Shanghai University

About: Shanghai University is a education organization based out in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Microstructure & Graphene. The organization has 59583 authors who have published 56840 publications receiving 753549 citations. The organization is also known as: Shànghǎi Dàxué.

Adverse Events of Acupuncture: A Systematic Review of Case Reports

Abstract: Acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping, important in traditional Eastern medicine, are increasingly used in the West. Their widening acceptance demands continual safety assessment. This review, a sequel to one our team published 10 years ago, is an evaluation of the frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) reported for acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping between 2000 and 2011. Relevant English-language reports in six databases were identified and assessed by two reviewers. During this 12-year period, 117 reports of 308 AEs from 25 countries and regions were associated with acupuncture (294 cases), moxibustion (4 cases), or cupping (10 cases). Country of occurrence, patient’s sex and age, and outcome were extracted. Infections, mycobacterial, staphylococcal, and others, were the main complication of acupuncture. In the previous review, we found the main source of infection to be hepatitis, caused by reusable needles. In this review, we found the majority of infections to be bacterial, caused by skin contact at acupoint sites; we found no cases of hepatitis. Although the route of infection had changed, infections were still the major complication of acupuncture. Clearly, guidelines such as Clean Needle Technique must be followed in order to minimize acupuncture AEs.

Boosting the thermoelectric performance of PbSe through dynamic doping and hierarchical phonon scattering

Abstract: Here we find the peculiar behavior of Cu ions in the PbSe–Cu system increases its thermoelectric performance. For the electrical transport, a dynamic doping effect is achieved because more Cu ions enter into the PbSe lattice and provide extra charge carriers as the temperature increases, which guarantees an optimized carrier concentration over a wide temperature range. For the thermal transport, the presence of Cu2Se nanoprecipitates and dislocations at a low temperature range as well as the vibration of Cu atoms around the interstitial sites of PbSe at high temperatures result in hierarchical phonon scattering and a significantly reduced lattice thermal conductivity over the whole temperature range. As a result, a peak thermoelectric material figure of merit zT of up to 1.45 and a thermoelectric device figure of merit ZT close to unity are obtained for the sample with 0.375 at% Cu. Furthermore, enhanced thermoelectric properties are also realized for the Cu-intercalated PbS, implying that the temperature-driven dynamic behavior of Cu ions in a rigid lattice can serve as a general strategy to optimize the thermoelectric performance of IV–VI compounds.