Clinical effects of needle-pricking therapy on peripheral facial paralysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of needle-pricking therapy on peripheral facial paralysis. METHODS: This study included 162 patients with peripheral facial paralysis, 107 of whom were treated with usual care (conventional and alternative treatments) and 55 of whom were additionally treated with needle-pricking therapy on 3 specific extra-meridian acupuncture points known as 'Samjoong' (Sanchóng in Chinese). We evaluated changes in facial motor functions and sequelae using the Yanagihara and gross House-Brackmann grading systems before and after treatments. RESULTS: Yanagihara score and House-Brackmann grade significantly improved after treatments in both groups. However, the needle-pricking therapy group showed greater improvements in Yanagihara score and House-Brackmann grade than the usual care group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that Samjoong needle-pricking therapy could be applied as an adjunct therapy to usual care for patients with peripheral facial paralysis.

Controlled modulation of diameter and composition along individual III-V nitride nanowires.

Semiconducting nanowires have unique properties that are distinct from their bulk counterparts, but realization of their full potential will be ultimately dictated by the ability to control nanowire structure, composition, and size with high accuracy. Here, we report a simple, yet versatile, approach to modulate in situ the diameter, length, and composition of individual segments within (In,Ga)N nanowires by tuning the seed particle supersaturation and size via the supply of III and V sources during the growth. By elucidating the underlying mechanisms controlling structural evolution, we demonstrate the synthesis of axial InN/InGaN nanowire heterojunctions in the nonpolar m-direction. Our approach can be applied to other materials systems and provides a foundation for future development of complex nanowire structures with enhanced functionality.

Fundamental insights into nanowire diameter modulation and the liquid/solid interface.

Controlled modulation of diameter along the axis of nanowires can enhance nanowire-based device functionality, but the potential for achieving such structures with arbitrary diameter ratios has not been explored. Here, we use a theoretical approach that considers changes in the volume, wetting angle, and three-dimensional morphology of seed particles during nanowire growth to understand and guide nanowire diameter modulation. We use our experimental results from diameter-modulated InN and GaN nanowires and extend our analysis to consider the potential and limitations for diameter modulation in other materials systems. We show that significant diameter modulations can be promoted for seed materials that enable substantial compositional and surface energy changes. Furthermore, we apply our model to provide insights into the morphology of the liquid/solid interface. Our approach can be used to understand and guide nanowire diameter modulation, as well as probe fundamental phenomena during nanowire growth.

Inorganic-organic hybrid solar cell: bridging quantum dots to conjugated polymer nanowires.

Quantum dots show great promise for fabrication of hybrid bulk heterojunction solar cells with enhanced power conversion efficiency, yet controlling the morphology and interface structure on the nanometer length scale is challenging. Here, we demonstrate quantum dot-based hybrid solar cells with improved electronic interaction between donor and acceptor components, resulting in significant improvement in short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage. CdS quantum dots were bound onto crystalline P3HT nanowires through solvent-assisted grafting and ligand exchange, leading to controlled organic-inorganic phase separation and an improved maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.1% under AM 1.5 solar illumination. Our approach can be applied to a wide range of quantum dots and polymer hybrids and is compatible with solution processing, thereby offering a general scheme for improving the efficiency of nanocrystal hybrid solar cells.

Synthesis and thermal responsiveness of self-assembled gold nanoclusters.

A simple and versatile approach was developed to generate hierarchical assemblies of ultra-small gold nanocluster thin films using the combination of galvanic reaction and a block copolymer coordinated with gold complex. Variation of the temperature allows effective control over the optical response of these stimuli-responsive organic-nanocluster hybrid structures.

Nanotwinned gold nanowires obtained by chemical synthesis.

We demonstrate a facile method for synthesizing and isolating Au nanowires with a high density of twin boundary defects normal to the growth axis. In this process, oleylamine conveniently plays the role of the solvent, the reducing agent and the ligand. The geometry of the twin boundaries in the nanowires is in sharp contrast with the pentagonal twinning commonly observed in metal nanowires, and is of particular interest for its ultrahigh tensile strength. The nanostructure geometry and twin-twin average spacing were characterized using high-resolution electron microscopy, and the tensile strength of the nanowires was estimated in solution using a Ti ultrasonication probe. We present a model for explaining the role of the bulky ligand oleylamine in the formation of the twin boundaries that could be extended to include elastic terms in the ligand shell. Our work demonstrates that the use of bulky, asymmetric ligands can induce extensive formation of twin boundary defects that in turn control the mechanical properties at the nanoscale.