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Key Points First report of an FLT3-targeted therapy added to nonintensive chemotherapy that has improved survival in older FLT3-ITD patients with AML.Quizartinib is well tolerated, improves response and survival in older FLT3-ITD AML patients and merits consideration in future therapies. Now amended as text above., Visual Abstract, Survival for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy is unsatisfactory. Standard nonintensive therapies have low response rates and only extend life by a few months. Quizartinib is an oral Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) inhibitor with reported activity in wild-type patients. As part of the AML LI trial, we undertook a randomized evaluation of low-dose ara-C (LDAC) with or without quizartinib in patients not fit for intensive chemotherapy. Overall, survival was not improved (202 patients), but in the 27 FLT3-ITD patients, the addition of quizartinib to LDAC improved response (P = .05) with complete remission/complete remission with incomplete haematological recovery for quizartinib + LDAC in 5/13 (38%) vs 0/14 (0%) in patients receiving LDAC alone. Overall survival (OS) in these FLT3-ITD+ patients was also significantly improved at 2 years for quizartinib + LDAC (hazard ratio 0.36; 95% confidence intervals: 0.16, 0.85, P = .04). Median OS was 13.7 months compared with 4.2 months with LDAC alone. This is the first report of an FLT3-targeted therapy added to standard nonintensive chemotherapy that has improved survival in this population. Quizartinib merits consideration for future triplet-based treatment approaches. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as ISRCTN #ISRCTN40571019 and EUDRACT @2011-000749-19.

Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) have long been known to relate to performance in domains outside of WM, including attentional control, long-term memory, problem-solving, and fluid intelligence to name a few. Complex span WM tasks, composed of a processing component and a storage component, are often used to index WMC in these types of investigations. Capacity estimates are derived from performance on the storage component only, while processing performance is often largely ignored. Here, we explore the relationship between processing performance and WMC in a large dataset for each of three complex span tasks to better characterize how the components of these tasks might be related. We provide evidence that enforcing an 85% or better accuracy criterion for the processing portion of the task results in the removal of a disproportionate number of individuals exhibiting lower WMC estimates. We also find broad support for differences in processing task performance, characterized according to both accuracy and reaction time metrics, as a function of WMC. We suggest that researchers may want to include processing task performance measures, in addition to capacity estimates, in studies using complex span tasks to index WMC. This approach may better characterize the relationships between complex span task performance and performance in disparate domains of cognition.

The survival of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients aged over 60 has been suboptimal historically, whether they are treated using hypomethylating agents, low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) or venetoclax-based regimens. Progress is being made, however, for subgroups with favourable molecular or cytogenetic findings. Arginine metabolism plays a key role in AML pathophysiology. We report the only randomised study of LDAC with recombinant arginase BCT-100 versus LDAC alone in older AML patients unsuitable for intensive therapy. Eighty-three patients were randomised to the study. An overall response rate was seen in 19.5% (all complete remission [CR]) and 15% (7.5% each in CR and CR without evidence of adequate count recovery [CRi]) of patients in the LDAC+BCT-100 and LDAC arms respectively (odds ratio 0.73, confidence interval 0.23-2.33; p = 0.592). No significant difference in overall or median survival between treatment arms was seen. The addition of BCT-100 to LDAC was well tolerated.

Despite the approval of 8 new drugs for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) since 2017, the disease remains challenging, given the significant toxicity associated with available treatments and relatively low cure rates, especially in older adults. Although advantageous for patients, self-congratulatory rejoicing about the new agents would be extremely premature. Questions abound about the need for a specific versus less specific FLT3 inhibitor (eg, midostautin) in the upfront setting and whether a single agent (gilteritnib), albeit better than chemotherapy, is sufficient for relapsed disease. Is the new liposomal formulation of daunorubicin/cytarabine better than ‘3 + 7’ only in secondary AML? Should only those newly diagnosed patients with core binding factor AML routinely receive gemtuzumab ozogamicin? The isocitrate dehydrogenase inhibitors were approved based on non-randomized data; thus, one wonders whether single-agent isocitrate dehydrogenase inhibitor therapy is appropriate for relapsed patients. Glasdegib, an orally available hedgehog inhibitor, is approved in conjunction with low-dose cytarabine in unfit patients but is rarely used in favor of a combination of hypomethylating agents or low-dose cytarabine with venetoclax, which are hopeful newly approved combinations for the older and/or unfit previously untreated. Perhaps venetoclax-based combinations should be more widely used, but the data is currently lacking. Thus, a temperate approach, more clinical research, and a critical analysis of the available data remain important in this “optimistic” new era of AML therapeutics.

Single crystal studies provide a better understanding of the basic properties of organic photovoltaic devices. Therefore, in this work, rubrene single crystals with a thickness of 250 nm to 1000 nm were used to produce an inverted bilayer organic solar cell. Subsequently, polycrystalline rubrene (orthorhombic, triclinic) and amorphous bilayer solar cells of the same thickness as single crystals were studied to make comparisons across platforms. To investigate how single crystal, polycrystalline (triclinic-orthorhombic) and amorphous forms alter the charge carrier recombination mechanism at the rubrene/PCBM interface, light intensity measurements were carried out. The light intensity dependency of the J(SC), V-OC and FF parameters in organic solar cells with different forms of rubrene was determined. Monomolecular (Shockley Read Hall) recombination is observed in devices employing amorphous and polycrystalline rubrene in addition to bimolecular recombination, whereas the single crystal device is weakly affected by trap assisted SRH recombination due to reduced trap states at the donor acceptor interface. To date, the proposed work is the only systematic study examining transport and interface recombination mechanisms in organic solar cells produced by different structure forms of rubrene., Office of Naval Research [N0001416-1-2612, N000147-14-1-0053]; Turkey research fellowship [TUBITAK 2214/A-1059B141501315]; Turkey Scholarship Council [2214/A-1059B141501316]; 1003 -Primary Subjects R&D Funding Program [218M940], D. A. K. acknowledges the Turkey research fellowship (TUBITAK 2214/A-1059B141501315). K. K. thanks the Turkey Scholarship Council (2214/A-1059B141501316). B. G acknowledges the 1003 -Primary Subjects R&D Funding Program (218M940) and A. L. B. acknowledges the Office of Naval Research (N0001416-1-2612 and N000147-14-1-0053).

The prognosis for younger patients with relapsed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is generally dismal. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is the preferred therapy for these patients. As part of the UK NCRI AML17 trial, daunorubicin/clofarabine (DClo) was compared with fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor with idarubicin (FLAG-Ida) in 311 patients designated high-risk following course one of induction therapy, which has previously been reported. We now report the results of the same randomisation in patients who were refractory to two induction courses or subsequently relapsed. A total of 94 relapsed or refractory AML patients, usually less than 60 years of age and with mainly favourable or intermediate-risk cytogenetics, were randomised to receive up to three courses of DClo or FLAG-Ida, with the aim of proceeding to transplant. Complete remission was achieved in 74% of patients with no difference between the arms. Overall, 57% of patients received a transplant with no difference between the arms, likewise overall survival at five years showed no significant difference (21% for DClo vs. 22% for FLAG-Ida). No patient who did not receive a transplant survived beyond 21months. A stratified analysis including the 311 post course 1 high-risk patients who underwent the same randomisation showed a consistent treatment benefit for FLAG-Ida.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy with an undefined heritable risk. Here we perform a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies, with replication in a fourth study, incorporating a total of 4018 AML cases and 10488 controls. We identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for AML at 11q13.2 (rs4930561; P = 2.15 × 10−8; KMT5B). We also identify a genome-wide significant risk locus for the cytogenetically normal AML sub-group (N = 1287) at 6p21.32 (rs3916765; P = 1.51 × 10−10; HLA). Our results inform on AML etiology and identify putative functional genes operating in histone methylation (KMT5B) and immune function (HLA)., Genome wide association studies in cancer are used to understand the heritable genetic contribution to disease risk. Here, the authors perform a genome wide association study in European patients with acute myeloid leukemia and identify loci associated with risk of developing the disease.

Alkyl chains of varied length and steric bulk are generally appended to π-conjugated chromophores to increase solubility. These alkyl chains also regulate many aspects of the solid-state packing an...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy with an undefined heritable risk. Here we performed a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies, with replication in a fourth study, incorporating a total of 4018 AML cases and 10488 controls. We identified a genome-wide significant risk locus for AML at 11q13.2 (rs4930561; P = 2.15 × 10-8; KMT5B). We also identified a genome-wide significant risk locus for the cytogenetically normal AML sub-group (N=1287) at 6p21.32 (rs3916765; P = 1.51 × 10-10; HLA). Our results inform on AML etiology by identifying putative functional genes operating in histone methylation (KMT5B) and immune function (HLA).

BackgroundAcute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease where outcome is substantially influenced by age. Over the last 30-40 years, significant improvements have been made in survival for younger patients (those under 60). However, with the median age of the disease at diagnosis at 65 years, outcome in older patients has improved much less. Additionally, many elderly patients are not considered suitable for intensive chemotherapy and the current standard treatment is considered unsatisfactory. MethodsLI1 will evaluate several relevant therapeutic questions in AML patients over 60 years of age for whom intensive chemotherapy is not considered suitable. Patients are invited to enter a randomized comparison of standard therapy (LD Ara-C) versus a novel treatment. A number of different treatment options are available at any one time, but there is no comparison between novel agents. If, at initial review, a novel agent is deemed unlikely to demonstrate the required improvement, it may be removed from the protocol and replaced with another novel agent, via protocol amendment. Agents are initially entered into a phase II comparison against standard of care - where an agent is considered promising at interim review (based on remission rates), the randomisation may be extended to a fully powered phase III comparison based on survival. Agents which may prolong survival or improve remission rates will also be required to demonstrate equivalence or better of quality of life in patients – therefore, quality of life assessments are undertaken throughout, in each arm. DiscussionEven when less intensive treatment options are delivered, the outcomes are not satisfactory. The NCRI AML working group has a strong network, required for delivery of this trial program. The UK network is augmented by international collaborative groups, most notably from New Zealand and Denmark. The use of the Pick-a-Winner design improves efficiency and speed of review of the available novel agents with the aim of benefitting the increasing number of patients in this age group.Trial registration: ISCRTN40571019, EUDRACT2011-000479-19 (12th May 2011)

Mycorrhizal fungi are critical to understanding the distribution patterns of many plants, but they are especially important for orchids. Some orchids may change the mycorrhizal fungi they use through their lives, either in response to changes in abiotic or biotic conditions, or as a result of ontogenetic changes that alter the orchid’s need for fungal nutrition. The temperate terrestrial orchid Tipularia discolor germinates only on decomposing wood, but often persists well after the wood has completely decomposed and has been incorporated into the soil. We used PCR and Sanger sequencing to ask: (1) Do mature T. discolor retain protocorm fungi or are protocorm and adult mycorrhizal fungi mutually exclusive? (2) Are protocorm fungi limited to areas with decomposing wood? (3) Does the abundance of protocorm fungi in the substrate differ between decomposing wood and bare soil? We found that T. discolor retained protocorm fungi into maturity, regardless of whether they were growing in persistent decomposing wood or soil. Protocorm fungi were not restricted to decomposing wood but were more common and abundant in it. We conclude that the mycorrhizal fungi associated with T. discolor change during the ontogeny of individuals. These results highlight the importance of assessing protocorm fungi, in addition to mycorrhizal fungi associating with adult orchids, to understand the conditions needed for orchid germination, growth, and reproduction.

Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) have long been known to relate to performance in domains outside of WM, including attentional control, long-term memory, problem-solving, and fluid intelligence to name a few. Complex span WM tasks, composed of a processing component and a storage component, are often used to index WMC in these types of investigations. Capacity estimates are derived from performance on the storage component only, while processing performance is often largely ignored. Here, we explore the relationship between processing performance and WMC in a large dataset for each of three complex span tasks to better characterize how the components of these tasks might be related. We provide evidence that enforcing an 85% or better accuracy criterion for the processing portion of the task results in the removal of a disproportionate number of individuals exhibiting lower WMC estimates. We also find broad support for differences in processing task performance, characterized according to both accuracy and reaction time metrics, as a function of WMC. We suggest that researchers may want to include processing task performance measures, in addition to capacity estimates, in studies using complex span tasks to index WMC. This approach may better characterize the relationships between complex span task performance and performance in disparate domains of cognition.

Objective: Energy-storage-and-return (ESAR) prosthetic feet have improved amputee mobility due to their efficient conversion of strain energy to mechanical work. However, this efficiency is typically achieved using light-weight, high-stiffness materials, which generate high-frequency vibrations that are potentially injurious if transmitted to biological tissues. To reduce the vibration which may cause cumulative tissue trauma, high-frequency vibration suppression by piezoelectric shunt damping patches on a commercial ESAR foot was evaluated. Methods: Two patches with either passive or active shunt circuits were placed on the foot to investigate vibration suppression during experimental tests where a plastic hammer was used to hit a clamped ESAR foot on the free end. Prosthesis bending moments at each modal frequency were obtained by finite element methods to identify piezoelectric patch placement. Results: Both shunt circuits decreased vibration amplitudes at specific modes better than the no shunt case, but also increased the amplitude at specific frequencies. The vibration suppression performance of the active shunt circuit deteriorated at the second mode, while the vibration suppression performance of the passive shunt circuit deteriorated at all frequencies above the third mode. Conclusions: These results indicate piezoelectric shunt patches may be a viable strategy for decreasing vibrations of an ESAR foot, with active methods more efficient at suppressing high-frequency vibrations. Additional research is necessary to fine-tune the method for maximal vibration suppression. Significance: Overall, this study indicates that high-frequency vibration suppression is possible using piezoelectric patches, possibly decreasing the cumulative tissue damage that may occur with repetitive exposure to vibration.

Since the comprehensive recommendations for the management of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) reported in 2009, several studies have provided important insights, particularly regarding the role of arsenic trioxide (ATO) in frontline therapy. Ten years later, a European LeukemiaNet expert panel has reviewed the recent advances in the management of APL in both frontline and relapse settings in order to develop updated evidence- and expert opinion–based recommendations on the management of this disease. Together with providing current indications on genetic diagnosis, modern risk-adapted frontline therapy, and salvage treatment, the review contains specific recommendations for the identification and management of the most important complications such as the bleeding disorder APL differentiation syndrome, QT prolongation, and other all-trans retinoic acid– and ATO-related toxicities, as well as recommendations for molecular assessment of the response to treatment. Finally, the approach to special situations is also discussed, including management of APL in children, elderly patients, and pregnant women. The most important challenges remaining in APL include early death, which still occurs before and during induction therapy, and optimizing treatment in patients with high-risk disease.

An all-acceptor napthalenediimide-bithiazole-based co-polymer, P(NDI2OD-BiTz), was synthesized and characterized for application in thin-film transistors. Density functional theory calculations point to an optimal perpendicular dihedral angle of 90° between acceptor units along isolated polymer chains; yet optimized transistors yield electron mobility of 0.11 cm2/(V s) with the use of a zwitterionic naphthalene diimide interlayer. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements of annealed films reveal that P(NDI2OD-BiTz) adopts a highly ordered edge-on orientation, exactly opposite to similar bithiophene analogs. This report highlights an NDI and thiazole all-acceptor polymer and demonstrates high electron mobility despite its nonplanar backbone conformation.

The relationship between charge transport and surface morphology is investigated by utilizing rubrene single crystals of varying thicknesses. In the case of pristine crystals, the surface conductivities decrease exponentially as the crystal thickness increases until ∼4 μm, beyond which the surface conductivity saturates. Investigation of the surface morphology using optical and atomic force microscopy reveals that thicker crystals have a higher number of molecular steps, increasing the overall surface roughness compared with thin crystals. The density of molecular steps as a surface trap is further quantified with the subthreshold slope of rubrene air-gap transistors. This thickness-dependent surface conductivity is rationalized by a shift from in-plane to out-of-plane transport governed by surface roughness. The surface transport is disrupted by roughening of the crystal surface and becomes limited by the slower vertical crystallographic axis on molecular step edges. Separately, we investigate surface-doping of rubrene crystals by using fluoroalkyltrichrolosilane and observe a different mechanism for charge transport which is independent of surface roughness. This work demonstrates that the correlation between crystal thickness, surface morphology, and charge transport must be taken into account when measuring organic single crystals. Considering the fact that these molecular steps are universally observed on organic/inorganic and single/polycrystals, we believe that our findings can be widely applied to improve charge transport understanding.

Polymer/fullerene bimolecular crystal formation has been investigated using a variety of conjugated polymers and fullerenes to understand the design rules that influence donor–acceptor interaction. Modifications of the polymer by varying the substitution side-chain position, density, and branching have demonstrated the importance of the “pocket” dimensions (free volume between side chains where the fullerene resides) for controlling intercalation. Yet the effect of pocket height has not been systematically explored because of the solubility limitations in polymers. In this report, we present an experimental investigation into the effect of the pocket height by synthesizing poly[2,5-bis(3-alkylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene] dimers with varied side chain lengths and track the morphological changes of the dimer/fullerene blends using grazing-incidence X-ray scattering, thermal measurements, and photoluminescence quenching. We identify two regimes: (1) oligomers with side chains greater than or equal t...

Background: Many patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) diagnosed after 60 years of age are not considered suitable for intensive remission induction chemotherapy, either due to co-morbidities or frailty associated with advanced age. Despite treatment with either a hypomethylating agent or low-dose cytarabine arabinoside (LDAC), survival is usually poor, with 1-year survival after LDAC of 24-37% in NCRI AML16 and historical arms of LI-1. Combination therapy with additional agents represents an attractive option, and has the potential to improve patient outcomes without substantially increasing toxicity. Lenalidomide (Revlimid TM) is an immunomodulatory drug, used to treat myeloma, and some cases of myelodysplastic syndrome, and has potent antineoplastic, anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and pro-erythropoietic properties. Early-phase trials of lenalidomide in AML have demonstrated clinical activity with acceptable toxicity. Aim: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of LDAC+lenalidomide versus LDAC alone in patients aged 60+ unsuitable for intensive therapy. The aim was to double 2-year survival from 11% to 22% (HR 0.69). Methods: LI-1 was an international multicentre, multi-arm, randomised phase II trial developed to study the efficacy and tolerability of novel non-intensive therapies in AML using a "pick a winner" design. LDAC was given at 20mg BD SC on days 1-10 of each course. Lenalidomide was administered orally once daily in a flat 10mg dose for 21 days, where day 1 is day 1 of LDAC with courses occurring at 5-week intervals for courses 1-4. Patients considered to be benefitting after 4 courses, i.e. in remission or stable disease, could continue to receive treatment until disease progression, either with LDAC+lenalidomide at 6-week intervals, or lenalidomide only at 4-week intervals if patient had experienced significant toxicity. Toxicities were recorded using CTCAEv3. Primary objectives included overall survival (OS), complete remission (CR + CRi) achievement, reasons for failure, duration of response (CR/CRi), relapse rates and deaths in first CR. Secondary objectives included toxicity, supportive care requirements, and Quality of Life assessments (measured using EORTC QLQ-30, EQ5D and HADS tools). Results: Between Jan-17 and Jun-19, 202 patients from Denmark (8%), New Zealand (16%) and the UK (76%) were randomised. Median age was 78 years (range 62-89). Overall, 58% were male; 76% de novo AML, 20% secondary AML, and 4% high risk MDS; 1% favourable, 66% intermediate, 19% adverse and 14% unknown cytogenetics; WHO performance status 0 for 15%, 1 for 58%, 2 for 22% and 3 for 5%. Median of 2 courses (range 0-24; mean 3.28) was delivered in LDAC arm and 1 course in LDAC+lenalidomide arm (range 0-25; mean 3.48). Overall response (CR/CRi) was achieved in 40/202 patients (20%), (LDAC+lenalidomide 25%, LDAC 14%, OR 0.45 (0.22, 0.93), P=0.031). 30-day mortality was not significantly increased (19% in both arms); and 2-year OS showed no significant difference (14% vs 11.5%, HR 0.94 (0.69, 1.29, P=0.719). Median OS was 3.5 vs 4.6 months; HR 0.96 (0.71, 1.30), P=0.80. 1-year OS for patients that didn't enter CR/CRi was 6.8% for LDAC+lenalidomide vs 16.9% for LDAC (P=0.028). Cause of death for the majority of patients was resistant/recurrent disease: 45(53%) vs 47(58%). Most adverse events (AEs) were grade 1/2 in both arms. During cycle 1, there were 78 vs 51 grade 3/4 AEs in the LDAC+lenalidomide and LDAC arms, respectively (P=0.02). This included 5 thrombotic events in the LDAC+lenalidomide arm (4 grade 3 and 1 grade 4) and none in the LDAC arm. In course 1, supportive care requirements were higher in terms of both days of antibiotics (7 vs 3; p=0.001) and hospitalisation days (11 vs 6.5; p=0.005) for the LDAC+lenalidomide arm. There was no difference in transfusion requirements. Conclusions: Despite improving the CR/CRi rate, the combination of lenalidomide+LDAC did not improve OS, relapse-free survival or time in remission in elderly patients with AML. The addition of lenalidomide to LDAC resulted in increased toxicity, including episodes of thrombosis, as well as increased supportive care requirements. Alternative strategies to improve survival for elderly patients with AML remain a significant clinical need. Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Blood Cancer UK for funding the trial and Celgene for providing drug and additional support for this IIS. Fig 1: OS All patients Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Copland: Astellas: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Jazz: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Cyclacel Ltd: Research Funding. Russell: Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. OffLabel Disclosure: Off label use of lenalidomide in combination with low dose cytarabine will be discussed in the setting of elderly unfit AML.

Background: Among patients with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) over the age of 60, a considerable number are not considered suitable for intensive remission-induction chemotherapy. Survival in these patients is poor, whether they are treated using hypomethylating agents or low-dose ara-C (LDAC). The possibility of combination therapy with additional agents represents an attractive option. Arginine metabolism plays a key role in AML pathogenesis (Mussai et al. Blood 2013); BCT-100 is a pegylated recombinant human arginase that leads to a rapid depletion in extracellular and intracellular arginine concentrations resulting in G0/G1 arrest, and subsequent death by necrosis. BCT-100 demonstrates significant activity as single-agent against AML cell lines, AML xenografts and primary AML blasts from newly diagnosed or relapsed patients (Mussai et al. Blood 2015). Importantly BCT-100 is synergistic in combination with cytarabine. Aims: To assess the efficacy of LDAC+BCT100 versus LDAC alone in patients aged 60+ unsuitable for intensive therapy, in a "pick a winner" design. This design allows several treatments to be assessed simultaneously in a randomised fashion, with the aim of doubling 2-year survival from 11% to 22% (HR 0.69), with interim assessments after 50 and 100 patients per arm are recruited. Methods: LDAC was given at 20mg BD SC on days 1-10 of each course. Patients randomised to the combination received LDAC as above with BCT-100 1600U/kg on Days 1, 8, 15 and 22 as a 1-hour intravenous infusion. Courses occurred at 4-6 week intervals. Toxicities were recorded using CTCAE version 3. Pharmacokinetic and biomarker samples were assessed in BCT-100 patients. Results here are based upon median follow-up of 3.8 months (range: 0.1 - 20.6 months) Results: Between September 2018 and December 2020, 83 patients were randomised. The trial was prematurely closed due to the COVID pandemic and did not reach the pre-planned first evaluation. Median age was 76.7 years (range 62-88). Overall, 65% were male; 70% de novo AML, 23% secondary AML, and 6% high risk MDS; 2% favourable, 59% intermediate, 23% adverse and 15% unknown/unreported cytogenetics. Median of 2 courses was delivered in either arm (mean 2 LDAC, 2 LDAC+BCT, range for both: 1-12). BCT-100 leads to a depletion of arginine from baseline in the majority of patients. Overall response (CR/CRi) was achieved in 12/81 patients (15%), (LDAC+BCT-100 15%, LDAC 15%, R 1.03 (0.30, 3.51),P=0.963). Thirty-day mortality was not significantly increased (18% vs 11%, HR 1.71 (0.50, 5.84), P=0.393; and 1-year survival showed no evidence of a difference (31% vs 30%, HR 1.28 (0.72, 2.25). Median overall survival time was 3.8 vs 6.4months; overall survival HR 1.11 (0.64, 1.90), P=0.715. The most common cause of death was resistant/recurrent disease: 12(46%) vs 16(59%). BCT-100 was not associated with any haematological toxicity; although rare grade 3/4 cardiac and hepatic events were reported, these were not significantly increased with BCT-100. Summary: The addition of BCT-100 to LDAC did not improve response rate or survival. BCT-100 was well tolerated with an acceptable toxicity profile. Further clinical evaluation of BCT-100 induced arginase depletion continues in a variety of malignancies. Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Blood Cancer UK for funding the trial and Bio-Cancer Treatment International for providing drug and additional support for this Investigator Initiated Study. Figure 1. OS All patients Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Knapper: Jazz: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Ended employment in the past 24 months, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. McMullin: Bristol Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: clinical trial support, Research Funding; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; AOP Orphan: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Copland: Incyte: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Cyclacel Ltd: Research Funding; Astellas: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Jazz: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Russell: Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.

Background: Therapeutic resistance and treatment tolerance vary greatly in patients with AML, likely due to the advanced age and genetic diversity in pharmacokinetics of those affected. Undoubtedly, tools to accurately predict outcomes of individual therapies for patients could inform decision-making and improve response rates. To this end, several scoring systems have been developed aimed at identifying patients at high risk of poor outcome after intensive chemotherapy. Similar tools for use after non-intensive therapies are currently not available. As such therapies are increasingly effective and more widely utilized we sought to develop tools to predict early death and survival for patients treated with non-intensive therapies. Patients and Methods: We developed prediction models for all-cause death by day 28, 42, 56, and 100 from enrollment using data from 796 patients enrolled on MRC/NCRI trial LI-1, which we then validated in a cohort of 540 patients treated on SWOG trials S0432, S0703, and S1612. Treatments included: Low dose Ara-C (LDAC) alone, sapacitabine alone and LDAC in combination with vosaroxin, tosedostat or ganetespib (MRC/NCRI); Azacytidine (AZA) alone, tipifarnib alone, and AZA in combination with mylotarg, midostaurin, and nivolumab (SWOG). The following covariates were available in the MRC/NCRI and SWOG cohorts to build multivariable logistic regression models (quantitative unless specified otherwise): age, performance status (PS; 0-1 vs. 2-4), secondary AML (vs. de novo AML or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome), white blood cell and platelet counts, and percentage of bone marrow blasts - all assessed at enrollment. The regression coefficients from the model fit in the MRC/NCRI cohort were used to derive a score and applied to each patient in the SWOG cohort. The models' prognostic accuracies were assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). For the MRC/NCRI cohort, additional covariates were available: cytogenetic risk (per Grimwade 2011), FLT3-ITD, and NPM1 mutation and patient-reported outcomes using the QLQ-C30 instrument. Logistic regression models with these covariates were fit and optimism-corrected AUC estimated to assess prognostic performance for early death. Results: Both patient cohorts were largely composed of older individuals (median age of 75 [range: 60-91] for MRC/NCRI and 77 [60-94] for SWOG, respectively. A substantial subset in each had a PS of 2-4 (MRC/NCRI: 20%; SWOG: 37%) and/or secondary AML (MRC/NCRI: 26%; SWOG: 41%). Overall, the ability to predict early death either by day 28, 42, 56, or 100 was limited in the MRC/NCRI cohort. Subscales of the QLQ-C30 had univariate AUC=0.67, the highest among all covariates evaluated. Multivariable models with just clinical covariates had optimism-corrected AUCs ranging from 0.63-0.65; adding cytogenetic risk and FLT3-ITD and NPM1 mutation status led optimism-corrected AUCs ranging from 0.64-0.66; addition of two QLQ-C30 subscales (fatigue and appetite loss) led to optimism-corrected AUCs ranging from 0.66-0.69. The SWOG cohort did not collect QLQ-C30 or mutational data on all patients and only the clinical multivariable models could be evaluated. The models had a similar performance in the SWOG cohort with AUCs ranging from 0.65-0.68. Conclusion: Our ability to predict early death in older patients treated with lower intensity AML therapies is limited with routinely available clinical variables. Inclusion of cytogenetic risk, FLT3-ITD, and NPM1 mutation status minimally improved the prognostic accuracy as did some of the QLQ-C30 subscales. Our data highlight the difficulties in predicting outcomes with non-intensive AML therapy with routinely available baseline clinical information. Improving the clinical utility of these models may require more complete characterization of patient comorbidities (including frailty index, cognitive function, renal and hepatic function, comorbidity scores) or additional PRO measures since some QLQ-C30 subscales had the strongest univariate signals. Support: NIH/NCI grants CA180888 and CA180819; Blood Cancer UK grant 13041 and Cardiff University. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Assouline: Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Research Funding; Gilead: Speakers Bureau; Johnson&Johnson: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec: Current Employment; Eli Lilly: Research Funding; Roche/Genentech: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria. Erba: AbbVie Inc; Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc; Astellas; Bristol Myers Squibb; Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb company; Daiichi Sankyo Inc; Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; GlycoMimetics Inc; Incyte Corporation; Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc; Kura Oncology; Nov: Other: Advisory Committee; AbbVie Inc: Other: Independent review committee; AbbVie Inc; Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc; Bristol Myers Squibb; Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb company; Incyte Corporation; Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; AbbVie Inc; Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc; ALX Oncology; Amgen Inc; Daiichi Sankyo Inc; FORMA Therapeutics; Forty Seven Inc; Gilead Sciences Inc; GlycoMimetics Inc; ImmunoGen Inc; Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc; MacroGenics Inc; Novartis; PTC Therapeutics: Research Funding. Walter: Jazz: Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Selvita: Research Funding; Amphivena: Consultancy, Other: ownership interests; Agios: Consultancy; Astellas: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Macrogenics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Immunogen: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Aptevo: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Othus: Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Celgene: Other: Data safety monitoring board; Merck: Consultancy; Biosight: Consultancy; Glycomimetics: Other: Data safety monitoring board.

The rapid spontaneous photo-oxidation of rubrene to form endo-peroxide, rubrene-Ox1, was monitored via1H NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy. The reaction is thermally reversible, which restores high mobility devices in both the crystalline thin film and single crystal. Prolonged stirring in chlorinated solvents yields a secondary, irreversible product, rubrene-Ox2, which has lost phenol, as confirmed by single crystal analysis. An acid-catalyzed rearrangement of the endo-peroxide to form rubrene-Ox2 was identified here with Density Functional Theory (DFT). Implications of the nature of these processes for the preparation of organic transistors are described.

The clinical benefit of adding FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3)-directed small molecule therapy to standard first-line treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has not yet been established. As part of the UK AML15 and AML17 trials, patients with previously untreated AML and confirmed FLT3-activating mutations, mostly younger than 60 years, were randomly assigned either to receive oral lestaurtinib (CEP701) or not after each of 4 cycles of induction and consolidation chemotherapy. Lestaurtinib was commenced 2 days after completing chemotherapy and administered in cycles of up to 28 days. The trials ran consecutively. Primary endpoints were overall survival in AML15 and relapse-free survival in AML17; outcome data were meta-analyzed. Five hundred patients were randomly assigned between lestaurtinib and control: 74% had FLT3-internal tandem duplication mutations, 23% FLT3-tyrosine kinase domain point mutations, and 2% both types. No significant differences were seen in either 5-year overall survival (lestaurtinib 46% vs control 45%; hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% CI 0.70-1.15; P = .3) or 5-year relapse-free survival (40% vs 36%; hazard ratio, 0.88; 95% CI 0.69-1.12; P = .3). Exploratory subgroup analysis suggested survival benefit with lestaurtinib in patients receiving concomitant azole antifungal prophylaxis and gemtuzumab ozogamicin with the first course of chemotherapy. Correlative studies included analysis of in vivo FLT3 inhibition by plasma inhibitory activity assay and indicated improved overall survival and significantly reduced rates of relapse in lestaurtinib-treated patients who achieved sustained greater than 85% FLT3 inhibition. In conclusion, combining lestaurtinib with intensive chemotherapy proved feasible in younger patients with newly diagnosed FLT3-mutated AML, but yielded no overall clinical benefit. The improved clinical outcomes seen in patients achieving sustained FLT3 inhibition encourage continued evaluation of FLT3-directed therapy alongside front-line AML treatment. The UK AML15 and AML17 trials are registered at www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN17161961 and www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN55675535 respectively.

We report substituent effects on conformational preferences and hole mobilities of 2,5-bis-(thiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophenes (BTTT) monomer and dimer, and hexyl derivatives. We employ single-crystal X-ray diffraction, quantum mechanical calculations, and thin-film transistors to explore the difference between monomer, dimer, and effect of hexyl substitution. The hexyl-substituted molecules show marked differences in solid-state packing compared to the unsubstituted analogs. Most notably, the alkylated monomer crystal structure exhibits terminal thiophenes in the syn conformation. In contrast, the unsubstituted monomer adopts the more common anti conformation. The hexyl-substituted dimer, however, features a mixture of syn and anti thiophenes. Gas phase conformations of oligomers rationalize the intrinsic conformational preferences. We use a multimode simulation to compute hole mobilities and find excellent agreement with experiment. Theoretical results support our hypothesis that alkyl side chains cause these small molecules to adopt orientations that enhance hole mobilities by an order of magnitude upon hexyl substitution of the monomer.

The Budden Canyon Formation is a Cretaceous unit spanning the Valanginian—Turonian interval in northern California. This marine unit includes plant-fossiliferous near-shore sequences, with richest plant fossil occurrences in the Hauterivian—Aptian. The Lower Chickabally Member (Barremian—early Aptian, ca. 125 Ma) hosts a rich flora preserved anatomically in carbonate concretions, near the town of Ono. The material is dominated by conifers: wood, foliage, cones and dispersed seeds. We characterize the anatomy of a coniferous trunk. The wood exhibits axial and radial resin canals with thick-walled epithelial cells, distinct growth rings, and conspicuous early to late wood transition. Axial tracheids bear radial uniseriate and opposite biseriate pitting. Rays are uniseriate with biseriate portions, with scarce ray tracheids and taxodioid cross-field pitting. Traumatic resin canals form extensive tangential bands. The axial and radial resin canals indicate pinaceous affinities for the Ono wood, but s...

We demonstrate conductive templating interlayers of graphene ink, integrating the electronic and chemical properties of graphene in a solution-based process relevant for scalable manufacturing. Thin films of graphene ink are coated onto ITO, following thermal annealing, to form a percolating network used as interlayer. We employ a benchmark n-type semiconductor, C60, to study the interface of the active layer/interlayer. On bare ITO, C60 molecules form films of homogeneously distributed grains; with a graphene interlayer, a preferential orientation of C60 molecules is observed in the individual graphene plates. This leads to crystal growth favoring enhanced charge transport. We fabricate devices to characterize the electron injection and the effect of graphene on the device performance. We observe a significant increase in the current density with the interlayer. Current densities as high as ∼1 mA/cm2 and ∼70 mA/cm2 are realized for C60 deposited with the substrate at 25 °C and 150 °C, respectively.

Author(s): Burnett, K; Puschner, B; Ramsey, JJ; Lin, Y; Wei, A; Fascetti, AJ | Abstract: Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH Resveratrol has generated interest in cats due to reported health benefits. Cats have low activity of β-glucuronidase, and we hypothesized they could not form two common resveratrol metabolites, resveratrol-3-O-glucuronide and resveratrol-4′-O-glucuronide. Resveratrol, 3 mg/cat/day, was given orally to intact male (n = 5) and female cats (n = 5) for 4 weeks. A control group (8 intact males) was used for comparison. Plasma and urine were collected weekly and analysed using high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Resveratrol and resveratrol-3-O-sulphate, but no glucuronide metabolites, were detected in plasma and urine. Median (range 10–90th percentile) plasma resveratrol for control and treatment groups was 0.46 ng/ml (0.02–1.74 ng/ml) and 0.96 ng/ml (0.65–3.21 ng/ml). Median (range) plasma resveratrol-3-O-sulphate for control and treatment groups was 6.32 ng/ml (2.55–10.29 ng/ml) and 11.45 ng/ml (1.47–53.29 ng/ml). Plasma resveratrol differed from control in week 4, while plasma resveratrol-3-O-sulphate was different in all weeks (p l 0.05). Median (range) urine resveratrol for control and treatment groups was 0.28 ng/ml (0.05–1.59 ng/ml) and 19.98 ng/ml (8.44–87.54 ng/ml). Median (range) urine resveratrol-3-O-sulphate for control and treatment groups was 26.71 ng/ml (10.50–75.58 ng/ml) and 108.69 ng/ml (11.83–231.05 ng/ml). All time points for urine resveratrol and resveratrol-3-O-sulphate were significantly different from control (p l 0.05), except for weeks 1, 3 and 4 for resveratrol. The results support our hypothesis that cats are unlikely able to glucuronidate resveratrol, most likely due to a reduction in the activity of β-glucuronidase.

Summary The spatial distribution of plants, which is often generated by patterns of seed recruitment, is an important determinant of population dynamics, especially for orchids with seeds that must be exposed to appropriate mycorrhizal fungi. We compared the distribution and abundance of target mycorrhizal fungi detected in the soil using DNA-based molecular techniques and germination in seed packets of Goodyera pubescens, Liparis liliifolia and Tipularia discolor. We further examined Tulasnella spp. associated with G. pubescens to determine whether areas with abundant host fungi resulted from multiple genets of the same species or from a single widespread fungal genet. We found that target fungi were more likely to be detected using soil DNA assays than by seed germination. Based on soil DNA, fungi were more widespread than suggested by seed germination, which most often reflected the presence of abundant mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. Fungi were more likely to be abundant close to established orchids. Established plants of G. pubescens that were 50 cm apart associated with multiple fungal genets. Synthesis. This study demonstrates the importance of using multiple methods to detect the distribution and abundance of target fungi and suggests that fungal ‘hot spots’ may be keys to the dynamics of orchid populations.

Interfacial engineering is essential for the development of highly efficient and stable solar cells through minimizing energetic losses at interfaces. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been shown as a handle to tune the work function (WF) of indium tin oxide (ITO), improving photovoltaic cell performance and device stability. In this study, we utilize a new class of boronic acid-based fluorine-terminated SAMs to modify ITO surfaces in planar perovskite solar cells. The SAM treatment demonstrates an increase of the WF of ITO, an enhancement of the short-circuit current, and a passivation of trap states at the ITO/[poly(3,4ethylenedioxylenethiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid)] interface. Device stability improves upon SAM modification, with efficiency decreasing only 20% after one month. Our work highlights a simple treatment route to achieve hysteresis-free, reproducible, stable, and highly efficient (16%) planar perovskite solar cells.

The biocidal properties of gecko skin and cicada wings have inspired the synthesis of synthetic surfaces decorated with high aspect ratio nanostructures that inactivate microorganisms. Here, we investigate the bactericidal activity of oriented zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) nanopillars grown using a simple pencil-drawn graphite templating technique. By varying the evaporation time, nanopillars initiated from graphite that was scribbled using a pencil onto silicon substrates were optimized to yield a high inactivation of the Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli. We next adapted the procedure so that analogous nanopillars could be grown from pencil-drawn graphite scribbled onto stainless steel, flexible polyimide foil, and glass substrates. Time-dependent bacterial cytotoxicity studies indicate that the oriented nanopillars grown on all four substrates inactivated up to 97% of the E. coli quickly, in 15 min or less. These results suggest that organic nanostructures, which can be easily grown on a broad range of substrates hold potential as a new class of biocidal surfaces that kill microbes quickly and potentially, without spreading antibiotic-resistance genes.

We report on the graphene-assisted growth, crystallization, and phase transition of zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) vertically oriented single crystal nanopillars. Postcrystallization thermal annealing of the nanostructures results in a molecular packing change while maintaining the vertical orientation of the single crystals orthogonal to the underlying substrate. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and high-resolution TEM studies characterized this phase transition from a metastable crystal phase to the more stable β-phase commonly observed in bulk crystals. These vertical arrays of crystalline nanopillars exhibit a high-surface-to-volume ratio, which is advantageous for applications such as gas sensors. We fabricated chemiresistor sensors with ZnPc nanopillars grown on graphene and demonstrated its selectivity for ammonia vapors, and improvement in sensitivity in the β-phase crystal packing pillars due to their molecular orientation increasing the exposure of the Zn2+ ion to the ammonia analyte. This work h...