Luminescent lanthanide coordination polymers composed of lanthanide ions and organic joint ligands exhibit characteristic photophysical and thermostable properties that are different from typical ...organic dyes, luminescent metal complexes, and semiconductor nanoparticles. Various types of luminescent Eu(
iii
) and Tb(
iii
) coordination polymers have been reported to date. One-, two-, and three-dimensional alternating sequences of lanthanide ions and organic ligands exhibit remarkable characteristics as novel organic materials with various structures, and unique physical properties. In this review, the characteristic structures, photophysical properties, and photonic applications for organic display devices, triboluminescent materials, thermosensors, color and brightness tuning, new type organogels, future magneto-optical materials, luminescent organo-nanoparticles, and energy transfer process of lanthanide coordination polymers are introduced.
Luminescent lanthanide coordination polymers composed of lanthanide ions and organic joint ligands exhibit characteristic photophysical and thermostable properties that are different from typical organic dyes, luminescent metal complexes, and semiconductor nanoparticles.
Achieving direct imaging of the annihilation position of a positron on an event-by-event basis using an ultrafast detector would have a great impact on the field of nuclear medicine. Cherenkov ...emission is the most attractive physical phenomenon for realizing such an ultrafast timing performance. Moreover, a microchannel-plate photomultiplier tube (MCP-PMT) is one of the most promising photodetectors for fully exploiting the fast timing properties of Cherenkov emission owing to its excellent single photon time resolution of 25 ps full width at half maximum (FWHM). However, as the MCP structure generally contains a lead compound, the gamma rays frequently and directly interact with the MCP, resulting in the degradation of its timing performance and generation of undesirable side peaks in its coincidence timing histogram. To overcome this problem, we have developed a new MCP-PMT based on an MCP consisting of borosilicate glass, thus drastically reducing the probability of the photoelectric effect occurring in the MCP. To evaluate its insensitivity to gamma rays and its timing performance, a coincidence experiment was performed and showed that the probability of direct interactions was reduced by a factor of 3.4. Moreover, a coincidence time resolution of 35.4 ± 0.4 ps FWHM, which is equivalent to a position resolution of 5.31 mm, was obtained without any pulse height/area cut, improving to 28.7 ± 3.0 ps when selecting on the highest amplitude events by careful optimization of the voltage divider circuit of the new MCP-PMT. The timing performance of this new MCP-PMT presents an important step toward making direct imaging possible.
A numerical investigation of two locally applied drag-reducing control schemes is carried out in the configuration of a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer (TBL). One control is designed to ...damp near-wall turbulence and the other induces constant mass flux in the wall-normal direction. Both control schemes yield similar local drag reduction rates within the control region. However, the flow development downstream of the control significantly differs: persistent drag reduction is found for the uniform blowing case, whereas drag increase is found for the turbulence damping case. In order to account for this difference, the formulation of a global drag reduction rate is suggested. It represents the reduction of the streamwise force exerted by the fluid on a plate of finite length. Furthermore, it is shown that the far-downstream development of the TBL after the control region can be described by a single quantity, namely a streamwise shift of the uncontrolled boundary layer, i.e. a changed virtual origin. Based on this result, a simple model is developed that allows the local drag reduction rate to be related to the global one without the need to conduct expensive simulations or measurements far downstream of the control region.
Background
The impact of basophils on asthma pathogenesis remains largely unexplored, particularly in humans. Here, we evaluated the frequencies and activation status of basophils in the sputum of ...adult asthmatic patients and related our findings to other parameters of eosinophilic airway inflammation.
Methods
We enrolled 44 adult asthmatic patients who were being treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Analysis of the induced sputum, exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FeNO) measurement, and asthma control test (ACT) were carried out together with standard blood and pulmonary function tests. The cellular composition of the sputum was examined by flow cytometry, and the phenotypes of blood and sputum basophils were compared.
Results
Basophils were increased in the sputum of asthmatic patients. The expression of CD203c on sputum basophils was significantly higher than that on blood basophils. The percentage of sputum basophils was positively correlated with those of eosinophils and mast cells; it was also correlated with that of blood eosinophils and FeNO. However, sputum basophils were not correlated with serum IgE, lung function, or the percentage of blood basophils. A receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed the superiority of sputum basophils as a surrogate marker of the percentages of sputum eosinophils compared with absolute numbers of blood eosinophils and FeNO.
Conclusion
The number of activated basophils was increased in the sputum of patients with eosinophilic asthma and correlated with airway and blood eosinophils. Our observations suggest that sputum basophils may serve as a biomarker to monitor new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of eosinophilic asthma.
Background
Recently, heterozygous RFX6 mutations including p.Arg377Ter were identified in individuals with maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (MODY). Clinical analysis of 36 individuals suggested ...that RFX6 mutation‐induced MODY is characterized by low penetrance and relatively late onset. However, given the small number of previous reports and the limited clinical information of each case, further studies are necessary to clarify the phenotypic characteristics of RFX6 mutations.
Case report
We identified a previously reported p.Arg377Ter variant of RFX6 in a three‐generation family with diabetes. The variant was detected through mutation screening for 30 diabetes‐associated genes. The variant was not found in public databases and was predicted to encode a truncated protein or undergo nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay. The proband showed glycosuria from 8 years of age and was diagnosed with MODY at 10 years of age, before the onset of puberty. She received basal and bolus insulin injection as initial therapy. The proband's mother exhibited glycosuria at 26 years of age when she conceived the first child. The mother was treated with insulin, oral hypoglycaemic drugs and diet. The proband and her mother were negative for islet cell autoantibodies. The maternal grandmother showed glycosuria around 50 years of age and was treated with oral hypoglycaemic drugs alone.
Conclusion
This study provides supporting evidence for the causal relationship between heterozygous RFX6 mutations and MODY. Furthermore, our results indicate that phenotypic consequences of RFX6 mutations are highly variable even within a single family, and possibly include childhood‐onset and pregnancy‐associated non‐autoimmune diabetes.
What's new?
Heterozygous protein‐truncating variants of RFX6 likely play a role in the development of diabetes in prepubertal children.
Phenotypic severities of RFX6 mutations are highly variable, even within a single family.
RFX6 mutations may also be associated with diabetes during pregnancy.
Background
Loss‐of‐function homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in IL36RN, which encodes interleukin‐36 receptor antagonist (IL‐36Ra), has been implicated in the pathogenesis of skin ...disorders. However, the pathogenic role of IL‐36Ra in cutaneous ischemia‐reperfusion (I/R) injury remains unclear.
Objectives
We investigated the role of IL36Ra in cutaneous I/R injury.
Methods
We examined I/R injury in Il36rn−/− mice. The area of wounds, numbers of infiltrated cells, apoptotic cells and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation were assessed. The expression levels of various genes were analysed using real‐time RT‐PCR. The expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), an endogenous toll‐like receptor (TLR) 4 ligand, was confirmed using immunohistology, and serum HMGB1 levels were measured by ELISA. Cytokine production by stimulated cultured J774A.1 and HaCaT cells was examined.
Results
IL‐36Ra deficiency resulted in significantly delayed wound healing and increased neutrophil and macrophage infiltration into the wound tissues. Il36rn−/− mice had increased mRNA expression levels of CXCL1, CXCL2, CCL4, TNF‐α, TGF‐β, IL‐1β, IL‐6 and IL‐36γ relative to wild‐type mice. Apoptosis was identified in keratinocytes by TUNEL assay. HMGB1 expression in the I/R site was decreased in both keratinocytes and adnexal cells, while serum HMGB1 levels were significantly elevated after reperfusion. The mRNA levels of various cytokines, including IL‐1β, were elevated in J774A.1 cells through TLR4 signalling by HMGB1 stimulation. In addition, HaCaT cells stimulated with IL‐1β showed significantly increased CXCL1, TNF‐α, IL‐6, IL‐36β and IL‐36γ mRNA expression. Furthermore, NET formation was increased by IL‐36Ra deficiency. Finally, either the blockade of TLR4 signalling by TAK‐242 or inhibition of NET formation by Cl‐amidine normalized exacerbated I/R injury in Il36rn−/− mice.
Conclusions
This study indicated that IL‐36Ra deficiency exacerbates cutaneous I/R injury due to excessive inflammatory cell recruitment, NET formation, and excessive cytokine and chemokine production via the TLR4 pathway by HMGB1 released from epidermal apoptotic cells.
We fabricated a well-ordered homogeneous monolayer of disk-shaped, carbazolyl dicyanobenzene (CDCB)-based thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecule, i.e., ...4CzIPN((4s,6s)-2,4,5,6-tetra(9Hcarbazol-9-yl)isophthalonitrile) at room temperature on flat Ag(111), Au(111), and Cu(111) surfaces. The second layer of the 4CzIPN was also found to be well ordered. The electronic states of the well-ordered monolayer and multilayer of 4CzIPN were found to be nearly unchanged from that of the isolated molecule calculated by the density functional theory (DFT), suggesting that the ordered layers retain the TADF properties. Indeed, we demonstrated the delayed fluorescence and the nearly perfect in-plane alignment of the transition dipole moment of a 4CzIPN thin film on glass substrate even in an ambient condition. These results indicate that the well-ordered films of the disc-shaped carbazole-based TADF molecules could potentially be utilized in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices with high light outcoupling efficiency.
We performed an experimental test of the Kochen-Specker theorem based on an inequality derived from the Peres-Mermin proof, using spin-path (momentum) entanglement in a single neutron system. ...Following the strategy proposed by Cabello et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 130404 (2008)10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.130404, a Bell-like state was generated, and three expectation values were determined. The observed violation 2.291 +/- 0.008 not less, dbl equals1 clearly shows that quantum mechanical predictions cannot be reproduced by noncontextual hidden-variable theories.
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