Triplet Harvesting by a Fluorescent Emitter Using a Phosphorescent Sensitizer for Blue Organic-Light-Emitting Diodes

The development of highly efficient blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with good stability is currently the most important issue in OLED displays and lighting. This paper reports an efficient blue fluorescent OLED based on a deep-blue-emitting phosphorescent sensitizer [(dfpysipy)₂Ir(mpic)] and a conventional fluorescent emitter (TBPe). Efficient triplet harvesting by the fluorescent emitter occurs in the OLED because of sensitization even though the difference in the emission energy between the phosphorescent and fluorescent emissions was only 0.05 eV. These results clearly demonstrate the potential for realizing highly efficient blue fluorescent OLEDs using phosphorescent sensitizers without requiring ultraviolet-emitting phosphorescent dye.

Exosomes derived from microRNA-584 transfected mesenchymal stem cells: novel alternative therapeutic vehicles for cancer therapy

Exosomes are small membranous vesicles which contain abundant RNA molecules, and are transferred from releasing cells to uptaking cells. MicroRNA (miRNA) is one of the transferred molecules affecting the adopted cells, including glioma cells. We hypothesized that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can secrete exosomes loading miRNA and have important effects on the progress of gliomas. To determine these effects by treating exosomal miRNA in culture media of miRNA mimic transfected MSCs, we assessed the in vitro cell proliferation and invasion capabilities, and the expression level of relative proteins associated with cell apoptosis, growth and migration. For animal studies, the mice injected with U87 cells were exposed to exosomes derived from miRNA-584-5p transfected MSCs, to confirm the influence of exosomal miRNA on the progress of glioma. Based on our results, we propose a new targeted cancer therapy wherein exosomes derived from miRNA transfected MSCs could be used to modulate tumor progress as the anticancer vehicles.

Percutaneous cryoablation for perivascular hepatocellular carcinoma: Therapeutic efficacy and vascular complications

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of and vascular complications associated with percutaneous cryoablation for the treatment of perivascular HCC.

METHODS

Between August 2015 and September 2017, 58 consecutive patients (48 men, 10 women; mean age, 61.1 years; age range, 44-84 years) who underwent percutaneous cryoablation were included. All patients had a single perivascular HCC (mean size, 1.3 cm; Barcelona clinic liver cancer-stage 0 or A) that was in contact with hepatic vessels, ≥ 3 mm or larger in axial diameter. Local tumour progression (LTP) was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. In addition, several procedure-related vascular complications were evaluated immediately after treatment and during follow-up CT: peritumoral vessel thrombosis; infarction; aggressive intrasegmental recurrence (AIR) (the simultaneous development of ≥ 3 nodular or infiltrative tumours). The follow-up CT was performed in all patients 1 month after the procedure, and every 3 months thereafter.

RESULTS

The median follow-up period was 22 months (range, 3-29 months). The technical success rate of cryoablation was 96.6% (56/58). The 1- and 2-year cumulative LTP rates were 3.6% and 14.6%, respectively. Although peritumoral vessel thrombosis occurred in 6.9% of cases (4/58), no cases of hepatic infarction were observed and AIR did not develop during follow-up. Half of the thombi in the peritumoral vessels immediately after cryoablation disappeared on follow-up CT images.

CONCLUSION

Cryoablation could be an effective tool for the treatment of perivascular HCC with a very low risk of vascular complications.

KEY POINTS

• Cryoablation allowed a high technical success rate for perivascular HCC. • Only 6.9% developed peritumoral vessel thrombosis without major vascular complications like infarction. • Two-year cumulative LTP rate was 14.6%, without aggressive tumour recurrence on follow-up.

Decision making processes of women who seek elective oocyte cryopreservation

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to analyze women's opinions and their decision making processes regarding elective oocyte cryopreservation (OC).

METHODS

One hundred twenty-four women who had elective OC counseling at the CHA Seoul Fertility Center were asked to complete a survey after their first visit. Data collection regarding age, marital status, monthly income, occupation, religion, reproductive history, questions about the participant's view on their own fecundity, and future parenthood were included. The modified Reproductive Concerns After Cancer scale and the Decisional Conflict Scale were used for analysis.

RESULTS

The participants' mean age was 37.1 ± 4.8 years old. Eighty-six percent of the participants had regular periods. Ninety-two percent thought it was important to have their own biological offspring, and 86% were willing to pursue OC. Forty-nine percent appeared to have high DCS scores regarding making a decision of OC. Sixty-eight percent pursued OC, and the mean number of oocytes cryopreserved per patient was 10.5 ± 8.3. Multivariate analysis revealed that age was the only factor associated with high DCS scores (P = 0.002). Feeling less fertile than other women of same age and low DCS scores were the factors associated with pursuing OC (P = 0.02 and 0.004, respectively) after adjusting for possible confounding factors, including age.

CONCLUSIONS

Older women had more difficulties in making decisions about OC. Adjusting for age, women who thought that they were less fertile than other women of same age and those with lower decisional conflict were more likely to pursue OC. Further studies should focus on the validation of older women's decisional conflicts regarding OC.

Salvia miltiorrhiza enhances the survival of mesenchymal stem cells under ischemic conditions

Objectives

To validate the enhanced therapeutic effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SM) for brain ischemic stroke through the anti‐apoptotic and survival ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

Methods

The viability and the expression level of cell apoptotic and survival‐related proteins in MSCs by treatment of SM were assessed in vitro. In addition, the infarcted brain region and the behavioural changes after treatment of MSCs with SM were confirmed in rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) models.

Key findings

We demonstrated that SM attenuates apoptosis and improves the cell viability of MSCs. In the rat MCAo model, the recovery of the infarcted region and positive changes of behaviour are observed after treatment of MSCs with SM.

Conclusions

The therapy using SM enhances the therapeutic effect for brain ischemic stroke by promoting the survival of MSCs. This synergetic effect thereby proposes a new experimental approach of traditional Chinese medicine and stem cell‐based therapies for patients suffering from a variety of diseases.

Influence of the Compliance and Layering Method on the Wall Deflection of Simulated Cavities in Bulk-fill Composite Restoration

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the layering method and compliance on the wall deflection of simulated cavities in bulk-fill and conventional composite restorations and to examine the relationships between the wall deflection and the polymerization shrinkage, flexural modulus, and polymerization shrinkage stress of composites. Six light-cured composites were used in this study. Two of these were conventional methacrylate-based composites (Filtek Z250 and Filtek Z350 XT Flowable [Z350F]), whereas four were bulk-fill composites (SonicFill, Tetric N-Ceram Bulk-Fill, SureFil SDR Flow [SDR], and Filtek Bulk-Fill). One hundred eighty aluminum molds simulating a mesio-occluso-distal cavity (6 W×8 L×4 D mm) were prepared and classified into three groups with mold wall thicknesses of 1, 2, and 3 mm. Each group was further subdivided according to the composite layering method (bulk or incremental layering). Linear variable differential transformer probes were used to measure the mold wall deflection of each composite (n=5) over a period of 2000 seconds (33.3 minutes). The polymerization shrinkage, flexural modulus, and polymerization shrinkage stress of the six composites were also measured. All groups with bulk filling exhibited significantly higher deflection compared with groups with incremental layering. The deflection decreased as mold wall thickness increased. The highest and lowest polymerization shrinkage stresses were recorded for Z350F (5.07 MPa) and SDR (1.70 MPa), respectively. The correlation between polymerization shrinkage and the mold wall deflection decreased with increasing wall thickness. On the other hand, the correlation between flexural modulus and the mold wall deflection increased with increasing wall thickness. For all groups, wall deflection correlated strongly with polymerization shrinkage stress.

Abstract P4-06-18: Clinical application of multigene panel testing and genetic counseling for hereditary/familial breast cancer risk assessment: Prospective single center study

Background

The identification of individuals at elevated risk for hereditary cancers has allowed the development of consensus recommendations for cancer screening and prevention. The introduction of multigene panels may identify more individuals with breast cancer gene mutations than does testing for BRCA1/2 alone. Therefore, the multigenerational panel increase the need for genetic counseling suggesting preventive approach or cancer-specific screening to patients and family members. The rapid clinical introduction of multigene panel testing, however, have several issues such as low- to moderate-risk gene mutations and clinical recommendations. We collect the mutation results and clinical recommendations after testing with multigene panel and giving genetic counseling.

Methods

We had developed multigene panel consisted of 64 genes related to hereditary cancer through previous study and prospectively enrolled 104 individuals who were appropriate candidates for hereditary breast cancer evaluation. The patients were tested with 64-gene panel(Celemics) and results were provided by us 4˜10 weeks later. We checked the family history of cancer and made a pedigree before testing.

Result

Among 104 participants, 26 patients harbored deleterious mutations, most commonly in high to moderate-risk breast/ovarian cancer genes (BRCA1/2, BRIP, RAD51 and RAD51D), Lynch syndrome gene(MSH6) and other genes(FH, SPINK1). We recommended the cancer-specific screening and/or preventive approach for mutation-positive patients and suggested additional genetic test for the family members. Among them, 6 (23%) patients received Risk reducing procedures (Prophylactic mastectomy or oophorectomy) and most of them(19 patients(73%)) received cancer specific screening.

Conclusion

We demonstrate the use of multigene panel testing for hereditary breast cancer and will suggest the process of the genetic counseling including indication and results analysis with multigene panel testing.

Citation Format: Lee E-S, Han W, Kim Y, Rhu J, Park JH, Kim K-E, Ju YW, Kim R, Lee H-B, Moon H-G, Noh D-Y. Clinical application of multigene panel testing and genetic counseling for hereditary/familial breast cancer risk assessment: Prospective single center study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-06-18.

All-Small-Molecule Solar Cells Incorporating NDI-Based Acceptors: Synthesis and Full Characterization

A series of naphthalene diimide (NDI)-based small molecules were synthesized as nonfullerene acceptors and incorporated in all-small-molecule solar cells. Three NDI-based small molecules, NDICN-T, NDICN-BT, and NDICN-TVT, were designed with different linkers between two NDI units to induce the different conjugation length and modulate the geometric structures of the NDI dimers. The small NDI-based dimer electron acceptors with slip-stacked structures that facilitate π-π stacking interactions and/or hinder excessive aggregation exhibited different morphological behaviors, such as miscibility or crystallinity in bulk heterojunction blends with 7,7'-(4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-silolo[3,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl)bis(6-fluoro-4-(5'-hexyl-[2,2'-bithiophen]-5-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole) (DTS-F) electron donors. The photovoltaic devices prepared with NDICN-TVT gave the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.01%, with an open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.75 V, a short-circuit current density (J_sc) of 7.10 mA cm^-2, and a fill factor of 56.2%, whereas the DTS-F:NDICN-T and DTS-F:NDICN-BT devices provided PCEs of 1.81 and 0.13%, respectively. Studies of the charge-generation properties, charge-transfer dynamics, and charge-transport properties for understanding the structure-property relations revealed that DTS-F:NDICN-TVT blend films with well-developed domains and well-ordered crystalline structures performed well, whereas an excessive miscibility between DTS-F and NDICN-BT disrupted the crystallinity of the material and yielded a poor device performance.

Signal self-enhancement by coordinated assembly of gold nanoparticles enables accurate one-step-immunoassays

Current immunoassays are in general performed through time-consuming multi-step procedures that depend on the use of premade signal-producing reporters and often cause assay inaccuracy. Here we report an advanced immunoassay technology that resolves the delayed, complex, and inaccurate assay problems of conventional immunoassays. We have developed an accurate, rapid, simple, and label-free one-step-immunoassay based on the self-enhancement of sensitive immunoassay signals in an assay solution. The nano-scale protein particles (hepatitis B virus capsid and human ferritin heavy chain particles) were genetically engineered to present many well-oriented antibody (or antigen) probes and multi-copies of poly-histidine peptides on their surface, resulting in the construction of 3-dimensional (3D) bioprobes that chemisorb gold ions via coordination bonding and sensitively detect both antigen and antibody analytes. Systematic numerical and experimental analyses show that the signal self-enhancement happens through two coupled reactions under reducing conditions: (1) 3D bioprobe-based sensitive immuno-detection of analytes and (2) coordinated assembly of free and chemisorbed gold nanoparticles around the 3D bioprobe-analyte-associated complexes, which is followed by the quick generation of apparent optical signals. This advanced one-step-immunoassay was successfully applied to diagnostic assays requiring high accuracy and/or speed, i.e. diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction and hepatitis C through detecting a cardiac protein (troponin I) and anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies in patient sera, indicating that it is applicable to the accurate and rapid detection of both antigen and antibody markers of a wide range of diseases.