Clinical Features and Influencing Factors for the Prognosis of Patients With Sudden Deafness.

Backgrounds: Studies on risk factors influencing the prognosis of patients with sudden onset deafness are lacking. Methods: From March 2018 to March 2021, 500 patients, from the Tongde Hospital in Zhejiang Province, with sudden onset deafness were enrolled. We collected clinical information from the hospital medical records, including certain demographic characteristics, information related to sudden-onset deafness, and laboratory parameters. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine independent prognostic risk factors for patients with sudden deafness. Additionally, we also employed orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) to analyze the data of these enrolled patients. Results: The baseline clinical characteristics of the enrolled patients were analyzed. Based on their prognoses, the included patients were divided into the overall effective and ineffective groups. Between these two groups, the univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Age, type of hearing curve at the initial diagnosis, acute phase, and sudden deafness site were found to be independently associated with the prognoses of patients with sudden deafness (all P < 0.05). Through the OPLS-DA, the sudden deafness site was found to be an indicator with the highest predictive power. Conclusions: Age, type of hearing curve at the initial diagnosis, acute phase, and sudden deafness site were all independently correlated with the prognoses of patients with sudden deafness and, therefore, need to be emphasized.

Manipulation of polymer/polymer interface width from nonequilibrium deposition.

We demonstrate, using neutron reflectivity, that the width of a nonequilibrium interface between an organo-soluble aromatic polyimide film and triacetate cellulose (TAC) support film created by spin-coating or solution-casting can be broadened in a controllable way using a "swelling agent" in the deposition process. In a favorable case, the adhesion, as measured by T-peel tests, can be increased by a factor of 7 by adjustment of the solvent composition. The morphologies of the TAC fractured surfaces after peeling tests measured by AFM reveal that broadening of the interfacial width causes an interconnected network in the interface, leading to a sharp increase in the interfacial adhesion. Differences in the chemistry (solubility) of the materials being deposited do make a difference in the effectiveness of this strategy of using a "swelling agent". For one polyimide, a 3-fold increase in adhesion can be obtained by optimizing the deposition temperature, but this approach for improving adhesion is less effective than that of adding "swelling agent". The formation of robust interfaces of this type is important because of the critical roles that multilayer films containing polymers with special properties and tailored structures play in applications as diverse as computer displays, photovoltaic devices, and polymeric electronics. The "swelling agent" strategy makes it possible to produce polymer multilayer structures in a cost-effective way with roll-to-roll mass production using direct solution coating.