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Introduction: The prognostic capability of targeted sequencing of primary tumors in patients with estrogen receptor‐positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor‐2‐negative early‐stage invasive breast cancer (EBC) in a real‐world setting is uncertain. Therefore, we aimed to determine the correlation between a 22‐gene mutational profile and long‐term survival outcomes in patients with ER+/ERBB2‐ EBC. Patients and Methods: A total of 73 women diagnosed with ER+/ERBB2‐ EBC between January 10, 2004, and June 2, 2008, were followed up until December 31, 2022. Univariate and multivariate Cox models were constructed to plot the relapse‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). The log‐rank test derived p‐value was obtained. For external validation, we performed a survival analysis of 1163 comparable patients retrieved from the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) dataset. Results: At follow‐up, 16 (21.9%) patients had relapsed, while 21 (nearly 29%) harbored mutant genes. Thirty‐three missense mutations were detected in 14 genes. The median ages were 51 and 46 years in patients with and without mutations, respectively. Patients with any mutation had a 1.85‐fold higher risk of relapse (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60–5.69) compared to those without any mutation. Patients who harbored any of the six genes (MAP2K4, FGFR3, APC, KIT, RB1, and PTEN) had a nearly 6‐fold increase in the risk of relapse (HR: 5.82, 95% CI: 1.31–18.56; p = 0.0069). Multivariate Cox models revealed that the adjusted HR for RFS and OS were 6.67 (95% CI: 1.32–27.57) and 8.31 (p = 0.0443), respectively. METABRIC analysis also demonstrated a trend to significantly worse RFS (p = 0.0576) in the subcohort grouped by having a mutation in any of the six genes. Conclusions: Our single‐institution tissue bank study of Taiwanese women with ER+/ERBB2‐ EBC suggests that a novel combination of six gene mutations might have prognostic capability for survival outcomes. We studied the prognosis of a 22‐gene mutational profile using tissue bank tumors of 73 women with ER+/ERBB2‐ EBC. This cohort of female patients had extended follow‐up, reaching 18.8 years. Any mutation in the MAP2K4, FGFR3, APC, KIT, RB1, and PTEN genes would have a 5.8‐fold increased risk of relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we develop an approach to achieve performance‐advantaged polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD) via sequential ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and radical reactions. We mix dicyclopentadiene (DCPD), Grubbs' catalyst and radical initiator in one pot, and then polymerize first at low temperature by ROMP and initiate radical reactions at elevated temperature. As a result of our strategy, the crosslink density of PDCPD increases, leading to outstanding performance. For instance, the glass transition temperature Tg of ROMP‐prepared PDCPD is ca 155–175 °C, whereas the Tg of PDCPD prepared by this strategy can be increased to 191 °C and can be further enhanced to 216 °C after polymerization at 250 °C. We believe this can help researchers design and synthesize high performance ROMP‐derived polymers and apply PDCPD in harsh conditions. © 2024 Society of Industrial Chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis and characterization of a linear two‐coordinate Cr(II) amido complex, Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2 (Dipp=2,6‐diisopropylphenyl), from the reaction of 1 molar equivalent (equiv) of CrCl2 and 2 equiv. of LiN(tBu)Dipp is reported. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffractometry (SC‐XRD) analysis revealed that it has a short Cr−N bond distance of 1.8878(9) Å, which could be attributed to the relatively less bulky nature of the amido ligand compared with reported systems. Furthermore, the oxidation reaction of the two‐coordinate Cr(II) complex was explored. The oxidation reaction of Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2 with the one‐electron oxidants AgOTf and [FeCp2][BArF4] (BArF4−=[B{C6H3−3,5‐(CF3)2}4]−) afforded the trigonal planar three‐ and bent two‐coordinate Cr(III) complexes Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2(OTf) and [Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2][BArF4], respectively. The reaction of Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2 with 1 equiv. of the organic azides AdN3 (Ad=1‐adamantyl) and PhN3 afforded the three‐coordinate Cr(IV) imido complexes Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2(NAd) and Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2(NPh), respectively. The reaction of Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2 and two equiv. of Me3NO afforded the Cr(VI) dioxo complex Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2(O)2. The reaction of Cr{N(tBu)Dipp}2 with 1 equiv. of CyN=C=NCy resulted in the insertion of the carbodiimide into the Cr−N bond, with the formation of a three‐coordinate Cr(II) complex. Finally, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to elucidate the electronic structure of these complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The compound NS5806 attenuates neuropathic pain via inhibiting extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) activation in neuronal somata located at the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and superficial spinal dorsal horn. NS5806 also reduces the expansion of DRG macrophages and spinal microglia several days after peripheral nerve injury, implying an anti‐inflammatory effect. Methods: To test whether NS5806 inhibits inflammation, as a model we intraplantarly injected carrageenan into a hind paw of the rat. To examine whether NS5806 reduces carrageenan‐evoked mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, and edema, as well as ERK activation in the nerve fibres, mast cells, and macrophages in the hind paw skin, we used behavioural, immunohistochemical, and cytological methods. Results: NS5806 did not impair motor function, affect basal nociception, or cause edema in naive rats. Six hours after carrageenan injection, mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, and edema appeared in the rat's ipsilateral hind paw, and all were reduced by intraplantar co‐injection of NS5806. NS5806 suppressed carrageenan‐evoked ERK activation in the peripheral axons and somata of L4 DRG neurons, as well as mast cells and macrophages in the paw skin. NS5806 also reduced carrageenan‐evoked mast cell degranulation and macrophage proliferation. NS5806 and the ERK pathway inhibitor PD98059 had a similar effect in inhibiting the proliferation of cultured RAW264.7 macrophages. Furthermore, all the in vivo anti‐inflammatory effects of NS5806 were similar to those of PD98059. Conclusions: Acting like an ERK pathway inhibitor, NS5806 reduces inflammation‐evoked mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, and edema by suppressing ERK activation in primary sensory neurons, mast cells, and macrophages. Significance: Previous studies show that NS5806 only acts on neurons. This report unveils that NS5806 also acts on immune cells in the skin to exert its anti‐inflammatory effects. Since NS5806 is lipid soluble for skin penetration, it suggests that NS5806 could also be developed into an anti‐inflammatory drug for external use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Metabolic and morphological adaptations of the intestine have been suggested to play a role in the various therapeutic benefits of Roux‐en‐Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) surgery. However, the precise underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, the effects of physical properties of ingested food and redirection of biliopancreatic secretions on intestinal remodeling were investigated in RYGB operated rats. Methods: RYGB employing two different Roux Limb (RL) lengths was performed on high fat diet induced obese rats. Post‐operatively, rats were fed either Solid or isocaloric Liquid diets. Metabolic and morphological remodeling of intestine was compared across both diet forms (Solid and Liquid diets) and surgical models (Short RL and Long RL). Results: RYGB surgery in rats induced weight loss and improved glucose tolerance which was independent of physical properties of ingested food and biliopancreatic secretions. Intestinal glucose utilization after RYGB was not determined by either food form or biliopancreatic secretions. The GLUT‐1 expression in RL was not influenced by physical properties of food. Furthermore, both physical properties of food and biliopancreatic secretions showed no effects on intestinal morphological adaptations after RYGB. Conclusion: Results of this study demonstrate that physical properties of food and bile redirection are not major determinants of intestinal remodeling after RYGB in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sepsis is a lethal syndrome with T-cell dysregulation, imbalanced inflammatory reactions, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Obesity coexistent with sepsis can cause more-deleterious disease outcomes. Vitamin D is a nutrient with immunomodulatory ability and helps maintain intestinal homeostasis. This study investigated treatment with calcitriol on mesenteric lymph node (MLN) CD4+ T-cell polarization and intestinal injury in obese mice with sepsis.Methods: Mice received a high-fat diet for 10 weeks; then, mice were separated into an obese control group without sepsis and sepsis groups that underwent cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Septic mice were subdivided into a group that was injected with saline (SS group) or a group that was injected with calcitriol (SD group) via a tail vein 1 h after CLP. Obese mice with sepsis were euthanized at 12 or 24 h post CLP.Results: Sepsis resulted in increased percentages of type 2 T helper (Th2), Th17, and regulatory T (Treg) cells in MLNs. Also, inflammation-associated genes were upregulated and tight junction genes downregulated in the intestines after CLP. Compared with the SS group, the SD group exhibited reduced Th2, Th17, and Treg percentages in MLNs. Also, intestinal inflammatory chemokine expressions were reduced, whereas MUC2, ZO-1, and occludin had increased after CLP. Lower inflammatory cytokine levels in peritoneal lavage fluid in the ileum were also noted in the SD group.Conclusions: Intravenous calcitriol treatment after sepsis can elicit more-balanced CD4 T-cell subsets in lymph nodes near the intestines and alleviate intestinal inflammation and injury in obese mice complicated with sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the flourishing development of artificial intelligence, lasing with tailored features generated by photonic crystal (PhC) lasers has been playing a more important part in the optics field and in potential applications of self‐control, light detection and ranging, telecommunications, and holography imaging. As an information vehicle, the optical beam's maneuverability is influenced by the working wavelength, direction, and efficiency of the laser. Liquid crystal (LC)‐based mirrorless lasers are widely investigated in manipulating the tuning of emission wavelength. Realizing fast self‐steering of the laser beam to tune the emission direction is challenging because of the limitation on the complex and expensive inorganic fabrication and circuit design. In this work, a self‐steered lasing from a defect‐mode sandwich film composed of photomechanical deformable azobenzene cholesteric LC elastomer (CLCE) PhC layers and an isotropic gain interlayer is demonstrated. On the basis of the great light‐deformability of the CLCE, the output single‐mode lasing emission of the sandwich‐film laser can be steered quickly by UV irradiation in a wide angular tuning range of ≈±57°. This flexible, portable, and durable laser system with controllable beam‐steering and mechanical robustness is envisioned to open a gate for autonomous vehicles, self‐sustaining machines, and optical devices with the core feature of photomechanical conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart fabrics that can harvest ambient energy and provide diverse sensing functionality via triboelectric effects have evoked great interest for next‐generation healthcare electronics. Herein, a novel borophene/ecoflex nanocomposite is developed as a promising triboelectric material with tailorability, durability, mechanical stability, and flexibility. The addition of borophene nanosheets enables the borophene/ecoflex nanocomposite to exhibit tunable surface triboelectricity investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy. The borophene/ecoflex nanocomposite is further fabricated into a fabric‐based triboelectric nanogenerator (B‐TENG) for mechanical energy harvesting, medical assistive system, and wound healing applications. The durability of B‐TENG provides consistent output performance even after severe deformation treatments, such as folding, stretching, twisting, and washing procedures. Moreover, the B‐TENG is integrated into a smart keyboard configuration combined with a robotic system to perform an upper‐limb medical assistive interface. Furthermore, the B‐TENG is also applied as an active gait phase sensing system for instantaneous lower‐limb gait phase visualization. Most importantly, the B‐TENG can be regarded as a self‐powered in vitro electrical stimulation device to conduct continuous wound monitoring and therapy. The as‐designed B‐TENG not only demonstrates great potential for multifunctional self‐powered healthcare sensors, but also for the promising advancements toward wearable medical assistive and therapeutic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystal metal‐free halide perovskites have received great attention in recent years owing to their excellent piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. However, the nanotoxicity and piezoelectricity within the nanoscale of such materials have yet been reported for the demonstration of practical applications. In this work, the observation of intrinsic piezoelectricity in metal‐free perovskite (MDABCO‐NH4I3) films using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is reported. A cytotoxicity test is also performed on MDABCO‐NH4I3 to evaluate its low‐toxic nature. The as‐synthesized MDABCO‐NH4I3 is further integrated into a piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG). The MDABCO‐NH4I3‐based PENG (MN‐PENG) exhibits optimal output voltage and current of 15.9 V and 54.5 nA, respectively. In addition, the MN‐PENG can serve as a self‐powered strain sensor for human–machine interface applications or be adopted in in vitro electrical stimulation devices. This work demonstrates a path of perovskite‐based PENG with high performance, low toxicity, and multifunctionality for future advanced wearable sensors and portable therapeutic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angle closure glaucoma leads to fluid deposition in eye, and intraocular pressure occurs that damage the optic nerve, causes blindness and vision loss. Anterior chamber (AC) evaluation is imperative for determining the risk of angle‐closure. Previously, techniques were dependent on either Pentacam–Scheimpflug that interprets poor visual information, anterior segment optical coherence tomography is injurious to intercede opaque optical structures. Therefore, in this paper, an experimental protocol is designed for detailed disease analysis based on IBM SPSS statistics via ultrasound biomicroscopy which is superior in evaluating deep structures; first, the affected parameter for AC is analysed, and afterwards the direction that needs laser surgery is explored. Experiments are conducted on large‐scale clinical studies from an affiliated hospital in Shanghai, China. The dataset comprised 600 AC images in five directions of 60 subjects. The mean with standard deviation for anterior open distance is 0.15879±$\pm$0.096779 mm, 0.15863±$\pm$0.081435 mm, and anterior chamber angle is 18.749±$\pm$08.0315∘$^{\circ }$, 18.741±$\pm$08.3889∘$^{\circ }$ for left and right eye respectively. It is found that anterior chamber angle in the downside of the AC is wider than the upside. However, this decision is partly based on the narrowest part of the angle to widen the depth of the direction and eliminate pupil block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal‐halide perovskites have emerged as versatile materials for various electronic and optoelectronic devices such as diodes, solar cells, photodetectors, and sensors due to their interesting properties of high absorption coefficient in the visible regime, tunable bandgap, and high power conversion efficiency. Recently, metal‐free organic perovskites have also emerged as a particular class of perovskites materials for piezoelectric applications. This broadens the chemical variety of perovskite structures with good mechanical adaptability, light‐weight, and low‐cost processability. Despite these achievements, the fundamental understanding of the underlying phenomenon of piezoelectricity in metal‐free perovskites is still lacking. Therefore, this perspective emphasizes the overview of piezoelectric properties of metal‐halide, metal‐free perovskites, and their recent progress which may encourage material designs to enhance their applicability towards practical applications. Finally, challenges and outlooks of piezoelectric metal‐free perovskites are highlighted for their future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano‐ and microscale morphology endows surfaces that play conspicuous roles in natural or artificial objects with unique functions. Surfaces with dynamic regulating features capable of switching the structures, patterns, and even dimensions of their surface profiles can control friction and wettability, thus having potential applications in antibacterial, haptics, and fluid dynamics. Here, a freestanding film with light‐switchable surface based on cholesteric liquid crystal networks is presented to translate 2D flat plane into a 3D nanometer‐scale topography. The wettability of the interface can be controlled by hiding or revealing the geometrical features of the surfaces with light. This reversible dynamic actuation is obtained through the order parameter change of the periodic cholesteric organization under a photoalignment procedure and lithography‐free mode. Complex tailored structures can be used to encrypt tactile information and improve wettability by predesigning the orientation distribution of liquid crystal director. This rapid switching nanoprecision smart surface provides a novel platform for artificial skin, optics, and functional coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic control of anisotropic geometric deformation in key soft materials can provide multifunctional advantages for smart devices, thereby expanding the scope of application. The core value of harnessing the physical multiresponsiveness of soft matter is to control the shape, size, and direction of its deformation. This study reports the thermal‐ and photoreversible symmetrical deformation and structural color change of 3D Bragg‐onion‐like fully polymerized cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) beads mass‐produced by microfluidics. A jack‐inspired soft microdevice comprising durable fully polymerized CLC beads by the stand‐alone and free of extraction technique is demonstrated to have the unique photoresponsive capabilities of lifting substantially heavy objects and photochromatism via light‐triggered symmetric volume expansion of the CLC beads. The monomer order is maintained upon photopolymerization, and the complex director patterns of the radially arranged helical pitch under planar confinement are frozen‐in. The desired symmetrical volume expansion with photochromatic property is realized by decreasing the degree of the order parameter, which is caused by the reorientation of the liquid crystal director. This study provides a platform for demonstrating the heat‐ and light‐responsive bead‐based smart devices and their applicability in advanced optomechanical integrated microsystems and multiresponsive Fabry–Perot resonator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that it is a potential medium for 3D manipulation of photons in the forward‐looking technology of quantum optics, nonlinear optics, electronics, nanomaterials, and bionics, 3D photonic crystal (PhC) is a promising material of strategic significance and has great impact on scientific development. Blue phase (BP), a liquid crystalline mesophase with unique nanoscaled 3D PhC features, has been shown to contain significant potential values in fundamental studies and technological applications. However, thus far, the environmental stability of BP devices remains a puzzling issue of material exploitation. Therefore, in this study, stretching‐tunable BP elastomer (BPE) photonic bandgap (PBG) free‐standing films are fabricated via full photopolymerization. The BPE films exhibit benefit‐specific features, including sharp PBG with high reflectivity and flexible tunability in the visible region, high thermal stability, and good mechanical ductility and resistance in chemicals. These properties are attributed to the pre‐developed, fully‐reactive mesogenic materials employed, which show BP states in a wide temperature range, including room temperature. Additionally, mirrorless laser applications with flexible tunability are also realized in this study. The freestanding BPE film can be used as a prototype instrumentality to promote the future development of multifunctional intelligent applications in lasers, sensors, displays, intelligent lightings, lidars, micro‐robots and antennas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the correction differences between vertebra and tumor matching as cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT)‐guided setup strategies in lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), and the correlations with tumor characteristics such as size, mobility, and location. Methods: The manual registrations for 33 lung tumors treated with SBRT were retrospectively performed by matching thoracic vertebrae for vertebra matching and then by matching CBCT‐visualized tumors within the internal target volume obtained from a four‐dimensional CT dataset for tumor matching. Results: The mean correction difference between the two matching methods during the SBRT fractions was larger in the anterior‐posterior direction (2.7 mm) than in the superior‐inferior (2.1 mm) and left‐right (1.4 mm) directions, with differences of less than 5 mm in 90% of the total 134 CBCT fractions. The X‐axis and direct distances from the central axis to the tumor had significant correlations with the correction differences in all three directions, while the mobility‐related parameters were correlated only in the superior‐inferior direction. The absolute differences in lung‐dose parameters after applying the margins (3.4–6.5 mm) required for the setup errors from vertebra matching relative to tumor matching were mild, with values of 1.95 Gy for the mean lung dose and 3.9% for V20. Conclusion: The setup differences between vertebra and tumor matching in the CBCT‐guided setup without rotation correction were increased in tumors located long distances from the central axis. The additional safety margins of 3.4–6.5 mm were required for the setup errors from vertebra matching. Key points: Significant findings of the study The correction difference between the vertebra and tumor matching as CBCT‐guided setup strategies was the largest in the anterior‐posterior direction and significantly correlated with the X‐axis and direct distances from the central axis to the tumor. What this study adds Setup differences between vertebra and tumor matching in the CBCT‐guided setup were increased in tumors located long distances from the central axis. The additional safety margins of 3.4–6.5 mm were required for the setup errors from vertebra matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is one of the well-recognized oral potentially malignant disorders. In this study, we investigated the malignant transformation of OSF in a Taiwanese population.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was analyzed from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. A comparison cohort was randomly frequency-matched with the OSF cohort according to age, sex, and index year. Oral leukoplakia (OL) was further stratified to evaluate for the possible synergistic effects of OSF-associated malignant transformation.Results: In this cohort, 71 (9.13%) of 778 cases of OSF were observed to transform into oral cancer. The malignant transformation rate was 29.26-fold in the OSF cohort than in the comparison cohort after adjustment (95% confidence intervals 20.55-41.67). To further stratify with OL, OSF with OL (52.46%; 95% confidence intervals 34.88-78.91) had higher risk of malignant transformation rate than OSF alone (29.84%; 95% confidence intervals 20.99-42.42). The Kaplan-Meier plot revealed the rate free of malignant transformation was significant over the 13-year follow-up period (log-rank test, P<.001). The mean duration of malignant transformation was 5.1, 2.7, and 2.2 years for non-OSF, OSF alone, and OSF with OL, respectively.Conclusion: Oral submucous fibrosis patients exhibited a significantly higher risk of malignant transformation than those without OSF. OL could enhance malignant transformation in patients with OSF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This advancement has enabled the development of decision support systems that support farmers with herbivorous pest identification and pest monitoring. In these systems, the AI supports farmers through the detection, classification and quantification of herbivorous pests. However, many of the systems under development fall short of meeting the demands of the end user, with these shortfalls acting as obstacles that impede the integration of these systems into integrated pest management (IPM) practices. There are four common obstacles that restrict the uptake of these AI‐driven decision support systems. Namely: AI technology effectiveness, functionality under field conditions, the level of computational expertise and power required to use and run the system and system mobility. We propose four criteria that AI‐driven systems need to meet in order to overcome these challenges: (i) The system should be based on effective and efficient AI; (ii) The system should be adaptable and capable of handling ‘real‐world’ image data collected from the field; (iii) Systems should be user‐friendly, device‐driven and low‐cost; (iv) Systems should be mobile and deployable under multiple weather and climate conditions. Systems that meet these criteria are likely to represent innovative and transformative systems that successfully integrate AI technology with IPM principles into tools that can support farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current guidelines recommend that potassium iodide be given in the immediate preoperative period for patients with Graves' disease who are undergoing thyroidectomy. Nonetheless, the evidence behind this recommendation is tenuous. The purpose of this study is to clarify the benefits of preoperative iodine administration from published comparative studies.Data Sources: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and CINAHL from 1980 to June 2018.Review Methods: Studies were included that compared preoperative iodine administration and no premedication before thyroidectomy. For the meta-analysis, studies were pooled with the random-effects model.Results: A total of 510 patients were divided into the iodine (n = 223) and control (n = 287) groups from 9 selected studies. Preoperative iodine administration was significantly associated with decreased thyroid vascularity and intraoperative blood loss. Significant heterogeneity was present among studies. We found no significant difference in thyroid volume or operative time. Furthermore, the meta-analysis showed no difference in the risk of postoperative complications, including vocal cord palsy, hypoparathyroidism/hypocalcemia, and hemorrhage or hematoma after thyroidectomy.Conclusion: Preoperative iodine administration decreases thyroid vascularity and intraoperative blood loss. Nonetheless, it does not translate to more clinically meaningful differences in terms of operative time and postoperative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DNA primase polypeptide 1 (PRIM1) is responsible for synthesizing small RNA primers for Okazaki fragments generated during discontinuous DNA replication. PRIM1 mRNA expression levels in breast tumor samples were detected by real‐time PCR analysis. Xenografted tumor model was established to study the carcinogenic role of PRIM1 and its potential therapeutic applications. The average PRIM1 mRNA (copy number × 103/μg) expression was 4.7‐fold higher in tumors than in normal tissue (*p = 0.005, n = 254). PRIM1 was detected preferentially at a higher level (>40‐fold) in poorly differentiated tumor tissues (n = 46) compared with more highly differentiated tumors tissues (n = 10) (*p = 0.005). Poor overall survival rate was correlated to the estrogen receptor positive (ER+, n = 20) patients with higher PRIM1 expression when compare to the ER− (n = 10) patients (Chi Square test, p = 0.03). Stable expression of PRIM1‐siRNA in the ER+ BT‐474 cells‐xenograft tumors significantly reduced tumor volume in SCID mice (*p = 0.005). The anti‐tumoral effects of inotilone isolated from Phellinus linteus was tested and had significant effects on the inhibition of PRIM1 protein expression in ER+ breast cancer cells. In vivo study was performed by administering inotilone (10 mg/kg, twice a week for 6 weeks), which resulted in significantly reduced BT‐474‐xenografted tumor growth volume compared with control (n =5 per group, *p < 0.05). This study provides evidences for the prognostic effects of PRIM1 with poor overall survival rate in the ER+ patients and will be valuable to test for therapeutic purpose. What's new? Breast cancer formation is a gradual process that arises due to uncontrolled DNA replication in the initial stages. Here the authors find that PRIM1, the smallest subunit of the DNA primase complex responsible for synthesizing small RNA primers during DNA replication, was upregulated in breast cancer samples as compared to healthy tissue. PRIM1 levels negatively correlated with survival in women with estrogen‐positive breast cancer, indicating potential prognostic value of measuring PRIM1 levels in future clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations have recently been identified as an important prognostic factor in thyroid cancer. Studies suggest that TERT may have noncanonical functions beyond telomere maintenance. Methods: Clinicopathological information and transcriptome data for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for potential confounding variables between the TERT promoter wild‐type group and the mutant group. Gene expression data of 36 patients in the mutant group were systemically compared to those of 72 patients in the wild‐type group. Results: Tumors with TERT promoter mutations had a higher TERT expression. Pathways central to DNA damage responses and cell cycle regulation were significantly enriched among 888 upregulated genes. Transporter and metabolic activities were overrepresented among 799 downregulated genes. There was no difference in the expression of most of the thyroid differentiation genes. Conclusion: The TERT promoter mutations were associated with proliferative and metabolic alterations in PTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Robust parameter design is an effective methodology for reducing variance and improving the quality of a product and a process. Recent work has mainly concentrated on two‐level robust parameter designs. We consider general robust parameter designs with factors having two or more or mixed levels these levels being either qualitative or quantitative. We propose a methodology and develop a generalised minimum aberration optimality criterion for selecting optimal robust parameter designs. A catalogue of 18‐run optimal designs is constructed and tabulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been deployed in various commercial, scientific, and military applications for surveillance and critical data collection. A serious threat to sensor nodes is malicious code injection attack that results in fake data delivery or private data disclosure. Memory attestation used for verifying the integrity of a device's firmware is a promising solution for detecting an infected sensor node; particularly, low‐cost software‐based schemes are suitable for protecting resource‐constrained sensor nodes. However, a software‐based attestation usually requires some additional mechanisms for providing reliable integrity evidence when the sensor nodes communicate with the verifier through a multihop setting. Alternative hardware‐based attestation (e.g. trusted platform module) ensures a reliable integrity measurement that, however, is impractical for certain WSN applications primarily because of the high computational overhead and high hardware cost. The authors propose a lightweight hardware‐based memory attestation scheme against the malicious code injection attack, and the proposed scheme employs a lightweight tamper‐resistant hardware security module, which is free from any complicated cryptographic computation and is particularly suitable for low‐cost sensor nodes. In addition, experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed scheme are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to storage conditions and material's non‐planar shape, geometric distortion of the two‐dimensional content is widely present in scanned document images. Effective geometric restoration of these distorted document images considerably increases character recognition rate in large‐scale digitisation. For large‐scale digitisation of historical books, geometric restoration solutions expect to be accurate, generic, robust, unsupervised and reversible. However, most methods in the literature concentrate on improving restoration accuracy for specific distortion effect, but not their applicability in large‐scale digitisation. This study proposes an effective mesh based geometric restoration system (GRLSD) for large‐scale distorted historical document digitisation. In this system, an automatic mesh generation based dewarping tool is proposed to geometrically model and correct arbitrary warping historical documents. An XML‐based mesh recorder is proposed to record the mesh of distortion information for reversible use. A graphic user interface (GUI) toolkit is designed to visually display and manually manipulate the mesh for improving geometric restoration accuracy. Experimental results show that the proposed automatic dewarping approach efficiently corrects arbitrarily warped historical documents, with an improved performance over several state‐of‐the‐art geometric restoration methods. By using XML mesh recorder and GUI toolkit, the GRLSD system greatly aids users to flexibly monitor and correct ambiguous points of mesh for the prevention of damaging historical document images without distortions in large‐scale digitalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on exploring the role of the additional hydrogen bond donor moiety-containing polymer poly(acrylic acid) ( PAA) in the hydrogen bonds and properties of polybenzoxazines. Thorough studies showed that PAA could not only decrease the curing temperature of benzoxazine resin, but also give additional hydrogen bond donors that were beneficial to the hydrogen bonding interactions and performances of polybenzoxazine/ PAA blends. As the hydrogen bonds varied, the glass transition temperature and tensile modulus of the polymer blends changed in accordance with the hydrogen bonds. The results revealed that the introduction of the hydrogen bond donor moiety-containing polymer was beneficial for hydrogen bonding interactions, which could improve the performances of polybenzoxazines. This novel insight is anticipated to be of help to researchers in the development of more polybenzoxazines and polybenzoxazine blends with enhanced properties. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides new evidence on a long postulated mechanism of phase separation in a polymer/fullerene mixture during spin coating for controlled nanodomains of oriented crystallization and heterojunctions that favor applications in polymer solar cells (PSCs). The simultaneous nanoscale phase separation and crystallization during spin coating of the mixture are traced using in situ grazing-incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering. Combined with the complimentary results from time-resolved optical reflectance spectroscopy, transient stratification of the liquid film during the transition from the flow- to evaporation-dominated stage of spin coating is disclosed; the vertical liquid-liquid phase separation incubates a supersaturated skin layer where fullerene aggregation and polymer crystallization occur and develop concomitantly. Shortly after the transition, the near-surface structural development is largely pinned, leaving the solvent-rich bottom layer to diminish via solvent diffusion and evaporation through the thickened skin layer that finally condenses into the spin-coated film upon solvent depletion. The shear-enhanced surface layering and supersaturation for the surface-down nanostructural development are unexpected in all the existing structural models for PSCs. The mechanistic understanding of coupled vertical phase separation and local nanosegregation provides new insights and alternative strategy to the morphology control of spin-cast PSC active layers in particular and various solution-processed polymeric films in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that many industrial experiments have split-plot structures. Compared to completely randomised experiments, split-plot designs are more economical and thus have received much attention among researchers. Much work has been done for two-level split-plot designs. In this article, we consider split-plot designs with factors of three, more than three, or mixed levels and with both qualitative and quantitative factors. We show that if two designs with both qualitative and quantitative factors are geometrically isomorphic, then their generalised wordlength patterns are identical. Three design scenarios are considered for optimal designs. The corresponding wordlength patterns are defined and the minimum aberration mixed-level split-plot designs having 18 and 36 runs are tabulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Intravenous lidocaine infusion has been shown to reduce postoperative pain among patients undergoing abdominal surgery. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of perioperative lidocaine administration in breast surgery. Methods A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing lidocaine infusion vs. placebo/routine treatment was performed. Standardized mean difference ( SMD) or risk ratio ( RR) with 95% confidence intervals ( CIs) was calculated from pooled data. Random-effects models were used, and heterogeneity was assessed. Results A total of 4 reports (3 primary studies and 1 extension) with 84 patients randomized to the lidocaine group and 83 patients randomized to the control group were included. There was no difference in pain scores at rest or during activity between the 2 groups from postoperative 2 hours to 3 days. At postoperative 72 hours, the lidocaine group had fewer analgesics consumed ( SMD, −0.479; 95% CI, −0.914 to −0.043; P = 0.031). Chronic pain was assessed 3 to 6 months after breast surgery in 51 patients of the lidocaine group and 46 patients of the control group. Patients in the lidocaine group had significantly lower risk for the development of chronic pain ( RR, 0.332; 95% CI, 0.141 to 0.781; P = 0.012). Conclusion The results indicate no significant benefits of intravenous lidocaine infusion in terms of acute postoperative pain. Although lidocaine seems to attenuate the risk of chronic pain after breast surgery, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that lidocaine infusion is of proved benefit because the results were based on a limited number of small trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutaneous wounds are prompt to be contaminated by bacteria, but the clinical benefits of applying antibiotics and antiseptics in wound management have not been proven. Statins are 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A ( HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors commonly used to lower cholesterol levels. Studies indicated that statins, especially simvastatin, promote wound healing in experimental models. As Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important microorganism responsible for wound infections, the aims of this study were to characterise the anti-staphylococcal activity of simvastatin and to evaluate the application of simvastatin as a topical therapy for S. aureus-contaminated wounds. In the present study, simvastatin was bacteriostatic against S. aureus at sub-inhibitory concentrations up to 8 hours after exposure. Further increased concentrations of simvastatin above the minimal inhibitory concentration ( MIC) did not enhance the growth inhibitory effect. By contrast, the ability of simvastatin to inhibit S. aureus biofilm formation was concentration dependent. Topical application of simvastatin at its MIC against S. aureus accelerated the healing and bacterial clearance of S. aureus-contaminated wounds in an excisional mice wound model. This effective concentration is well below the safe concentration for topical use. Collectively, topical application of simvastatin has the potential as a novel modality for managing wound infections and promoting wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Increasing evidence suggests that olfactory impairment is associated with an increased risk of conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease. This study was to explore how olfactory identification relates to white matter (WM) integrity, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in individuals with amnestic MCI. DTI was performed from nineteen individuals with amnestic MCI (mean age: 69.95 ± 8.20 years). Olfactory identification was assessed using the Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test (CC-SIT), a widely used test for odor identification involving a scratch and sniff test of 12 micro-encapsulated odorants. Cross-sectional voxel-wise analyses of relationships between CC-SIT scores and DTI indices were performed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics. Higher CC-SIT scores were associated with lower mean, axial and radial diffusivities in areas such as the body and splenium of corpus callosum, frontal WM (lateral orbitofrontal, caudal middle frontal, precentral, left superior frontal, and right pars opercularis), right superior longitudinal fasciculus, anterior and superior corona radiata, and internal and external capsules, while CC-SIT scores were not significantly associated with fractional anisotropy across all MCI participants. In individuals with amnestic MCI, impaired olfactory identification is associated with alterations in WM integrity expressed as a lower diffusivities value. This cross-sectional preliminary study suggests that olfactory impairment contributes to WM microstructural alterations in individuals with amnestic MCI. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 26, 270-276, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popular use of wearable devices and mobile phones makes the effective capture of life‐logging physical activity (PA) data in an Internet of Things (IoT) environment possible. The effective collection of measures of PA in the long term is beneficial to interdisciplinary healthcare research and collaboration from clinicians, researchers and patients. However, due to heterogeneity of connected devices and rapid change of diverse life patterns in an IoT environment, life‐logging PA information captured by mobile devices usually contains much uncertainty. In this study, the authors project the distribution of irregular uncertainty by defining a walking speed related score named as daily activity in physical space and present an ellipse‐fitting model‐based validity improvement method for reducing uncertainties of life‐logging PA measures in an IoT environment. The experimental results reflect that the proposed method remarkably improves the validity of PA measures in a healthcare platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The support vector machine (SVM) is a supervised learning algorithm used for recognizing patterns in data. It is a very popular technique in machine learning and has been successfully used in applications such as image classification, protein classification, and handwriting recognition. However, the computational complexity of the kernelized version of the algorithm grows quadratically with the number of training examples. To tackle this high computational complexity, we have developed a directive-based approach that converts a gradient-ascent based training algorithm for the CPU to an efficient graphics processing unit (GPU) implementation. We compare our GPU-based SVM training algorithm to the standard LibSVM CPU implementation, a highly optimized GPU-LibSVM implementation, as well as to a directive-based OpenACC implementation. The results on different handwritten digit classification datasets demonstrate an important speed-up for the current approach when compared to the CPU and OpenACC versions. Furthermore, our solution is almost as fast and sometimes even faster than the highly optimized CUBLAS-based GPU-LibSVM implementation, without sacrificing the algorithm's accuracy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel plasticizers derived from cardanol, a well-known renewable organic resource as the main by-product of the cashew industry, have been synthesized and characterized. These cardanol-based plasticizers can greatly decrease the glass transition temperature of poly(vinyl chloride); furthermore, these plasticizers exhibit excellent migration stability and good biodegradability. We believe these may help researchers solve the environmental problems caused by cardanol, and to design and explore novel promising environmentally sustainable cardanol-based plasticizers with excellent properties. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To evaluate changes in thiazolidinedione use and quality of prescription following safety warnings for thiazolidinediones and cardiac risk in 2007, Risk Management Plan (RMP) policy for rosiglitazone in 2010, and warning for pioglitazone and bladder cancer risk in 2010 in Taiwan. Methods We obtained 2003-2011 claims data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Using an interrupted time series design and segmented regression, we estimated changes in monthly prescribing rates for thiazolidinediones among all and prevalent diabetes patients with and without cardiovascular disease history (CV history). We also compared time to prescription of thiazolidinediones among new diabetes patients with CV history before and after each regulatory action using survival analysis. Results Among prevalent patients with and without CV history, the prescribing rates of rosiglitazone decreased 36.88% and 28.92% after safety warnings in 2007 respectively. Pioglitazone prescriptions increased 13% among patients with CV history, but no changes were detected among patients without CV history. After rosiglitazone's RMP policy in 2010, large reductions in prescriptions were observed in patients with CV history (−101.67%) and those without CV history (−88.04%). Among new diabetes patients with CV history, cardiac safety warnings in 2007 significantly delayed the prescription of rosiglitazone, but no significant change was found for pioglitazone. Conclusions The Taiwan FDA regulatory actions for thiazolidinediones communicated possible risks of cardiac events and bladder cancer. Different safety regulatory actions had differential impacts on the use of rosiglitazone and pioglitazone and the quality use of these drugs among the high-risk patients. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stretchable-rubber-based (SR-based) triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is developed that can not only harvest energy but also serve as self-powered multifunctional sensors. It consists of a layer of elastic rubber and a layer of aluminum film that acts as the electrode. By stretching and releasing the rubber, the changes of triboelectric charge distribution/density on the rubber surface relative to the aluminum surface induce alterations to the electrical potential of the aluminum electrode, leading to an alternating charge flow between the aluminum electrode and the ground. The unique working principle of the SR-based TENG is verified by the coupling of numerical calculations and experimental measurements. A comprehensive study is carried out to investigate the factors that may influence the output performance of the SR-based TENG. By integrating the devices into a sensor system, it is capable of detecting movements in different directions. Moreover, the SR-based TENG can be attached to a human body to detect diaphragm breathing and joint motion. This work largely expands the applications of TENG not only as effective power sources but also as active sensors; and opens up a new prospect in future electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background An evaluation of the usefulness of target delineation based only on the two extreme phases of a four-dimensional computed tomography (4 D CT) scan in lung stereotactic body radiation therapy ( SBRT). Methods Seventeen patients treated with SBRT via 4 D CT scans for lung cancer were retrospectively enrolled. Volumetric and geometric analyses were performed for the internal target volumes ( ITVs) and planning target volumes ( PTVs) generated using different respiratory phases (all phases and 2 extreme phases) and setup margins (3 mm and 5 mm). Results As the setup margins were added to the ITVs, the overlap percentage between the PTVs based on all phases and the two extreme phases increased (85.1% for ITVs, 89.8% for PTVs_3 mm, and 91.3% for PTVs_5 mm), and there were no differences according to the tumor parameters, such as the gross tumor volume and 3 D mobility. The missing-volume differences for ITVs derived from cone-beam CT images also decreased, with values of 5.3% between ITVs, 0.5% between PTVs_3 mm, and 0.2% between PTVs_5 mm. Compared with the plan based on all phases and a 3 mm margin, the average lung-dose differences found for the PTV based on the two extreme phases and a 5 mm margin were 0.41 Gy for the mean lung dose and 0.93% for V20. Conclusions Regardless of tumor characteristics, PTV construction based only on the two extreme phases and a 5 mm setup margin may be a useful tool for reducing the clinical workload involved in target delineation in SBRT for lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the brittleness of polybenzoxazine and decrease its high curing temperature, sulfonated polysulfone/polysulfone/benzoxazine ternary blends were prepared, and their curing behaviors, phase structures and properties were probed. Sulfonated polysulfone ( SPSU) was synthesized firstly, and then SPSU was applied to modify 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl methane based benzoxazine ( BZ-m) along with polysulfone. The results obtained from differential scanning calorimetry showed that the addition of SPSU efficiently decreased the curing temperature of BZ-m, and furthermore affected the phase structures of SPSU/ PSU/ PBZ-m blends. The phase structures of the corresponding blends were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and dynamic mechanical analysis to probe the relationship between the microstructures and mechanical properties. According to the results, the blends presented complicated phase structures and exhibited good comprehensive mechanical properties. Moreover, all the blends displayed good thermal stability and the blends with SPSU-PBZ-m core − shell particles and a phase inversion structure exhibited the highest comprehensive mechanical properties. We believe these blends can meet the requirement of applications relating to high strength and good toughness matrix for fiber reinforced composites. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article reports on studies regarding the photoisomerization kinetics and self-assembly behaviors of two photoresponsive diblock copolymers, poly(4-acetoxystyrene)- block-poly[6-(4-methoxy-azobenzene-4′-oxy) hexyl acrylate] (poly(StO54- b-Cazo9) and poly(StO54- b-Cazo5)), which dissolved in a THF/H2O solution through two-step reverse addition-fragmentation transfer polymerization. We examined the effect of heating methods (i.e., conventional and microwave heating) on the polymerization kinetics of a 4-acetoxystyrene-based macrochain transfer agent (StO macro-CTA). The kinetics studies on the homopolymerization of StO by using microwave heating demonstrated controllable characteristics with relatively narrow polydispersities at ∼1.14. The diblock copolymers exhibited moderate thermal stability, with thermal decomposition temperatures greater than 343.3 °C, suggesting that the enhancement of the thermal stability was due to the incorporation of azobenzene segments into block copolymers. Poly(StO54- b-Cazo9) showed lower photoisomerization rate constants ( kt = 0.039 s−1) compared with Cazo monomer ( kt = 0.097 s−1). Micellar aggregates with a mean diameter of approximately 238.3 nm were formed by gradually adding water to the THF solution (water content = 10 vol %), and are shown in SEM and TEM images of the diblock copolymer. The results of this study contribute to the literature regarding the development of photoresponsive polymer materials. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 3107-3117 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improvement in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and performance of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/[6,6]-phenyl-C61butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) solar cells are reported by using dithiafulvalene (DTF)-based conjugated oligomers ((poly[2-(9H-fluoren-9-ylidene)-4,5-bis(hexylthio)-1,3-dithiole-ran-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PTBT) and poly[2,7-(9,9-dihexyl­fluorene)- ran-(2-(9H-fluoren-9-ylidene)-4,5-bis(hexylthio)-1,3dithiole]- ran-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PFTBT)) that contain a DTF unit, which serves as an electron-rich donor, and a benzothiadiazole group, which serves as an electron-deficient acceptor in the main chain. A P3HT/PCBM device with 5 wt% PTBT exhibits an efficiency of up to 1.78%, which is higher than that of a device composed only of a P3HT/PCBM blend (1.01%). Introducing 2 wt% PTBT into the P3HT/PCBM blend substantially increases the charge-carrier mobility from 2.01 × 10−4 to 4.59 × 10−4 cm2 V−1s−1. The improvement of the PCE is attributed to improved charge transport in the device and an increased open-circuit voltage, suggesting that blending PTBT increases the intermolecular interaction of the molecules. In addition, doping the oligomer in ambient atmospheric conditions enhances the stability of these devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on seven new dyes are disclosed. Herein, the synthesis and electrochemical and photophysical properties of a series of intentionally designed dipolar organic dyes and their application in DSSCs are reported. The molecular structures of the seven organic dyes are composed of a triphenylamine group as an electron donor, a cyanoacrylic acid as an electron acceptor, and an electron-deficient diphenylquinoxaline moiety integrated in the π-conjugated spacer between the electron donor and acceptor moieties. The DSSCs based on the dye DJ104 gave the best overall cell performance of 8.06 %; the efficiency of the DSSC based on the standard N719 dye under the same experimental conditions was 8.82 %. The spectral coverage of incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies extends to the onset at the near-infrared region due to strong internal charge-transfer transition as well as the effect of electron-deficient diphenylquinoxaline to lower the energy gap in these organic dyes. A combined tetraphenyl segment as a hydrophobic barrier in these organic dyes effectively slows down the charge recombination from TiO2 to the electrolyte and boosts the photovoltage, comparable to their RuII counterparts. Detailed spectroscopic studies have revealed the dye structure-cell performance correlations, to allow future design of efficient light-harvesting organic dyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve high localisation accuracy and precision is a fundamental requirement of passive radio‐frequency identification (RFID) location systems. Current passive RFID location systems mostly deploy a dense RFID tag distribution to give initial localisation accuracy and use advanced localisation algorithms to extract the reliable features for enhancing localisation precision. High quality features are capable of significantly improving precision of passive RFID localisation systems, but it is hardly achieved in practice because of the environmental noise interference and the variety of tag behaviours. A localisation approach by using moving direction estimation to improve the quality of extracted features is proposed for enhancing localisation precision of passive RFID location systems. This approach relies on a general distribution of false‐reading occurring probability function derived from experimental measurements. A feature adjustment scheme is introduced to correct these features regarding the estimation of moving direction of object. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed localisation approach with feature improvement achieves higher precision for the state‐of‐the art deterministic localisation algorithm (Han et al. 2007) in passive RFID location systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of aromatic cores and spacer lengths of chromophore structures on photoreactivity and mesomorphic properties of a series of azobenzene- and stilbene-based chromophores bearing electron-withdrawing (NO2) terminal groups caused by esterification reactions. The chromophores were composed of liquid crystalline mesophases with six or 11 methylene segments as spacers and with azobenzene (NN) and stilbene (CC) aromatic cores. The target compounds were further characterised using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, polarising optical microscopy, absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopies. All of the azobenzene and stilbene derivatives with six or 11 methylene segments showed enantiotropic mesophases and revealed chiral nematic phases (cholesteric, exhibiting oily streaks textures). S6 and S11 with stilbene cores showed broader phase transition temperature ranges than A6 and A11 with azobenzene cores because of the molecular interaction enhancement of the planar stilbene structure. We investigated the effects of these photochromic compounds' structures on E/Z photoisomerisation under UV irradiation. UV irradiation caused E/Z photoisomerisation at NN and CC segments of the chromophores, leading to reversible and irreversible isomerisation respectively. These synthesised chromophores with functionally photoisomerised groups might have potential application for photoinduced alignments in liquid crystal industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of OsII sensitizers ( TFOS- x, in which x=1, 2, or 3) with a single 4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-dipyridine (H2dcbpy) anchor and two chelating 2-pyridyl (or 2-pyrimidyl) triazolate ancillaries was successfully prepared. Single-crystal X-ray structural analysis showed that the core geometry of the OsII-based sensitizers consisted of one H2dcbpy unit and two eclipsed cis-triazolate fragments; this was notably different from the RuII-based counterparts, in which the azolate (both pyrazolate and triazolate) fragments are located at the mutual trans-positions. The basic properties were extensively probed by using spectroscopic and electrochemical methods as well as time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. Fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) was then attempted by using the I−/I3−-based electrolyte solution. One such DSC device, which utilized TFOS-2 as the sensitizer, showed promising performance characteristics with a short-circuit current density ( JSC) of 15.7 mA cm−2, an open-circuit voltage of 610 mV, a fill factor of 0.63, and a power conversion efficiency of 6.08 % under AM 1.5G simulated one-sun irradiation. Importantly, adequate incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency performances were observed for all TFOS derivatives over the wide spectral region of 450 to 950 nm, showing a panchromatic light harvesting capability that extended into the near-infrared regime. Our results underlined a feasible strategy for maximizing JSC and increasing the efficiency of DSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes a novel LC lens to achieve an autostereoscopic 2D/3D display. The optimized design parameters of the LC lens are derived by a new theoretical analysis. Based on the experimental results, the LC lens demonstrates high focus-tunable capability, the particular lens performance, and most notably without inducing disclination line during operating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to use molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to study the influence of hydrogen bonding on the structure and glass transition temperature ( Tg) of maleimide-isobutene alternating copolymers (poly(RMI- alt-IB)), a promising material used in the optoelectronics industry. The Tg obtained by MD simulation shows that the incorporation of hydrogen bonding increased the Tg for 48 K. The static and dynamic properties of poly(RMI- alt-IB)s are examined in this study. All the results prove that intermolecular CO...HO is the main hydrogen bond in the copolymers, while negligible intramolecular hydrogen bonding is observed. The segmental mobility and chain mobility are decreased because of the existance of the hydrogen bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used Stille coupling polymerization to synthesize a series of new low-band gap-conjugated polymers- PCyTBO, PCySiTBO, and PCyNTBO-comprising mainly electron-rich C-, Si-, and N-bridged dithiophene units in conjugation with electron-deficient alkoxy-modified 2,1,3-benzooxadiazole moieties. The highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels of these polymers become higher as the electron-donating ability of C-, Si-, or N-bridged dithiophene units increases. These polymers also displayed excellent thermal stability and broad spectral absorptions, with PCySiTBO revealing some crystallinity. As a result, the photovoltaic device incorporating the PCySiTBO/PC71BM (1:1) blend system and 1,8-diiodooctane (2 vol %) as an additive exhibited excellent performance, under AM 1.5 G irradiation (100 mW cm−2), with a value of Voc of 0.64 V, a short-circuit current density of 13.8 mA cm−2, a fill factor of 0.57, and a promising power conversion efficiency of 5.0%. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]