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The establishment of the "two-oriented society" pilot zone is China's effort to explore an economic-environmental synergistic growth approach, and it is an important basis on which to solve the dilemma between economic development and environmental protection in less developed countries. By constructing an inter-provincial panel dataset and taking the "two-oriented society" pilot area as a policy intervention event, a quasi-natural experiment was conducted to evaluate the observed differences in economic growth and pollutant emissions using counterfactual estimation. The results show that, during the policy intervention period, the emission of solid waste in Hubei and Hunan provinces was significantly reduced, and the level of haze particles in Hunan province was also remarkably suppressed; however, the environmental emission problems such as water pollution were not improved in comparison to the national level. At the same time, the economic growth rate of Hubei and Hunan provinces was clearly better than the counterfactual control group after the policy pilot, showing the economic promotion effect of the construction of the "two-oriented society" pilot zone. We conclude that the establishment of the "two-oriented society" provides a reference for a successful path to sustainable growth, and there is no absolute contradiction between economic growth and environmental friendliness.
Subject(s)
Conservation of Natural Resources , Economic Development , China , ClimateABSTRACT
Introduction: Stroke etiology may affect the prognosis of acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO). This study aimed to estimate the efficacy and safety of endovascular treatment (EVT) in BAO strokes due to the underlying stroke etiologies of large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) and cardioembolism (CE). Patients and methods: Patients with LAA and CE subtypes from the registry EVT for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Study (BASILAR) were selected for this analysis. We estimated the EVT treatment effect relative to standard medical treatment (SMT) in these patients by using a propensity score approach with inverse probability of treatment weighted estimation. Outcomes included 90-day favorable functional outcomes (modified Rankin scale (mRS) 0-3), functional independence (mRS 0-2), all-cause mortality, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). Results: A total of 744 patients were included in the final analysis. After weighting with inverse probability of treatment estimation, the patients who, based on their characteristics, were treated with EVT rather than SMT, demonstrated higher rates of favorable functional outcomes in both the LAA (29.2% vs 11.7%, adjusted OR with 95% CI: 4.34 [2.15-8.78], p < 0.001) and the CE subtype (36.0% vs 8.1%, adjusted OR with 95% CI: 9.14 [1.96-42.55], p = 0.005). A similar finding was also observed for functional independence. EVT patients also demonstrated lower rates of mortality than SMT. Among EVT patients, no significant difference was observed in mortality or sICH between LAA and CE groups, but LAA patients had lower rates of favorable functional outcome and functional independence (29.2% vs 37% and 24.2% vs 32.9%, respectively), where the latter remained significant after adjustment for imbalances in baseline data (p = 0.04). Conclusions: In acute BAO strokes, both LAA and CE patients who, based on their characteristics, were treated with EVT rather than SMT, demonstrated better outcomes. Among EVT patients, LAA and CE subtypes displayed important baseline and treatment differences, and LAA patients were less likely to achieve functional independence at 3 months, but mortality and sICH were similar between LAA or CE subtypes. These results need to be confirmed in future clinical trials.
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With this study, we propose a method to image the tip crack on transparent materials by using digital holographic microscopy. More specifically, an optical system based on Mach-Zehnder interference along with an inverted microscopy (Olympus CKX53) was used to image the tip crack of Dammar Varnish transparent material under thermal excitation. A series of holograms were captured and reconstructed for the observation of the changes of the tip crack. The reconstructed holograms were also compared temporally to compute the temporal changes, showing the crack propagation phenomena. Results show that the Dammar Varnish is sensitive to the ambient temperature. Our research demonstrates that digital holographic microscopy is a promising technique for the detection of the fine tip crack and propagation in transparent materials.
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BACKGROUND: Cardiac tumors are rare but manifested with various clinical presentations and often cause unexpected symptoms or sudden death. The objective is to review the clinical presentation, histopathological spectrum, mortality and follow-up data of patients with cardiac tumors following surgery treatment over a period of 5 years. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the medical records of all patients diagnosed of cardiac tumors in the period between January 2008 and December 2013 at the cardiac center of our university. Clinical histories, perioperative data, surgical findings, efficacy and follow-up data were reviewed in our study. Patients were divided into two groups according to site distribution of the tumors in the heart. RESULTS: A total of 131 patients underwent surgical treatment of cardiac tumors were enrolled in this study, with a mean age of 51.39±16.37. The result of analysis showed that 79.47% (n=104) of the primary intracardiac tumors were benign, while primary malignant neoplasms accounted for 16.03% (n=21) of all patients, with the remainder (n=6, 4.6%) metastatic tumors transferred from other organs. Among all patients there were 2 in-hospital deaths and the survival rate in all patients at 1-year, 3-year and 5-year follow up was 83.20%, 78.62% and 66.41% respectively. Both patients with tumors in the left and right heart had similar basic characteristics except sex gender (P=0.002), BSA (P=0.045) and weight (P=0.033). Compared with patients with tumors in the right heart, patients with tumors in the left heart had significant higher CPB time (P<0.001), cross clamp time (P<0.001) and time of mechanical ventilation (P<0.001), and they also had longer ICU stay (P<0.001) but not total hospital stay (P=0.434). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical resection represents an effective protocol in treating cardiac tumors. Data in our study of cardiac tumors on frequency and allocation were consistent with previous reports which may provide useful clinical evidence on shared data, and data revealed that patients with malignant cardiac tumors had significant lower survival both in hospital and long-term follow-up.
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BACKGROUND: Myxomas are the most common primary heart tumors and are closely associated with embolic events. Cardiac myxomas typically arise from the interatrial septum at the border of the fossa ovalis in the left atrium. Any other location is considered atypical. Embolism, one of the complications of myxoma, is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for embolism in patients with cardiac myxoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, a cohort of 162 patients with cardiac myxomas was surgically treated between January 1998 and June 2014 at 3 cardiac centers in China. Preoperative data, including platelet count, sex, age, and the tumor (size, location, surface, and attachment), were compared between embolic and non-embolic groups of patients. RESULTS: No significant differences in vascular risk factors were seen between the 2 groups. However, the percentage of higher platelet count (>300 × 10(9)/L) and mean platelet volume in the embolic group were significantly higher than in the non-embolic group (P=0.0356, and 0.0113, respectively). Irregular surface and atypical location of the myxomas were also independently associated with increased risk of embolic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor location, macroscopic appearance, mean platelet volume, and high platelet count are strong risk factors for embolic events in patients with cardiac myxomas.