The Future is Bright: The Emergence of Glassy Organic Dots for Biological Applications.

Glassy organic dots (g-Odots) are an emerging class of luminescent nanoparticles that offer enhanced photostability, superior brightness, and modular tunability compared to other commonly employed nanoparticles. In the last several years, they have been used as bioimaging probes for single- and multi-photon cellular imaging, exhibiting low cytotoxicity even after several days. While they are emerging as promising materials for use in biological applications, g-Odots face several key challenges before their use can become widespread.

Organelle-Targeting Polymer Dots Exhibiting Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence for Subcellular Imaging.

Selective imaging of specific subcellular structures provides valuable information about the cellular microenvironment. Materials exhibiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) are rapidly emerging as metal-free probes with long-lived emission for intracellular time-gated imaging applications. Polymers incorporating TADF emitters can self-assemble into luminescent nanoparticles, termed polymer dots (Pdots), and this strategy enables them to circumvent the limitations of commercial organelle trackers and small molecule TADF emitters.

Polymer Dots with Delayed Fluorescence and Tunable Cellular Uptake for Photodynamic Therapy and Time-Gated Imaging.

By combining bioimaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT), it is possible to treat cancer through a theranostic approach with targeted action for minimum invasiveness and side effects. Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) probes have gained recent interest in theranostics due to their ability to generate singlet oxygen (O) while providing delayed emission that can be used in time-gated imaging. However, it is still challenging to design systems that simultaneously show (1) high contrast for imaging, (2) low dark toxicity but high phototoxicity and (3) tunable biological uptake.

Dibenzodipyridophenazines with Dendritic Electron Donors Exhibiting Deep-Red Emission and Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence.

The development of deep-red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is important for applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and biological imaging. Design strategies for red-shifting emission include synthesizing rigid acceptor cores to limit nonradiative decay and employing strong electron-donating groups. In this work, three novel luminescent donor-acceptor compounds based on the dibenzo[,]dipyrido[3,2-h:20-30-]-phenazine-12-yl () acceptor were prepared using dendritic carbazole-based donors 3,3″,6,6″-tetramethoxy-9'-9,3':6',9″-tercarbazole (), ,,,-tetra--tolyl-9-carbazole-3,6-diamine (), and ,,,-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)-9-carbazole-3,6-diamine ().

Polymer dots and glassy organic dots using dibenzodipyridophenazine dyes as water-dispersible TADF probes for cellular imaging.

Fluorescence imaging of living cells is key to better understanding cellular morphology and biological processes. Water-dispersible nanoparticles exhibiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) have recently emerged as useful probes for time-resolved fluorescence imaging (TRFI), circumventing interference from biological autofluorescence. Many existing approaches, however, require TADF dyes with specific structural features, precluding many high-performance TADF materials from being used in this application.

An unusual case of lingual tonsillar hypertrophy.

Lingual tonsillar hypertrophy is an unusual presentation of voice change. If managed incorrectly this group of patients has the potential to deteriorate significantly causing airway obstruction and potentially death.

Alveolar ethmoidal rhabdomyosarcoma in a young adult male.

We report a 22-year-old man who presented with a 3 week history of left-sided headache, orbital pain and epiphora progressing to diplopia. He was being treated by his general practitioner with a β-blocker and simple analgesia for possible diagnosis of cluster headaches. Initial examination revealed a reduction in visual acuity and poor abduction and upward gaze.

Kikuchi-Fugimoto disease (Cervical Subacute Necrotising Lymphadenitis): an important benign disease often masquerading as lymphoma.

Objectives: We describe a rare cause of posterior triangle cervical lymphadenopathy in a third decade female, outline the clinical and histopathological features and discuss excision biopsy as the investigation of choice in this age group, with lymphoma as the diagnosis of exclusion.

Case Report: A thirty-four year old female was referred to our Head and Neck clinic with a one-month history of left posterior triangle lymphadenopathy. She reported no other symptoms and haematological investigations were normal.

Medical student attitudes toward older people and willingness to consider a career in geriatric medicine.

Objectives: To evaluate the attitudes of first- and fourth-year medical students toward older people and the relationship between these attitudes and possible career choice. To examine the effects of an intensive geriatric medicine (GM) teaching program on these attitudes and career aspirations.

Design: Observational study.

A multi-centre European study of factors affecting the discharge destination of older people admitted to hospital: analysis of in-hospital data from the ACMEplus project.

Objectives: to examine the relationship between seven predictor variables (recorded on Day 3 of hospital admission) and discharge destination in non-elective medical patients aged 65+ years.

Design: prospective cohort.

Setting: eight centres in six European countries.

Inhibitors of phosphopantetheine adenylyltransferase.

Phosphopantetheine adenylyltransferase (PPAT) is an essential enzyme in Coenzyme A biosynthesis. Because bacterial PPAT and mammalian PPAT are dissimilar, this enzyme is an attractive antibacterial target. Based on the structure of the substrate, 4-phosphopantetheine, a dipeptide library was designed, synthesised and tested against Escherichia coli PPAT.

Long-term results of endoscopic stapling diverticulotomy for pharyngeal pouches.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term success of endoscopic stapling as a primary procedure for the treatment of pharyngeal pouches.

Methods: This study is a retrospective case review of 25 patients with pharyngeal pouches treated by endoscopic stapling (23 stapled, 2 abandoned) over a 4-year period (1994 to 1998) at a University teaching hospital in the United Kingdom. Outcome measures used were relief of symptoms over a long-term follow-up of 2 to 5 years.