Harnessing a New Co-Host System and Low Concentration of New TADF Emitters Equipped with Trifluoromethyl- and Cyano-Substituted Benzene as Core for High-Efficiency Blue OLEDs.

A strategic approach combining a new co-host system and low concentration of new thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters to make efficient blue TADF organic light-emitting diode (OLED) was developed. The benchmark TADF molecule, 4CzIPN, was adopted as a probe to examine the feasibility of a co-host composing of a hole transporter SimCP and an electron transporter oCF3-T2T. As a result, a sky blue device with 1 wt % 4CzIPN doped in SimCP:oCF3-T2T co-host exhibited 100% energy transfer and achieved a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to 26.1%. Importantly, this device showed a limited efficiency rolloff with an EQE of 24% at 1000 cd m-2. To further shift the emission toward blue, three new TADF molecules, 4CzIPN-CF3, 3CzIPN-H-CF3, and 3CzIPN-CF3, modified either by lowering the electron-withdrawing ability of the acceptor group or by reducing the number of carbazole donors of 4CzIPN, have been synthesized and characterized. Among them, 4CzIPN-CF3 and 3CzIPN-H-CF3 display hypsochromic shift emissions compared to that of 4CzIPN. These new compounds were then explored for their potential applications as TADF emitters. Blue TADF OLEDs with 1 wt % of 4CzIPN-CF3 and 3CzIPN-H-CF3 dispersed in SimCP:oCF3-T2T co-host achieved EQEs of 23.1 and 16.5% and retained high EQEs of 20.9 and 14.7% at 1000 cd m-2, respectively.

Texture-Map-Based Branch-Collaborative Network for Oral Cancer Detection.

The paper proposes an innovative deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) combined with texture map for detecting cancerous regions and marking the ROI in a single model automatically. The proposed DCNN model contains two collaborative branches, namely an upper branch to perform oral cancer detection, and a lower branch to perform semantic segmentation and ROI marking. With the upper branch the network model extracts the cancerous regions, and the lower branch makes the cancerous regions more precision. To make the features in the cancerous more regular, the network model extracts the texture images from the input image. A sliding window is then applied to compute the standard deviation values of the texture image. Finally, the standard deviation values are used to construct a texture map, which is partitioned into multiple patches and used as the input data to the deep convolutional network model. The method proposed by this paper is called texture-map-based branch-collaborative network. In the experimental result, the average sensitivity and specificity of detection are up to 0.9687 and 0.7129, respectively based on wavelet transform. And the average sensitivity and specificity of detection are up to 0.9314 and 0.9475, respectively based on Gabor filter.

Two-channel autofluorescence analysis for oral cancer.

We created a two-channel autofluorescence test to detect oral cancer. The wavelengths 375 and 460 nm, with filters of 479 and 525 nm, were designed to excite and detect reduced-form nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) autofluorescence. Patients with oral cancer or with precancerous lesions, and a control group with healthy oral mucosae, were enrolled. The lesion in the autofluorescent image was the region of interest. The average intensity and heterogeneity of the NADH and FAD were calculated. The redox ratio [(NADH)/(NADH + FAD)] was also computed. A quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) was used to compute boundaries based on sensitivity and specificity. We analyzed 49 oral cancer lesions, 34 precancerous lesions, and 77 healthy oral mucosae. A boundary (sensitivity: 0.974 and specificity: 0.898) between the oral cancer lesions and healthy oral mucosae was validated. Oral cancer and precancerous lesions were also differentiated from healthy oral mucosae (sensitivity: 0.919 and specificity: 0.755). The two-channel autofluorescence detection device and analyses of the intensity and heterogeneity of NADH, and of FAD, and the redox ratio combined with a QDA classifier can differentiate oral cancer and precancerous lesions from healthy oral mucosae.

Mirror-image pain is mediated by nerve growth factor produced from tumor necrosis factor alpha-activated satellite glia after peripheral nerve injury.

Mirror-image pain is characterized by mechanical hypersensitivity on the uninjured mirror-image side. Recent reports favor central mechanisms, but whether peripheral mechanisms are involved remains unclear. We used unilateral spinal nerve ligation (SNL) to induce mirror-image pain in rats. On the mirror-image (contralateral) side, we found that satellite glia in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) were activated, whereas macrophages/Schwann cells in the DRG and astrocytes/oligodendrocytes/microglia in the dorsal spinal cord were not. Subsequently, an increase in nerve growth factor (NGF) was detected in the contralateral DRG, and NGF immunoreactivity was concentrated in activated satellite glia. These phenomena were abolished if fluorocitrate (a glial inhibitor) was intrathecally injected before SNL. Electrophysiological recordings in cultured small DRG neurons showed that exogenous NGF enhanced nociceptor excitability. Intrathecal injection of NGF into naive rats induced long-lasting mechanical hypersensitivity, similar to SNL-evoked mirror-image pain. Anti-NGF effectively relieved SNL-evoked mirror-image pain. In the contralateral DRG, the SNL-evoked tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) increase, which started later than in the ipsilateral DRG and cerebrospinal fluid, occurred earlier than satellite glial activation and the NGF increase. Intrathecal injection of TNF-α into naive rats not only activated satellite glia to produce extra NGF in the DRG but also evoked mechanical hypersensitivity, which could be attenuated by anti-NGF injection. These results suggest that after SNL, satellite glia in the contralateral DRG are activated by TNF-α that diffuses from the injured side via cerebrospinal fluid, which then activates satellite glia to produce extra NGF to enhance nociceptor excitability, which induces mirror-image pain.

No enlargement of the right internal jugular vein of the dialysis patients in the Trendelenburg position.

BACKGROUND: The Trendelenburg position has been suggested for right internal jugular vein (RIJV) catheterization. However, this position can sometimes be functionally intolerable for chronic kidney disease patients. We conducted an ultrasound study to further investigate the efficacy of the use of the Trendelenburg position during tunneled dialysis catheter insertion via the RIJV in chronic kidney disease patients. METHODS: We recruited into our study patients without a history of prior tunneled dialysis catheter insertion or neck surgery. Those patients with stenosis or thrombus in the RIJV were excluded. Serial ultrasound images were acquired with patients in the supine position, with the head rotated 30° to the left: Stage 0, table flat; Stage T, Trendelenburg tilt. Then, measurements of patient RIJV transverse diameter, anteroposterior (AP) diameter, and cross-sectional area (CSA) were obtained. RESULTS: Fifty dialysis patients and 40 healthy volunteers completed the study. There were no significant differences in the lateral diameter, AP diameter, or AP/lateral diameter ratio between the dialysis patients and healthy volunteers, whether in the supine or the Trendelenburg position. However, the CSA of the RIJV of the healthy volunteers in the Trendelenburg position was significantly larger than that in dialysis patients. The change in CSA from the supine to the Trendelenburg position was also significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In contrast to healthy volunteers, there was no enlargement of the RIJV when dialysis patients were in the Trendelenburg position. The reason for this phenomenon may be multifactorial, with diastolic dysfunction being the most likely cause, and further investigation is required to clarify the cause. Our investigation suggests that the supine position for central venous catheterization in dialysis patients is superior to the Trendelenburg position.

Diagnosis and insertion of Hickman catheter for a patient with persistent left superior vena cava.

A vascular access with good function for drug delivery is the basis of chemotherapy. If there is any congenital or acquired vascular abnormality, procedurally related and late complications such as vessel rupture, malposition, and dysfunction of the catheter with ensuing thrombosis may occur, especially when it is undiagnosed or ignored. We describe a case of implantable central venous catheter (CVC) malposition and subsequent insertion of a Hickman catheter for stem cell transplantation after the diagnosis of persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) by radiologic image studies. The case is about a 60-year-old male who suffered from mantle cell lymphoma. He complained of discomfort when chemotherapeutic drugs were delivered through an implanted subcutaneous port system. Malposition of the CVC with aberrant path venous catheter, which led to its migration to the right internal jugular vein (RIJV) was noted on the chest X-ray. In addition, results of ultrasound imaging revealed total occlusion of the RIJV, and a subsequent three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) reconstruction image revealed a PLSVC with an atretic right SVC. Ultrasound-guided venous puncture of the left internal jugular vein and intraoperative fluoroscopy for confirming the correct guide-wire path were used for successful insertion of Hickman catheter without any complication. When unexpected occurrence of migration or malposition of the long-term CVC is detected, early removal of the catheter is vital for preventing further complications. Proper and advanced image studies including ultrasound, contrast-enhanced venography, CT, and magnetic resonance imaging may be necessary for understanding the potential vascular abnormality and guiding the following treatment.