Is there a correlation between the outcome of transurethral resection of prostate and preoperative degree of bladder outlet obstruction？

To compare the impact of transurethral resection of prostate （TURP） on symptom scores and maximal flow rates （Qmax） in patients with equivocal bladder outlet obstruction （BOO） and definite BOO and to assess the relationship between the surgical outcomes and degree of preoperative BOO, we prospectively evaluated men with lower urinary tract symptoms and bladder outlet obstruction index （BOO1） greater than 20, who were refractory to conventional medical treatment and underwent TURP. Urodynamic evaluation, International Prostate Symptom Score （IPSS）, uroflowmetry, post-void residual volume （PVR） check and transrectal ultrasound were performed. 20〈B001〈40 was defined as equivocal BOO and BOO1 〉~40 as definite BOO. Changes of IPSS, Qmax, PVR and correlation analysis was performed between the degree of improvement of Qmax, subdomains of I PSS and BOO1. Fifty-four patients showed equivocal BOO and 80 patients showed definite BOO. Preoperatively equivocal BOO group and definite BOO group showed significant differences in maximal bladder capacity and prevalence of detrusor overactivity, whereas no difference was noted in prostate volume. Postoperatively both groups showed improvements in Qmax, obstructive （IPSSO） and irritative （IPSSI） subdomain of IPSS, but the degree of improvement in Qmax and IPSSI subdomain was statistically significantly greater in definite BOO group. The degree of improvement of Qmax and IPSSI showed weak correlation with preoperative BOO1. As a weak correlation was identified between preoperative degree of BOO and outcome of TURP, other factors other than BOO1 such as severity of patients＇ symptoms should be considered in deciding treatment modality.

nfluence of paradoxical sleep deprivation and sleep recovery on testosterone level in rats of different ages

This study was performed to assess serum testosterone alterations induced by paradoxical sleep deprivation （PSD） and to verify their attenuation during sleep recovery （SR） based on different durations and ages. Wistar male rats aged 12 weeks for the younger group and 20 weeks for the elder group were randomly distributed into one of the following groups： a control group （cage and platform）, 3-day SD, 5-day SD, 7-day SD, 1-day SR, 3-day SR and 5-day SR groups. For PSD, the modified multiple platform method was used to specifically limit rapid eye movement （REM） sleep. Differences in the testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels between the younger group and the elder group according to duration of PSD and SR recovery were analysed. Testosterone continued to fall during the sleep deprivation period in a time-dependent manner in both the younger （P=-0.001, correlation coefficient r=-0.651） and elder groups （P=0.001, correlation coefficient r=-0.840）. The elder group showed a significantly lower level of testosterone compared with the younger group after PSD. Upon SR after 3 days of PSD, the testosterone level continued to rise for 5 days after sleep recovery in the younger group （P=0.013）, whereas testosterone concentrations failed to recover until day 5 in the elder group. PSD caused a more detrimental effect on serum testosterone in the elder group compared to the younger group with respect to decreases in luteinizing hormone （LH） levels. The replenishment of serum testosterone level was prohibited in the elder group suggesting that the effects of SD/SR may be age-dependent. The mechanism by which SD affects serum testosterone and how age may modify the process are still unclear.

Effect of various red phosphorescent dopants in single emissive white phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices

In order to realize single emissive white phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices （PHOLEDs） with three color phosphorescent dopants （red, green, and blue）, the energy transfer between the host material and the three dopants, as well as the among the three dopants themselves, should be considered and optimized. To explore the effect of red phosphorescent dopant on the color rendering index （CRI）, the authors investigate the wavelength position of the maximum emission peak from three phosphorescent dopants. The CRI and luminous efficiency of white PHOLED in which Ir（pq）2（acac） acts as the red phosphorescent dopant are found to be greater than those of devices prepared using Ir（piq）3 and Ir（btp）2（acac） as the emission spectrum has a relatively high intensity near the human perception of blue, red, and green wavelengths. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the performance of the three dopants is related to the absorption characteristics of the red phosphorescent dopant. With a maximum emission peak at 600 nm, Ir（pq）2（acac） has a higher intensity in the concave section between 550 and 600 nm seen for red and blue dopants. In addition, the long metal-to-ligand charge transfer （MLCT） absorption tail of Ir（pq）2（acac） overlaps with the emission spectra of the green dopant, enhancing emission. Such energy transfer mechanisms are confirmed to optimize white emission in the single emissive white PHOLEDs.

Highly efficient blue organic light-emitting diodes using various hole and electron confinement layers

In this Letter, blue phosphorescence organic light-emitting diodes （PHOLEDs） employ structures for electron and/or hole confinement; 1,3,5-tris（N-phenylbenzimiazole-2-yl）benzene is used as a hole confinement layer and tris-（phenylpyrazole）iridium [Ir（ppz）3] is utilized for an electron confinement layer （ECL）. The electrical and optical properties of the fabricated blue PHOLEDs with various carrier-confinement structures are analyzed. Structures with a large ehergy offset between the carrier confinement and emitting layers enhance the charge-carrier balance in the emitting region, resulting from the effective carrier confinement. The maximum external quantum efficiency of the blue PHOLEDs with the double-ECLs is 24.02% at 1500 cd/m^2 and its luminous efficiency is 43.76 cd/A, which is 70.47% improved compared to the device without a carrier-confinement layer.

White phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes using double emissive layer with three dopants for color stability

We fabricate white phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes （PHOLEDs） with three dopants and double emissive layer （EML） to achieve color stability. The white PHOLEDs use FIrpic dopant for blue EML （B- EML）, and Ir（ppy）3：Ir（piq）3 dopants for green：red EML （GR-EML） with N,N＇-dicarbazolyl-3, 5-benzene （mCP） as host material. Thicknesses of B-EML and GR-EML are adjusted to form a narrow recombination zone at two EML＇s interface and charge trapping happens in EML according to wide highest occupied molecular orbital and/or lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy band gap of mCP and smaller energy band gap of dopants. The total thickness of both EMLs is fixed at 30 nm in the device structure of ITO （150 nm）/MoO3 （2 nm）/N,N＇-diphenyl-N,N＇-bis（1-naphthyl-phenyl）-（1,1″-biphenyl）-4, 4＇-diamine （70 nm）/ meP：Firpic-8.0% （12 nm）/mCP：Ir（ppy）3-3.0%：Ir（piq）3-1.5% （18 nm）/2″,2＇,2＂＇-（1,3,5-benzinetriyl）-tris（1- phenyl-l-H-benzimidazole） （30 nm）/8-hydroxyquinolinolato-lithium （2 nm）/A1 （120 nm）. White PHOLED shows 18.25 cd/A of luminous efficiency and white color coordinates of （0.358 and 0.378） at 5000 cd/m2 and color stability with slight CIExy change of （0.028 and 0.002） as increasing luminance from 1000 to 5000 cd/m^2.