Ultrasensitive Mechano-Stimuli Luminescence Enhancement in ZnO Nanoparticles.

Ultrasensitive mechano-stimuli photoluminescence enhancement was observed in pyramid-like zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), which are fabricated by a facile hydrothermal route. The response of the ZnO NPs to mechanical stimuli is so sensitive that even an ant walking and acoustic vibration can trigger the luminescence enhancement. The mechanism for this unusual behavior was attributed to the electron injection process between crystal boundaries. Thus, this work opens up the possibility of detecting slight mechanical stimuli wirelessly, rapidly, and sensitively. Importantly, the sensitive response of the NPs to sound waves can find potential application in devices for hearing-impaired people.

Multi-zinc oxide-cores@uni-barium sulfate-shell with improved photo-, thermal-, and ambient-stability: Non-equilibrium sorption fabrication and light-emitting diodes application.

ZnO as an eco-friendly material shows bright luminescence under UV illumination when it is tailored into nanoscale size, which makes it a promising luminescent nanomaterial. However, the poor stability of ZnO hinders its applications drastically. In this work, multi-ZnO-cores@uni-BaSO4-shell (mZnO@uBaSO4) nanocomposite has been prepared through a non-equilibrium sorption process employing ZnO QDs as the "seeds" and BaSO4 as the "valve". The mZnO@uBaSO4 nanocomposite shows improved photo-, thermal- and ambient-stability compare with bare ZnO QDs. The fluorescence efficiency of the mZnO@uBaSO4 nanocomposite decreases little even after 60 h of UV irradiation compare with ZnO QDs. The mZnO@uBaSO4 nanocomposite shows bright luminescence with little decrease even the ambient temperature up to 160 °C and the nanocomposite shows strong resistance to harsh environment. By coating the mZnO@uBaSO4 nanocomposite and commercial phosphors onto UV-chip, light-emitting diode (LED) with correlated color temperature, Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage coordinate, color rendering index and luminous efficiency of 6109 K, (0.32, 0.33), 85 and 47.33 lm/W have been realized, and this will make a great step towards eco-friendly UV-pumped LEDs.

[Statistical study on correlation between cerebral arteriovenous malformation and hemodynamic aneurysms].

OBJECTIVE: to explore the characteristic factors of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which have statistically significant correlation with hemodynamic aneurysms. METHODS: from August 1999 to July 2009, the clinical and imaging indices of 363 consecutive patients with AVM were retrospectively reviewed and entirely statistically analyzed. There were 229 male patients and 137 female patients, the mean age at the time of presentation was 28 ± 13 years. By using SPSS 16.0 medical statistic software, the correlation were analyzed between hemodynamic aneurysms and 13 characteristic factors associated with AVM through the methods of unit-factor and multi-factor analysis. Finally, the risk of the correlative factors filtered were evaluated. RESULTS: the crosstabs analysis of unit-factor strongly suggested that the following factors, including age, location (supertentorium, subtentorium), size, number of main feeding arteries, number of drainage veins, ectasis of drainage veins, contralateral supply, and supply by both anterior and posterior circulation, were correlated with hemodynamic aneurysms. And the results of regression analysis of multi-factors indicated the following factors, including age, number of main feeding arteries, and contralateral supply, were positively correlated with hemodynamic aneurysms and the number of drainage veins were negatively correlated with hemodynamic aneurysms. CONCLUSION: the factors including age, number of main feeding arteries, number of drainage veins and contralateral supply, are highly correlated with hemodynamic aneurysms.

Transvenous embolization with a combination of detachable coils and Onyx for a complicated cavernous dural arteriovenous fistula.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of cavernous dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF) is usually made by a transarterial approach. However, in many complicated patients, treatments via transarterial approaches can not be achieved, and only an operation via a transvenous approach is feasible. We aimed to study the feasibility of transarterial embolization of cavernous dural arteriovenous fistulas with a combination detachable coils and Onyx to embolize a complicated cavernous DAVF via a transvenous approach. METHODS: From August 2006 to August 2007, six cases of complicated cavernous DAVF were embolized with a combination of detachable coils and Onyx via a transvenous approach. Three cases were male and the other three were female. Their ages ranged from 36 to 69 years old. The fistula was in the right lateral cavernous sinus in one case, in the left lateral cavernous sinus in another, and in the bilateral cavernous sinus in 4 cases. One fistula was fed by the right internal carotid artery and its meningohypophyseal trunk; one was fed by the branches of the left internal carotid artery and left external carotid artery; four were fed by the branches of the bilateral internal carotid artery and/or the bilateral external carotid artery. One case was drained via one lateral inferior petrosal sinus; three were drained via bilateral inferior petrosal sinuses; one was drained via one lateral ophthalmic and facial veins; one was drained via the inferior petrosal sinus and the ophthalmic and facial veins. Four were embolized via the inferior petrosal sinus, and two were embolized via the ophthalmic and facial veins. RESULTS: Among six cases of complicated cavernous DAVF, four were fully embolized with Onyx by a single operation, and two cases were fully embolized with Onyx following two operations. Transient headache was found after operation in all patients, but was cured after several days by the symptomatic treatments. In one case, the first operation via the inferior petrosal sinus was a failure; the feeding branches of the external carotid artery were embolized, and transient facial palsy was appeared after operation. The fistula was fully embolized with Onyx via the inferior petrosal sinus after two months with no complications. One bilateral cavernous sinus DAVF was embolized with Onyx via the inferior petrosal sinus by two operations, and transient abducens nerve palsy occurred after embolization. CONCLUSIONS: Because Onyx may be injected via a transvenous approach and the microcatheter is easily withdrawn, cavernous sinus via transvenous catheterization and embolization is a safe and efficient way to treat complicated cavernous dural arteriovenous fistulas, especially those for which operations via transarterial approaches have failed, or spontaneous cavernous dural arteriovenous fistulas.

[Treatment of chronic and painful vertebral compressive fractures with vertebroplasty in senior patients].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficiency of treatment of chronic and painful compressive fractures of vertebral bodies with vertebroplasty in senior patients. METHODS: 98 patients of chronic and painful compressive fractures of vertebral bodies suffering from severely back pain and activity of daily living, 33 males and 65 females, aged 71 +/- 12, with the average medical history of 12 months, underwent vertebroplasty. Follow-up was conducted for 3 - 40 months. Six-point Behavioral Rating Scale and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) Scale were used to evaluate the efficacy. RESULTS: 123 affected compressive vertebral bodies in the 98 cases were treated with vertebroplasty. After 3.5 - 7 ml of bone cement was injected into the lesions, complete relief was got in 20 cases, obvious relief was achieved in 59 cases, improvement was made in 14 cases, and no progress was seen in 5 case. The score of 6-point Behavioral Rating Scale decreased from 4.2 +/- 1.1 before vertebroplasty to 1.2 +/- 0.9 (P < 0.01). The ADL score decreased from 4.2 +/- 1.1 before vertebroplasty to 1.9 +/- 0.6 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Vertebroplasty significantly improves the painful symptoms and ability of daily life in senior patients with chronic painful vertebral compressive fractures.