Antibiotic use and the prevention and management of infectious complications in stone disease.

The importance of assessing perioperative urine/stone cultures and providing appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis prior to shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) or endoscopic intervention cannot be minimized. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common complication relating to stone intervention. Adequate assessment of culture data and adherence to appropriate guidelines may prevent the development of UTI and the potential for post-intervention urosepsis. This review outlines the current evidence for prophylaxis in the prevention of UTI and urosepsis, as well as the interpretation of stone culture data to provide an evidence-based approach for the judicious use of antibiotics in urologic stone practice.

The relevance of Randall's plaques.

The pathophysiology of nephrolithiasis is not fully understood. The pioneering work of Alexander Randall in the 1940s sought to clarify our understanding of stone formation. This review traces the inception of the theory of Randall's plaques and the refinement of the hypothesis in the early days of kidney stone research. It then reviews the contemporary findings utilizing sophisticated investigative techniques that shed additional light on the pathophysiology and redefine the seminal findings of Dr. Randall that were made 70 years ago.

Enhancing Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence by Fine-Tuning the Dendron Donor Strength.

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) relies on a small energy gap between the emissive singlet and the nonemissive triplet state, obtained by reducing the wave function overlap between donor and acceptor moieties. Efficient emission, however, requires maintaining a good oscillator strength, which is itself based on sufficient overlap of the wave functions between donor and acceptor moieties. We demonstrate an approach to subtly fine-tune the required wave function overlap by employing donor dendrons of changing functionality. We use a carbazolyl-phthalonitrile based donor-acceptor core (2CzPN) as a reference emitter and progressively localize the hole density through substitution at the 3,6-positions of the carbazole donors (Cz) with further carbazole, (4-tert-butylphenyl)amine (tBuDPA), and phenoxazine (PXZ). Using detailed photoluminescence studies, complemented with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show that this approach permits a gradual decrease of the singlet-triplet gap, ΔEST, from 300 to around 10 meV in toluene, yet we also demonstrate why a small ΔEST alone is not enough. While sufficient oscillator strength is maintained with the Cz- and tBuDPA-based donor dendrons, this is not the case for the PXZ-based donor dendron, where the wave function overlap is reduced too strongly. Overall, we find the donor dendron extension approach allows successful fine-tuning of the emitter photoluminescence properties.

Effects of motion control footwear on running: a systematic review.

Excessive foot pronation is a risk factor of running injuries and motion control footwear is designed to control foot pronation. With the movement transfer between foot pronation and tibial rotation, motion control footwear may not only be confined to controlling foot pronation. In view of the controversies in the literature on effectiveness of motion control footwear, this paper reviewed the efficacy of motion control footwear functions as reported in the literature. Eligible studies were identified from seven electronic databases. Two independent authors extracted the data and assessed the methodological qualities using the Jadad Scale. A total of 14 quasi randomised controlled trials were included. Even though the included studies were rated as "low quality" according to the Jadad Scale, the data were pooled and analysed. Results revealed that motion control footwear was effective in reducing the amount of foot pronation and the peak vertical impact during landing. There is no evidence that suggests motion control footwear for controlling kinematics of the proximal segments.

Organic Long-Persistent Luminescence from a Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Compound.

Organic long-persistent luminescence (OLPL) is one of the most promising methods for long-lived-emission applications. However, present room-temperature OLPL emitters are mainly based on a bimolecular exciplex system which usually needs an expensive small molecule such as 2,8-bis(diphenyl-phosphoryl)dibenzo[b,d]thiophene (PPT) as the acceptor. In this study, a new thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) compound, 3-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)acenaphtho[1,2-b]pyrazine-8,9-dicarbonitrile (CzPhAP), is designed, which also shows OLPL in many well-known hosts such as PPT, 2,2',2″-(1,3,5-benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole) (TPBi), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), without any exciplex formation, and its OLPL duration reaches more than 1 h at room temperature. Combining the low cost of PMMA manufacture and flexible designs of TADF molecules, pure organic, large-scale, color tunable, and low-cost room-temperature OLPL applications become possible. Moreover, it is found that the onset of the 77 K afterglow spectra from a TADF-emitter-doped film is not necessarily reliable for determining the lowest triplet state energy level. This is because in some TADF-emitter-doped films, optical excitation can generate charges (electron and holes) that can later recombine to form singlet excitons during the phosphorescence spectrum measurement. The spectrum taken in the phosphorescence time window at low temperature may consequently consist of both singlet and triplet emission.

Deep-Blue Oxadiazole-Containing Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

A series of four novel deep-blue to sky-blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters (2CzdOXDMe, 2CzdOXD4MeOPh, 2CzdOXDPh, and 2CzdOXD4CF3Ph) have been synthesized and characterized. These oxadiazole-based emitters demonstrated bluer emission compared with the reference emitter 2CzPN thanks to the weaker acceptor strength of the oxadiazole moieties. The oxadiazole compounds doped in hosts (mCP and PPT) emitted from 435 to 474 nm with photoluminescence quantum yields ranging from 14-55%. The emitters possess singlet-triplet excited-state energy gaps (Δ EST) between 0.25 and 0.46 eV resulting in delayed components ranging from 4.8 to 25.8 ms. The OLED device with 2CzdOXD4CF3Ph shows a maximum external quantum efficiency of 11.2% with a sky-blue emission at CIE of (0.17, 0.25), while the device with 2CzdOXD4MeOPh shows a maximum external quantum efficiency of 6.6% with a deep-blue emission at CIE of (0.15, 0.11).

Purely Organic Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

The design of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials both as emitters and as hosts is an exploding area of research. The replacement of phosphorescent metal complexes with inexpensive organic compounds in electroluminescent (EL) devices that demonstrate comparable performance metrics is paradigm shifting, as these new materials offer the possibility of developing low-cost lighting and displays. Here, a comprehensive review of TADF materials is presented, with a focus on linking their optoelectronic behavior with the performance of the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and related EL devices. TADF emitters are cross-compared within specific color ranges, with a focus on blue, green-yellow, orange-red, and white OLEDs. Organic small-molecule, dendrimer, polymer, and exciplex emitters are all discussed within this review, as is their use as host materials. Correlations are provided between the structure of the TADF materials and their optoelectronic properties. The success of TADF materials has ushered in the next generation of OLEDs.

Formylated chloro-bridged iridium(III) dimers as OLED materials: opening up new possibilities.

In this study, a series of four formyl-substituted chloro-bridged iridium(iii) dimers were prepared. Their absorption, photophysical and electrochemical properties were studied in dichloromethane solution. It was found that as the formyl content increased on the cyclometalating ligands, emission unexpectedly became brighter. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated using each of these iridium dimers as the emitter. The OLED fabricated using the brightest of the series, 2b, as the dopant afforded a decent external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 2.6%. This suggests that chloro-bridged iridium dimers are potential candidates as solid-state emitters.

Botulinum toxin a for idiopathic detrusor overactivity.

INTRODUCTION: This prospective study aims to evaluate botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A, Botox ®) as a treatment for idiopathic detrusor overactivity (IDO) for patients with symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nineteen patients with IDO were treated with intradetrusal injection of 200 units of BTX-A under cystoscopic guidance. There were 10 males and 9 females, with a mean age of 60 years (range, 38 to 87). Subjective responses were measured using the International Prostate Symptom Score and quality of life (QOL) score, as well as incontinent episodes, functional capacity and voiding intervals obtained from the voiding diary. They were recorded prior to, and at 6 weeks, 3, 6 and 9 months after BTX-A injections. Urodynamic studies were performed between 6 weeks to 3 months post-treatment. RESULTS: There was statistically significant improvement in subjective parameters at 3 months post-treatment involving QOL (P = 0.002), incontinence episodes (P = 0.004), functional capacity (P = 0.01) and voiding interval (P <0.001). Reflex volume was significantly increased (P = 0.003), and maximal detrusal pressure (P = 0.001) as well as leak volume (P = 0.013) were significantly decreased during follow-up. Results of a gender-based subgroup analysis reveal that BTX-A may be more efficacious in females. Observed side effects included a patient who needed to perform CISC for about 3 months, a patient who had gross haematuria needed bladder washout and 3 patients who required treatments for urinary tract infection. CONCLUSION: Overall BTX-A, which is well received by most patients, has become a very important part of the armamentarium for the treatment of IDO.

Collagen content of nonsupport tissue in pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

OBJECTIVE: Reduction in the collagen content of the pelvic floor tissue of the patients with pelvic organ prolapse and/or stress urinary incontinence has been documented previously. However, this is less clear for nonsupport tissue. We aimed to compare the collagen content of the uterine cervix, a nonsupport tissue, of women who had pelvic organ prolapse with and without stress urinary incontinence against those without these problems. STUDY DESIGN: Cervical collagen content was compared between 14 women who had pelvic organ prolapse with and without stress urinary incontinence and 17 controls without these conditions. Specimens were obtained after surgery for benign gynecologic conditions. RESULTS: Groups were similar with respect to age, parity, body mass index, and tobacco use. Women who had pelvic organ prolapse with and without stress urinary incontinence possessed significantly less collagen compared with the controls (8.10%+/-3.43% vs 12.35%+/-4.72%, P=.0104). Furthermore age, parity, body mass index, or tobacco use had no significant relationship to collagen content. CONCLUSION: Cervical collagen content is significantly decreased in women who have pelvic organ prolapse with and without stress urinary incontinence regardless of age, parity, body mass index, or tobacco use.