Search

(1) Background: The recurrence rate of childhood recurrent sinusitis varies widely between 12% and 50%, with the postoperative recurrence risk factors remaining largely unidentified. We sought to enhance the understanding of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) via a retrospective observational childhood cohort. (2) Methods: The study recruited 125 cases. Demographic data and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate potential risk factors of childhood recurrent sinusitis following functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). (3) Results: A postoperative recurrence rate of 21.6% was determined. Among the participants, 21 cases presented a history of allergic rhinitis (AR), with the remaining 104 cases being AR-free. A significantly heightened recurrence rate was noted in those bearing a history of AR compared to their counterparts devoid of such history (p < 0.000). The fully adjusted logistic regression model indicated a 21.04-fold increased risk of postoperative recurrence in childhood CRS bearing a history of AR compared to those without an AR history (p = 0.000), highlighting the history of AR as an independent risk factor for postoperative childhood recurrent sinusitis (p = 0.001); (4) Conclusions: The data implicate AR as an independent risk factor for postoperative childhood recurrent sinusitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, cheap, all-organic process for the fabrication of polyurethane (PU) composites for dielectric elastomer actuators was presented in this paper. This study focused on improving the electromechanical properties of PU matrix with polyol small organic molecule as filler. The dielectric, tensile mechanical, dynamic thermal mechanical, creep, and electric field induced strain properties of a series of polyol-PU blends were described in detail. It was found that the dielectric constant of PU at low frequencies (40-100 Hz) remarkably increased with the addition of polyols and the tensile strength of the PU/polyol blends decreased obviously with an increase in the content of polyol. The polyol-PU all organic composites had better electromechanical response than the pristine PU. Among the PU/glycerol, PU/ethylene glycol, and PU/triethylene glycol blends, PU/glycerol-50% had relatively high dielectric constant of 32.71 (40 Hz), low tensile strength of 16.37 MPa, low loss modulus of 164.24 MPa (−40 °C), high compliance of 9.709 × 10 1/Pa, and high electric field induced strain of 49.7 (37.4 MV/m). The enhancement of the electric field induced strain was mainly triggered by an increase of the dielectric constant and a decrease of the elastic modulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]