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Early diagnosis of DMD is complex and it is imperative that clear clinical pathways and standards of care are agreed. The Lancet guidelines for the care of DMD are regarded as tenets of best practice, however there is minimal guidance for the most effective model of care following an early pre-symptomatic diagnosis. Given recent progression in clinical trials and the varying approaches to clinical practice internationally, TREAT-NMD have identified a need to convene stakeholders in an up-to-date discussion on presymptomatic diagnosis across the European, American and Asia-Pacific regions. This culminated in the Early Diagnosis for DMD project. Between July and October 2023, 42 stakeholders participated in 5 online and 1 hybrid TREAT-NMD workshops to gain perspective into the needs and priorities for early diagnosis of DMD. The fundamental question asked was: 'how does an early diagnosis of DMD do more good than harm? This culminated in a first draft of a flexible framework, in keeping with the disease stage-based sections of the Lancet guidelines, for the best model of care outlining important interventions over 3 timepoints: time of diagnosis, the infancy stage and in the very early ambulatory stage of DMD. The first draft of the framework was published in a workshop report compiled by Dr Michelle Lorentzos. The workshop report evidences important international discussion related to the design of a model of care for early DMD. Key themes discussed over the 5 meetings are listed in the report: newborn screening, power of language, partnerships, psychological support and counselling, medical management and development. More focused recommendations for the framework now require a formal consensus process and a Delphi study with multidisciplinary input from a smaller group of selected stakeholders. Such formalization processes are undergoing planning and implementation and will be worked over the course of 2024/2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various photoactive molecules contain motifs built on aza-aromatic heterocycles, although a detailed understanding of the excited state photophysics and photochemistry in such systems is not fully developed. To help address this issue, the non-adiabatic dynamics operating in azanaphthalenes under hexane solvation was studied following 267 nm excitation using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Specifically, the species quinoline, isoquinoline, quinazoline, quinoxaline, 1,6-naphthyridine, and 1,8-naphthyridine were investigated, providing a systematic variation in the relative positioning of nitrogen heteroatom centres within a bicyclic aromatic structure. Our results indicate considerable differences in excited state lifetimes, and in the propensity for intersystem crossing vs internal conversion across the molecular series. The overall pattern of behaviour can be explained in terms of potential energy barriers and spin-orbit coupling effects, as demonstrated by extensive quantum chemistry calculations undertaken at the SCS-ADC(2) level of theory. The fact that quantum chemistry calculations can achieve such detailed and nuanced agreement with experimental data across a full set of six molecules exhibiting subtle variations in their composition provides an excellent example of the current state-of-the-art and is indicative of future opportunities for rational design of photoactive molecules., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Excess energy redistribution dynamics operating in nitrobenzene under hexane and isopropanol solvation were investigated using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) with a 267 nm pump and a 340-750 nm white light continuum probe. The use of a nonpolar hexane solvent provides a proxy to the gas-phase environment, and the findings are directly compared with a recent time-resolved photoelectron imaging (TRPEI) study on nitrobenzene using the same excitation wavelength [L. Saalbach et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 2021 , 125, 7174-7184]. Of note is the observation of a 1/ e lifetime of 3.5-6.7 ps in the TAS data that was absent in the TRPEI measurements. This is interpreted as a dynamical signature of the T 2 state in nitrobenzene─analogous to observations in the related nitronaphthalene system, and additionally supported by previous quantum chemistry calculations. The discrepancy between the TAS and TRPEI measurements is discussed, with the overall findings providing an example of how different spectroscopic techniques can exhibit varying sensitivity to specific steps along the overall reaction coordinate connecting reactants to photoproducts.