Electrohydrodynamic-Jet-Printed Cinnamate-Fluorinated Cross-Linked Polymeric Dielectrics for Flexible and Electrically Stable Operating Organic Thin-Film Transistors and Integrated Devices.

Herein, printable polymer series containing different portions of cinnamate and perfluorinated phenyl functionalities, namely, polyperfluorostyrene-co-poly(vinylbenzyl cinnamates) (PFS-co-PVBCi (x:y)) copolymers, were synthesized and applied as gate dielectrics for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). The polymeric dielectrics were successfully printed via electrostatic force-assisted dispensing mode of electrohydrodynamic jet printing. The dielectric characteristics of the printed polymers, such as surface energy, dielectric constant, leakage current, atomic depth profiles, and deposited semiconducting layer characteristics, were clearly identified. In particular, the difference in driving stability of OTFTs according to the type of polymer was analyzed in detail and a possible mechanism was proposed. Results suggested that PFS-co-PVBCi (3:7) led to optimized consequences, yielding an almost negligible Vth shift under continuous bias stress. Through this, we successfully implemented flexible OTFT and logic devices using printed PFS-co-PVBCi (3:7) dielectrics with stable operation properties. Therefore, we believe that this study will facilitate the printing and synthesis of polymer dielectrics to produce printed and flexible OTFTs.

Facile Photo-cross-linking System for Polymeric Gate Dielectric Materials toward Solution-Processed Organic Field-Effect Transistors: Role of a Cross-linker in Various Polymer Types.

Energy-efficient solution-processed organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are highly sought after in the low-cost printing industry as well as for the manufacture of flexible and other next-generation devices. The fabrication of such electronic devices requires high-functioning insulating materials that are chemically and mechanically robust to avoid lowering insulating properties during the device fabrication process or utilization of devices. In this study, we report a facile, fluorinated, UV-assisted cross-linker series using a fluorophenyl azide (FPA), which reacts with the C-H groups of a conventional polymer. This demonstrates the application of the cross-linked films in OFET gate dielectrics. The effects of the cross-linkable chemical structure of the FPA series on the cross-linking chemistry, photopatternability, and dielectric properties of the resulting films are investigated for low/high-k or amorphous/crystalline polymeric gate dielectric materials. The characteristics of insulating layers and behavior of OFETs containing these cross-linked gate dielectrics (for example, leakage current density (J), hysteresis, and charge trap density) depend on the polymer type. Furthermore, an organic-based complementary inverter and various printable OFETs with excellent electrical characteristics are successfully fabricated. Thus, these reported cross-linkers that enable the solution process and patterning of well-developed conventional polymer dielectric materials are promising for the realization of a more sustainable next-generation industrial technology for flexible and printable devices.

Usability of the Thera-Band® to improve foot drop in stroke survivors.

BACKGROUND: Stroke survivors show "foot drop", dragging their toes on the ground in the swing phase of gait. Ineffective ankle dorsiflexion may result in an abnormal gait pattern. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of ankle Thera-Band® use on gait patterns in stroke survivors. METHODS: Gait data were collected in eight subjects who had had strokes using gait analysis system, both with and without the Thera-Band®. The following dependent variables of gait parameters were analyzed: velocity, cadence, step length, stride length, single support time, and double support time. RESULTS: There were significant improvements in gait velocity, cadence, stride length, and double support time in those who used the Thera-Band® compared to those who did not (p <  0.05). However, there were no significant differences in step length or single support time (p >  0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that ankle Thera-Band® use may have a positive effect in improving gait parameters by increasing the ankle stability in stroke survivors with foot drop. Its usefulness in the rehabilitation of foot drop in stroke survivors needs to be further investigated.

Modeling Dialogue Acts with Content Word Filtering and Speaker Preferences.

We present an unsupervised model of dialogue act sequences in conversation. By modeling topical themes as transitioning more slowly than dialogue acts in conversation, our model de-emphasizes content-related words in order to focus on conversational function words that signal dialogue acts. We also incorporate speaker tendencies to use some acts more than others as an additional predictor of dialogue act prevalence beyond temporal dependencies. According to the evaluation presented on two dissimilar corpora, the CNET forum and NPS Chat corpus, the effectiveness of each modeling assumption is found to vary depending on characteristics of the data. De-emphasizing content-related words yields improvement on the CNET corpus, while utilizing speaker tendencies is advantageous on the NPS corpus. The components of our model complement one another to achieve robust performance on both corpora and outperform state-of-the-art baseline models.

Neoadjuvant etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin for the treatment of olfactory neuroblastoma.

BACKGROUND: The optimal chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of olfactory neuroblastoma has not been clearly defined. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the combination of etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (VIP) for patients with olfactory neuroblastoma. METHODS: Eleven consecutive patients with newly diagnosed olfactory neuroblastoma were treated with etoposide (75 mg/m2), ifosfamide (1000 mg/m2), and cisplatin (20 mg/m2) all administered intravenously on Days 1-5. Cycles were repeated every 21 days. Patients were excluded from analysis if they had previously received surgery or radiotherapy. RESULTS: Nine patients achieved objective responses (objective response rate, 82%; 95% confidence interval, 52-95%), which included 2 complete responses and 7 partial responses. The major side effect was hematologic toxicity, with Grade 3/4 neutropenia observed after the receipt of 37% of all cycles and febrile neutropenia observed after the receipt of 2 cycles. All toxic events were reversible, and no chemotherapy-related deaths were documented. The median survival period was 18 months (range, 3-45 months). CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant VIP chemotherapy was active in the treatment of olfactory neuroblastoma.