Purpose
The objectives of this meta-analysis were to summarize the key surgical procedures for UVCP and to evaluate which of these is associated with better results in terms of vocal improvement.
...Methods
A systematic review of the literature was conducted in search of articles focused on the comparison of voice outcome between different techniques for the UVCP treatment. Then, a quantitative analysis was carried out for papers published from 2013 onwards, reporting only adult patients with unilateral paralysis for each study, and each surgical technique was evaluated for its capability of achieving good functional outcomes in terms of GRBAS-I scale and maximum phonation time in seconds (MPT).
Results
The search identified 1853 publications. A total of 159 articles were stratified and included according to our selection criteria. 21 out of 159 articles were selected for quantitative synthesis. For trans-oral techniques: the mean GRBAS-I scale were 2.33 before injection and 0.41 after injection. The mean MPT before injection were 4.78 and 12.50 after injection. For open techniques the mean GRBAS-I scale were 2.43 before surgery and 0.68 after surgery. For open technique, the mean MPT were 3.50 before surgery and 12.40 after surgery.
Conclusions
The two types of techniques lead to an improvement in terms of vocal outcomes emphasizing that from the examined literature an indication emerges to perform an early injection because this could reduce the possible need for a more invasive intervention of permanent medialization in the future.
ZnO−TiO2 nanocomposites were synthesized by an innovative chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy, based on the initial growth of ZnO nanoplatelets (host) and the subsequent dispersion of TiO2 ...nanoparticles (guest). Ti(O i Pr)2(dpm)2 and Zn(hfa)2·TMEDA (O i Pr: iso-propoxy; dpm: 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate; hfa: 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionate; and TMEDA: N,N,N‘,N‘-tetramethylethylenediamine) were adopted as Ti and Zn molecular sources, respectively. The syntheses were performed in nitrogen plus wet oxygen atmospheres at relatively low temperatures (350−400 °C) on Si(100) and Al2O3 substrates, avoiding ex-situ thermal treatment to preserve the chemical identity of the host and guest phases. The process resulted in the formation of ZnO−TiO2 nanocomposite deposits with an average thickness of 140 nm, whose characteristics were directly affected by the host matrix porosity and the guest amount and dispersion, tailored by varying the TiO2 deposition time. In this framework, particular attention was devoted to the investigation of the composite chemico-physical properties as a function of the adopted processing parameters. Furthermore, the gas sensing performances of the nanocomposites in the detection of volatile organic compounds (CH3COCH3, CH3CH2OH, and CO) resulted in being directly dependent on their composition and morphology, revealing better performances than the pristine ZnO systems. These results disclose intriguing perspectives for the development of sensing devices for environmental purposes and food control monitoring.
Photosensitizing anthraquinones isolated from
Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae), namely soranjidiol, rubiadin, damnacanthal and 5,5′-bisoranjidiol, showed antibacterial activity ...(bacteriostatic/bactericide) on
Staphylococcus aureus. The mechanism of action seems to involve an increase in the levels of superoxide anion (
O
2
−
) and/or singlet molecular oxygen (
1O
2). Moreover, the effect of actinic irradiation as a boosting agent for the production of both reactive species of oxygen as well as its influence on antibacterial activity was assessed. The routine susceptibility assay (minimum inhibitory concentration determination) was carried out by means of the broth macrodilution method. Bactericide activity was determined counting the colony-forming units per milliliter (cfu/mL) in plate. The
O
2
−
production was determined by means of an indirect photobiological assay (Nitroblue Tetrazolium test), and the production of
1O
2 was followed using an indirect steady-state method, with methionine as the
1O
2 chemical quencher.
A simple low-cost method to enhance the electrical properties including open-circuit voltage (
V
OC
), flat-band potential (
V
fb
) and short-circuit current (
I
SC
) in the photoelectrochemical ...(PEC) cell of cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films is presented. The PEC cell properties were determined using the configuration Pt/0.1 M Na
2
S
2
O
3
/CdS. Three different sets of CdS thin films were grown: (a) chemical bath-deposited CdS (CBD-CdS), (b) electrodeposited seed-assisted CBD-CdS (ED/CBD-CdS) and (c) ED/CBD-CdS deposited under the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in a reaction solution of CBD (ED/(CBD+EDTA)-CdS). The FE-SEM images suggested the formation of clusters with spherical shape in the presence of a seed layer. All the samples grown with seed layers demonstrated improved
I
SC
and
V
OC
values in the PEC cell compared to the CBD-CdS films due to better contact between the substrate and CBD-CdS. Furthermore, the carrier concentration (
N
D
) and
V
fb
were also found to improve due to the introduction of the seed layer. In the case of ED/(CBD+EDTA)-CdS, the cluster size was found to be smaller, giving rise to a larger effective surface area. The improved effective surface area, interparticle connections and adhesion of CdS to the FTO substrate resulted in superior electrical properties of ED/(CBD+EDTA)-CdS compared to ED/CBD-CdS and CBD-CdS films.
Graphical Abstract
A study on CdCl2 activation of CBD-CdS films Kumarage, W. G. C.; Wijesundera, R. P.; Seneviratne, V. A. ...
Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics,
08/2020, Volume:
31, Issue:
16
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films were deposited using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrates. Cadmium sulfate, thiourea, and ammonium hydroxide were ...used as Cd source, S source, and the complexing agent, respectively in the reaction bath. The post-deposition CdCl
2
activation of chemical bath deposited CdS (CBD-CdS) thin films was done by dip coating in a saturated CdCl
2
bath. X-ray diffractograms show the growth of large CdS grains with better crystalline quality over the recrystallization process due to CdCl
2
treatment. The development of large clusters was determined to be due to coalescence of smaller clusters. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell (CdS/Na
2
S
2
O
3
/Pt) parameters, such as
V
OC
and
I
SC
for CdCl
2
activated CBD-CdS thin films were found to be higher compared to untreated CBD-CdS thin films. The improved effective surface area of the film and higher carrier concentration due to grain boundary passivation could be the reason for higher
V
OC
and
I
SC
values found in CdCl
2
-treated CdS films. Additionally, all the CdCl
2
-treated CdS films showed an increase in the optical transmittance spectra and bandgap compared to untreated CdS films. Relative energy band edge position of the grown CdS films was found to be adjustable with the CdCl
2
treatment time. The best photoactivity was found for the CdS films which were dip-coated for 10 min in CdCl
2
solution.
Metal oxide (SnO2, TiO2, In2O3, ZnO) sols are prepared by various sol–gel processes in such a way as to hinder the condensation reactions. The obtained sols are injected at 160 °C into a solution of ...tetradecene and dodecylamine, and kept under heating for different periods of time. Depending on the starting sol, variously crystallized oxide nanoparticles are obtained, whose phase compositions and chemical structure have been studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. The elimination of the organic residuals has been carried out by thermal treatment, and the thermal evolution of the nanoparticles has been studied by thermal analyses and Raman spectroscopy. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy studies coupled with XRD measurements show that the thermal treatment does not markedly affect the particle size, which remains in the nanometer‐sized regime (from 3.5 to 8.5 nm, depending on the system), except in the case of ZnO. The thermally purified and stabilized powders, drop‐coated onto alumina substrates with pre‐deposited electrical contacts, have been tested as gas‐sensing devices, displaying outstanding sensing properties even at room temperature.
Metal oxide sols are demonstrated to be suitable precursors for the low‐temperature synthesis of nanocrystalline oxides by injection of the sol into a solution of tetradecene and dodecylamine,as shown in the schematic. The oxide colloids behave as spatially limited nanoreactors for the sol‐to‐gel transition, and the nanoparticles display outstanding gas‐sensing properties even at room temperature
The CovidSurg-Cancer Consortium aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 in surgical patients and services for solid cancers at the start of the pandemic. The CovidSurg-Gynecologic Oncology Cancer ...subgroup was particularly concerned about the magnitude of adverse outcomes caused by the disrupted surgical gynecologic cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are currently unclear.
This study aimed to evaluate the changes in care and short-term outcomes of surgical patients with gynecologic cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a delay in surgical cancer care, especially in patients who required more extensive surgery, and such delay had an impact on cancer outcomes.
This was a multicenter, international, prospective cohort study. Consecutive patients with gynecologic cancers who were initially planned for nonpalliative surgery, were recruited from the date of first COVID-19-related admission in each participating center for 3 months. The follow-up period was 3 months from the time of the multidisciplinary tumor board decision to operate. The primary outcome of this analysis is the incidence of pandemic-related changes in care. The secondary outcomes included 30-day perioperative mortality and morbidity and a composite outcome of unresectable disease or disease progression, emergency surgery, and death.
We included 3973 patients (3784 operated and 189 nonoperated) from 227 centers in 52 countries and 7 world regions who were initially planned to have cancer surgery. In 20.7% (823/3973) of the patients, the standard of care was adjusted. A significant delay (>8 weeks) was observed in 11.2% (424/3784) of patients, particularly in those with ovarian cancer (213/1355; 15.7%; P<.0001). This delay was associated with a composite of adverse outcomes, including disease progression and death (95/424; 22.4% vs 601/3360; 17.9%; P=.024) compared with those who had operations within 8 weeks of tumor board decisions. One in 13 (189/2430; 7.9%) did not receive their planned operations, in whom 1 in 20 (5/189; 2.7%) died and 1 in 5 (34/189; 18%) experienced disease progression or death within 3 months of multidisciplinary team board decision for surgery. Only 22 of the 3778 surgical patients (0.6%) acquired perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infections; they had a longer postoperative stay (median 8.5 vs 4 days; P<.0001), higher predefined surgical morbidity (14/22; 63.6% vs 717/3762; 19.1%; P<.0001) and mortality (4/22; 18.2% vs 26/3762; 0.7%; P<.0001) rates than the uninfected cohort.
One in 5 surgical patients with gynecologic cancer worldwide experienced management modifications during the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant adverse outcomes were observed in those with delayed or cancelled operations, and coordinated mitigating strategies are urgently needed.
Zinc oxide nanowires were synthesized by means of evaporation–condensation technique and their green photoluminescence emission at room temperature was studied during exposure to nitrogen dioxide, ...ethanol and humidity. A reversible modification of static photoluminescence efficiency was obtained upon exposure to low concentrations of nitrogen dioxide. The optical sensor was able to detect NO
2 values as low as 0.1
ppm in dry air, that is the attention level for outdoor detection. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements in presence of NO
2 showed small modification of recombination rates and lifetimes due to introduction of quencher gas. The results support a surface static quenching model, according to which the gas molecules suppress a fraction of radiative transitions instead of merely reducing their probabilities.
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