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Background: 99mTc bone scintigraphy (BS) is the mainstay and most widely used technique in evaluation of bone metastasis (BM) in China. This study aimed to investigate the value of 99mTc BS in preoperative workup for patients with potentially resectable (cT1−4aN0−3) esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: This prospective cross‐section clinical trial (ChiCTR1800020304) enrolled a total of 385 patients with ESCC diagnosed at thoracic surgery clinic from October 2018 to September 2020. All patients were diagnosed with stage cT1−4aN0−3 and were potential candidates for surgical resection. BS was performed preoperatively and the treatment strategy was changed after confirmation of BM. The primary endpoint was the rate of change of the treatment regimen because of BM, while the secondary endpoint was the rate of positive BS findings. Results: Out of the 385 patients, only two (0.5%) changed their treatment regimen because of BM. The rate of positive BS findings was 1%, while two patients (0.5%) had false‐positive or false‐negative results. The BS diagnostic performance for BM was sensitivity 50%, specificity 99.5%, positive predictive value 50%, negative predictive value 99.5%, and accuracy 99.0%. There was no significant difference in BM in relation to age, sex, tumor location or clinical stage. Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that 99mTc bone scintigraphy does not significantly affect the preoperative workup in patients with potentially resectable ESCC, especially in early clinical stage patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI), and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score were devised for quantifying nutritional risk. This study evaluated their properties in detecting compromised nutrition and guiding perioperative management of esophageal cancer patients. Methods: A prospective institutional database of esophageal cancer patients was reviewed and analyzed. Compromised nutritional status was defined as PNI < 50, NRI < 97.5, GNRI < 92, or CONUT score ≥ 4, respectively. The malnutrition diagnosis consensus established by the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN 2015) was selected as reference. Multivariable logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were used. External validation was conducted. Results: After reviewing the 212-patient database, 192 patients were finally included. Among the four nutritional indexes, the GNRI < 92 showed highest sensitivity (72.0%), specificity (78.9%), and consistency (AUC 0.754, 95% CI 0.672–0.836) with malnutrition diagnosed by ESPEN 2015. The GNRI < 92 showed comparable performance with ESPEN 2015 in recognizing decreased fat mass, fat-free mass, and skeletal muscle mass (all P < 0.01). Both the GNRI < 92 and ESPEN 2015 showed good property in predicting major complications, infectious complications, overall complications and delayed hospital discharge (all P < 0.01), better than PNI < 50, NRI < 97.5, and CONUT score ≥ 4. Regarding the external validation, a retrospective analysis of 155 esophageal cancer patients confirmed the better performance of GNRI < 92 in predicting perioperative morbidities than other 3 nutritional indexes. Conclusion: The GNRI was optimal in perioperative management of esophageal cancer patients among the four nutritional indexes and was an appropriate alternative to ESPEN 2015 for simplifying nutritional assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The morphology of the active layer of a bulk heterojunction solar cell, made of a blend of an electron‐donating polymer and an electron‐accepting fullerene derivative, is known to play a determining role in device performance. Here, a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and long‐range corrected density functional theory calculations is used to elucidate the molecular‐scale effects that even minor structural changes to the polymer backbone can have on the “local” morphology; this study focuses on the extent of polymer–fullerene mixing, on their packing, and on the characteristics of the fullerene–fullerene connecting network in the mixed regions, aspects that are difficult to access experimentally. Three representative polymer donors are investigated: (i) poly[(5,6‐difluoro‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazol‐4,7‐diyl)‐alt‐(3,3′″‐di(2‐octyldodecyl)‐2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2′″‐quaterthiophen‐5,5′″‐diyl)] (PffBT4T‐2OD); (ii) poly[(2,1,3‐benzothiadiazol‐4,7‐diyl)‐alt‐(3,3′″‐di(2‐octyldodecyl)‐2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2′″‐quaterthiophen‐5,5′″‐diyl)] (PBT4T‐2OD), where the fluorine atoms in the benzothiadiazole moieties of PffBT4T‐2OD are replaced with hydrogen atoms; and (iii) poly[(2,2′‐bithiophene)‐alt‐(4,7‐bis((2‐decyltetradecyl)thiophen‐2‐yl)‐5,6‐difluoro‐2‐propyl‐2H‐benzo[d][1,2,3]triazole)] (PT2‐FTAZ), where the sulfur atoms in the benzothiadiazole moieties of PffBT4T‐2OD are replaced with nitrogen atoms carrying a linear C3H7 side‐chain; these polymers are mixed with the phenyl‐C71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) acceptor. This study also discusses the nature of the charge‐transfer electronic states appearing at the donor–acceptor interfaces, the electronic couplings relevant for the charge‐recombination process, and the electron‐transfer features between neighboring PC71BM molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The large voltage losses usually encountered in organic solar cells significantly limit the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of these devices, with the result that the current highest PCE values in single‐junction organic photovoltaic remain smaller than for other solar cell technologies, such as crystalline silicon or perovskite solar cells. In particular, the nonradiative recombinations to the electronic ground state from the lowest‐energy charge‐transfer (CT) states at the donor–acceptor interfaces in the active layer of organic devices, are responsible for a significant part of the voltage losses. Here, to better comprehend the nonradiative voltage loss mechanisms, a fully quantum‐mechanical rate formula is employed within the framework of time‐dependent perturbation theory, combined with density functional theory. The objective is to uncover the specific contributions of intramolecular vibrations to the CT‐state nonradiative recombinations in several model systems, which include small‐molecule and polymer donors as well as fullerene and nonfullerene acceptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the most efficient solar cells based on blends of a conjugated polymer (electron donor) and a fullerene derivative (electron acceptor),ultrafast formation of charge-transfer (CT) electronic states at the donor-acceptor interfaces and efficient separation of these CT states into free charges, lead to internal quantum efficiencies near 100%. However, there occur substantial energy losses due to the non-radiative recombinations of the charges, mediated by the loweset-energy (singlet and triplet) CT states; for example, such recombinations can lead to the formation of triplet excited electronic states on the polymer chains, which do not generate free charges. This issue remains a major factor limiting the power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of these devices. The recombination rates are, however, difficult to quantify experimentally. To shed light on these issues, here, an integrated multi-scale theoretical approach that combines molecular dynamics simulations with quantum chemistry calculations is employed in order to establish the relationships among chemical structures, molecular packing, and non-radiative recombination losses mediated by the lowest-energy charge-transfer states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In organic solar cells, a major source of energy loss is attributed to nonradiative recombination from the interfacial charge transfer states to the ground state. By taking pentacene–C60 complexes as model donor–acceptor systems, a comprehensive theoretical understanding of how molecular packing and charge delocalization impact these nonradiative recombination rates at donor–acceptor interfaces is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigoids have received much attention as the candidates of sustainable ambipolar organic semiconductor. However, the low charge carrier mobilities extremely limit their practical applications. Therefore, in-depth understanding of their electronic-structure properties and rational molecular modifications are urgently required. Here, we propose a promising strategy to design ambipolar organic semiconductors based on indigo fragments. Moreover, we predicted the organic crystal structures by evolutionary algorithm combined with DFT-D method. Charge transport properties have been significantly improved for the designed molecules, such as narrower energy gaps, higher electron affinity, larger transfer integrals as well as much smaller reorganization energies for hole and electron. Thusly, remarkable ambipolar charge transport behavior has been predicted, for example, the charge carrier mobilities are up to μ h / μ e = 7.71/5.42 cm 2 V −1 s −1 for NN-indigo-6,6′-2CN and μ h / μ e = 5.15/2.13 cm 2 V −1 s −1 for C 9 -NN-indigo-6,6′-2CN respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to elucidate the mechanism of the dehydrogenative oxidation of various primary alcohols (or α-hydroxy carboxylic acids) and the dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols with ammonia catalysed by the same water-soluble Cp*Ir complex bearing a 2-pyridonate-based ligand (A–Ir). Another two new catalystsA–RhandA–Osare computationally designed for the dehydrogenative oxidation of alcohols. The plausible pathway for alcohol dehydrogenation includes three steps: alcohol oxidation to aldehyde (step I); the generation of dihydrogen in the metal coordination sphere (step II); and the liberation of dihydrogen accompanied with the regeneration of active catalystA(step III). Among them, the step I follows bifunctional concerted double hydrogen transfer mechanism rather than the β-H elimination. For step II, the energy barriers involving the addition of one or two water molecules are higher than in absence of water. Our results also confirm thatA–Ircan be applied in the dehydrogenation of various α-hydroxy carboxylic acids by the similar mechanism. Remarkably,A–Iris also found to be efficient for the coupling reactions of various primary benzyl alcohols with ammonia to afford amides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing efficient dehydrogenation is critical to understanding organic hydride hydrogen storage. The catalytic mechanism of the pH-dependent acceptorless-alcohol-dehydrogenation in aqueous solution catalyzed by a novel [C,N] cyclometalated Cp*Ir-complex, [IrIII(Cp*)-(4-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN2)benzoic acid-κC3)(H2O)]2SO4, has been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) with the M06 dispersion-corrected functional. Using water as the solvent with liberation of dihydrogen represents a safe and clean process for such oxidations. The overall catalytic cycle has been fully characterized. The pre-catalyst AIr first reacts with the ethanol in basic solution to generate an active hydride complex DIrvia an inner-sphere mechanism, involving the hemi-decoordination of [C,N] ligand followed by the β-H elimination. Subsequently, the complex DIr interacts with the protons in acid solution to generate H2 molecules, which is a downhill process nearly without an energy barrier. The present theoretical results have shown that both the hydroxyl in basic solution and the proton in acidic solution play a crucial role in promoting the whole catalytic cycle. Therefore, our results theoretically demonstrated a significant dependence of the reaction system studied on pH value. The present study also predicts that the FIr (at the first triplet excited state, T1) formed from DIr under laser excitation can catalyze the dehydrogenation of ethanol. Remarkably, the replacement of Ir by Ru may yield an efficient catalyst in the present system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The charge transport properties in a series of five-ring-fused thienoacenes are detailedly investigated here. With both high 3-D hole mobilities and good oxidative stability, the thiophene–benzene alternate structures in series B should be better than other two series as p-type organic semiconductors. In addition, a theoretical explanation for the difference between experimental hole mobilities in B-3 and B-3* is provided based on crystal structure prediction. The role of dynamic disorder in C-3 is also investigated here and the results indicate that dynamic disorder plays a crucial role both in the 1-D and 2-D carrier transporting process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A family of N-heteropentacenes acted as promising candidates for organic semiconductor materials is of immense interest. It should be attributed to the following reasons that (1) the positions, numbers and valence-states of N atom in N-heteropentacenes can effectively tune their electronic structure, stability, solubility, and molecular stacking; (2) diverse intermolecular interaction and π-stacking motifs appear in their crystals. The effect of the position and number of the 6-π-pyrazine on their structures and charge-transport properties has been systematically investigated in our previous work (J. Phys. Chem. C 115 (2011) 21416). Therefore, in this work, the study on the role of 8-π-dihydropyrazine with another valence-state N atoms is our focus. Density functional theory, Marcus electron transfer theory and Brownian diffusion assumption coupled with kinetic Monte-Carlo simulation are applied into this investigation. Our theoretical results indicate that in contrast with pyrazine, dihydropyrazine introduced is more helpful for promoting p-type organic semiconductor materials. For molecule 4, hole mobility of its single crystal theoretically reach 0.71cm2 V−1 s−1, and coupled with its fine hole-injection ability, it should be a promising candidate for p-type organic semiconductor materials. Although the lowest triplet-state energies of the molecules studied are very small, introduction of dihydropyrazine is very helpful for increasing the energies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The geometries and photoelectric properties of pyrene-functional fluorene derivatives are investigated by detailed quantum-chemical methods, including density functional theory (DFT), time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and polarizable continuum model (PCM). The effects of the following factors on the properties were systemically analyzed: (1) the substituting position of the pyrene groups on the central fluorene; (2) the substitution of the central C by the heteroatoms; (3) the introduction of phenyl at the central C position. The rigid pyrene groups play a dominant role in determining their frontier molecular orbitals and reducing the reorganization energies. In these studied molecules, due to its large ⊿EST (the splitting between the lowest singlet and triplet excitation energies) and excellent and balanceable charge transport properties, DPF-2 should be a promising emission layer material. The host–guest systems composed of these emitters and rubrene are suitable for emission layer materials of white organic light-emitting devices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: By employing the Marcus electron transfer theory coupled with two-state model, the Brownian diffusion assumption and density functional theory (DFT), we have investigated the charge injection and transport properties for three types of the cyclic oligothiophenes (A, B and C in ), and their corresponding linear molecules (linear-A, linear-B and linear-C in ). By indentifying 13 distinct nearest-neighbor hopping pathways based on the crystal structures of the molecules reported (A and B), we predicted the electronic coupling matrix elements for a wide variety of charge transfer pathways using the “energy splitting in dimer” (ESD) method and their carrier mobility. The theoretical results indicate that they possess large hole carrier mobility, importantly, very outstanding properties of electron transport. The major reason should be that (1) the closed ring structure restricts the rotation of the thiophene rings in charge transfer process, (2) the introduction of the alkynyl and double bonds weakens the coulomb repulsion between lone electron pairs of sulfur atoms, the ring stain and the steric effect resulting from the butyls, more importantly, (3) their introduction stabilizes LUMO level, in result to decrease electronic organization energy (λe ) and thereby improve their ability of electron transport. The temperature dependences of the carrier mobility were theoretically investigated for molecules A and B and analyzed within the hopping mechanism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Organic photothermal materials have attracted increasing attention because of their structural diversity, flexibility, and compatibility. However, their energy conversion efficiency is limited owing to the narrow absorption spectrum, strong reflection/transmittance, and insufficient nonradiative decay. In this study, two quinoxaline‐based D–A‐D–A‐D‐type molecules with ethyl (BQE) or carboxylate (BQC) substituents were synthesized. Strong intramolecular charge transfer provided both molecules with a broad absorption range of 350–1000 nm. In addition, the high reorganization energy and weak molecular packing of BQE resulted in efficient nonradiative decay. More importantly, the self‐assembly of BQE leads to a textured surface and enhances the light‐trapping efficiency with significantly reduced light reflection/transmittance. Consequently, BQE achieved an impressive solar‐thermal conversion efficiency of 18.16 % under 1.0 kW m−2 irradiation with good photobleaching resistance. Based on this knowledge, the water evaporation rate of 1.2 kg m−2 h−1 was attained for the BQE‐based interfacial evaporation device with an efficiency of 83 % under 1.0 kW m−2 simulated sunlight. Finally, the synergetic integration of solar‐steam and thermoelectric co‐generation devices based on BQE was realized without significantly sacrificing solar‐steam efficiency. This underscores the practical applications of BQE‐based technology in effectively harnessing photothermal energy. This study provides new insights into the molecular design for enhancing light‐trapping management by molecular self‐assembly, paving the way for photothermal‐driven applications of organic photothermal materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic photothermal materials have attracted increasing attention because of their structural diversity, flexibility, and compatibility. However, their energy conversion efficiency is limited owing to the narrow absorption spectrum, strong reflection/transmittance, and insufficient nonradiative decay. In this study, two quinoxaline‐based D–A‐D–A‐D‐type molecules with ethyl (BQE) or carboxylate (BQC) substituents were synthesized. Strong intramolecular charge transfer provided both molecules with a broad absorption range of 350–1000 nm. In addition, the high reorganization energy and weak molecular packing of BQE resulted in efficient nonradiative decay. More importantly, the self‐assembly of BQE leads to a textured surface and enhances the light‐trapping efficiency with significantly reduced light reflection/transmittance. Consequently, BQE achieved an impressive solar‐thermal conversion efficiency of 18.16 % under 1.0 kW m−2 irradiation with good photobleaching resistance. Based on this knowledge, the water evaporation rate of 1.2 kg m−2 h−1 was attained for the BQE‐based interfacial evaporation device with an efficiency of 83 % under 1.0 kW m−2 simulated sunlight. Finally, the synergetic integration of solar‐steam and thermoelectric co‐generation devices based on BQE was realized without significantly sacrificing solar‐steam efficiency. This underscores the practical applications of BQE‐based technology in effectively harnessing photothermal energy. This study provides new insights into the molecular design for enhancing light‐trapping management by molecular self‐assembly, paving the way for photothermal‐driven applications of organic photothermal materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For multiple resonance (MR) type thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters, electron cloud distributions of their π‐conjugated planes are crucial for determining their eventual performance. Currently, modulation attempts of MR‐TADF emitters are mainly inside the π‐conjugated planes. Possible out‐of‐plane interactions may also significantly impact the photophysical properties, but the exploration is quite limited. Here, a novel concept of using out‐of‐plane (e.g., π–π and lone pair‐π) interactions to introduce spatial perturbation (SPPT) to improve TADF performance is proposed. Two newly developed MR‐TADF emitters, namely, o‐BNPO and BNPO, which both consist of a popular MR framework, DtBuCzB, and diphenylphosphine oxide (DPPO), are compared in depth. In particular, for o‐BNPO, evident π–π interaction is observed between one side of the DtBuCzB π‐conjugated plane and a phenyl ring from DPPO, and lone pair‐π interaction with the oxygen atom from DPPO is noticed on the other side, resulting in significantly accelerated reverse intersystem crossing and better TADF without sacrificing narrowband emission features. Ultimately, in organic light‐emitting diodes with sensitizer‐free emitting layers, both emitters achieve similar narrowband emissions, while the o‐BNPO‐based device demonstrates a much higher external quantum efficiency of 36% and milder efficiency roll‐off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic solar cells (OSCs) hold immense potential as renewable energy sources, but the performance‐stability conundrum remains a major obstacle on the road to OSC commercialization. To address this, in this study, molecular packing behaviors of representative state‐of‐the‐art Y‐series non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs) are studied, focusing on their terminal group symmetries. Utilizing grazing‐incidence wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, the distinct crystalline packing structure of these NFAs is revealed. Remarkably, NFAs with asymmetric terminals exhibited excellent additive insensitivity and thermal stability for their crystalline structure, unlike their symmetric counterparts. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the stable and robust crystalline feature of asymmetric NFAs and attributed to their large molecular dipole moments. These findings showed the great potential of asymmetric NFAs in fabricating efficient and intrinsically stable additive‐free OSC devices for real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, there is no consensus on the role of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (PORT) for resected stage IIIA/N2 non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study sought to determine which patients may be able to benefit from PORT, based on a patient prognostic score. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to identify patients diagnosed with IIIA/N2 NSCLC between 1988 and 2016 in the SEER database. Eligible patients were divided into the following two groups: PORT group and non‐PORT group. We classified patient prognostic scores as an ordinal factor and stratified patients based on prognostic scores. A Cox proportional hazards model with propensity score weighting was performed to evaluate cancer‐specific mortality (CSM) between the two groups. Results: We identified 7060 eligible patients with IIIA/N2 NSCLC, 2833 (40.1%) in the PORT group and 4227 (59.9%) in the non‐PORT group. Overall, the 10‐year CSM rate in the weighted cohorts was 70.4% in the PORT group, 72.0% in the non‐PORT group, and patients who received PORT had a lower CSM rate (p = 0.001). Compared with the non‐PORT group, significant survival improvements in the PORT group were observed in patients with higher age, grade, T stage and lymph node ratio (LNR), and without chemotherapy. The improved survival of patients receiving PORT was significantly correlated with patient prognostic scores (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In our population‐based study, the prognostic score was associated with the survival improvement offered by PORT in IIIA/N2 NSCLC, suggesting that prognostic scores and clinicopathological characteristics may be helpful in proper candidate selection for PORT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple resonance (MR) type thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters are very promising in the high‐resolution and high‐efficiency displays, due to their narrow and highly efficient optical emissions. Early MR‐TADF cores that show only short‐range charge‐transfer (CT) electronic excitations hardly afford ideal performances (e.g., show low efficiencies) in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). This work thus designs and synthesizes two MR‐TADF emitters (TCzBN‐BP and TCzBN‐FP), where the same MR core TCzBN is chemically modified by the acceptor fragments benzophenone/9‐fluorenone (BP/FP) to incorporate long‐range CT excitations in the two molecules. OLEDs exploiting TCzBN‐BP as emitter, in which short‐range CT excitation is dominant in the first singlet (S1) excited state, achieve a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 35.6% and a narrow emission bandwidth of 35 nm. In contrast, OLEDs exploiting TCzBN‐FP with an overloaded long‐range CT excitation in the S1 state exhibit a maximum EQE of 27.2% and a broadened emission bandwidth of 56 nm. This work not only shows the importance of careful management of long‐ and short‐range CT excitations, but also provides a new insight into the structure–property relationship in the MR‐TADF emitters, which thus promotes the design of more novel MR‐TADF emitters with high efficiencies and high color purity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A clear inverse relationship between efficiencies and dipole moments was found. • Three new blue molecules were designed and synthesized as proof-of-concept. • Record-high performance in non-doped blue OLEDs was achieved. • State-of-the-art performances were delivered in non-doped, doped and hyper-OLEDs. Non-doped and solution-processable deep blue emitters can greatly reduce the manufacturing cost of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, influences of parameters concerning intermolecular interactions in solid state have not yet been explored. Herein, we proposed molecular dipole moment as a pre-experimental parameter to evaluate an emitter's performance in the solid state. By extracting efficiency data of OLEDs based on blue-emitting molecules from literature and calculating the dipole moments of these molecules, we found a clear inverse relationship. Three deep blue TADF emitters with similar molecular emitting properties were designed and synthesized. The PL efficiency of their solid films and device performance was found to decrease as the molecular dipole increased. Specifically, TDBA-SPQ with the smallest dipole moments of 1.86 D delivered much better performance in both vacuum-processed and solution-processed non-doped OLEDs with record-high EQE max of 22.7% and 15.2% with CIE-y coordinates of 0.136 and 0.123, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of achieving high‐performance thermally activated delayed fluorescence, a series of trioxoazatriangulene derivatives are systematically developed by modifying the donor substituents. The emission colors are shifted from green to greenish‐yellow and to yellow with rather broad spectral widths of 70–95 nm by introducing carbazole, triphenylamine, or diphenylamine donor units, indicating that each emission originates from a charge‐transfer transition. On the other hand, the trioxoazatriangulene modified with three diphenylamines shows orange emission with a narrow emission spectrum (45 nm), suggesting that the transition mainly originates from a multiple resonance effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Culture is still the gold standard for the detection of genital mycoplasma which could cause urogenital infections in humans. Mycoplasma IST2 is a commercial kit widely used for the detection of M. hominis and Ureaplasma species. Its accuracy was partially impaired because clinical specimens are usually mixed with purulent or transparent mucus. We aimed to solve this problem through sample homogenization by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment. Methods. Twenty-two endocervical swab samples were collected from 22 female patients with suspected mycoplasma infection, while 11 of these specimens were with purulent or transparent mucus. Mycoplasma IST2 testing kit was used for mycoplasma culture and AST for the control group and NAC-treated group. Results. Genital mycoplasma was detected in 15 of 22 samples for both groups. The colony number in 6 out of 11 purulent specimens (54.5%) was more than 104 CFU/ml of genital mycoplasma for the NAC-treated group, while only one of 11 (9.1%) for the control group. For the nonpurulent specimens, no significant difference had been found in colony counting of genital mycoplasma between the control group and NAC-treated group (P > 0.05). The results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing for the NAC-treated group were highly similar to those for the control group. Conclusions. Our results demonstrate that NAC is helpful in sample homogenization and NAC treatment can improve the detection efficiency of mycoplasma with Mycoplasma IST2 testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]