Yellow–Orange Electroluminescence of Novel Tin Complexes

Novel tin complexes were synthesized for use as fluorescent materials in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The structures of these complexes were characterized by ultraviolet–visible, Fourier-transform infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods and elemental analyses. The energy levels of the tin complexes were determined using cyclic voltammetry measurements. Devices were fabricated with an indium tin oxide (ITO)/PEDOT:PSS (90 nm)/PVK:PBD:tin complexes (75 nm)/Al (180 nm) structure; the resultant devices had peak emissions ranging from 537 nm to 580 nm. The tin complexes accounted for 8 wt.% of the blend in the PVK:PBD (100:40), which was used as a host. The electroluminescent spectra of the tin complexes were red-shifted as compared with the PVK:PBD blend. We believe that the electroluminescence performance of OLED devices based on tin complexes relies on overlaps between the absorption of the tin compounds and the emission of PVK:PBD.     

Module character amenability of Banach algebras

In this paper we introduce the notion of module character amenable Banach algebras and show that they possess module character virtual (approximate) diagonals. As a basic example, we show that for an inverse semigroup S with the set of idempotents E, the semigroup algebra ? ¹(S) is module character amenable as an ? ¹(E)-module if only if S is amenable.     

Oxidative addition of MeI to some cyclometalated organoplatinum(II) complexes: Kinetics and mechanism

New cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes [PtMe(C^N)L], 1, in which C^N = deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine (ppy), benzo[h]quinoline (bhq) or 2-(p-tolyl)pyridine (tpy) and L = PPh₃ or PMePh₂, were synthesized by the reaction of [PtMe(C^N)(SMe₂)] with 1 equiv of L. The reaction of complexes 1 with MeI gave the cyclometalated Pt(IV) complexes [PtMe₂I(C^N)L], 3. On the basis of kinetic studies, using Uv–visible spectroscopy, it was suggested that the latter oxidative addition reactions were proceeded by an S_N2 mechanism. The rates of the reactions at different temperatures were measured and consistent with the proposed mechanism, large negative ΔS³ values were found for each reaction. Besides, rate of reactions (in CHCl₃) involving the PPh₃ complexes [PtMe(C^N)(PPh₃)], were almost 3–5 times slower than those involving the PMePh₂ complexes [PtMe(C^N)(PMePh₂)]. This was attributed to the electronic and steric effects of PPh₃ ligand as compared with that of PMePh₂ ligand which was further confirmed using density functional theory (DFT) calculations through finding approximate structures for the described complexes.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Single-Phase Cubic ZrO2 Spherical Nanocrystals by Decomposition Route

A simple thermal decomposition route has been developed to prepare single-phase cubic ZrO₂ nanospheres by [Zr(sal)₃(H₂O)₂](NO₃) as the new precursor. The ZrO₂ nanocrystals have been prepared by bis-aqua, tris-salicylaldehydato zirconium(IV) nitrate; [Zr(sal)₃(H₂O)₂](NO₃), as precursor in oleylamine (C₁₈H₃₇N) and triphenylphosphine (C₁₈H₁₅P). To control the particle size, combination of C₁₈H₃₇N and C₁₈H₁₅P were applied as surfactants. The C₁₈H₃₇N and C₁₈H₁₅P play an important role in preventing aggregation of ZrO₂ nanocrystals. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to depict the phase and morphology. The FT-IR spectrum showed the purity of obtained ZrO₂ nanocrystals with cubic phase.     

Fast LV motion estimation using subspace approximation techniques

Cardiac motion estimation is very important in understanding cardiac dynamics and in noninvasive diagnosis of heart disease. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging tagging is a technique for measuring heart deformations. In cardiac tagged MR images, a set of dark lines are noninvasively encoded within myocardial tissue providing the means for measurement of deformations of the heart. The points along tag lines measured in different frames and in different directions carry important information for determining the three-dimensional nonrigid movement of left ventricle. However, these measurements are sparse and, therefore, multidimensional interpolation techniques are needed to reconstruct a dense displacement field. In this paper, a novel subspace approximation technique is used to accomplish this task. We formulate the displacement estimation as a variational problem and then project the solution into spline subspaces. Efficient numerical methods are derived by taking advantages of B-spline properties. The proposed technique significantly improves our previous results reported in [3] with respect to computational time. The method is applied to a temporal sequence of two-dimensional images and is validated with simulated and in vivo heart data.     

Joint optimisation of transmission and waiting times in cognitive radio

Transmission time optimisation is one of the key considerations of cognitive network design. There are many studies in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) focusing on finding the best transmission time for secondary users (SUs) to maximise transmission or energy efficiency. While longer sensing duration leads to a higher sensing accuracy and causes less interference, the SU spends less time for transmission and more energy on sensing spectrum. On the other hand, when the transmission duration becomes longer, although the SU has more opportunities to access the channel, it may encounter higher interference due to primary user (PU) returns and the probability of collision becomes higher. In this article, in a decentralised slotted protocol for CRN, the SU spectrum access is proved as a renewal process, then the interference due to PU return during SU transmission, the missed opportunities due to waiting for the channel to become idle and the energy consumed by the SU in the whole spectrum access process including idling energy, transmission energy and sensing energy consumption are formulated and integrated into newly defined efficiency to obtain the optimum transmission time and waiting time.     

Cardiac motion and deformation recovery from MRI: a review

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a highly advanced and sophisticated imaging modality for cardiac motion tracking and analysis, capable of providing 3D analysis of global and regional cardiac function with great accuracy and reproducibility. In the past few years, numerous efforts have been devoted to cardiac motion recovery and deformation analysis from MR image sequences. Many approaches have been proposed for tracking cardiac motion and for computing deformation parameters and mechanical properties of the heart from a variety of cardiac MR imaging techniques. In this paper, an updated and critical review of cardiac motion tracking methods including major references and those proposed in the past ten years is provided. The MR imaging and analysis techniques surveyed are based on cine MRI, tagged MRI, phase contrast MRI, DENSE, and SENC. This paper can serve as a tutorial for new researchers entering the field.     

<Superscript>68</Superscript>Ga-radiolabeled magnetic nanoparticles for PET–MRI imaging

In this study, magnetic multimodal nanoparticles with potential applications in magnetic- and nuclear-medicine imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, hyperthermia, and theranostic (therapeutic and diagnostic), applications were prepared by coating iron oxide nanoparticles with silica (core–shell), functionalizing with aminopropyltriethoxy silane and coupling with diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid ligand (DTPA). Radiolabeling of core–shell–DTPA particles with ⁶⁸Ga radiometal was carried out through chelation of ⁶⁸Ga(III) ions by DTPA and was used for positron emission tomography. The biodistribution of the ⁶⁸Ga-radiolabeled magnetic nanoparticles compared to free ⁶⁸Ga(III) was checked in normal Balb/c mice up to 2 h.     

Switchable phase transition behavior of thermoresponsive substrates for cell sheet engineering

Recently, there are significant interests in the development of biomaterials with nonlinear response to an external stimulus. Thermoresponsive polymers as a well-known class of stimuli-responsive materials represent reversible hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity characteristics around a critical temperature. This switchable behavior applies for nondestructive cellular detachment from cultivation substrates. In this study, poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm)-grafted dishes were made up to harvest retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) and periodontal ligament cell (PDLC) sheets. Wettability assessments verified that all functionalized surfaces were inverted from hydrophilic to hydrophobic state when the temperature rises from lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at 37 °C. Other physicochemical characteristics such as chemical composition, grafting thickness, and surface topography were investigated through attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). ATR-FTIR results showed typical peaks of amide group corresponding to successful PNIPAAm polymerization. AFM microscopy results also proved creating a rough PNIPAAm layer with thickness of 29.2 nm after grafting process in the mixture of methanol and water. Cell culture experiments showed an irreversible cellular attachment/detachment from modified surfaces upon temperature changes. These results introduced thermoresponsive TCPS to noninvasively harvest RPE and PDLCs sheets especially for application in scaffold-free tissue engineering decorations. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 1567–1576     

Cauliflower‐like NiCo2O4−Zn/Al Layered Double Hydroxide Nanocomposite as an Efficient Electrochemical Sensing Platform for Selective Pyridoxine Detection

In the present study, a cauliflower‐like NiCo₂O₄?Zn/Al layered double hydroxide (NiCo₂O₄?Zn/Al LDH) nanocomposite was used as a novel electrode material for the sensitive and selective determination of pyridoxine (vitamin B₆). The structure and morphology of the as‐prepared nanocomposite were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), FT‐IR, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX). The NiCo₂O₄?Zn/Al LDH nanocomposite exhibited excellent electrocatalytic ability in the oxidation of pyridoxine, which could result from the synergistic effect of the two components. The developed sensor also provided a selective determination of pyridoxine in the presence of other species such as vitamins (B₁, B₂, B₁₂ and ascorbic acid), inorganic ions and biomolecules. The fabricated sensor showed a good linear response for pyridoxine over the concentration ranges 2×10^?7–2.0×10^?4 mol L^?1 with a low detection limit of 8.6×10^?8 mol L^?1. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of pyridoxine in commercial tablets and plasma samples with satisfactory results. Furthermore, this novel sensor displayed superior benefits in terms of stability, sensitivity, repeatability and cost. The present work aims to expand NiCo₂O₄ based nanocomposites to sensor fields and promote the development of pyridoxine sensors.