Complementary acupuncture treatment and reduced risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients: a retrospective, nested case-control study.

Purpose: Hearing loss is a frequently observed comorbidity in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Accumulating evidence demonstrated that acupuncture can safely manage cancer and its treatment-related symptoms, but its effect in minimizing the likelihood of experiencing sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) has not been established. So this work aimed to determine the risk of SSHL among NPC persons with or without acupuncture use.

A hybrid PVDF-HFP/nanoparticle gel electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cell applications.

Graphite and TiO(2) nanoparticles are used as fillers to prepare a polymer gel electrolyte (PGE) based on I(-)/I(3)(-) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. Graphite nanoparticles (GNP) were proved to be a more efficient filler than TiO(2) in enhancing the charge conductivity of the PGE, decreasing the activation energy for charge transport and inhibiting the charge recombination at the TiO(2)/electrolyte interface. The energy conversion efficiency of a DSSC fabricated using a PGE containing 0.

Assembly of CdS quantum dots onto mesoscopic TiO(2) films for quantum dot-sensitized solar cell applications.

Colloidal cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots (QDs) were prepared and surface modified by mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) to render a surface with carboxylic acid groups (MSA-CdS). The MSA-CdS QDs were then assembled onto bare TiO(2) mesoporous films using the carboxylic groups/TiO(2) interaction. The TiO(2) film was also surface modified by 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) or 3-aminopropyl-methyl diethoxysilane (APMDS) to prepare, respectively, a thiol (-SH) or amino (-NH(2)) terminated surface for binding with the CdS QDs.

Monolayer characteristics of mixed octadecylamine and stearic acid at the air/water interface.

Mixed monolayers of stearic acid (SA) and octadecylamine (ODA) at the air/water interface were investigated in this article. The miscibility of the two compounds was evaluated by the measurement of surface pressure-area per molecule (pi-A) isothems and the direct observation of Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) on the water surface. The two compounds were spread individually on the subphase (method 1) or premixed first in the spreading solvent and then cospread (method 2).

Monolayer behavior and Langmuir-Blodgett manipulation of CdS quantum dots.

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots (QDs) were prepared and surface modified by dodecanthiol or mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) to render a surface with alkyl chains (C(12)-CdS) or carboxylic acid groups (MSA-CdS), respectively. Due to the hydrophobic property of C(12)-CdS, the nanoparticles disperse well in chloroform and stay stable at the air/water interface. However, 3-dimensional (3D) aggregative domains and particle-free pores were formed in the monolayer due to poor particle-water interaction.