, angiotensinogen, AT1R and ALD. The AT1R gene expression in normal HSC was determined by the immunohistochemical measurement. Results: BOL could effectively reduce the activity of the PRA, AngIIand ALD, which showed a significant effect on the inhibition of the AngII (P < 0.01). Meanwhile, compared with the normal control group, there was a notable inhibitory action on the PRA of HSC which was administrated by serum containing BOL (P < 0.05). And yet, drug applied group showed no difference with the model group for other factors of the RAAS. Conclusion: BOL can inhibit the expression of RAAS in the rat plasma and can inhibit the expression of the mRNA of renin in the normal HSC, which could be the mechanism of anti-hepatic fibrosis.

Calibration of the DAMPE Plastic Scintillator Detector and its on-orbit performance

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE) is a space-borne apparatus for detecting the highenergy cosmic-ray-like electrons, γ-rays, protons and heavy ions. The Plastic Scintillator Detector(PSD)is the top-most sub-detector of the DAMPE. The PSD is designed to measure the charge of incident highenergy particles and it also serves as a veto detector for discriminating γ-rays from charged particles. In this paper, a PSD on-orbit calibration procedure is described, which includes the five steps of pedestal, dynode correlation, response to minimum-ionizing particles, light attenuation function and energy reconstruction.A method for reconstructing the charge of incident high energy cosmic-ray particles is introduced. The detection efficiency of each PSD strip is verified to be above 99.5%; the total efficiency of the PSD for charged particles is above 99.99%.

Effect of high pressure on microstructure of cast Mg-8Zn-0.5Zr-0.5Gd alloy

Mg-8Zn-0.5Zr-0.5Gd alloy was prepared by high pressure solidification. Effect of high pressure on microstructure, micro-hardness and corrosion behavior in Hank＇s solution of the Mg-8Zn-0.5Zr-0.5Gd alloy were investigated by means of optical microscopy （OM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, and X-ray diffractometer （XRD）. The results showed that, compared with the conventional solidification, high pressure solidification obviously refined the grain size of Mg-8Zn-0.5Zr-0.5Gd alloy. The grain size was refined from 200-300 pm to 100-200 pm and the secondary dendrite arm spacing reduced from 30- 50 pm to 10-30 pro. Moreover, the solubility of Zn in the alloy increased and the amount and size of Mg-Zn-Gd phases significantly decreased. The micro-hardness of the alloy solidified under high pressure was improved significantly from 56.17 HV to 63.14 HV. The polarization resistance （Rp） of the alloy had a substantial increase in simulated body fluid, thus the corrosion rate was significantly reduced from 4.0 to 2.7 mm.year-1.

Energy correction based on fluorescence attenuation of DAMPE

The major scientific goals of the DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE)are to study cosmicray electrons(including positrons)and gamma rays from 5 GeV to 10 TeV and nuclei from Z=1 to 26 up to 100 TeV.The deposited energy measured by the Bismuth Germanate Oxide(BGO)calorimeter of DAMPE is affected by fluorescence attenuation in BGO crystals that are 600 mm long.In this work,an in-orbit attenuation calibration method is reported,and energy correction of the sensitive detector unit of the BGO calorimeter is also presented.

Method of Separating Cosmic-Ray Positrons from Electrons in the DAMPE Experiment

A method of identifying positron/electron species from the cosmic rays was studied in the DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE)experiment.As there is no onboard magnet on the satellite,the different features imposed by the geomagnetic field on these two species were exploited for the particle identification.Application of this method to the simulation of on-orbit electrons/positrons/protons and the real flight data proves that separately measuring the CR positrons/electrons with DAMPE is feasible,though limited by the field of view for the present observation data.Further analysis on the positron flux with this method can be expected in the future.

Recent advances in Pt catalysts and membrane electrode assemblies fabrication for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs)have been identified as a highly promising means of achieving sustainable energy conversion.A crucial factor in enhancing the performance of PEMFCs for further potential energy applications is the advancement in the field of catalyst engineering that has led to remarkable performance enhancement in facilitating the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).Subsequently,it is important to acknowledge that the techniques used in preparation of membrane electrode assemblies(MEAs),the vital constituents of PEMFCs,also possess direct and critical influence on exhibiting the full catalytic activity of meticulously crafted catalysts.Here,a succinct summary of the most recent advancements in Pt catalysts for ORR was offered and their underly catalytic mechanism were discussed.Then,both laboratory-scale and industrial-scale MEA fabrication techniques of Pt catalysts were summarized.Furthermore,a detailed analysis of the connections between materials,process,and performance in MEA fabrication was presented in order to facilitate the development of optimal catalyst layers.

Slowly rotating charges from Weyl double copy for Kerr black hole with Chern-Simons correction

The Weyl double copy builds the relation between gauge theory and gravity theory, in particular the correspondence between gauge solutions and gravity solutions. In this paper, we obtain the slowly rotating charge solutions from the Weyl double copy for the Kerr black hole with small Chern-Simons correction. Based on the Weyl double copy relation, for the Petrov type D solution in Chern-Simons modified gravity, we find the additional correction to the electromagnetic field strength tensor of the rotating charge. For the Petrov type I solution, we find that the additional electromagnetic field strength tensors have external sources, while the total sources vanish at the leading order.

Implications on the origin of cosmic rays in light of 10 TV spectral softenings

Precise measurements of the energy spectra of cosmic rays(CRs)show various kinds of features deviating from single power-laws,which give very interesting and important implications on their origin and propagation.Previous measurements from a few balloon and space experiments indicate the existence of spectral softenings around 10 TV for protons(and probably also for Helium nuclei).Very recently,the DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE)measurement about the proton spectrum clearly reveals such a softening with a high significance.Here we study the implications of these new measurements,as well as the groundbased indirect measurements,on the origin of CRs.We find that a single component of CRs fails to fit the spectral softening and the air shower experiment data simultaneously.In the framework of multiple components,we discuss two possible scenarios,the multiple source population scenario and the background plus nearby source scenario.Both scenarios give reasonable fits to the wide-band data from TeV to 100 PeV energies.Considering the anisotropy observations,the nearby source model is favored.