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Stephanie C Yoon,1 Heather C Bruner2 1Scripps Health and University of California San Diego, Joint Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, San Diego, 2Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, Doris A. Howell Palliative Care Service, La Jolla, CA, USA Abstract: Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) imposes a significant burden for patients taking pain medications, often resulting in decreased quality of life. Treatment of OIC with traditional medications for functional constipation can be incompletely effective, leading to nonadherence with opioid treatment and undertreated pain. An emerging class of medications that counteract the adverse effects of opioids in the gastrointestinal tract while preserving central nervous system-based pain relief may represent a paradigm shift in the prevention and treatment of OIC. One of these medications, naloxegol, is a once-daily, oral opioid antagonist that is effective, well-tolerated, and approved for treatment of OIC in patients with noncancer pain. More studies are needed to demonstrate this same utility in patients with cancer-related pain. Keywords: opioid-induced constipation, chronic pain, bowel care, peripherally acting mu-opioid-receptor antagonist, OIBD

Background: The underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of radiation pneumonitis (RP) are very complex. Several biological factors need to be considered together with the well known dosimetric parameters for understanding the molecular events in developing RP in lung cancer patients. The aim of this study was to correlate the variations of the cytokine levels in lung cancer patients during radiation therapy (RT) with the occurrence of symptomatic RP.Methods: Thirty-four lung cancer patients who received three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy were evaluated prospectively. Serial blood samples before, at the beginning, in the middle of, at the end of RT and 2 and 4 weeks after RT were analyzed for IL-1alpha, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 by performing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The predictive values of dosimetric factors for RP were evaluated, too.Results: Overall, 8 patients (23.5%) had grade >or= 2 RP. By serial measurement of cytokines level, only the TGF-beta1 level showed a correlation to the symptomatic RP. None of the other cytokines, IL-1alpha, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-alpha level was correlated with the risk of RP. The mean pretreatment TGF-beta1 level did not differ between RP and non-RP groups. However, during the period of radiation treatment, the TGF-beta1 level began to increase at the end of RT in the RP group and became significantly higher 4 weeks after RT (p = 0.007). Using an ANOVA model for repeated-measures, we found significant associations between the changes of TGF-beta1 during the time course of the RT and the risk of developing RP (p < 0.001). Most of the dosimetric factors showed a significant association with RP.Conclusion: Our results show that the changes of TGF-beta1 could be correlated with RP and the incorporation of the biological parameters into the dosimetric data could be useful for predicting symptomatic RP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As vehicle body structures become stronger and part designs more complex for lightweight, controlling frictional properties in automotive press forming has gained critical importance. Friction, a key factor in formability, is influenced by variables such as contact pressure, sliding velocity, sheet strength, and coatings. This study investigates the friction characteristics of steels with tensile strengths of 340 MPa and 980 MPa, under galvanized (GI) and galvannealed (GA) zinc coatings. Experimental results reveal that asperity flattening, a significant factor in determining friction, increases with contact pressure normalized by tensile strength, particularly for GI-coated steels. However, the relationship between friction and surface flattening deviates from conventional expectations, with the friction coefficient initially rising with increased flattening area up to ~20% before decreasing as flattening progresses. These findings suggest that traditional empirical formulas may not fully capture friction behavior under specific conditions. By understanding this inflection point, where friction reduces under high contact pressure, the study provides valuable insights for optimizing formability and improving sheet metal forming processes, especially in scenarios where precise friction control is critical for producing high-quality automotive parts.

Although relatively rare, infections related to spinal pain interventions pose significant risks with an increase in the frequency of these procedures. This review investigates the incidence, risk factors, and management of infections following spinal pain interventions, such as epidural steroid injections, nucleoplasty, and facet joint injections. Most of the existing literature comprises case reports and retrospective studies with limited prospective research, owing to the nature of these infections. Our analysis revealed that while the overall infection rate is low, potential complications, such as epidural abscesses and spondylodiscitis, can be severe and life-threatening. The risk factors include advanced age, diabetes, immunosuppression, and multiple spinal procedures. Early diagnosis and timely intervention are critical to prevent long-term morbidity. These findings emphasize the importance of developing standardized diagnostic algorithms and treatment guidelines to support clinicians in managing these infections effectively. Future research should focus on large-scale studies to understand the impact of these infections better and refine clinical management strategies.

This study evaluated the potential of using combined relaxation (CRelax) spectra within time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) measurements to predict meat quality. Broiler fillets affected by different severities of the wooden breast (WB) conditions were used as case-study samples because of the broader ranges of meat-quality variations. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were established to predict water-holding capacity (WHC) and meat texture, demonstrating superior CRelax capabilities for predicting meat quality. Additionally, a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model was developed to predict WB severity based on CRelax spectra. The models exhibited high accuracy in distinguishing normal fillets from those affected by the WB condition and demonstrated competitive performance in classifying WB severity. This research contributes innovative insights into advanced spectroscopic techniques for comprehensive meat-quality evaluation, with implications for enhancing precision in meat applications.

Objective: To assess the impact of interruptions on radiologists' efficiency, accuracy, and job satisfaction in interpreting screening mammograms., Methods: This institutional review board-approved retrospective reader study recruited nine breast radiologists from a single academic institution [name withheld] to interpret 150 screening mammograms performed between December 1, 2008, and December 31, 2015 under two different reading conditions, as follows: (1) uninterrupted batch reading and (2) interrupted reading. The 150 cases consisted of 125 normal mammograms and 25 mammograms with subtle breast cancers. Cases were divided into two groups of 75 cases each (cohort 1 and cohort 2), with a comparable distribution of cancer cases. Four rounds of 75 cases each were conducted with a 6-week washout period between rounds 2 and 3. After completing each interpretation session, readers completed a seven-question survey, assessing perceptions of mental and physical effort, level of frustration, and performance satisfaction. Clinical performance metrics (reading time, recall rate, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive predictive value 1) were calculated., Results: Recall rates were significantly (P = .04) higher during interrupted reading sessions (35.4%) than they were during uninterrupted batch reading sessions (31.4%). Accuracy was significantly (P = .049) worse in the interrupted reading sessions (69.5%), compared with uninterrupted sessions (73.6%). Differences in overall image interpretation times were not statistically significant (P = .065). Compared with uninterrupted batch reading sessions, readers during interrupted sessions reported feeling busier (P < .001), encountered higher levels of cognitive demand (P = .005), experienced elevated levels of physical fatigue (P = .004), and expressed lower levels of satisfaction with their performance (P = .041)., Conclusion: Interruptions during interpretation of screening mammography have deleterious effects on physician performance and their sense of well-being., (Copyright © 2023 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aspergillus flavus and its toxic metabolites-aflatoxins infect and contaminate maize kernels, posing a threat to grain safety and human health. Due to the complexity of microbial growth and metabolic processes, dynamic mechanisms among fungal growth, nutrient depletion of maize kernels and aflatoxin production is still unclear. In this study, visible/near infrared (Vis/NIR) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) combined with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to elucidate the critical organismal interaction at kernel (macro-) and microscopic levels. As kernel damage is the main entrance for fungal invasion, maize kernels with gradually aggravated damages from intact to pierced to halved kernels with A. flavus were cultured for 0-120 h. The spectral fingerprints of the A. flavus-maize kernel complex over time were analyzed with principal components analysis (PCA) of hyperspectral images, where the pseudo-color score maps and the loading plots of the first three PCs were used to investigate the dynamic process of fungal infection and to capture the subtle changes in the complex with different hardness of the maize matrix. The dynamic growth process of A. flavus and the interactions of fungus-maize complexes were explained on a microscopic level using SEM. Specifically, fungus morphology, e.g., hyphae, conidia, and conidiophore (stipe) was accurately captured on the microscopic level, and the interaction process between A. flavus and nutrient loss from the maize kernel tissues (i.e., embryo, and endosperm) was described. Furthermore, the growth stage discrimination models based on PLSDA with the results of CCR C  = 100 %, CCR V  = 97 %, CCR IV  = 93 %, and the prediction models of AFB 1 based on PLSR with satisfactory performance (R 2 C  = 0.96, R 2 V  = 0.95, R 2 IV  = 0.93 and RPD = 3.58) were both achieved. In conclusion, the results from both macro-level (Vis/NIR-HSI) and micro-level (SEM) assessments revealed the dynamic organismal interactions in A. flavus-maize kernel complex, and the detailed data could be used for modeling, and quantitative prediction of aflatoxin, which would establish a theoretical foundation for the early detection of fungal or toxin contaminated grains to ensure food security., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The maturity of fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes significantly impacts indicators of their quality, such as taste, nutritional value, and shelf life, making maturity determination vital in agricultural production and the food processing industry. Tomatoes mature from the inside out, leading to an uneven ripening process inside and outside, and these situations make it very challenging to judge their maturity with the help of a single modality. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-assisted multimodal data fusion technique combining color imaging, spectroscopy, and haptic sensing for the maturity assessment of tomatoes. The method uses feature fusion to integrate feature information from images, near-infrared spectra, and haptic modalities into a unified feature set and then classifies the maturity of tomatoes through deep learning. Each modality independently extracts features, capturing the tomatoes' exterior color from color images, internal and surface spectral features linked to chemical compositions in the visible and near-infrared spectra (350 nm to 1100 nm), and physical firmness using haptic sensing. By combining preprocessed and extracted features from multiple modalities, data fusion creates a comprehensive representation of information from all three modalities using an eigenvector in an eigenspace suitable for tomato maturity assessment. Then, a fully connected neural network is constructed to process these fused data. This neural network model achieves 99.4% accuracy in tomato maturity classification, surpassing single-modal methods (color imaging: 94.2%; spectroscopy: 87.8%; haptics: 87.2%). For internal and external maturity unevenness, the classification accuracy reaches 94.4%, demonstrating effective results. A comparative analysis of performance between multimodal fusion and single-modal methods validates the stability and applicability of the multimodal fusion technique. These findings demonstrate the key benefits of multimodal fusion in terms of improving the accuracy of tomato ripening classification and provide a strong theoretical and practical basis for applying multimodal fusion technology to classify the quality and maturity of other fruits and vegetables. Utilizing deep learning (a fully connected neural network) for processing multimodal data provides a new and efficient non-destructive approach for the massive classification of agricultural and food products.

Rationale and Objectives: To assess patient preferences for breast radiologists' attire and appearance., Materials and Methods: A multi-institutional anonymous, voluntary 19-question survey was administered to patients undergoing screening and diagnostic mammography examinations over a 5-week period. Using a 5-point Likert scale, respondents were asked about their preferences for gender-neutral attire (white coat), male-presenting attire (scrubs, dress shirt with tie, or dress shirt without tie), and female-presenting attire (scrubs, dress, blouse with pants, and blouse with skirt). Patient responses were compared to demographic data using bivariable analysis and multivariable regression., Results: Response rate was 84.7% (957/1130). Mean respondent age was 57.2 years±11.9. Most respondents agreed/strongly agreed that the breast radiologist's appearance mattered (52.5%, 502/956) followed by being indifferent (28.1%, 269/956). Respondents with greater education levels felt less strongly (p=0.001) about the radiologist's appearance: 63.3% (70/110) less than college cared about appearance compared to 53.5% (266/497) college/vocational and 47.4% (165/348) graduate. Most respondents felt indifferent about a breast radiologist wearing a white coat (68.9%, 657/954) or about male-presenting breast radiologists wearing a tie (77.1%, 734/952) without significant demographic differences. Almost all respondents either prefer/strongly prefer (60.1%, 572/951) or were indifferent (39.6%, 377/951) to all breast radiologists wearing scrubs when performing procedures. While respondents approved of all attire choices overall, most respondents preferred scrubs for both male- and female-presenting breast radiologists (64.0%, 612/957 and 64.9%, 621/957, respectively)., Conclusion: A variety of breast radiologists' attire can be worn while maintaining provider professionalism and without compromising patient expectations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Derek L. Nguyen reports a relationship with Hologic Inc that includes: consulting or advisory. Lars J. Grimm reports a relationship with Hologic Inc that includes: consulting or advisory. Lars J. Grimm reports a relationship with Medscape LLC that includes: consulting or advisory., (Copyright © 2024 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Recently, the development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for near-infrared (NIR) organic photodetectors (OPDs) has attracted great interest due to their excellent NIR light absorption properties. Herein, we developed NFAs by substituting an electron-donating moiety (branched alkoxy thiophene (BAT)) asymmetrically (YOR1) and symmetrically (YOR2) for the Y6 framework. YOR1 exhibited nanoscale phase separation in a film blended with PTB7-Th. Moreover, substituting the BAT unit effectively extended the absorption wavelengths of YOR1 over 1000 nm by efficient intramolecular charge transfer and extension of the conjugation length. Consequently, YOR1-OPD exhibited significantly reduced dark current and improved responsivity by simultaneously satisfying optimal nanomorphology and significant suppression of charge recombination, resulting in 1.98 × 10 13 and 3.38 × 10 12 Jones specific detectivity at 950 and 1000 nm, respectively. Moreover, we successfully demonstrated the application of YOR1-OPD in highly sensitive photoplethysmography sensors using NIR light. This study suggests a strategic approach for boosting the overall performance of NIR OPDs targeting a 1000 nm light signal using an all-in-one (optimal morphology, suppressed dark current, and extended NIR absorption wavelength) NFA.

A novel semisupervised hyperspectral imaging technique was developed to detect foreign materials (FMs) on raw poultry meat. Combining hyperspectral imaging and deep learning has shown promise in identifying food safety and quality attributes. However, the challenge lies in acquiring a large amount of accurately annotated/labeled data for model training. This paper proposes a novel semisupervised hyperspectral deep learning model based on a generative adversarial network, utilizing an improved 1D U-Net as its discriminator, to detect FMs on raw chicken breast fillets. The model was trained by using approximately 879,000 spectral responses from hyperspectral images of clean chicken breast fillets in the near-infrared wavelength range of 1000-1700 nm. Testing involved 30 different types of FMs commonly found in processing plants, prepared in two nominal sizes: 2 × 2 mm 2 and 5 × 5 mm 2 . The FM-detection technique achieved impressive results at both the spectral pixel level and the foreign material object level. At the spectral pixel level, the model achieved a precision of 100%, a recall of over 93%, an F1 score of 96.8%, and a balanced accuracy of 96.9%. When combining the rich 1D spectral data with 2D spatial information, the FM-detection accuracy at the object level reached 96.5%. In summary, the impressive results obtained through this study demonstrate its effectiveness at accurately identifying and localizing FMs. Furthermore, the technique's potential for generalization and application to other agriculture and food-related domains highlights its broader significance.

Significant effort for demonstrating a gallium nitride (GaN)-based ferroelectric metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS)-high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) for reconfigurable operation via simple pulse operation has been hindered by the lack of suitable materials, gate structures, and intrinsic depolarization effects. In this study, we have demonstrated artificial synapses using a GaN-based MOS-HEMT integrated with an α-In 2 Se 3 ferroelectric semiconductor. The van der Waals heterostructure of GaN/α-In 2 Se 3 provides a potential to achieve high-frequency operation driven by a ferroelectrically coupled two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). Moreover, the semiconducting α-In 2 Se 3 features a steep subthreshold slope with a high ON/OFF ratio (∼10 10 ). The self-aligned α-In 2 Se 3 layer with the gate electrode suppresses the in-plane polarization while promoting the out-of-plane (OOP) polarization of α-In 2 Se 3 , resulting in a steep subthreshold slope (10 mV/dec) and creating a large hysteresis (2 V). Furthermore, based on the short-term plasticity (STP) characteristics of the fabricated ferroelectric HEMT, we demonstrated reservoir computing (RC) for image classification. We believe that the ferroelectric GaN/α-In 2 Se 3 HEMT can provide a viable pathway toward ultrafast neuromorphic computing.

Objective: To examine time from screening to diagnostic workup, biopsy, and surgery for non-Hispanic White (NHW) and Black women following implementation of a same-day biopsy program., Methods: All NHW and Black women with BI-RADS category 0 screening mammogram at Duke University Hospital were identified between August 1, 2020, and August 1, 2021. Patient characteristics were recorded. Time between screening mammogram, diagnostic workup, breast biopsy, surgical consultation, and surgery were recorded. Comparisons were made between NHW and Black women using a multivariable regression model. Diagnostic imaging to biopsy time interval was compared to historical averages before same-day biopsy implementation., Results: There were 2156 women: 69.9% NHW (1508/2156) and 30.1% Black (648/2156). Mean ± standard deviation time from screening to diagnostic imaging overall was 13.5 ± 32.5 days but longer for Black (18.0 ± 48.3 days) than for NHW women (11.5 ± 22.2 days) (P < 0.001). The mean time from diagnostic mammogram to biopsy was 5.9 ± 18.9 days, longer for Black (9.0 ± 27.9 days) than for NHW women (4.4 ± 11.8 days) (P = 0.017). The same-day biopsy program shortened the time from diagnostic imaging to biopsy overall (12.5 ± 12.4 days vs 5.9 ± 18.9 days; P < 0.001), with a significant reduction for NHW women (12.4 ± 11.7 days vs 4.4 ± 11.8 days) (P < 0.001) but not Black women (11.5 ± 9.9 days vs 9.0 ± 27.9 days) (P = 0.527)., Conclusion: Disparities exist along the breast imaging pathway. A same-day biopsy program benefited NHW women more than Black women., (© Society of Breast Imaging 2023. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of alcohol sclerotherapy in postoperative breast and axillary seromas., Methods: This was an IRB-approved retrospective review of consecutive patients from 2017 to 2021. The procedure involves aspiration of seroma fluid, injection of ethanol for 15 to 30 minutes, and then aspiration of the injected ethanol. Following review of the medical record, patient and procedure data were recorded. Success was defined as no recurrence of seroma. Statistical analysis was performed using a chi-square or t-test, as appropriate., Results: Twenty seromas were treated in 19 patients (mean age, 63 years; range, 49-79) following mastectomy (9/20, 45%), lumpectomy (25%, 5/20), axillary nodal dissection (5/20, 25%), or chest wall surgery (1/20, 5%). The mean seroma volume was 146 ± 165 mL. There was a mean of 1.4 prior aspiration attempts (range, 0-3). Mean injected ethanol volume was 39 mL (range, 8-60 mL) for a mean of 26 ± 5 minutes. Seromas recurred in 85% (17/20) of cases, and repeat aspiration was performed in 35% (6/17). The mean recurrence time was 34 ± 29 days. The recurrent seromas were 31% smaller (mean, 80 ± 48 mL). Only a smaller pre-ablation seroma was associated with successful ablation (P < 0.01), as the mean pre-ablation volume was 36 ± 24 mL for successful ablations and 119 ± 56 mL for unsuccessful ablations. There were no post-procedural complications., Conclusion: Single-treatment ethanol sclerotherapy is typically unsuccessful in ablating breast and axillary seromas. Only a smaller pre-ablation seroma size was associated with successful ablation., (© Society of Breast Imaging 2023. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The CUP array of germanium (CAGe) is an array of fourteen high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. The detection efficiency of full-energy-peak emitted from the various samples assayed on the CAGe was calculated using the Monte Carlo simulation toolkit GEANT4. If the dead layer on the surface of the crystal is treated in the simulation as a continuous part of the active crystal, then the detection efficiency will be overestimated. Thus, the detection efficiency of the CAGe was adjusted using multi-nuclide source data and Monte Carlo simulations. The gamma spectra of the known activity source were obtained for each HPGe detector of the CAGe. The detection efficiency measured by the multi-source data was smaller than that of simulation data if the simulation treated the whole volume of germanium crystals as active for gamma detection. By optimizing the dead layers' thicknesses in the simulation, the detection efficiency calculated by the simulation could be matched to that of multi-source data., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Mucosal vaccines have the advantages of ease of administration and the induction of strong mucosal immunity and a systemic immune response. Recently, the eye mucosa has been shown to be an effective and safe alternative vaccination route against influenza, Toxoplasma gondii infection, and hemolytic uremic syndrome in mice. In this study, we showed that the commercially available human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, Cervarix, induced significant immune reactions in terms of anti-HPV antigen (Ag)-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibody production following eyedrop (ED) vaccination in mice. The HPV ED vaccines (EDV) provoked no signs of inflammation within 24 h, as indicated by the inflammatory cytokine mRNA levels and infiltration of mononuclear cells in inoculation sites. Moreover, the morphology of the cornea and retina and intraocular pressure of mice did not change after the HPV EDV. The functions of photoreceptor cells, including rod and cone cells, were normal following the HPV EDV inoculation in mice. These results suggest that Cervarix EDV could be a potent, safe, and effective mucosal vaccine against HPV-associated cancers., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Realistic image synthesis based on deep learning is an invaluable technique for developing high-performance computer aided diagnosis systems while protecting patient privacy. However, training a generative adversarial network (GAN) for image synthesis remains challenging because of the large amounts of data required for training various kinds of image features. This study aims to synthesize retinal images indistinguishable from real images and evaluate the efficacy of the synthesized images having a specific disease for augmenting class imbalanced datasets. The synthesized images were validated via image Turing tests, qualitative analysis by retinal specialists, and quantitative analyses on amounts and signal-to-noise ratios of vessels. The efficacy of synthesized images was verified by deep learning-based classification performance. Turing test shows that accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 54.0 ± 12.3%, 71.1 ± 18.8%, and 36.9 ± 25.5%, respectively. Here, sensitivity represents correctness to find real images among real datasets. Vessel amounts and average SNR comparisons show 0.43% and 1.5% difference between real and synthesized images. The classification performance after augmenting synthesized images outperforms every ratio of imbalanced real datasets. Our study shows the realistic retina images were successfully generated with insignificant differences between the real and synthesized images and shows great potential for practical applications., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The dynamics mechanisms regulating the growth and AFB 1 production of Aspergillus flavus during its interactions with maize kernels remain unclear. In this study, shortwave infrared hyperspectral imaging (SWIR-HSI) and synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy were combined to investigate chemical and spatial-temporal changes in incremental damaged maize kernels induced by A. flavus infection at macroscopic and microscopic levels. SWIR-HSI was employed to extract spectral information of A. flavus growth and quantitatively detect AFB 1 levels. Satisfactory full-spectrum models and simplified multispectral models were obtained respectively by partial least squares regression (PLSR) for three types of samples. Furthermore, SR-FTIR microspectroscopy coupled with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) was utilized to reveal the possible sequence of dynamic changes of nutrient loss and trace AFB 1 in maize kernels. It exhibited new insights on how to quantify the spatio-temporal patterns of fungal infection and AFB 1 accumulation on maize and provided theoretical basis for online sorting., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To study the dynamic changes of nutrient consumption and aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) accumulation in peanut kernels with fungal colonization, macro hyperspectral imaging technology combined with microscopic imaging was investigated. First, regression models to predict AFB 1 contents from hyperspectral data ranging from 1000 to 2500 nm were developed and the results were compared before and after data normalization with Box-Cox transformation. The results indicated that the second-order derivative with a support vector regression (SVR) model using competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) achieved the best performance, with R C 2 = 0.95 and R V 2 = 0.93. Second, time-lapse microscopic images and spectroscopic data were captured and analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and synchrotron radiation-Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy. The time-lapse data revealed the temporal patterns of nutrient loss and aflatoxin accumulation in peanut kernels. The combination of macro and micro imaging technologies proved to be an effective way to detect the interaction mechanism of toxigenic fungus infecting peanuts and to predict the accumulation of AFB 1 quantitatively.

Organic optoelectronic devices that can be fabricated at low cost have attracted considerable attention because they can absorb light over a wide frequency range and have high conversion efficiency, as well as being lightweight and flexible. Moreover, their performance can be significantly affected by the choice of the charge-selective interlayer material. Nonstoichiometric nickel oxide (NiO x ) is an excellent material for the hole-transporting layer (HTL) of organic optoelectronic devices because of the good alignment of its valence band position with the highest occupied molecular orbital level of many p-type polymers. Herein, we report a simple low-temperature process for the synthesis of NiO x nanoparticles (NPs) that can be well dispersed in solution for long-term storage and easily used to form thin NiO x NP layers. NiO x NP-based organic photodiode (OPD) devices demonstrated high specific detectivity ( D *) values of 10 12 -10 13 jones under various light intensities and negative biases. The D * value of the NiO x NP-based OPD device was 4 times higher than that of a conventional poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-based device, an enhancement that originated mainly from the 16 times decreased leakage current. The NiO x NP-based OPD device demonstrated better reliability over a wide range of light intensities and operational biases in comparison to a device with a conventional sol-gel-processed NiO x film. More importantly, the NiO x NP-based OPD showed long-term device stability superior to those of the PEDOT:PSS and sol-gel-processed NiO x -based devices. We highlight that our low-temperature solution-processable NiO x NP-based HTL could become a crucial component in the fabrication of stable high-performance OPDs.

In recent years, the wooden breast condition has emerged as a major meat quality defect in the poultry industry worldwide. Broiler pectoralis major muscle with the wooden breast condition is characterized by hardness upon human palpation, which can lead to decrease in meat value or even reduced consumer acceptance. The current method of wooden breast detection involves a visual and/or tactile evaluation. In this paper, we present a sideview imaging system for online detection of chicken breast fillets affected by the wooden breast condition. The system can measure a physical deformation (bending) of an individual chicken-breast fillet through high-speed imaging at about 200 frames per second and custom image processing techniques. The developed image processing algorithm shows the over 95% classification performance in detecting wooden breast fillets.

Solution-processed near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing organic solar cells (OSCs) have been explored worldwide because of their potential as donor:acceptor bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blends. In addition, NIR-absorbing OSCs have attracted attention as high specialty equipment in next-generation optoelectronic devices, such as semitransparent solar cells and NIR photodetectors, owing to their feasibility for real-time commercial application in industry. With the introduction of NIR-absorbing non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs), the value of OSCs has been increasing while organic donor materials capable of absorbing light in the NIR region have not been actively studied yet compared to NIR-absorbing acceptor materials. Therefore, we present an overall understanding of NIR donors., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

We developed p-n junction organic photodetectors (OPDs) composed of a polymer donor and a nonfullerene acceptor (NFA) to increase both the responsivity ( R ) and detectivity ( D* ) while maintaining a narrow wavelength selectivity. The selection of the polymer donor and NFA with similar green (G) absorption is important for achieving G-wavelength selectivity in these OPDs, which differentiates them from current fullerene-based OPDs and NFA-based panchromatic absorption OPDs. In addition, mixing the polymer donor and asymmetric NFA was efficient toward increasing the miscibility and decreasing the interfacial energy difference of the blended films, resulting in the formation of a uniform and well-mixed nanomorphology in the photoconductive layer. Two-dimensional (2D) grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the lamellar ordering of the polymer donor was enhanced in the blend film prepared with an asymmetric NFA, whereas the aggregation of a symmetric NFA in the blend films did not increase the lamellar ordering of the polymer donor. Consequently, we achieved an R value of 0.31 A/W and D* value of 2.0 × 10 13 Jones with a full width at half-maximum value of 230 nm at -2 V and fast response time of 27 μs without any external bias in the asymmetric NFA-based OPDs. The enhancement in the lamellar ordering and miscibility of the blended films are crucial toward increasing the static and dynamic properties of OPDs.

BACKGROUND. The incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has steadily increased, as have concerns regarding overtreatment. Active surveillance is a novel treatment strategy that avoids surgical excision, but identifying patients with occult invasive disease who should be excluded from active surveillance is challenging. Radiologists are not typically expected to predict the upstaging of DCIS to invasive disease, though they might be trained to perform this task. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a mixed-methods two-stage observer study can improve radiologists' ability to predict upstaging of DCIS to invasive disease on mammography. METHODS. All cases of DCIS calcifications that underwent stereotactic biopsy between 2010 and 2015 were identified. Two cohorts were randomly generated, each containing 150 cases (120 pure DCIS cases and 30 DCIS cases upstaged to invasive disease at surgery). Nine breast radiologists reviewed the mammograms in the first cohort in a blinded fashion and scored the probability of upstaging to invasive disease. The radiologists then reviewed the cases and results collectively in a focus group to develop consensus criteria that could improve their ability to predict upstaging. The radiologists reviewed the mammograms from the second cohort in a blinded fashion and again scored the probability of upstaging. Statistical analysis compared the performances between rounds 1 and 2. RESULTS. The mean AUC for reader performance in predicting upstaging in round 1 was 0.623 (range, 0.514-0.684). In the focus group, radiologists agreed that upstaging was better predicted when an associated mass, asymmetry, or architectural distortion was present; when densely packed calcifications extended over a larger area; and when the most suspicious features were focused on rather than the most common features. Additionally, radiologists agreed that BI-RADS descriptors do not adequately characterize risk of invasion, and that microinvasive disease and smaller areas of DCIS will have poor prediction estimates. Reader performance significantly improved in round 2 (mean AUC, 0.765; range, 0.617-0.852; p = .045). CONCLUSION. A mixed-methods two-stage observer study identified factors that helped radiologists significantly improve their ability to predict upstaging of DCIS to invasive disease. CLINICAL IMPACT. Breast radiologists can be trained to better predict upstaging of DCIS to invasive disease, which may facilitate discussions with patients and referring providers.

1. In this study, hyperspectral imaging was evaluated for its usefulness to predict quality traits and grading of intact chicken breast fillets. 2. Lightness of colour (L*) and pH of the fillets were measured as quality traits, and samples were then selected and graded to three different quality categories, i.e., dark, firm and dry (DFD), normal (NORM), and pale, soft and exudative (PSE) based on these two quality traits. Based on the prediction performance of full wavelength partial least square regression (PLSR) models, the spectral range of visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) was more suitable for the evaluation of quality traits and grading than the range of near-infrared (NIR). Key wavelengths of each quality trait and grade value were selected by the regression coefficient (RC) method. 3. The new key wavelength PLSR models showed good predictive performances (Rp = 0.85 and RMSEp = 2.18 for L*, Rp = 0.84, and RMSEp = 0.13 for pH, and Rp = 0.80 and RMSEp = 0.44 for quality grading). The classification accuracy for grades was 85.71% (calibration set) and 81.82% (prediction set), respectively. Finally, distribution maps showed that quality traits and grades of samples were able to be visualised. 4. These results suggested that hyperspectral imaging has the potential for quality prediction of fresh chicken meat.

Rationale and Objectives: The purpose of this study is to quantify breast radiologists' performance at predicting occult invasive disease when ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) presents as calcifications on mammography and to identify imaging and histopathological features that are associated with radiologists' performance., Materials and Methods: Mammographically detected calcifications that were initially diagnosed as DCIS on core biopsy and underwent definitive surgical excision between 2010 and 2015 were identified. Thirty cases of suspicious calcifications upstaged to invasive ductal carcinoma and 120 cases of DCIS confirmed at the time of definitive surgery were randomly selected. Nuclear grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, patient age, calcification long axis length, and breast density were collected. Ten breast radiologists who were blinded to all clinical and pathology data independently reviewed all cases and estimated the likelihood that the DCIS would be upstaged to invasive disease at surgical excision. Subgroup analysis was performed based on nuclear grade, long axis length, breast density and after exclusion of microinvasive disease., Results: Reader performance to predict upstaging ranged from an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.541-0.684 with a mean AUC of 0.620 (95%CI: 0.489-0.751). Performances improved for lesions smaller than 2 cm (AUC: 0.676 vs 0.500; p = 0.002). The exclusion of microinvasive cases also improved performance (AUC: 0.651 vs 0.620; p = 0.005). There was no difference in performance based on breast density (p = 0.850) or nuclear grade (p = 0.270) CONCLUSION: Radiologists were able to predict invasive disease better than chance, particularly for smaller DCIS lesions (<2 cm) and after the exclusion of microinvasive disease., (Copyright © 2020 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Creating an orthogonal printable hole-transporting layer (HTL) without damaging the underlying layer is still a major challenge in fabricating large-area printed inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs). In this study, we prepared orthogonal-processable fluorine-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (FrGO) series with various two-dimensional sheet sizes such as large-sized FrGO (1.1 μm), medium-sized FrGO (0.7 μm), and small-sized FrGO (0.3 μm) and systematically investigated the size effect of FrGOs on the hole transport properties of PSCs. The FrGOs exhibit highly stable dispersion without change over 90 days in 2-propanol solvent, indicating very high dispersion stability. Decreasing the sheet size of FrGOs enhanced hole-transporting properties, resulting in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 9.27 and 9.02% for PTB7-Th:EH-IDTBR- and PTB7-Th:PC 71 BM-based PSCs, respectively. Compared to devices with solution-processed poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), a 14% enhancement of PCEs was achieved. Interestingly, the PCEs of devices with the smallest FrGO sheet are higher than the PCE of 8.77% of a device with vacuum-deposited MoO 3 . The enhancement in the performance of PSCs is attributed to the enhanced charge collection efficiency, decreased leakage current, internal resistance, and minimized charge recombination. Finally, small-sized FrGO HTLs were successfully coated on the photoactive layer using the spray coating method, and they also exhibited PCEs of 9.22 and 13.26% for PTB7-Th:EH-IDTBR- and PM6:Y6-based inverted PSCs, respectively.

The use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has rapidly increased in recent years. However, the effect of OLEDs on human health has not been studied yet. We investigated morphologic and functional changes after OLEDs exposure of human ocular cells, including corneal, conjunctival, lens, and retinal pigment epithelial cells, and mouse eyes. In corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells, the levels of reactive oxygen species production and interleukin-8 expression after white light-emitting diodes (LED) exposure were significantly greater than those after OLED exposure. Although no gross morphologic changes of the eyelid or cornea were found in LED- or OLED-exposed mice, oxidative stress on ocular surface was significantly increased, and the outer nuclear layer (ONL) was significantly shorter in both light-treated groups than the control group. Moreover, ONL thickness was significantly lower in the LED group than the OLED group. The electroretinography response was significantly lower in light exposure group, and there was significant difference between LED- and OLED-treated mice. Although OLED exhibits certain ocular toxicity, it can be less toxic to eyes than LED. The higher blue-wavelength energy of LED light might be the reason for its higher toxicity relative to OLED.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) has been intensively used as a diagnosis tool for epilepsy. The traditional diagnostic procedure relies on a recording of EEG from several days up to a few weeks, and the recordings are visually inspected by trained medical professionals. This procedure is time consuming with a high misdiagnosis rate. In recent years, computer-aided techniques have been proposed to automate the epilepsy diagnosis by using machine learning methods to analyze EEG data. Considering the time-varying nature of EEG, the goal of this work is to characterize dynamic changes of EEG patterns for the detection and classification of epilepsy. Four different dynamic Bayesian modeling methods were evaluated using multi-subject epileptic EEG data. Experimental results show that an accuracy of 98.0% can be achieved by one of the four methods. The same method also provides an overall accuracy of 87.7% for the classification of seven different seizure types.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) commonly occur in the course of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in patients with chronic schizophrenia and evaluate lifetime correlates of the comorbidity. Subjects were clinically stable patients with chronic schizophrenia (n = 320). Patients having comorbid OCD and those without OCD were compared in terms of symptoms dimensions and cognitive function. OCD was found in 20.6 % of subjects. Earlier age at onset, male gender, higher level of education, comorbid panic disorder, and specific phobia were associated with comorbid OCD. In terms of lifetime symptoms, depression (p = 0.001) and anxiety (p = 0.014) showed significant association with the comorbidity, which corroborates with our previous study findings regarding OCD in bipolar disorder. In addition, decreased emotional response (p = 0.016), less formal thought disorder (p = 0.007), and less prodromal impairment (p = 0.005) were independently associated with the comorbidity. The OCD group showed better performance in working memory domain (p = 0.027) while other cognitive domains did not show any significant difference between the two groups. Association of OCSs with depressive symptoms and other comorbid anxiety disorders seems to be a common finding across schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This study also suggests that comorbidity of OCD in schizophrenia is associated with less impairment of thought process and cognitive function throughout the disease course., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest All authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report the synthesis of composite interlayers using alcohol-soluble polyfluorene (ASP)-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and their application as electron-transport layers for efficient organic solar cells. The ASP enables the individual dispersion of SWNTs in solution. The ASP-wrapped SWNT solutions are stable for 54 days without any aggregation or precipitation, indicating their very high dispersion stability. Using the ASP-wrapped SWNTs as a cathode interlayer on zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), a power conversion efficiency of 9.45% is obtained in PTB7-th:PC 71 BM-based organic solar cells, which is mainly attributed to the improvement in the short circuit current. Performance enhancements of 18 and 17% are achieved compared to those of pure ZnO NPs and ASP on ZnO NPs, respectively. In addition, the composite interlayer is applied to non-fullerene-based photovoltaics with PM6:Y6, resulting in a power conversion efficiency of up to 14.37%. The type of SWNT (e.g., in terms of diameter range and length) is not critical to the improvement in the charge-transport properties. A low density of SWNTs in the film (∼1 SWNTs/μm 2 for ASP-wrapped SWNTs) has a significant influence on the charge transport in solar cells. The improvement in the performance of the solar cell is attributed to the increased internal quantum efficiency, balanced mobility between electrons and holes, and minimized charge recombination.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the detailed motives, concerns, and psychological defensiveness of living liver donor candidates in a Korean population. MATERIAL AND METHODS We analyzed data of 102 donor candidates obtained from routine psychosocial evaluation for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using descriptive methods. Donor candidates completed 2 questionnaires regarding their motivations and concerns, as well as a validity scale, the K scale from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. RESULTS Donor candidates were more likely to cite family-related issues (77.5% to 94.1%) including well-being of the whole family and family affection as the reasons for their liver donation rather than personal motives (38.2% to 57.8%). Donors were also more likely to concern about the recipient's survival and recovery (52.9% to 58.8%) rather than their own difficulties such as surgical complications and occupational disadvantages (19.6% to 38.2%). Twenty-six donors (25.5%) took a psychologically defensive attitude (T-score of K scale ≥65) during the pre-donation evaluation. Psychologically defensive donors expressed a significantly lower level of concern about liver donation compared to non-defensive donors (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS We need to pay more attention to the family-related issues and psychological defensiveness of living liver donor candidates when evaluating psychosocial status before LDLT.

Achieving well-defined multilayer structure is a key to improve device performance of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), especially in solution-processed OLEDs. Use of cross-linkable hole-transporting materials (HTMs) is therefore gaining much attention to achieve such multilayer structures. One of representative solution-processable HTM is TFB, poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(4,4'-(N-(4-sec-butylphenyl)diphenylamine)], but it does not have any cross-linkable units in its chemical structures. In this work, we performed basic physical characterization of a new cross-linkable HTM, HL-X026, and we also investigated its OLED characteristics. Actual solvent resistance by varying the thermal curing temperatures was measured. The thermally cross-linkable HL-X026 showed better device performances than simple TFB with higher luminance and efficiencies.

Background: Preliminary work has demonstrated that background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) assessed by radiologists is predictive of future breast cancer in women undergoing high-risk screening MRI. Algorithmically assessed measures of BPE offer a more precise and reproducible means of measuring BPE than human readers and thus might improve the predictive performance of future cancer development., Purpose: To determine if algorithmically extracted imaging features of BPE on screening breast MRI in high-risk women are associated with subsequent development of cancer., Study Type: Case-control study., Population: In all, 133 women at high risk for developing breast cancer; 46 of these patients developed breast cancer subsequently over a follow-up period of 2 years., Field Strength/sequence: 5 T or 3.0 T T 1 -weighted precontrast fat-saturated and nonfat-saturated sequences and postcontrast nonfat-saturated sequences., Assessment: Automatic features of BPE were extracted with a computer algorithm. Subjective BPE scores from five breast radiologists (blinded to clinical outcomes) were also available., Statistical Tests: Leave-one-out crossvalidation for a multivariate logistic regression model developed using the automatic features and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed to calculate the area under the curve (AUC). Comparison of automatic features and subjective features was performed using a generalized regression model and the P-value was obtained. Odds ratios for automatic and subjective features were compared., Results: The multivariate model discriminated patients who developed cancer from the patients who did not, with an AUC of 0.70 (95% confidence interval: 0.60-0.79, P < 0.001). The imaging features remained independently predictive of subsequent development of cancer (P < 0.003) when compared with the subjective BPE assessment of the readers., Data Conclusion: Automatically extracted BPE measurements may potentially be used to further stratify risk in patients undergoing high-risk screening MRI., Level of Evidence: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 5 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:456-464., (© 2019 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

White striping (WS), an emerging muscle myopathy in poultry industry, is gaining increasing attention globally. In this study, visible and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (HSI, 400-1000 nm) was investigated for developing an optical sensing technique to differentiate WS broiler breast fillets (pectoralis major) from normal fillets. The minimum noise fraction (MNF), followed by an inverse MNF (IMNF), was conducted to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of hyperspectral images during the pre-processing process. Three regions of interest (ROIs) were selected at cranial, middle and caudal locations within each fillet image. Spectral principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that PC 2 and PC 3 were effective for the differentiation and key wavelengths (450, 492, 541, 581, 629, 869 and 980 nm) were selected from the corresponding PC loadings. Spatial texture features on corresponding score images were obtained using gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and grayscale histogram statistics (GHS), respectively. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were evaluated with various inputs including spectral (full and key wavelengths), textural and fused features. GLCM features improved performance of multispectral imaging with the highest correct classification rate (CCR) of 91.7%, AUC value (0.917), and Kappa coefficient (0.833) for prediction set. Considering the complexity and heterogeneity of meat samples at different locations, the optimal sampling location was also analyzed and results provided the evidence that the cranial location worked most effectively for the differentiation between normal and WS samples. Overall, results confirmed the great potential of HSI in range of 400-1000 nm in differentiation between normal and WS chicken breast meat., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Soil bacteria accumulate polyesters (typically poly([R]-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), in which one end of the chain terminates with a carboxyl group) in the form of hydrated, amorphous nanogranules in cells. However, it is not clear what drives the structure of these biomaterials inside bacterial cells. Here, we determined that calcium guides intracellular formation of PHB nanogranules. Our systematic study using the surface zeta potential measurement and the carboxyl-specific SYTO-62 dye binding assay showed that the terminal carboxyl is not exposed to the granule surface but is buried inside native "unit-granules" comprising the mature granule. Extracellular Ca 2+ was found to mediate the formation of these PHB unit-granules, with uptaken Ca 2+ stored inside the granules. Comparative [Ca 2+ ]-dependent fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the native granules in Cupriavidus necator H16 act as a Ca 2+ storage system, presumably for the regulation of its cytosolic Ca 2+ level, but those from recombinant Escherichia coli do not. This study reveals intimate links between Ca 2+ and native granule formation, and establishes a novel mechanism that intracellular PHB granules function as Ca 2+ storage in order to relieve soil bacteria from Ca 2+ stress.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to quantify the relationship between author gender and publication topic, as well as the impact of gender-related research., Methods: We reviewed all original research publications in Radiology, American Journal of Roentgenology, and Academic Radiology from 2011 through 2015. For each article, we recorded the gender of all authors and the last author H-index, years in practice, and academic rank. The total citations and citation rate (citations per year) were calculated for each article. Articles were categorized as gender-neutral, women's health, or men's health., Results: There were 1,934 publications involving 11,657 authors. Women represented 30% of first, 25% of last, and 28% of all authors. There were 1,596 (83%) gender-neutral, 276 (14%) women's health, and 61 (3%) men's health articles. Women's health articles were associated with a female first (odds ratio [OR] = 5.0, P < .001) and last author (OR = 6.4, P < .001), as well as more female authors (male = 1.4, female = 3.6, P < .001). Men's health articles were associated with a male first (OR = 2.6, P = .004) and last author (OR = 2.2, P = .03). There were significantly more citations for men's (43.5 ± 54.9, P < .001) and women's health (27.6 ± 37.5, P < .008) articles than gender-neutral articles (21.9 ± 28.9). Similarly, the article citation rate was higher for men's (10.6 ± 11.3, P < .001) and women's health (6.8 ± 8.5, P = .004) articles than gender-neutral publications (5.3 ± 7.0)., Conclusion: Radiology researchers publish more often on topics related to their own gender. Furthermore, men's and women's health research generates more citations than gender-neutral research., (Copyright © 2018 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Spasticity is an important barrier that can hinder the restoration of function in stroke patients. Although several studies have attempted to elucidate the relationship between brain lesions and spasticity, the effects of specific brain lesions on the development of spasticity remain unclear. Thus, the present study investigated the effects of stroke lesions on spasticity in stroke patients. The present retrospective longitudinal observational study assessed 45 stroke patients using the modified Ashworth Scale to measure muscle spasticity. Each patient was assessed four times: initially (within 2 weeks of stroke) and at 1, 3, and 6 months after the onset of stroke. Brain lesions were analyzed using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) with magnetic resonance imaging images. Spasticity developed to a certain degree within 3 months in most stroke patients with spasticity. The VLSM method with non-parametric mapping revealed that lesions in the superior corona radiata, posterior limb of the internal capsule, posterior corona radiata, thalamus, putamen, premotor cortex, and insula were associated with the development of upper-limb spasticity. Additionally, lesions of the superior corona radiata, posterior limb of the internal capsule, caudate nucleus, posterior corona radiata, thalamus, putamen, and external capsule were associated with the development of lower-limb spasticity. The present study identified several brain lesions that contributed to post-stroke spasticity. Specifically, the involvement of white matter tracts and the striatum influenced the development of spasticity in the upper and lower limbs of stroke patients. These results may be useful for planning rehabilitation strategies and for understanding the pathophysiology of spasticity in stroke patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Rationale and Objectives: To determine if background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on screening breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in high-risk women correlates with future cancer., Materials and Methods: All screening breast MRIs (n = 1039) in high-risk women at our institution from August 1, 2004, to July 30, 2013, were identified. Sixty-one patients who subsequently developed breast cancer were matched 1:2 by age and high-risk indication with patients who did not develop breast cancer (n = 122). Five fellowship-trained breast radiologists independently recorded the BPE. The median reader BPE for each case was calculated and compared between the cancer and control cohorts., Results: Cancer cohort patients were high-risk because of a history of radiation therapy (10%, 6 of 61), high-risk lesion (18%, 11 of 61), or breast cancer (30%, 18 of 61); BRCA mutation (18%, 11 of 61); or family history (25%, 15 of 61). Subsequent malignancies were invasive ductal carcinoma (64%, 39 of 61), ductal carcinoma in situ (30%, 18 of 61) and invasive lobular carcinoma (7%, 4of 61). BPE was significantly higher in the cancer cohort than in the control cohort (P = 0.01). Women with mild, moderate, or marked BPE were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with minimal BPE (odds ratio = 2.5, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-4.8, P = .005). There was fair interreader agreement (κ = 0.39)., Conclusions: High-risk women with greater than minimal BPE at screening MRI have increased risk of future breast cancer., (Copyright © 2018 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We report for the first time that alkali carbonates (Li 2 CO 3 , K 2 CO 3 , and Rb 2 CO 3 ) based on a low-temperature solution process can be used as interfacial modifiers for SnO 2 as robust electron-transport layers (ETL) for inverted organic solar cells (iOSCs). The room-temperature photoluminescence, the electron-only devices, and the impedance studies altogether suggested the interfacial properties of the alkali carbonates-modified SnO 2 ETLs, which were much better than those based on the SnO 2 only, provided efficient charge transport, and reduced the charge recombination rates for iOSCs. The iOSCs using the polymer donor poly[4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2- b ;4,5- b ']dithiophene-2,6-diyl- alt -(4-(2-ethylhexyl)-3-fluorothieno[3,4- b ]thiophene-)-2-carboxylate-2-6-diyl] and the fullerene acceptor phenyl-C 70 -butyric acid methyl ester as the active layer showed the average power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) based on ten devices of 6.70, 6.85, and 7.35% with Li 2 CO 3 -, K 2 CO 3 -, and Rb 2 CO 3 -modified SnO 2 as ETLs, respectively; these are more than 22, 24, and 33% higher than those based on the SnO 2 only (5.49%). Moreover, these iOSC devices exhibited long-term stabilities, with over 90% PCEs remaining after the devices were stored in ambient air for 6 weeks without encapsulations. We believe that alkali carbonates-modified SnO 2 approaches are an effective way to achieve stable and highly efficient iOSCs and might also be suitable for other optoelectronic devices where an ETL is needed, such as perovskite solar cells or organic light-emitting diodes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

While the outstanding charge transport and sunlight-harvesting properties of porphyrin molecules are highly attractive as active materials for organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, the development of n-type porphyrin-based electron acceptors has been challenging. In this work, we developed a high-performance porphyrin-based electron acceptor for OPVs by substitution of four naphthalene diimide (NDI) units at the perimeter of a Zn-porphyrin (P Zn ) core using ethyne linkage. Effective π-conjugation between four NDI wings and the P Zn core significantly broadened Q-band absorption to the near infrared region, thereby achieving the narrow band gap of 1.33 eV. Employing a windmill-structured tetra-NDI substituted P Zn -based acceptor ( P Zn -TNDI) and mid-band gap polymer donor (PTB7-Th), the bulk heterojunction OPV devices achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.15% with an energy loss of 0.61 eV. The PCE of our P Zn -TNDI-based device was the highest among the reported OPVs using porphyrin-based acceptors. Notably, the amorphous characteristic of P Zn -TNDI enabled optimization of the device performance without using any additive, which should make industrial fabrication simpler and cheaper.

Organic photodetectors (OPDs) are attracting attention for use in flexible and portable electronic applications such as image sensors, remote sensing, optical communications, and medical sensors because of their strong photon responsivity in thin films over a broad range of wavelengths. In particular, the efficient photon-to-current conversion of OPDs under visible light allows their use in indirect X-ray detectors using scintillators to convert X-rays to visible light. The polymer poly(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2- b:4,5- b']dithiophene- co-5-(2-hexyldecyl)-1,3-bis(6-octylthieno[3,2- b]thiophen-2-yl)-4 H-thieno[3,4- c]pyrrole-4,6(5 H)-dione) (PBDTT-8ttTPD) shows strong absorption bands in the region of 500-650 nm, as well as high hole mobility, which provides excellent photoresponsivity and photon-to-current conversion efficiency. A p-n junction photodetector was fabricated by blending PBDTT-8ttTPD and [6,6]-phenyl C 71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) and varying the thickness of the active layer (260-1100 nm). The PBDTT-8ttTPD:PC 71 BM-based OPDs show promising photodetecting properties having a low dark current of 3.72 × 10 -9 A cm -2 and high responsivity of 0.39 A W -1 because of the well-controlled morphology, high molar absorption coefficient, and excellent carrier mobility of the PBDTT-8ttTPD:PC 71 BM layer. Consequently, the specific detectivity of the PBDTT-8ttTPD-based OPD devices was 1.13 × 10 13 Jones at -2 V on irradiation with a light-emitting diode (530 nm wavelength) with a power density of 55.6 μW cm -2 .