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Abstract Multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials are preferred for their high efficiency and high colour purity in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, the design strategies of MR-TADF emitters in the red region are very limited. Herein, we propose a concept for a paradigm shift in orange-red/deep-red MR emitters by linking the outer phenyl groups in a classical MR framework through intramolecular sulfur (S) locks. Endowed with the planar architectural feature of the MR mother core, the proof-of-concept S-embedded emitters S-BN and 2S-BN also exhibit considerable flatness, which proves critical in avoiding the direct establishment of potent charge transfer states and inhibiting the non-radiative decay process. The emission maxima of S-BN and 2S-BN are 594 nm and 671 nm, respectively, and both have a high photoluminescence quantum yield of ~100%, a rapid radiative decay rate of around 107 s−1, and a remarkably high reverse intersystem crossing rates of about 105 s−1. Notably, maximum external quantum efficiencies of 39.9% (S-BN, orange-red) and 29.3% (2S-BN, deep-red) were also achieved in typical planar OLED structures with ameliorated efficiency roll-offs.

Abstract Three novel asymmetric Ir(III) complexes have been rationally designed to optimize their emitting dipole orientations (EDO) and enhance light outcoupling in blue phosphorescent organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), thereby boosting their external quantum efficiency (EQE). Bulky electron‐donating groups (EDGs), namely: carbazole (Cz), di‐tert‐butyl carbazole (tBuCz), and phenoxazine (Pxz) are incorporated into the tridentate dicarbene pincer chelate to induce high degree of packing anisotropy, simultaneously enhancing their photophysical properties. Angle‐dependent photoluminescence (ADPL) measurements indicate increased horizontal transition dipole ratios of 0.89 and 0.90 for the Ir(III) complexes Cz‐dfppy‐CN and tBuCz‐dfppy‐CN, respectively. Analysis of the single crystal structure and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results revealed an inherent correlation between molecular aspect ratio and EDO. Utilizing the newly obtained emitters, the blue OLED devices demonstrated exceptional performance, achieving a maximum EQE of 30.7% at a Commission International de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinate of (0.140, 0.148). Optical transfer matrix‐based simulations confirmed a maximum outcoupling efficiency of 35% due to improved EDO. Finally, the tandem OLED and hyper‐OLED devices exhibited a maximum EQE of 44.2% and 31.6%, respectively, together with good device stability. This rational molecular design provides straightforward guidelines to reach highly efficient and stable saturated blue emission.

Abstract Background Myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play a pivotal role in immunosuppression and tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While various treatments like surgical resection, ablation, and radiotherapy have been studied for their effects on circulating MDSC frequencies in HCC patients, the findings remain inconclusive. Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE) stands as the standard care for unresectable HCC, with Microparticle TACE (mTACE) gaining prominence for its capacity to induce significant tumor necrosis. However, the immunological ramifications of such pathological outcomes are scarcely reported. Methods and Results This study aims to elucidate the alterations in MDSC subtypes, specifically monocytic MDSCs (mMDSCs) and early‐stage MDSCs (eMDSCs), post‐mTACE and to investigate their clinical correlations in HCC patients. A cohort comprising 75 HCC patients, 16 liver cirrhosis patients, and 20 healthy controls (HC) was studied. Peripheral blood samples were collected and analyzed for MDSC subtypes. The study also explored the associations between MDSC frequencies and various clinical parameters in HCC patients. The frequency of mMDSCs was significantly elevated in the HCC group compared to liver cirrhosis and HC. Importantly, mMDSC levels were strongly correlated with aggressive clinical features of HCC, including tumor size, vascular invasion, and distant metastasis. Post‐mTACE, a marked reduction in mMDSC frequencies was observed, while eMDSC levels remained stable. Conclusions Our findings underscore the critical role of mMDSCs in HCC pathogenesis and their potential as a therapeutic target. The study also highlights the efficacy of mTACE in modulating the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, thereby opening new avenues for combinatorial immunotherapeutic strategies in HCC management.

Abstract The near‐infrared (NIR)‐II bioimaging technique is highly important for both diagnosing and treating life‐threatening diseases due to its exceptional imaging capabilities. However, the lack of suitable NIR‐II fluorescent probes has hindered their widespread clinical application. To address this issue, the binding of albumin to cyanine dyes has emerged as a practical and efficient method for developing high‐performance NIR‐II probes. Cyanine dyes can bind with exogenous and endogenous albumin through either covalent or noncovalent interactions, serving various purposes. The resulting cyanine@albumin (or albumin@cyanine) fluorophores offer significant advantages, including strong brightness, excellent photostability, good biosafety, and a long‐term, high‐resolution imaging window. Cyanine dye in situ binding with endogenous albumin can also enhance the targeting imaging capability. This review provides a summary of the interaction mechanism, performance enhancement, tumor‐targeting feature, and in vivo imaging applications of the cyanine@albumin fluorophores. These advancements not only highlight the unique characteristics of cyanine@albumin fluorophores in preclinical research but also emphasize their potential for clinical diagnosis.

Background: To compare the efficacy and safety of iodized oil versus polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles in portal vein embolization (PVE) before partial hepatectomy. Methods: From October 2016 to December 2021, 86 patients who planned to undergo hepatectomy after PVE were enrolled, including 61 patients post-PVE with PVA particles + coils and 25 patients post-PVE with iodized oil + coils. All patients underwent CT examination before and 2–3 weeks after PVE to evaluate the future liver remnant (FLR). The intercohort comparison included the degree of liver volume growth, changes in laboratory data, and adverse events. Results: There was no significant difference in the resection rate between the iodized oil group and the PVA particle group (68 % vs. 70 %, p = 0.822). In terms of the degree of hypertrophy (9.52 % ± 13.47 vs. 4.03 % ± 10.55, p = 0.047) and kinetic growth rate (4.07 % ± 5.4 vs. 1.55 % ± 4.63, p = 0.032), the iodized oil group was superior to the PVA group. The PVE operation time in the PVA particle group was shorter than that in the iodized oil group (121. 72 min ± 34.45 vs. 156. 2 min ± 71.58, p = 0.029). There was no significant difference in the degree of hypertrophy between the high bilirubin group and the control group (5.32 % ± 9.21 vs. 6.1 % ± 14.79, p = 0.764). Only 1 patient had a major complication. Conclusions: Compared with PVA particles, iodized oil PVE can significantly increase liver volume and the degree of hypertrophy without any significant difference in safety.

Detailed and timely monitoring of the location and intensity of the fire is critical to reducing the destructive impacts of a fire. Satellite imagery platforms, in particular geostationary satellites with high temporal resolution, allow for real-time fire monitoring. However, because of the coarse resolution of geostationary satellite images, even when deep learning models are applied, precision still remains limited. Thus, the prediction models easily fall into a local optimal solution because of the insufficient semantic information from low spatial resolution. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a novel deep learning model, SBT-FireNet, to monitor fire spots from Himawari-8 satellite images. Specifically, the extraction modules of spatial, band, and time-series features were designed and integrated into the model. The spatial feature extraction module served to collate information about fires and their surrounding environment, while the band and time-series features were designed to obtain fire-sensitive band and time information, respectively. The newly structured SBT-FireNet model was tested in four fire-prone areas with high forest cover. The precision of SBT-FireNet in four test areas is 35.2% higher than other methods. The model yielded significant improvements through the combination of the modules of spatial, band, and time-series features and their fire-tailored design. The advantages of the high temporal resolution of geostationary satellite images were fully integrated into the model to ensure that the model monitors the possibility of fire in an automated way in a near-real-time manner.

Abstract Narrowband emissive multiple resonance (MR) emitters promise high efficiency and stability in deep‐blue organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, the construction of ideal ultra‐narrow‐band deep‐blue MR emitters still faces formidable challenges, especially in balancing bathochromic‐shift emission, spectral narrowing, and aggregation suppression. Here, DICz is chosen, which possesses the smallest full‐width‐at‐half‐maximum (FWHM) in MR structures, as the core and solved the above issue by tuning its peripheral substitution sites. The 1‐substituted molecule Cz‐DICz is able to show a bright deep‐blue emission with a peak at 457 nm, an extremely small FWHM of 14 nm, and a CIE coordinate of (0.14, 0.08) in solution. The corresponding OLEDs exhibit high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 22.1%–25.6% and identical small FWHMs of 18 nm over the practical mass‐production concentration range (1–4 wt.%). To the best of the knowledge, 14 and 18 nm are currently the smallest FWHM values for deep‐blue MR emitters with similar emission maxima under photoluminescence and electroluminescence conditions, respectively. These discoveries will help drive the development of high‐performance narrowband deep‐blue emitters and bring about a revolution in OLED industry.

Background To evaluate the new preoperative Changgung classification (CC) system of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in choosing suitable operative procedures to reconstruct portal veins during liver transplantation (LT) in patients with portal vein cavernous transformation (PVCT).Methods This retrospective observational study analyzed data from allograft LTs performed for various liver diseasesResults The study included 22 males and 4 females with LT indications comprising cirrhosis (n = 9), hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 12), PVCT (n = 2), liver failure from fulminant hepatitis B (n = 1), dysfunction of transplanted liver (n = 1), and chronic rejection of transplanted liver (n = 1). Patients were classified according to Yerdel (21 Yerdel II and 5 Yerdel III) and CC (C1–C5). In total 16 simple operations were performed on C1–C3 cases and 9 complex operations on C4–C5 cases, with one additional simple operation. The distribution according to the Yerdel classification was 16 simple and 5 complex operations in Yerdel II cases and 1 simple and 4 complex operations in Yerdel III cases. The median follow-up time was 27.5 months with overall one-year and three-year OS rates of 88.1% and 83.9% for the cohort. Specifically, the one-year OS rates for patients classified as C1-3 vs. C4-5 were 93.3% and 80.0%, while the three-year OS rates were 86.7% and 80.0%, respectively (p = 0.526).Conclusion The CC proposed in this study shows comparable potential to the Yerdel classification in preoperatively identifying the need for complex surgical techniques in LT patients with PVCT and may also have predictive power for the survival benefits following LT.

As increasingly more data science-driven approaches have been applied for compound properties predictions in the domain of drug discovery, such kinds of methods have displayed considerable accuracy compared to conventional ones. In this work, we proposed an interpretable graph learning representation model, SolubNet, for drug aqueous solubility prediction. The comprehensive evaluation demonstrated that SolubNet can successfully capture the quantitative structure-property relationship and can be interpreted with layer-wise relevance propagation (LRP) algorithm regarding how prediction values are generated from original input structures. The key advantage of SolubNet lies in the fact that it includes 3 layers of Topology Adaptive Graph Convolutional Networks which can efficiently perceive chemical local environments. SolubNet showed high performance in several tasks for drugs’ aqueous solubility prediction. LRP revealed that SolubNet can identify high and low polar regions of a given molecule, assigning them reasonable weights to predict the final solubility, in a way highly compatible with chemists’ intuition. We are confident that such a flexible yet interpretable and accurate tool will largely enhance the efficiency of drug discovery, and will even contribute to the methodology development of computational pharmaceutics.

Abstract The pursuit of ideal short-delayed thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is hampered by the mutual exclusion of a small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔE ST) and a large oscillator strength (f). Here, by attaching an multiresonance-acceptor onto a sterically-uncrowded donor, we report TADF emitters bearing hybrid electronic excitations with a main donor-to-acceptor long-range (LR) and an auxiliary bridge-phenyl short-range (SR) charge-transfer characters, balancing a small ΔE ST and a large f. Moreover, the incorporation of dual equivalent multiresonance-acceptors is found to double the f value without affecting the ΔE ST. A large radiative decay rate over an order of magnitude higher than the intersystem crossing (ISC) rate, and a decent reverse ISC rate of >106 s−1 are simultaneously obtained in one emitter, leading to a short delayed-lifetime of ~0.88 μs. The corresponding organic light-emitting diode exhibits a record-high maximum external quantum efficiency of 40.4% with alleviated efficiency roll-off and extended lifetime.

Pure organic room-temperature phosphorescencent materials draw much attention but realising electroluminescence under electric excitation is challenging. Here the authors propose a donor-oxygen-acceptor molecular design realizing aggregation-induced organic room-temperature electrophosphorescence with high external quantum efficiency.

BackgroundNew treatment strategies are needed to improve outcomes for patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) due to the limited efficacy of current first-line chemotherapy regimens. Although the combination of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), lenvatinib, and programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors has been extensively evaluated in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, their roles in advanced CCA remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of HAIC plus lenvatinib with or without PD-1 inhibitors in patients with advanced CCA.MethodsBetween March 2019 to June 2022, patients diagnosed with advanced CAA who received HAIC plus lenvatinib with or without PD-1 inhibitors treatment were reviewed for eligibility. Efficacy was evaluated according to survival and tumor response, and safety was evaluated according to the incidence of adverse events (AEs).ResultsFifty-five patients with advanced CCA were included in the study, and they were divided into the HAIC+lenvatinib (LEN)+PD-1 inhibitors (PD-1i) group (n = 35) and HAIC+LEN group (n = 20). The median follow-up time was 14.0 (5–42) months. Patients in the HAIC+LEN+PD-1i group had significantly better PFS (HR = 0.390; 95% CI 0.189-0.806; p = 0.001) and OS (HR = 0.461; 95% CI 0.229-0.927; p = 0.01) than those in the HAIC+LEN group. The HAIC+LEN+PD-1i group showed a higher objective response rate and disease control rate than the HAIC+LEN group but did not find a significant difference. The incidence of grade 1-2 and grade 3-4 AEs was not significantly higher in the HAIC+LEN+PD-1i group compared to the HAIC+LEN group, whereas two patients (5.7%) in the HAIC+LEN+PD-1i group experienced grade 5 immune-mediated pneumonia.ConclusionHAIC plus lenvatinib with PD-1 inhibitors is safe and well-tolerated, and has the potential to prolong the survival of patients with advanced CCA. The addition of PD-1 inhibitors may enhance the efficacy of HAIC and lenvatinib. Therefore, the combined therapy has the potential to become a treatment option for advanced CCA.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) of oxaliplatin, fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFOX) plus lenvatinib and FOLFOX-HAIC alone in patients with unresectable cholangiocarcinoma. Patients & methods: Retrospective analysis of patients receiving FOLFOX-HAIC with or without lenvatinib. Results: Forty-one patients were included, with 22 patients receiving HAIC alone and 19 patients receiving HAIC plus lenvatinib. Combination treatment significantly prolonged overall survival and progression-free survival compared with HAIC alone. Grade 1–2 adverse events were more frequent in the combination group but manageable. No severe AEs or treatment-related deaths were reported. Conclusion: FOLFOX-HAIC plus lenvatinib has the potential to be a treatment option for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma.

N-doping technologies are essential for high performance organic optoelectronics. Here, the authors report metalinkage diphenanthrolinetype ligands, which enable the formation of tetrahedrally coordinated double-helical metal complexes for coordination-activated n-doping.

We report the continuous Si doping in β-Ga2O3 epitaxial films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy through the use of a valved effusion cell for the Si source. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy results exhibit that the Si doping profiles in β-Ga2O3 are flat and have sharp turn-on/off depth profiles. The Si doping concentration was able to be controlled by either varying the cell temperatures or changing the aperture of the valve of the Si effusion cell. High crystal quality and smooth surface morphologies were confirmed on Si-doped β-Ga2O3 epitaxial films grown on (010) and (001) substrates. The electronic properties of Si-doped (001) β-Ga2O3 epitaxial film showed an electron mobility of 67 cm2/Vs at the Hall concentration of 3 × 1018 cm−3.

BackgroundAblative therapy is a recommended treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) not only for its effective eradication of tumors, but also for its induction of host immunity. However, the high 5-year recurrence rate after ablation underlines the poor understanding of the antitumor immunity response. Here, we investigated the effects of thermal ablation on antitumor immunity.MethodsWe analyzed the dynamics of tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-specific immune responses and changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cell phenotype in patients with HCC before and after tumor ablation. We used the IFN-γ ELISPOT assay and immunophenotyping by flow cytometry to evaluate the effects of ablation on host immunity. The correlation between the T cell response and disease outcome was explored to uncover the efficacy of the immune response in inhibiting HCC recurrence.ResultsDifferent TAA-specific T cell responses were identified among patients before and after ablation. One week after ablation, there was an improved immune state, with a switch from the dominance of an AFP-specific T cell response to that of a SMNMS-specific T cell response, which was correlated with better survival. Furthermore, an improvement in immune status was accompanied by a lower level of PD1+ and Tim3+ T cells in CD8+ T cells. Although this functional state was not durable, there was a higher degree of AFP-specific T cell responses at 4-weeks post-ablation. Furthermore, T cells presented a more exhausted phenotype at 4-weeks post-ablation than at the 1-week timepoint.ConclusionsAblation elicits a transient antitumor immune response in patients with HCC by changing the profile of the T cell response and the expression of immune checkpoint molecules, which correlated with longer recurrence-free survival of patients with HCC.

Ginsenoside Rg5, a relatively uncommon secondary ginsenoside, exhibits notable pharmacological activity and is commonly hypothesized to originate from the dehydration of Rg3. In this work, we compared different conversion pathways using Rb1, R-Rg3 and S-Rg3 as the raw material under simple acid catalysis. Interestingly, the results indicate that the conversion follows this reaction activity order Rb1 > S-Rg3 > R-Rg3, which is contrary to the common understanding of Rg5 obtained from Rg3 by dehydration. Our experimental results have been fully confirmed by theoretical calculations and a NOESY analysis. The DFT analysis reveals that the free energies of S-Rg3 and R-Rg3 in generating carbocation are 7.56 mol/L and 7.57 mol/L, respectively, which are significantly higher than the free energy of 1.81 mol/L when Rb1 generates the same carbocation. This finding aligns with experimental evidence suggesting that Rb1 is more prone to generating Rg5 than Rg3. The findings from the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis suggest that the fatty chains (C22–C27) in R-Rg3 and S-Rg3 adopt a Gauche conformation and an anti conformation with C16–C17 and C13–C17, respectively, due to the relatively weak repulsive van der Waals force. Therefore, the configuration of R-Rg3 is more conducive to the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds between 20C–OH and 12C–OH, whereas S-Rg3 lacks this capability. Consequently, this also explains the fact that S-Rg3 is more prone to dehydration to generate Rg5 than R-Rg3. Additionally, our research reveals that the synthetic route of Rg5 derived from protopanaxadiol (PPD)-type ginsenosides (including Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc and Rd) exhibits notable advantages in terms of efficacy, purity and yield when compared to the pathway originating from Rg3. Moreover, this study presents a highly effective and practical approach for the extensive synthesis of Rg5, thereby facilitating the exploration of its pharmacological properties and potential application in drug discovery.

Abstract Carbon dots (CDs) or carbonized polymer dots (CPDs) are an emerging class of optical materials that have exceptional applications in optoelectronic devices, catalysis, detection, and bioimaging. Although cell studies of CPDs have produced impressive results, in vivo imaging requires available CPDs to fluoresce in the near‐infrared‐II (NIR‐II) window (1000−1700 nm). Here, a two‐step bottom‐up strategy is developed to synthesize NIR‐CPDs that provide bright emissions in both NIR‐I and NIR‐II transparent imaging windows. The designed strategy includes a hydrothermal reaction to form a stable carbon core with aldehyde groups, followed by the Knoevenagel reaction to tether the molecular emission centers. This procedure is labor‐saving, cost‐efficient, and produces a high yield. The NIR‐CPDs enable high‐performance NIR‐II angiography and real‐time imaging of the disease degree of colitis noninvasively. This technology may therefore provide a next‐generation synthesis strategy for CPDs with rational molecular engineering that can accurately tune the absorption/emission properties of NIR‐emissive CPDs.

ObjectivePoor prognosis and limited treatments of liver metastases from non–small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after radical surgery are critical issues. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CalliSpheres® microsphere transarterial chemoembolization (CSM-TACE) plus 125I brachytherapy in these patients.MethodsA total of 23 patients with liver metastases from NSCLC after radical surgery were included. All patients received CSM-TACE 1–3 times, then 125I brachytherapy was carried out following the last CSM-TACE. Complete response (CR), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), survival, and adverse events were evaluated.ResultsCR, ORR and DCR were 43.5%, 87.0%, and 100%, respectively, at three months; furthermore, they were 78.3%, 100%, and 100% accordingly at six months. Moreover, most European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) subscales of functions (including physical and emotional function) and symptoms (including pain, nausea, and vomiting) were generally improved at three months (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 14.0 [95% confidence interval (CI): 10.4–17.6] months, with a 1-year PFS rate of 62.9%, but the 2-year PFS rate was not reached. Moreover, the median overall survival (OS) was 22.0 (95% CI: 16.8–27.2) months, with a 1-year OS rate of 91.3% and a 2-year OS rate of 43.5%. Additionally, the main adverse events included fever (100%), pain (65.2%), liver function impairment (65.2%), fatigue (56.5%), and nausea and vomiting (52.2%), which were all categorized as grade 1–2.ConclusionCSM-TACE plus 125I brachytherapy is effective and safe in patients with liver metastases from NSCLC after radical surgery, providing a potentially optimal option in these patients.

This study aimed to compare efficacy and safety of HepaSpheres and CalliSpheres in unresectable large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. One hundred and twenty-seven unresectable large HCC patients receiving drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) treatment with CalliSpheres or HepaSpheres microspheres were analyzed. Treatment response, Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score, adverse events, main liver function indexes, time to progression (TTP), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Objective response rate (82.7% vs. 63.8%, p=.030) and disease control rate (100.0% vs. 91.5%, p=.030) were increased in CalliSpheres group compared to HepaSpheres group at 1 month after treatment, while no difference was found between the two groups regarding treatment response at 3 or 6 months post treatment (all p>.05). The KPS score at 1, 3, and 6 months was similar between the two groups (all p>.05). As for the liver function, the ALT, AST, ALB, and TBIL levels at 7 and 30 days were of no difference between the two groups (all p>.05). In addition, the adverse events including nausea/vomiting, pain, fever, myelosuppression, biloma, and abscess were of no difference between the two groups, either (all p>.05). In terms of survival profile, there was no difference regarding TTP (6.3 months (95%CI: 5.9–6.6 months) vs. 6.0 months (95%CI: 5.6–6.4 months), p=.082) or OS (23.0 months (95%CI: 20.1–25.9 months) vs. 22.0 months (95%CI: 20.2–23.8 months), p=.571) between the two groups. In conclusion, CalliSpheres seems to be superior in short-term efficacy and equal in long-term efficacy as well as safety compared to HepaSpheres for DEB-TACE treatment in unresectable large HCC patients.

Background and ObjectiveRenal artery stenosis (RAS) is associated with an increased risk of renal function deterioration (RFD). Our previous study showed that renal cortical blood perfusion assessed by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was an important related factor for RFD in RAS patients. Based on several conventional related factors confirmed by previous studies, we aimed to establish and verify a CEUS+ scoring system to evaluate the risk of RFD at 1 year of follow-up in RAS patients.MethodsThis study was a single-center retrospective study. A total of 497 elderly RAS patients (247 in the training group and 250 in the verification group) admitted to the Beijing Hospital from January 2016 to December 2019 were included. The baseline characteristics of the patients on admission (including general conditions, previous medical history, blood pressure, blood creatinine, RAS, and cortical blood perfusion in the affected kidney) and renal function [glomerular filtration rate (GFR)] at 1-year of follow-up were collected. We used the univariate and multivariate logistic regressions to establish a CEUS+ scoring system model, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) to evaluate prediction accuracy, and the decision curve analysis and nomogram to evaluate the clinical application value of CEUS+ scoring system model.ResultsAmong the 497 patients enrolled, 266 (53.5%) were men, with an average age of (51.7 ± 19.3) years. The baseline clinical-radiomic data of the training group and the verification group were similar (all p > 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis results showed that age [Odds ratio (OR) = 1.937, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.104–3.397), diabetes (OR = 1.402, 95% CI: 1.015–1.938), blood pressure (OR = 1.575, 95% CI: 1.138–2.182), RAS (OR = 1.771, 95% CI: 1.114–2.816), and area under ascending curve (AUCi) (OR = 2.131, 95% CI: 1.263–3.596) were related factors for the renal function deterioration after 1 year of follow-up (all p < 0.05). The AUC of the ROC curve of the CEUS+ scoring system model of the training group was 0.801, and the Youden index was 0.725 (specificity 0.768, sensitivity 0.813); the AUC of the ROC curve of the validation group was 0.853, Youden index was 0.718 (specificity 0.693, sensitivity 0.835). There was no significant difference in ROC curves between the two groups (D = 1.338, p = 0.325). In addition, the calibration charts of the training and verification groups showed that the calibration curve of the CEUS+ scoring system was close to the standard curve (p = 0.701, p = 0.823, both p > 0.10).ConclusionThe CEUS+ scoring system model is helpful in predicting the risk of worsening renal function in elderly RAS patients.

Abstract Thermally activated delayed fluorophores (TADF) with donor–acceptor (D‐A) structures always face strong conjugation between donor and acceptor segments, rendering delocalized new molecular orbitals that go against blue emission. Developing TADF emitters with blue colors, high efficiencies, and long lifetimes simultaneously is therefore challenging. Here, a D‐void‐A structure with D and A moieties connected at the void‐position where the frontier orbital from donor and acceptor cannot be distributed, resulting in nonoverlap of the orbitals is proposed. A proof‐of‐the‐concept TADF emitter with 3,6‐diphenyl‐9H‐carbazole (D) connected at the 3’3‐positions of 9H‐xanthen‐9‐one (A), the void carbon‐atom with no distribution of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of A‐segment, realizes more efficient and blue‐shifted emission compared with the contrast D‐A isomers. The deeper HOMO‐2 of A is found to participate into conjugation rather than HOMO, providing a wider‐energy‐gap. The corresponding blue device exhibits a y color coordinate (CIEy) of 0.252 and a maximum external quantum efficiency of 27.5%. The stability of this compound is further evaluated as a sensitizer for a multiple resonance fluorophore, realizing a long lifetime of ≈650 h at an initial luminance of 100 cd m−2 with a CIEy of 0.195 and a narrowband emission with a full‐width‐at‐half‐maxima of 21 nm.

This study aimed to determine the predictive and prognostic value of baseline metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and the Peking criteria from serial positron emission tomography (PET) scans in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, including 300 newly diagnosed patients who were prospectively treated with 2–4 cycles of standard first-line treatment (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02928861). PET/computed tomography (CT) examinations were performed at baseline, after two (PET-2) or four cycles (PET-4). PET during the interim was evaluated using Deauville 5-point scales (5-PS), ΔSUVmax criteria, and the Peking criteria which interpreted based on the maximum standard uptake of the liver (SUVmax-liver). Peking criteria had better accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and specificity than other two methods. The MTV and Peking criteria both significantly predicted progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). An MTV > 191 cm2 and Peking criteria of PET-2 and PET-4 > 1.6-fold SUVmax-liver was used as the cutoff for a positive result. PET-4 achieved higher accuracy, PPV, and specificity for 2-year PFS (83.3%, 86.7%, and 98.4%, respectively) and OS (92.6%, 73.3%, and 97.2%, respectively) than PET-2. Various prognostic models containing different risk factors were established via Cox regression analysis. The MTV and PET-2/PET-4 results were used to categorized patients into low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk prognostic groups (with 0, 1, and 2 risk factors, respectively) (P < 0.0001). High burden MTV and positive PET-2 and PET-4 (>1.6-fold SUVmax-liver) could identify high-risk patients with 2-year PFS and OS of 0.0% and 26.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: N/A to 54.3%). When PET-2 and PET-4 were evaluated by 5-PS, the 2-year PFS and OS from high risk patients of three-parameters model achieved 31.4% (95%CI: 6.9%–55.9%) and 42.7% (95%CI: 14.6%–70.7%). In conclusion, combining baseline MTV and any regular response on PET/CT evaluated using the Peking criteria can improve prognostic value. Serial PET/CT from baseline MTV to PET-4 may have relatively greater predictive power for poor prognosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT02928861).

Fire is an important ecosystem process and has played a complex role in terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere environment. Sometimes, wildfires are highly destructive natural disasters. To reduce their destructive impact, wildfires must be detected as soon as possible. However, accurate and timely monitoring of wildfires is a challenging task due to the traditional threshold methods easily be suffered to the false alarms caused by small forest clearings, and the omission error of large fires obscured by thick smoke. Deep learning has the characteristics of strong learning ability, strong adaptability and good portability. At present, few studies have addressed the wildfires detection problem in remote sensing images using deep learning method in a nearly real time way. Therefore, in this research we proposed an active fire detection system using a novel convolutional neural network (FireCNN). FireCNN uses multi-scale convolution and residual acceptance design, which can effectively extract the accurate characteristics of fire spots. The proposed method was tested on dataset which contained 1,823 fire spots and 3,646 non-fire spots. The experimental results demonstrate that the FireCNN is fully capable of wildfire detection, with the accuracy of 35.2% higher than the traditional threshold method. We also examined the influence of different structural designs on the performance of neural network models. The comparison results indicates the proposed method produced the best results.

Purpose: A series of clinical studies have established the safety and efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) with gelatin sponge microparticles (GSMs) in treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC can lead to obvious necrosis inside tumors, especially larger ones, although it is unclear whether such necrotic tumor tissue can induce favorable immune reactions against the tumor. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have immunosuppressive functions and are currently considered a very important cell type affecting tumor immunity. This study observed changes in MDSC frequency in peripheral blood before and after GSM–TACE to evaluate the effect on the immune function of HCC patients. Methods: Eight patients diagnosed with HCC underwent GSM–TACE treatment in the Hepatobiliary Interventional Department of Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital, Beijing, China; we followed up with the patients over a period of 30 days post-surgery. We used flow cytometry (FCM) to quantify the frequency of MDSCs in peripheral blood before TACE, 10 days after surgery and 30 days after surgery. Results: MDSC frequency after GSM–TACE had a significant downward trend. Pre-TACE, it was 30.73% ± 11.93%, decreasing to 18.60% ± 11.37% at 10 days after operation. This decrease was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). MDSC frequency was even lower 30 days after TACE (7.63% ± 7.32%) than at 10 days after TACE (P

ObjectiveTransarterial chemoembolization (TACE) stands for an ideal therapy for patients with intermediate stage HCC. This study was carried out to observe the effect of microparticles-transarterial chemoembolization (microparticles-TACE, m-TACE) on the immune function of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients by detecting the proportion of regulatory (Treg) cells in the peripheral blood of HCC patients before and after m-TACE, and to determine whether m-TACE has a positive regulatory effect on the immune function of HCC patients.Methods33 HCC patients treated with Gelatn Sponge Microparticles (GSMs-TACE) were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to determine the proportion of Treg cells and CD4+/CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood of HCC patients 1 day before GSMs-TACE, 1 to 2 weeks and 3 to 5 weeks after GSMs-TACE, respectively.ResultsThe Tregs cell proportion of HCC patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy and cirrhosis controls and was associated with various clinical indicators of HCC patients. The Treg cell proportion in HCC patients with BCLC stage C was higher than that of stage B patients; The Treg cell proportion at 1 to 2 weeks postoperatively was 8.54 ± 1.27%, which was significantly lower than that before the GSMs-TACE. The Treg cell proportion at 3 to 5 weeks postoperatively was 7.59 ± 1.27%, which continued to decline. The ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T cells was 1.31 ± 0.56, 1.86 ± 0.73, 1.76 ± 0.58% (P

Immunotherapy, an antitumor therapy designed to activate antitumor immune responses to eliminate tumor cells, has been deeply studied and widely applied in recent years. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are capable of preventing the immune responses from being turned off before tumor cells are eliminated. ICIs have been demonstrated to be one of the most effective and promising tumor treatments and significantly improve the survival of patients with multiple tumor types. However, low effective rates and frequent atypical responses observed in clinical practice limit their clinical applications. Hyperprogressive disease (HPD) is an unexpected phenomenon observed in immune checkpoint-based immunotherapy and is a challenge facing clinicians and patients alike. Patients who experience HPD not only cannot benefit from immunotherapy, but also experience rapid tumor progression. However, the mechanisms of HPD remain unclear and controversial. This review summarized current findings from cell experiments, animal studies, retrospective studies, and case reports, focusing on the relationships between various immune cells and HPD and providing important insights for understanding the pathogenesis of HPD.

The role of water (H2O) vapor in reducing background impurity concentration in epitaxial Ga2O3 thin films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was studied. Adding H2O vapor to oxygen was found to increase the surface roughness and decrease the carrier concentration but have no effect on the structural quality and RT electron mobility of both the UID and doped films. The H2O vapor promotes the growth of the stable (110) and 1¯10 facets elongated along the [001] direction. Using [H2O] of 250 ppm, the β-Ga2O3 films showed a RMS roughness of >13 nm, which is much higher than that measured for similar films grown without H2O (RMS = 0.8 nm). The electron mobility of the UID Ga2O3 layers grown with and without water vapor was ∼150 cm2/V s, while the carrier concentration dropped by ∼2.5× after increasing the [H2O] to 6000 ppm. Similarly, for the lightly Si doped films, the RT carrier concentration dropped from 5.4 × 1015 cm−3 ([H2O] = 0 ppm) to 3.4 × 1015 cm−3 ([H2O] = 250 ppm), leaving the mobility unaffected. The results offer a new method of using water vapor assisted growth of Ga2O3 films with low RT carrier concentration that are required for the realization of high-performance electronic power devices with high breakdown voltages.

In this work, the growth of (010), (001), and 2¯01 β-Ga2O3 by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy was investigated. The presence of an indium flux during growth markedly expands the growth regime for β-Ga2O3 across all orientations to higher growth temperatures and growth rates. This metal oxide catalyzed growth allows for similar growth rates of around 5 nm/min across all three orientations, more than twice that of conventional (010) growth and seven times that of (001) growth without indium. Smooth surface morphologies for (010) and (001) β-Ga2O3 were demonstrated, while 2¯01 was significantly rougher. Additionally, doping with Sn was achieved across all orientations and Hall measurements demonstrated higher electron mobility (55 cm2/Vs for a carrier concentration of 3.3 × 1018 cm−3) for (001) β-Ga2O3 grown via metal oxide catalyzed epitaxy than conventional growth.

We report on record low free carrier concentration values in metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown β-Ga2O3 by using N2O for oxidation. Contrary to the pure oxygen, the N2O oxidant produced β-Ga2O3 thin films co-doped with nitrogen and hydrogen, but the incorporation efficiency of both impurities is strongly dependent on key MOCVD growth parameters. An array of growth conditions resulted in β-Ga2O3 thin films with N and H concentrations ranging as high as ∼2 × 1019 cm−3 and ∼7 × 1018 cm−3, respectively, to films with no SIMS detectable N and H was identified. Films grown without detectable N and H concentrations showed a room temperature electron mobility of 153 cm2/V s with the corresponding free carrier concentration of 2.4 × 1014 cm−3. This is the lowest room temperature carrier concentration reported for MOCVD grown β-Ga2O3 with excellent electron mobility. A thin β-Ga2O3 buffer layer grown using N2O reduced the net background concentration in an oxygen grown film and is attributed to the compensation of Si at the film/substrate interface by N, which acts as a deep acceptor. The results show that the use of the N2O oxidant can lead to low background concentration and high electron mobility, which paves the road for the demonstration of high-performance power electronic devices with high breakdown voltages and low on-resistances.

We report on record electron mobility values measured in lightly Si doped homoepitaxial β-Ga2O3 grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The transport properties of the films were studied using temperature-dependent Hall measurements. Numerous (010) β-Ga2O3 layers grown at different conditions showed peak electron mobility exceeding 104 cm2/V s at low temperature (LT), with the highest value of 11 704 cm2/V s at 46 K. The room temperature electron mobilities of the films were between 125 cm2/V s and 160 cm2/V s with the net background charge concentration between ∼5 × 1015 cm−3 and ∼2 × 1016 cm−3. The obtained LT mobility values for β-Ga2O3 were found to be comparable to or higher than the highest LT electron mobilities in bulk SiC and GaN films in the literature. The results demonstrate the capability of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for growing high quality ultrapure β-Ga2O3 epitaxial films that are suitable for high power electronic device applications.

A series of HZSM-5 catalysts with different Si/Al ratio were prepared and characterized with various characteristic methods XRD, BET, NH3-TPD, FT-IR spectra of adsorbed pyridine, etc. The effect of Si/Al ratio of HZSM-5 catalysts on the prins condensation of isobutylene and formaldehyde to isoprene was investigated in detail. It is resulted that the catalytic activities are dependent on the acid strength, decreasing with the ratio of Si/Al increases. The optimized catalyst was HZSM-5 (600) with 8.8% of isobutene conversion and 90.2% of selectivity to isoprene, indicating that the higher Si/Al ratio was termed as appropriate for prins condensation of isobutylene and formaldehyde to isoprene. On the contrary, the low Si/Al ratio may lead to the formation of by-products and coke deposits, which leads the catalysts deactivation.

To suppress efficiency roll-off induced by triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA) and singlet–triplet annihilation (STA) in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) based organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) is still a challenge. This issue was efficiently addressed by generating dual delayed fluorescence in the emitting layer of OLEDs. A novel TADF compound, PXZ-CMO, featuring a D-A structure was designed and synthesized. By dispersing the emitter into different hosts, devices G1 (MCP host) and G2 (DPEPO host) with identical configurations were carefully fabricated, which showed similar maximum EQE/CE of 12.1%/38.2 cd A−1 and 11.8%/33.1 cd A−1, respectively. Despite severe efficiency roll-off in device G2 with only 6.4% EQE remaining at a luminance of 1,000 cd m−2, a remarkably reduced efficiency roll-off was attained in device G1, retaining EQE as high as 10.4% at the same luminance of 1,000 cd m−2. The excellent device performance with reduced roll-off in device G1 should result from the dual delayed fluorescence in the emitting layer, which possesses great advantages in achieving dynamic and adaptive exciton distribution for radiation acceleration and quench suppression.

In this work, we report record electron mobility values in unintentionally doped β-Ga2O3 films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Using degenerately Sn-doped regrown n+ β-Ga2O3 contact layers, we were able to maintain Ohmic contact to the β-Ga2O3 films down to 40 K, allowing for reliable temperature-dependent Hall measurement. An electron mobility of 176 cm2/V s and 3481 cm2/V s were measured at room temperature and 54 K, respectively. The room and low temperature mobilities are both among the highest reported values in a bulk β-Ga2O3 film. A low net background charge concentration of 7.4 × 1015 cm−3 was confirmed by both temperature dependent Hall measurement and capacitance-voltage measurement. The feasibility of achieving low background impurity concentration and high electron mobility paves the road for the demonstration of high performance power electronics with high breakdown voltages and low on-resistances.

We report on a high performance Pt/n−Ga2O3/n+Ga2O3 solar blind Schottky photodiode that has been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The active area of the photodiode was fabricated using ∼30 Å thick semi-transparent Pt that has up to 90% transparency to UV radiation with wavelengths < 260 nm. The fabricated photodiode exhibited Schottky characteristics with a turn-on voltage of ∼1 V and a rectification ratio of ∼108 at ±2 V and showed deep UV solar blind detection at 0 V. The Schottky photodiode exhibited good device characteristics such as an ideality factor of 1.23 and a breakdown voltage of ∼110 V. The spectral response showed a maximum absolute responsivity of 0.16 A/W at 222 nm at zero bias corresponding to an external quantum efficiency of ∼87.5%. The cutoff wavelength and the out of band rejection ratio of the devices were ∼260 nm and ∼104, respectively, showing a true solar blind operation with an excellent selectivity. The time response is in the millisecond range and has no long-time decay component which is common in photoconductive wide bandgap devices.

New antiviral therapy for pandemic influenza mediated by the H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) is increasingly in demand not only for the poultry industry but also for public health. Aptamers are confirmed to be promising candidates for treatment and prevention of influenza viral infections. Thus, we studied two DNA aptamers, A9 and B4, selected by capillary electrophoresis-based systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (CE-SELEX) procedure using H9N2 AIV purified haemagglutinin (HA) as target. Both aptamers had whole-virus binding affinity. Also, an enzyme-linked aptamer assay (ELAA) confirmed binding affinity and specificity against other AIV subtypes. Finally, we studied aptamer-inhibitory effects on H9N2 AIV infection in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and quantified viral load in supernatant and in cell with quantitative PCR (qPCR). Our data provide a foundation for future development of innovative anti-influenza drugs.

The pathogen Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) is a major cause of respiratory disease, mastitis, and arthritis in cattle. Screening the key immunogenic proteins and updating rapid diagnostic techniques are necessary to the prevention and control of M. bovis infection. In this study, 19 highly immunogenic proteins from M. bovis strain PD were identified using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. Of these 19 proteins, pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 component beta subunit (PDHB) showed excellent immune reactivity and repeatability. PDHB was found to be conserved in different M. bovis isolates, as indicated by Western blot analysis. On the basis of these results, a rPDHB-based indirect ELISA (iELISA) was established for the detection of serum antibodies using prokaryotically expressed recombinant PDHB protein as the coating antigen. The specificity analysis result showed that rPDHB-based iELISA did not react with other pathogens assessed in our study except M. agalactiae (which infects sheep and goats). Moreover, 358 serum samples from several disease-affected cattle feedlots were tested using this iELISA system and a commercial kit, which gave positive rates of 50.8% and 39.9%, respectively. The estimated Kappa agreement coefficient between the two methods was 0.783. Notably, 39 positive serum samples that had been missed by the commercial kit were all found to be positive by Western blot analysis. The detection rate of rPDHB-based iELISA was significantly higher than that of the commercial kit at a serum dilution ratio of 1∶5120 to 1∶10,240 (P

Hydrological alternation can dramatically influence riparian environments and shape riparian vegetation zonation. However, it was difficult to predict the status in the drawdown area of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), because the hydrological regime created by the dam involves both short periods of summer flooding and long-term winter impoundment for half a year. In order to examine the effects of hydrological alternation on plant diversity and biomass in the drawdown area of TGR, twelve sites distributed along the length of the drawdown area of TGR were chosen to explore the lateral pattern of plant diversity and above-ground biomass at the ends of growing seasons in 2009 and 2010. We recorded 175 vascular plant species in 2009 and 127 in 2010, indicating that a significant loss of vascular flora in the drawdown area of TGR resulted from the new hydrological regimes. Cynodon dactylon and Cyperus rotundus had high tolerance to short periods of summer flooding and long-term winter flooding. Almost half of the remnant species were annuals. Species richness, Shannon-Wiener Index and above-ground biomass of vegetation exhibited an increasing pattern along the elevation gradient, being greater at higher elevations subjected to lower submergence stress. Plant diversity, above-ground biomass and species distribution were significantly influenced by the duration of submergence relative to elevation in both summer and previous winter. Several million tonnes of vegetation would be accumulated on the drawdown area of TGR in every summer and some adverse environmental problems may be introduced when it was submerged in winter. We conclude that vascular flora biodiversity in the drawdown area of TGR has dramatically declined after the impoundment to full capacity. The new hydrological condition, characterized by long-term winter flooding and short periods of summer flooding, determined vegetation biodiversity and above-ground biomass patterns along the elevation gradient in the drawdown area.