Organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) have come a long way ever since their first introduction in 1987 at Eastman Kodak. Today, OLEDs are especially valued in the display and lighting industry for ...their promising features. As one of the research fields that equally inspires and drives development in academia and industry, OLED device technology has continuously evolved over more than 30 years. OLED devices have come forward based on three generations of emitter materials relying on fluorescence (first generation), phosphorescence (second generation), and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (third generation). Furthermore, research in academia and industry toward the fourth generation of OLEDs is in progress. Excerpts from the history of green, orange‐red, and blue OLED emitter development on the side of academia and milestones achieved by key players in the industry are included in this report.
The history of emitter development and industry's interest in organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) technology are reviewed. OLED device technology has equally inspired and driven innovation in academia and industry. Three generations of emitters based on different emission mechanisms have been designed. Recently, research in both academia and industry points toward a fourth generation of light‐emitting materials for OLEDs.
In light of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and potential future infectious disease outbreaks, a comprehensive understanding of the negative effects of epidemics and ...pandemics on healthcare workers' mental health could inform appropriate support interventions. Thus, we aimed to synthesize and quantify the psychological and psychosomatic symptoms among frontline medical staff. We searched four databases up to March 19, 2020 and additional literature, with daily search alerts set up until October 26, 2020. Studies reporting psychological and/or psychosomatic symptoms of healthcare workers caring for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome, H1N1, Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome, or COVID-19 were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently conducted the search, study selection, quality appraisal, data extraction, and synthesis and involved a third reviewer in case of disagreement. We used random effects modeling to estimate the overall prevalence rates of psychological/psychosomatic symptoms and the I2 statistic. We included 86 studies, reporting data from 75,991 participants. Frontline staff showed a wide range of symptoms, including concern about transmitting the virus to the family (60.39%, 95% CI 42.53-76.96), perceived stress (56.77%, 95% CI 34.21-77.95), concerns about own health (45.97%, 95% CI 31.08-61.23), sleeping difficulties (39.88%, 95% CI 27.70-52.72), burnout (31.81%, 95% CI 13.32-53.89), symptoms of depression (25.72%, 95% CI 18.34-33.86), symptoms of anxiety (25.36%, 95% CI 17.90-33.64), symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (24.51%, 95% CI 18.16-31.46), mental health issues (23.11%, 95% CI 15.98-31.10), and symptoms of somatization (14.68%, 95% CI 10.67-19.18). We found consistent evidence for the pervasive and profound impact of large-scale outbreaks on the mental health of frontline healthcare workers. As the CO-VID-19 crisis continues to unfold, guaranteeing easy access to support structures for the entire healthcare workforce is vitally important.
The gut microbiome regulates a number of homeostatic mechanisms in the healthy host including immune function and gut barrier protection. Loss of normal gut microbial structure and function has been ...associated with diseases as diverse as Clostridioides difficile infection, asthma, and epilepsy. Recent evidence has also demonstrated a link between the gut microbiome and sepsis. In this review, we focus on three key areas of the interaction between the gut microbiome and sepsis. First, prior to sepsis onset, gut microbiome alteration increases sepsis susceptibility through several mechanisms, including (a) allowing for expansion of pathogenic intestinal bacteria, (b) priming the immune system for a robust pro-inflammatory response, and (c) decreasing production of beneficial microbial products such as short-chain fatty acids. Second, once sepsis is established, gut microbiome disruption worsens and increases susceptibility to end-organ dysfunction. Third, there is limited evidence that microbiome-based therapeutics, including probiotics and selective digestive decontamination, may decrease sepsis risk and improve sepsis outcomes in select patient populations, but concerns about safety have limited uptake. Case reports of a different microbiome-based therapy, fecal microbiota transplantation, have shown correlation with gut microbial structure restoration and decreased inflammatory response, but these results require further validation. While much of the evidence linking the gut microbiome and sepsis has been established in pre-clinical studies, clinical evidence is lacking in many areas. To address this, we outline a potential research agenda for further investigating the interaction between the gut microbiome and sepsis.
Sepsis mortality has improved following advancements in early recognition and standardized management, including emphasis on early administration of appropriate antimicrobials. However, guidance ...regarding antimicrobial duration in sepsis is surprisingly limited. Decreased antibiotic exposure is associated with lower rates of de novo resistance development, Clostridioides difficile-associated disease, antibiotic-related toxicities, and health care costs. Consequently, data weighing safety versus adequacy of shorter treatment durations in sepsis would be beneficial. We provide a narrative review of evidence to guide antibiotic duration in sepsis. Evidence is significantly limited by noninferiority trial designs and exclusion of critically ill patients in many trials. Potential challenges to shorter antimicrobial duration in sepsis include inadequate source control, treatment of multidrug-resistant organisms, and pharmacokinetic alterations that predispose to inadequate antimicrobial levels. Additional studies specifically targeting patients with clinical indicators of sepsis are needed to guide measures to safely reduce antimicrobial exposure in this high-risk population while preserving clinical effectiveness.
The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key process that enables the storage of renewable energies in the form of chemical fuels. Here, we describe a catalyst that exhibits turnover frequencies ...higher than state-of-the-art catalysts that operate in alkaline solutions, including the benchmark nickel iron oxide. This new catalyst is easily prepared from readily available and industrially relevant nickel foam, and it is stable for many hours. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopic data reveal that the catalyst is made of nanoclusters of γ-FeOOH covalently linked to a γ-NiOOH support. According to density functional theory (DFT) computations, this structure may allow a reaction path involving iron as the oxygen evolving center and a nearby terrace O site on the γ-NiOOH support oxide as a hydrogen acceptor.
Developing neurons form synapses at a high rate. Synaptic transmission is very energy-demanding and likely requires ATP production by mitochondria nearby. Mitochondria might be targeted to active ...synapses in young dendrites, but whether such motility regulation mechanisms exist is unclear. We investigated the relationship between mitochondrial motility and neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex of young mice in vivo and in slice cultures. During the first 2 postnatal weeks, mitochondrial motility decreases while the frequency of neuronal activity increases. Global calcium transients do not affect mitochondrial motility. However, individual synaptic transmission events precede local mitochondrial arrest. Pharmacological stimulation of synaptic vesicle release, but not focal glutamate application alone, stops mitochondria, suggesting that an unidentified factor co-released with glutamate is required for mitochondrial arrest. A computational model of synaptic transmission-mediated mitochondrial arrest shows that the developmental increase in synapse number and transmission frequency can contribute substantially to the age-dependent decrease of mitochondrial motility.
Zusammenfassung
In der Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland (DEGS1) wurden von 2008 bis 2011 in einer bevölkerungsrepräsentativen Stichprobe von 7988 Personen im Alter von 18 bis ...79 Jahren aktuelle depressive Symptome mit dem „Patient Health Questionnaire“ (PHQ-9) erfasst. Zusätzlich wurden diagnostizierte Depressionen in einem ärztlichen Interview erfragt. Eine depressive Symptomatik (PHQ-9 ≥ 10 Punkte) besteht bei 8,1 % der Erwachsenen (Frauen 10,2 %; Männer 6,1 %). Bei beiden Geschlechtern ist die Prävalenz bei 18- bis 29-Jährigen am höchsten und fällt danach ab. Bei Männern und Frauen mit höherem sozioökonomischem Status besteht seltener eine depressive Symptomatik. Die Lebenszeitprävalenz einer diagnostizierten Depression beträgt 11,6 % (Frauen 15,4 %; Männer 7,8 %) und ist am höchsten bei 60- bis 69-Jährigen; die 12-Monats-Prävalenz liegt bei 6,0 % (Frauen 8,1 %; Männer 3,8 %) und ist am höchsten bei 50- bis 59-Jährigen. Bei Frauen, aber nicht bei Männern sinken die Diagnoseprävalenzen mit steigendem sozioökonomischem Status. Die Ergebnisse beschreiben die weite Verbreitung von depressiver Symptomatik und diagnostizierter Depression in der Erwachsenenbevölkerung in Deutschland und bestätigen bekannte Zusammenhänge von Depression mit Alter, Geschlecht und sozioökonomischem Status.
Large-scale phenotyping efforts have demonstrated that approximately 25-30% of mouse gene knockouts cause intrauterine lethality. Analysis of these mutants has largely focused on the embryo and not ...the placenta, despite the crucial role of this extraembryonic organ for developmental progression. Here we screened 103 embryonic lethal and sub-viable mouse knockout lines from the Deciphering the Mechanisms of Developmental Disorders program for placental phenotypes. We found that 68% of knockout lines that are lethal at or after mid-gestation exhibited placental dysmorphologies. Early lethality (embryonic days 9.5-14.5) is almost always associated with severe placental malformations. Placental defects correlate strongly with abnormal brain, heart and vascular development. Analysis of mutant trophoblast stem cells and conditional knockouts suggests that a considerable number of factors that cause embryonic lethality when ablated have primary gene function in trophoblast cells. Our data highlight the hugely under-appreciated importance of placental defects in contributing to abnormal embryo development and suggest key molecular nodes that govern placenta formation.
Stem cells and lung regeneration Parekh, Kalpaj R; Nawroth, Janna; Pai, Albert ...
American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology,
10/2020, Letnik:
319, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The ability to replace defective cells in an airway with cells that can engraft, integrate, and restore a functional epithelium could potentially cure a number of lung diseases. Progress toward the ...development of strategies to regenerate the adult lung by either in vivo or ex vivo targeting of endogenous stem cells or pluripotent stem cell derivatives is limited by our fundamental lack of understanding of the mechanisms controlling human lung development, the precise identity and function of human lung stem and progenitor cell types, and the genetic and epigenetic control of human lung fate. In this review, we intend to discuss the known stem/progenitor cell populations, their relative differences between rodents and humans, their roles in chronic lung disease, and their therapeutic prospects. Additionally, we highlight the recent breakthroughs that have increased our understanding of these cell types. These advancements include novel lineage-traced animal models and single-cell RNA sequencing of human airway cells, which have provided critical information on the stem cell subtypes, transition states, identifying cell markers, and intricate pathways that commit a stem cell to differentiate or to maintain plasticity. As our capacity to model the human lung evolves, so will our understanding of lung regeneration and our ability to target endogenous stem cells as a therapeutic approach for lung disease.