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To investigate the link between pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and the incidence of radiation-induced trismus(RIT) in parotid gland cancers(PGC) patients after postoperative radiotherapy(PORT).Data of PGC patients who had oral examinations before and after PORT were reviewed retrospectively. We comprised patients who had maximum mouth opening (MMO) assessments before and after PORT and complete blood count test on the first day of PORT. MMO of ≤35 mm was considered as RIT. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to search for an ideal NLR threshold value that might be linked to RIT rates.Fifty-one patients were included, with a RIT incidence of 15.7%. The NLR cutoff that showed a link with the prevalence of RIT in the ROC curve analysis was 2.7[Area under the curve (AUC):82.0%; sensitivity:87.5%; specificity:74.4%]. The patients were divided into groups based on this value:Group 1: NLR≤2.7 (N = 34) and;NLR 2.7 (N = 17). In comparative analysis, the incidence of RIT was found to be statistically higher in the NLR 2.7 than counterpart (35.2%vs.5.8%;rThis study showed that high pre-PORT NLR levels were a robust and independent predictor of significantly elevated rates of RIT.

WOS: 000374667900020, We report the synthesis, characterization, and gas sensing properties of a styrene copolymer bearing -thiophene end group and fullerene (C-60) pendant moieties P(S-co-CMS-C-60). First, the copolymer of styrene (S) and chloromethylstyrene (CMS) monomers was prepared in bulk via a bimolecular nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMP) technique using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as the radical initiator and nitroxy-functional thiophene compound (Thi-TEMPO) as the co-radical and this gave -thiophene end-capped copolymer P(S-co-CMS). The chloromethylstyrene units of P(S-co-CMS) allowed further side-chain functionalization onto P(S-co-CMS). The obtained P(S-co-CMS) was then reacted with sodium azide (NaN3) and this led to the copolymer with pendant azide groups, P(S-co-CMS-N-3), and then grafted with electron-acceptor C-60 via the reaction between N-3 and C-60. The final product was characterized by using NMR, FTIR, and UV-vis methods. Electrical characterization of P(S-co-CMS-C-60) thin film was also investigated at between 30 and 100 degrees C as the ramps of 10 degrees C. Temperature dependent electrical characterization results showed that P(S-co-CMS-C-60) thin film behaves like a semiconductor. Furthermore, P(S-co-CMS-C-60) was employed as the sensing layer to investigate triethylamine (TEA), hydrogen (H-2), acetone, and ethanol sensing properties at 100 degrees C. The results revealed that P(S-co-CMS-C-60) thin film has a sensing ability to H-2. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43641., Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) [113F403], This work has been partially funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Project Number: 113F403.