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A novel polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on dual-core photonic crystal fiber (DC-PCF) is proposed in this work. The proposed DC-PCF PBS contains two kinds of lattices and three kinds of air holes to form the asymmetrical elliptic dual-core structure. By using the full-vector finite element method, the propagation characteristics of the proposed DC-PCF PBS are investigated. The simulation results show that the bandwidth of the proposed DC-PCF PBS can reach to 340 nm, which covers the S + C + L + U communication bands, the shortest splitting length is 1.97 mm, and the maximum extinction ratio appears near wavelength 1550 nm. Moreover, the insertion loss of the proposed DC-PCF PBS is very low. It is believed that the proposed DC-PCF PBS has important applications in the field of all-optical communication and network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty (PTPA) is a treatment modality for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, but whether it can be applied to Takayasu arteritis-associated pulmonary hypertension (TA-PH), another chronic obstructive pulmonary vascular disease, remains unclear.Objectives: This study sought to investigate the efficacy and safety of PTPA for TA-PH.Methods: Between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, a total of 50 patients with TA-PH who completed the PTPA procedure (the PTPA group) and 21 patients who refused the PTPA procedure (the non-PTPA group) were prospectively enrolled in this cohort study. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. The safety outcomes included PTPA procedure-related complications.Results: Baseline characteristics and medical therapies were similar between the PTPA group and the non-PTPA group. During a mean follow-up time of 37 ± 14 months, deaths occurred in 3 patients (6.0%) in the PTPA group and 6 patients (28.6%) in the non-PTPA group, contributing to the 3-year survival rate of 93.7% in the PTPA group and 76.2% in the non-PTPA group (P = 0.0096 for log-rank test). The Cox regression model showed that PTPA was associated with a significantly reduced hazard of all-cause mortality in TA-PH patients (HR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.05-0.73; P = 0.017). No periprocedural death occurred. Severe complications requiring noninvasive positive pressure ventilation occurred in only 1 of 150 total sessions (0.7%).Conclusions: PTPA tended to be associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality with acceptable safety profiles and seemed to be a promising therapeutic option for TA-PH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]