A dynamic model to predict early occurrence of acute kidney injury in ICU hospitalized cirrhotic patients: a MIMIC database analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to develop a tool for predicting the early occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in ICU hospitalized cirrhotic patients. METHODS: Eligible patients with cirrhosis were identified from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database. Demographic data, laboratory examinations, and interventions were obtained. After splitting the population into training and validation cohorts, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression model was used to select factors and construct the dynamic online nomogram. Calibration and discrimination were used to assess nomogram performance, and clinical utility was evaluated by decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: A total of 1254 patients were included in the analysis, and 745 developed AKI. The mean arterial pressure, white blood cell count, total bilirubin level, Glasgow Coma Score, creatinine, heart rate, platelet count and albumin level were identified as predictors of AKI. The developed model had a good ability to differentiate AKI from non-AKI, with AUCs of 0.797 and 0.750 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Moreover, the nomogram model showed good calibration. DCA showed that the nomogram had a superior overall net benefit within wide and practical ranges of threshold probabilities. CONCLUSIONS: The dynamic online nomogram can be an easy-to-use tool for predicting the early occurrence of AKI in critically ill patients with cirrhosis.

Promoter replication of grape MYB transcription factor is associated with a new red flesh phenotype.

KEY MESSAGE: In our study, we discovered a fragment duplication autoregulation mechanism in 'ZS-HY', which may be the reason for the phenotype of red foliage and red flesh in grapes. In grapes, MYBA1 and MYBA2 are the main genetic factors responsible for skin coloration which are located at the color loci on chromosome 2, but the exact genes responsible for color have not been identified in the flesh. We used a new teinturier grape germplasm 'ZhongShan-HongYu' (ZS-HY) which accumulate anthocyanin both in skin and flesh as experimental materials. All tissues of 'ZS-HY' contained cyanidin 3-O-(6″-p-coumaroyl glucoside), and pelargonidins were detected in skin, flesh, and tendril. Through gene expression analysis at different stage of flesh, significant differences in the expression levels of VvMYBA1 were found. Gene amplification analysis showed that the VvMYBA1 promoter is composed of two alleles, VvMYBA1a and 'VvMYBA1c-like'. An insertion of a 408 bp repetitive fragment was detected in the allele 'VvMYBA1c-like'. In this process, we found the 408 bp repetitive fragment was co-segregated with red flesh and foliage phenotype. Our results revealed that the 408 bp fragment replication insertion in promoter of 'VvMYBA1c-like' was the target of its protein, and the number of repeat fragments was related to the increase of trans-activation of VvMYBA1 protein. The activation of promoter by VvMYBA1 was enhanced by the addition of VvMYC1. In addition, VvMYBA1 interacted with VvMYC1 to promote the expression of VvGT1 and VvGST4 genes in 'ZS-HY'. The discovery of this mutation event provides new insights into the regulation of VvMYBA1 on anthocyanin accumulation in red-fleshed grape, which is of great significance for molecular breeding of red-fleshed table grapes.

Microencapsulated essential oils alleviate diarrhea in weaned piglets by modulating the intestinal microbial barrier as well as not inducing antibiotic resistance: a field research.

Microencapsulated essential oils (MEO)have been used as antibiotic alternatives that can be applied to alleviate diarrhea in weaning piglet. We examined a large group of weaned piglets and incorporated essential oil containing thymol (2%), carvacrol (5%) and cinnamaldehyde (3%) in the feed of weaned piglets on an intensive production farm. The piglets were divided into four groups; Control (no additions) and chlortetracycline (Chl), essential oil (EO) and microencapsulated essential oil (MEO) were fed ad libitum over a 28-day trial period. We found MEO significantly reduced the incidence of diarrhea in the piglets that was also accompanied by increased average daily weight gains from days 14-28 (p < 0.05). MEO enhanced the antioxidant capacity in the piglets and serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) levels were significantly increased (p < 0.05). MEO also significantly reduced expression of genes related to ileal inflammation (IL-6, TNF-α and TGF-ß1) (p < 0.05) and significantly (p < 0.05) increased in sIgA antibody levels. MEO influenced the composition of the intestinal microbiome and reduced Bacteroidota (p < 0.05) and thus altered the Firmicutes/Bacteroidota ratio. However, none of the treatments produced significant changes in the most common tetracycline resistance genes (p > 0.05). Metagenomic analysis indicated that MEO impacted DNA expression, virulence factors, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity. Metabolomic analysis of the intestinal content also indicated that MEO impacted tyrosine metabolism and primary bile acid biosynthesis suggesting improved intestinal health and nutrient absorption. This study paves the way for further research into the development and optimization of MEO-based interventions aimed at improving piglet health and performance while also providing a reference for reducing reliance on antibiotics in animal agriculture.

The burden and predictors of 30-day unplanned readmission in patients with acute liver failure: a national representative database study.

BACKGROUND: Liver diseases were significant source of early readmission burden. This study aimed to evaluate the 30-day unplanned readmission rates, causes of readmissions, readmission costs, and predictors of readmission in patients with acute liver failure (ALF). METHODS: Patients admitted for ALF from 2019 National Readmission Database were enrolled. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models were applied and based on Directed Acyclic Graphs. Incidence, causes, cost, and predictors of 30-day unplanned readmissions were identified. RESULTS: A total of 3,281 patients with ALF were enrolled, of whom 600 (18.3%) were readmitted within 30 days. The mean time from discharge to early readmission was 12.6 days. The average hospital cost and charge of readmission were $19,629 and $86,228, respectively. The readmissions were mainly due to liver-related events (26.6%), followed by infection (20.9%). The predictive factors independently associated with readmissions were age, male sex (OR 1.227, 95% CI 1.023-1.472; P = 0.028), renal failure (OR 1.401, 95% CI 1.139-1.723; P = 0.001), diabetes with chronic complications (OR 1.327, 95% CI 1.053-1.672; P = 0.017), complicated hypertension (OR 1.436, 95% CI 1.111-1.857; P = 0.006), peritoneal drainage (OR 1.600, 95% CI 1.092-2.345; P = 0.016), etc. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ALF are at relatively high risk of early readmission, which imposes a heavy medical and economic burden on society. We need to increase the emphasis placed on early readmission of patients with ALF and establish clinical strategies for their management.

Pd-Decorated Cu2O-Ag Catalyst Promoting CO2 Electroreduction to C2H4 by Optimizing CO Intermediate Adsorption and Hydrogenation.

Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to high value-added products, such as ethylene (C2H4), offers a promising approach to achieve carbon neutrality. Although recent studies have reported that a tandem catalyst (for example, Cu-Ag systems) exhibits advantage in C2H4 production, its practical application is largely inhibited by the following: (1) a traditional tandem catalyst cannot effectively stabilize the *CO intermediate, resulting in sluggish C-C coupling, and (2) inadequate H2O activation ability hinders the hydrogenation of intermediates. To break through the above bottleneck, herein, palladium (Pd) was introduced into Cu2O-Ag, a typical conventional tandem catalyst, to construct a Cu2O-Pd-Ag ternary catalyst. Extensive experiment and density functional theory calculation prove that Pd can efficiently stabilize the *CO intermediate and promote the H2O activation, which contributes to the C-C coupling and intermediate hydrogenation, the key steps in the conversion of CO2 to C2H4. Beneficial to the efficient synergy of Cu2O, Pd, and Ag, the optimal Cu2O-Pd-Ag ternary catalyst achieves CO2RR toward C2H4 with a faradaic efficiency of 63.2% at -1.2 VRHE, which is higher than that achieved by Cu2O-Ag and most of other reported catalysts. This work is a fruitful exploration of a rare ternary catalyst, providing a new route for constructing an efficient CO2RR electrocatalyst.

Prognostic value of neutrophil count to albumin ratio in patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Our study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of neutrophil count to albumin ratio (NAR) in predicting short-term mortality of patients with decompensated cirrhosis (DC). A total of 623 DC patients were recruited from a retrospective observational cohort study. They were admitted to our hospital from January 2014 to December 2015. NAR of each patient was calculated and analyzed for the association with 90-day liver transplantation-free (LT-free) outcome. The performance of NAR and the integrated model were tested by a receiver-operator curve (ROC) and C-index. The 90-day LT-free mortality of patients with DC was 10.6%. NAR was significantly higher in 90-day non-survivors than in survivors (The median: 1.73 vs 0.76, P < 0.001). A threshold of 1.40 of NAR differentiated patients with a high risk of death (27.45%) from those with a low risk (5.11%). By multivariate analysis, high NAR was independently associated with poor short-term prognosis (high group: 5.07 (2.78, 9.22)). NAR alone had an area under the ROC curve of 0.794 and C-index of 0.7789 (0.7287, 0.8291) in predicting 90-day mortality. The integrated MELD-NAR (iMELD) model had a higher area under the ROC (0.872) and C-index (0.8558 (0.8122, 0.8994)) than the original MELD in predicting 90-day mortality. NAR can be used as an independent predictor of poor outcomes for patients with DC during short-term follow-up.

The burden of liver cirrhosis and underlying etiologies: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

BACKGROUND: Liver cirrhosis is a major health concern. Herein, we aimed to estimate the incidence, prevalence, and mortality of liver cirrhosis caused by specific etiologies for 204 countries and territories. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data were retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), age-standardized death rate, and estimated annual percentage changes were used to estimate the trends in incidence, prevalence, and mortality of liver cirrhosis by sex, region, country, and etiology between 2009 and 2019. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2019, the incident cases of liver cirrhosis increased by 16.7%, from 1.8 million (95% uncertainty interval: 1.5-2.1) to 2.1 million (1.7-2.5), and the prevalent cases increased from 1378.3 million (1275.1-1498.8) to 1691.0 million (1560.9-1845.5). Liver cirrhosis contributed to nearly 1.5 million (1.4-1.6) deaths in 2019, nearly 0.2 million more than in 2009. However, the age-standardized death rate fell from 20.71 (19.79-21.65) per 100,000 population in 2009 to 18.00 (16.80-19.31) per 100,000 population in 2019. In terms of sex, males showed higher ASIR, ASPR, and age-standardized death rate than females. Among the etiologies, the ASIR and ASPR of NAFLD increased markedly, and there was also a modest increase in ASIR and ASPR for HCV and alcohol use. In contrast, the ASIR and ASPR of HBV decreased considerably. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding suggests an increasing burden of liver cirrhosis worldwide but a declining attributed death. A high prevalence and still rising trend of NAFLD and alcohol use-etiology were found in patients with cirrhosis globally, although variation was found between regions/countries. These data indicate that efforts to reduce the associated burden need to be improved.

Acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children: A combination of factors.

On 5 April 2022, the World Health Organization was notified of 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children under 10 years of age in the United Kingdom. Although the exact cause of a proportion of pediatric acute hepatitis and acute liver failure cases was unclear, the above event has caused widespread concern worldwide. As of 14 September 2022, approximately 1,296 probable cases of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology have been reported from 37 countries/regions, of which approximately 55 required or received liver transplantation and 29 died. Although the etiology of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children remains unclear, many hypotheses have been proposed about the disease. Instead of individual factors such as "adenovirus infection," "SARS-CoV-2 related," and "Adeno-associated virus 2 with helper virus coinfection," it is more likely due to a combination of factors. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for more data and research to clarify the disease etiology. This review aims to provide a historical perspective of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children in the past decades and summarize the current hypothesis and evidence on this emerging disease.

Acute decompensation events differentially impact the risk of nosocomial infections and short-term outcomes in patients with cirrhosis.

Aims: This research aimed to evaluate the influence of acute decompensation (AD) events upon admission on the subsequent risk of nosocomial infections (NIs) and the synergy between AD and the following NIs on the short-term outcome. Methods: A total of 419 hospitalized individuals with cirrhosis and AD participated in the current study. Various AD events at admission and outcomes in patients with or without NIs were compared. The logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were designed for NIs development and liver transplant (LT)-free mortality at 28 and 90 days, respectively. Results: During hospitalization, 91 patients developed NIs. Notably, a higher proportion of patients with NIs had jaundice (52.7 vs. 30.5%; p < 0.001) and bacterial infections (37.4 vs. 20.7%; p = 0.001) at admission compared to patients without NIs, while a lower proportion suffered gastrointestinal hemorrhage (16.5 vs. 36.6%; p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that jaundice was independently linked with the development of NIs (OR, 2.732; 95% CI: 1.104-6.762). The 28-day (16.5 vs. 7.3%; p = 0.008) and 90-day (27.5 vs. 15.9%; p = 0.011) LT-free mortality rates of patients with NIs were significantly higher than those without NIs. According to the Cox proportional hazards model, jaundice remained an independent risk factor for 90-day death (HR, 5.775; 95% CI: 1.217-27.397). The connection between total bilirubin and 90-day mortality was nonlinear, and a 6 mg/mL threshold was proposed. Conclusion: The types of AD events differentially predispose to risk of NIs. Presenting jaundice at admission is independently associated with NIs occurrence and increased 90-day mortality of patients with NIs. Antibiotic prophylaxis may benefit this specific subset of patients.

Clinical Prediction Models for Hepatitis B Virus-related Acute-on-chronic Liver Failure: A Technical Report.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: It is critical but challenging to predict the prognosis of hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF). This study systematically summarized and evaluated the quality and performance of available clinical prediction models (CPMs). METHODS: A keyword search of articles on HBV-ACLF CPMs published in PubMed from January 1995 to April 2020 was performed. Both the quality and performance of the CPMs were assessed. RESULTS: Fifty-two CPMs were identified, of which 31 were HBV-ACLF specific. The modeling data were mostly derived from retrospective (83.87%) and single-center (96.77%) cohorts, with sample sizes ranging from 46 to 1,202. Three-month mortality was the most common endpoint. The Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver consensus (51.92%) and Chinese Medical Association liver failure guidelines (40.38%) were commonly used for HBV-ACLF diagnosis. Serum bilirubin (67.74%), the international normalized ratio (54.84%), and hepatic encephalopathy (51.61%) were the most frequent variables used in models. Model discrimination was commonly evaluated (88.46%), but model calibration was seldom performed. The model for end-stage liver disease score was the most widely used (84.62%); however, varying performance was reported among the studies. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial limitations lie in the quality of HBV-ACLF-specific CPMs. Disease severity of study populations may impact model performance. The clinical utility of CPMs in predicting short-term prognosis of HBV-ACLF remains to be undefined.

Is Ferroptosis a Future Direction in Exploring Cryptococcal Meningitis?

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is the leading cause of mortality among patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Although treatment strategies for CM are continually being developed, the mortality rate is still high. Therefore, we need to explore more therapeutic strategies that are aimed at hindering its pathogenic mechanism. In the field of CM, several studies have observed rapid iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation within the brain, all of which are hallmarks of ferroptosis, which is a type of programmed cell death that is characterized by iron dependence and lipid peroxidation. In recent years, many studies have confirmed the involvement of ferroptosis in many diseases, including infectious diseases such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Furthermore, ferroptosis is considered as immunogenic and pro-inflammatory as the ferroptotic cells release damage-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs) and alarmin, both of which regulate immunity and pro-inflammatory activity. Hence, we hypothesize that there might be a relationship between this unique cell death modality and CM. Herein, we review the evidence of ferroptosis in CM and consider the hypothesis that ferroptotic cell death may be involved in the cell death of CM.

Autophagy inhibits the mesenchymal stem cell aging induced by D-galactose through ROS/JNK/p38 signalling.

Autophagy and cellular senescence are two critical responses of mammalian cells to stress and may have a direct relationship given that they respond to the same set of stimuli, including oxidative stress, DNA damage, and telomere shortening. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as reliable cell sources for stem cell transplantation and are currently being tested in numerous clinical trials. However, the effects of autophagy on MSC senescence and corresponding mechanisms have not been fully evaluated. Several studies demonstrated that autophagy level increases in aging MSCs and the downregulation of autophagy can delay MSC senescence, which is inconsistent with most studies that showed autophagy could play a protective role in stem cell senescence. To further study the relationship between autophagy and MSC senescence and explore the effects and mechanisms of premodulated autophagy on MSC senescence, we induced the up- or down-regulation of autophagy by using rapamycin (Rapa) or 3-methyladenine, respectively, before MSC senescence induced by D-galactose (D-gal). Results showed that pretreatment with Rapa for 24 hours remarkably alleviated MSC aging induced by D-gal and inhibited ROS generation. p-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p-38 expression were also clearly decreased in the Rapa group. Moreover, the protective effect of Rapa on MSC senescence can be abolished by enhancing the level of ROS, and p38 inhibitor can reverse the promoting effect of H2 O2 on MSC senescence. In summary, the present study indicates that autophagy plays a protective role in MSC senescence induced by D-gal, and ROS/JNK/p38 signalling plays an important mediating role in autophagy-delaying MSC senescence.

Enhancing Molecular Aggregations by Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonds to Develop Phosphorescent Emitters for High-Performance Near-Infrared OLEDs.

Phosphorescent near-infrared (NIR) organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have drawn increasing attention for their promising applications in the fields such as photodynamic therapy and night-vision readable displays. Here, three simple phosphorescent Pt(II) complexes are synthesized, and their intermolecular interactions are investigated in crystals and neat films by X-ray single crystal diffraction and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, respectively. The photophysical properties, molecular aggregation (including Pt-Pt interaction), molecular packing orientation, and electron transport ability are all influenced by the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Consequently, the nondoped OLEDs based on tBu-Pt and F-Pt show electroluminescent emissions in NIR region with the highest external quantum efficiencies of 13.9% and 16.7%, respectively.

Fine Optimization of Morphology Evolution Kinetics with Binary Additives for Efficient Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells.

The power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells (PSCs) is strongly affected by active layer morphology. Here, two solvent additives (ODT: octance-1,8-dithiol; DIO: 1,8-diiodooctane) are used to optimize the bulk heterojunction morphology of FTAZ:ITIC-Th based PSCs and ≈11% efficiency is obtained, which is 10% higher than the untreated device. Based on the morphological characterizations, the influence of binary solvent additives on manipulating molecular packing and phase separation of blend films is successfully revealed. More importantly, in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering characterization is adopted to explore the crucial role played by these two solvent additives at different stages of the film-forming process, that is, ODT influences the initial stage of the film-forming process, while DIO later establishes the ultimate photoactive film formation. Due to the impacts of two additives at different film processing stages, an optimal ratio of ODT:DIO (0.375%:0.125%) is obtained, which helps in realizing the optimized morphology.

Achieving Balanced Crystallinity of Donor and Acceptor by Combining Blade-Coating and Ternary Strategies in Organic Solar Cells.

As a prototype tool for slot-die coating, blade-coating exhibits excellent compatibility with large-area roll-to-roll coating. A ternary organic solar cell based on PBDB-T:PTB7-Th:FOIC blends is fabricated by blade-coating and exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 12.02%, which is one of the highest values for the printed organic solar cells in ambient environment. It is demonstrated that blade-coating can enhance crystallization of these three materials, but the degree of induction is different (FOIC > PBDB-T > PTB7-Th). Thus, the blade-coated PBDB-T:FOIC device presents much higher electron mobility than hole mobility due to the very high crystallinity of FOIC. Upon the addition of PTB7-Th into the blade-coated PBDB-T:FOIC blends, the crystallinity of FOIC decreases together with the corresponding electron mobility, due to the better miscibility between PTB7-Th and FOIC. The ternary strategy not only maintains the well-matched crystallinity and mobilities, but also increases the photocurrent with complementary light absorption as well as the Förster resonant energy transfer. Furthermore, small domains with homogeneously distributed nanofibers are observed in favor of the exciton dissociation and charge transport. This combination of blade-coating and ternary strategies exhibits excellent synergistic effect in optimizing morphology, showing great potential in the large-area fabrication of highly efficient organic solar cells.

Blade-Cast Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells in Air with Excellent Morphology, Efficiency, and Stability.

Blade-coating serving as a prototype tool for slot-die coating can be very compatible with large-area roll-to-roll coating. Using blade-coating in an ambient environment, an average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.03% is achieved in nonfullerene organic solar cells, which is higher than that of the optimal spin-coated device with a PCE of 9.41%. It is demonstrated that blade-coating can induce a higher degree of molecular packing for both conjugated polymer donors and small-molecular acceptors as it helps to produce a seeding film containing numerous crystal grains, subsequently providing nucleation sites for the residual solution when the motion of the blade exposes a liquid front. Due to this effect, blade-coating can partially replace the role of the additive 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) and thus achieves the optimized morphology with fewer additives. Moreover, it is found that the blade-coated film with 0.25% DIO possesses not only a smaller domain size but also higher domain purity, suggesting more D/A (donor/acceptor) interfaces and a purer phase domain as compared to the spin-coated film with 1% DIO. Encouragingly, the blade-coated device with less DIO (0.25%) exhibits much better stability than the spin-coated device with 1% DIO, showing excellent prospects.

From Mononuclear to Dinuclear Iridium(III) Complex: Effective Tuning of the Optoelectronic Characteristics for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

Phosphorescent dinuclear iridium(III) complexes that can show high luminescent efficiencies and good electroluminescent abilities are very rare. In this paper, highly phosphorescent 2-phenylpyrimidine-based dinuclear iridium(III) complexes have been synthesized and fully characterized. Significant differences of the photophysical and electrochemical properties between the mono- and dinuclear complexes are observed. The theoretical calculation results show that the dinuclear complexes adopt a unique molecular orbital spatial distribution pattern, which plays the key role of determining their photophysical and electrochemical properties. More importantly, the solution-processed organic light-emitting diode (OLED) based on the new dinuclear iridium(III) complex achieves a peak external quantum efficiency (η(ext)) of 14.4%, which is the highest η(ext) for OLEDs using dinuclear iridium(III) complexes as emitters. Besides, the efficiencies of the OLED based on the dinuclear iridium(III) complex are much higher that those of the OLED based on the corresponding mononuclear iridium(III) complex.

Phosphorescent Iridium(III) Complexes Bearing Fluorinated Aromatic Sulfonyl Group with Nearly Unity Phosphorescent Quantum Yields and Outstanding Electroluminescent Properties.

A series of heteroleptic functional Ir(III) complexes bearing different fluorinated aromatic sulfonyl groups has been synthesized. Their photophysical features, electrochemical behaviors, and electroluminescent (EL) properties have been characterized in detail. These complexes emit intense yellow phosphorescence with exceptionally high quantum yields (ΦP > 0.9) at room temperature, and the emission maxima of these complexes can be finely tuned depending upon the number of the fluorine substituents on the pendant phenyl ring of the sulfonyl group. Furthermore, the electrochemical properties and electron injection/transporting (EI/ET) abilities of these Ir(III) phosphors can also be effectively tuned by the fluorinated aromatic sulfonyl group to furnish some desired characters for enhancing the EL performance. Hence, the maximum luminance efficiency (ηL) of 81.2 cd A(-1), corresponding to power efficiency (ηP) of 64.5 lm W(-1) and external quantum efficiency (ηext) of 19.3%, has been achieved, indicating the great potential of these novel phosphors in the field of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Furthermore, a clear picture has been drawn for the relationship between their optoelectronic properties and chemical structures. These results should provide important information for developing highly efficient phosphors.

Novel red phosphorescent polymers bearing both ambipolar and functionalized Ir(III) phosphorescent moieties for highly efficient organic light-emitting diodes.

A series of novel red phosphorescent polymers is successfully developed through Suzuki cross-coupling among ambipolar units, functionalized Ir(III) phosphorescent blocks, and fluorene-based silane moieties. The photophysical and electrochemical investigations indicate not only highly efficient energy-transfer from the organic segments to the phosphorescent units in the polymer backbone but also the ambipolar character of the copolymers. Benefiting from all these merits, the phosphorescent polymers can furnish organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with exceptional high electroluminescent (EL) efficiencies with a current efficiency (η L ) of 8.31 cd A(-1) , external quantum efficiency (η ext ) of 16.07%, and power efficiency (η P ) of 2.95 lm W(-1) , representing the state-of-the-art electroluminescent performances ever achieved by red phosphorescent polymers. This work here might represent a new pathway to design and synthesize highly efficient phosphorescent polymers.