The role of disturbances of the iron metabolism (DIM) in idiopathic sudden hearing loss (ISHL) was investigated in 426 patients with ISHL who received iron therapy, anti-DIM medication, vitamins, and a combined regimen in a randomized study which was stratified by stages and groups. Low concentrations of haemoglobin, serum iron, serum ferritin, and red cell basic ferritin as well as abnormal circadian variations in the serum iron level were observed. The results were significantly better in patients receiving iron therapy than in those receiving anti-DIM medication, vitamins, and the combined regimen. Hearing improvement was achieved in 53.26% of the patients whose treatment started later than 3 months after the onset of the disease. The clinical association of DIM and ISHL is discussed.

Photovoltaic materials can turn light energy into electric energy directly, and thus have the advantages of high electrical output voltages and the ability to realize remote or non-contact control. When high-energy ultraviolet light illuminates polarized PbLaZrTi (PLZT) materials, high photovoltages will be generated along the spontaneous polarization direction due to the photovoltaic effect. In this paper, a novel hybrid photovoltaic/piezoelectric actuation mechanism is proposed. PLZT ceramics are used as a photovoltaic generator to drive a piezoelectric actuator. A mathematical model is established to define the time history of the actuation voltage between two electrodes of the piezoelectric actuator, which is experimentally validated by the test results of a piezoelectric actuator with different geometrical parameters under irradiation at different light intensities. Some important characteristics of this novel actuation mechanism are analyzed and it can be concluded that (1) it is experimentally validated that there is no hysteresis between voltage and deformation which exists in a PLZT actuator; (2) the saturated voltage and response speed can be improved by using a multi-patch PLZT generator to drive the piezoelectric actuator; and (3) the initial voltage of the piezoelectric actuator can be acquired by controlling the logical switch between the PLZT and the piezoelectric actuator while the initial voltages increase with the rise of light intensity.

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The deposition of lunar dust on the surface of solar panels and optical elements is one of the most important problems need to be solved in lunar exploration. This paper will propose an initiative lunar dust removal system based on the photovoltaic effect of PbLaZrTi (PLZT), which is activated by the ultraviolet light extracted from sun light at the lunar surface. When ultraviolet light with a wavelength near 365nm illuminates on polarized PLZT materials, high voltages of several kilovolt per centimeter can be generated between two electrodes of PLZT. When two electrodes of PLZT are connected to a lunar dust collector (LDC) and the ITO film of protected surface respectively, an electrostatic field forms between LDC and the protected surface. Coulomb forces over particles will overcome gravitational force and surface forces, so the particles can be absorbed to LDC and removed by LDC finally. Based on the equivalent electrical model, mathematical model of electrostatic force is derived when the lunar removal electric field is acted either by single piece PLZT or by multi-pieces PLZT which are connected in parallel. Experimental platform is set up to prove the feasibility of this lunar dust removal system. In order to improve the removal efficiency, a novel configuration design of LDC based on multi-PLZT patched is proposed and its removal efficiency is evaluated by experiments.