Prevalence of Elevated ALT in Adolescents in the US 2011-2018.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to characterize suspected nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in a diverse and nationally representative cohort of adolescents and to characterize higher ALT elevation in adolescents with obesity. METHODS: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018 were analyzed for adolescents 12-19 years. Participants with causes for elevated ALT other than NAFLD were excluded. Race and ethnicity, sex, body mass index (BMI), and ALT were examined. Elevated ALT was defined as >22 U/L (females) and >26 U/L (males) using the biologic upper normal limit (ULN). Elevated ALT thresholds up to 2X-ULN were examined among adolescents with obesity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association of race/ethnicity and elevated ALT, adjusting for age, sex, and BMI. RESULTS: Prevalence of elevated ALT in adolescents was 16.5% overall and 39.5% among those with obesity. For White, Hispanic, and Asian adolescents, prevalence was 15.8%, 21.8%, and 16.5% overall, 12.8%, 17.7%, and 27.0% in those with overweight, and 43.0%, 43.5%, and 43.1% in those with obesity, respectively. Prevalence was much lower in Black adolescents (10.7% overall, 8.4% for overweight, 20.7% for obesity). Prevalence of ALT at 2X-ULN was 6.6% in adolescents with obesity. Hispanic ethnicity, age, male sex, and higher BMI were independent predictors of elevated ALT. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of elevated ALT in U.S. adolescents is high, affecting 1 in 6 adolescents during 2011-2018. The risk is highest in Hispanic adolescents. Asian adolescents with elevated BMI may comprise an emerging risk group for elevated ALT.

Oxidation-Sensitive Polymersomes Based on Amphiphilic Diblock Copolypeptoids.

Stimuli-responsive polymersomes formed by amphiphilic block copolymers have attracted substantial attention as smart and robust containers for drug delivery and nano/microreactors. Biosourced amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoids were developed that can self-assemble into oxidation-responsive unilamellar vesicles. These vesicles can burst under the action of reactive oxygen species which can be the hydrogen peroxide or the singlet oxygen produced by light-activation of a photosensitizer with spatiotemporal control. Polysarcosine (PSar, also called poly(N-methyl glycine)) was selected as the hydrophilic block because of its resistance to protein adsorption and low toxicity, similar to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). We designed and synthesized poly(N-3-(methylthio)propyl glycine) as the hydrophobic block. Its polyglycine backbone is the same as that of PSar, and especially, its hydrophobic N-substituents, thioether side chains, can be oxidized to hydrophilic sulfoxides. These oxidation-responsive polymersomes entirely based on N-substituted poly(amino acid)s were biocompatible as confirmed by cell viability tests and may find applications in drug delivery, biosensing, biodetection, and nano/microreactors.

High Fluorescence Rate of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for Efficient and Stable Blue OLEDs.

A lack of an efficient and stable blue device is a critical factor restricting the development of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that is currently expected to be overcome by employing thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). Here, we investigate the TADF and electroluminescence (EL) performance of six carbazole/triphenyltriazine derivatives in different hosts. A good linearity between lg(LT50/kF2) and the EL emission wavelength is found, where LT50 is the half-life of the devices and kF is the fluorescence rate of the emitters, suggesting the dominance of the singlet exciton energy and lifetime in device stability. An indolylcarbazole/triphenyltriazine derivative (ICz-TRZ) with the capability to suppress solid-state solvation exhibits blue-shifted emission and an increased kF (1.5 × 108 s-1) in comparison to the control emitters in doped films. ICz-TRZ-based devices achieve a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 18% and an EQE of 5.5% at a very high luminance of 7 × 104 cd/m2. Ignoring the poor electrochemical stability of ICz-TRZ, the device offers an LT50 approaching 100 h under an initial luminance of 1000 cd/m2 and CIE coordinates of (0.14, 0.19). The findings in this work suggest that computer-aided design of high kF TADF emitters can be an approach to realize efficient and stable blue OLEDs.

A tertiary amine catalyzed carbocyclization sequence to furnish spirocyclo hexene systems having vicinal quaternary stereocenters.

Two types of enolates can be formed stepwise from enolisable 1,3-dicarbonyl-substituted propene systems in the presence of catalytic amounts of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) to accomplish a highly selective carbocyclization with ß,γ-unsaturated α-keto esters, giving functionalized spiroketones with vicinal quaternary stereocenters.