Lipoprotein(a) levels and risk of adverse events after myocardial infarction in patients with and without diabetes

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels with long-term outcome in patients with recent history of myocardial infarction (MI), and to investigate if diabetes may influence this association. Methods: Consecutive MI patients who underwent urgent/emergent coronary angiography from February 2013 to June 2019 were prospectively collected. The primary outcome was the composite of MI recurrence and all-cause death. The propensity score weighting technique was used to account for covariates potentially influencing the relationship between Lp(a) levels and the study outcomes. Results: The study population consisted of 1018 post-MI patients (median age 63 years). Diabetes was reported in 280 patients (27.5%), who showed lower Lp(a) levels than patients without diabetes (p = 0.026). At a median follow-up of 1121 days, the primary outcome was reported in 182 patients (17.9%). At univariable Cox regression analysis, Lp(a) was associated with the risk of the primary outcome in the overall population and in non-diabetic patients, but not in diabetics. The adjusted Cox regression analysis confirmed the independent association between Lp(a) values and the primary outcome in non-diabetic patients, but not in diabetics. Lp(a) levels > 70 mg/dL were independently associated with the risk of the primary outcome in non-diabetic patients (adjusted HR: 2.839; 95% CI, 1.382-5.832), but not in diabetics. Conclusions: In this real-world post-MI population, increasing Lp(a) levels were significantly associated with the risk of recurrent MI and all-cause death, and very high Lp(a) serum concentration independently predicted long-term outcome in non-diabetic patients, but not in diabetics

Perylene diimides functionalized with N-thiadiazole substituents: Synthesis and electronic properties in OFET devices

Two new perylene diimide derivatives N,N'-bis(5-tridecyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic 3,4:9,10-diimide (PDI-T1) and N,N'-bis[5-(1-hexyl)nonyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic 3,4:9,10-diimide (PDI-T2), achieved by functionalizing the basic perylene molecular core at imide nitrogen with 1,3,4-thiadiazole rings, have been synthesized. Both these compounds make possible the fabrication of n-type organic thin-film transistors able to work in air, even when bare SiO2 surfaces are utilized as gate dielectric. As active channels of transistors in the bottom-contact bottom-gate configuration, PDI-T1 evaporated films exhibited a maximum mobility of 0.016 cm2/V s in vacuum. For evaporated PDI-T2 films, instead, mobility values were found to be more than one order of magnitude lower, because of their reduced degree of crystalline order. However, PDI-T2 films can be also deposited by solution techniques and field-effect transistors were fabricated by spin-coating, displaying mobility values ranging between 10-6 and 10-5 cm2/V s. Similar to what previously found for other perylene diimide derivatives, our experimental work also demonstrates that the electrical response of both PDI-T1 and PDI-T2 transistors under ambient conditions can be improved by increasing the level of hydrophobicity of the dielectric surface

Acute Coronary Syndrome in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection: Pathophysiology and Translational Perspectives

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) may complicate the clinical course of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is still unclear whether this condition is a direct consequence of the primary disease. However, several mechanisms including direct cellular damage, endothelial dysfunction, in-situ thrombosis, systemic inflammatory response, and oxygen supply-demand imbalance have been described in patients with COVID-19. The onset of a prothrombotic state may also be facilitated by the endothelial dysfunction secondary to the systemic inflammatory response and to the direct viral cell damage. Moreover, dysfunctional endothelial cells may enhance vasospasm and platelet aggregation

Novel thienyl DPP derivatives functionalized with terminal electron acceptor groups: synthesis, optical properties and OFET performance

Three novel diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) based small molecules have been synthesized and characterized in terms of their chemical-physical, electrochemical and electrical properties. All the molecules consist of a central DPP electron acceptor core symmetrically functionalized with donor bi-thienyl moieties and flanked in the terminal positions by three different auxiliary electron-acceptor groups. This kind of molecular structure, characterized by an alternation of electron acceptor and donor groups, was purposely designed to provide a significant absorption at the longer wavelengths of the visible spectrum: when analysed as thin films, in fact, the dyes absorb well over 800 nm and exhibit a narrow optical bandgap down to 1.28 eV. A detailed DFT analysis provides useful information on the electronic structure of the dyes and on the features of the main optical transitions. Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have been fabricated by depositing the DPP dyes as active layers from solution: the different end-functionalization of the dyes had an effect on the charge transport properties with two of the dyes acting as n-type semiconductors (electron mobility up to 4.4∙10 -2 cm 2 /V∙s) and the third one as a p-type semiconductor (hole mobility up to 2.3∙10 -3 cm 2 /V∙s). Interestingly, well-balanced ambipolar transistors were achieved by blending the most performant n-type and p-type dyes with hole and electron mobility in the order of 10 -3 cm 2 /V∙s

Isoindigo dyes functionalized with terminal electron-withdrawing groups: computational, optical and electrical characterization

Eight novel isoindigo (iI) based small molecules have been successfully synthesized. Their molecular structure consists of an electron acceptor iI core symmetrically linked to two furan (F-series) or thiophene (T-series) rings and end-functionalized with four auxiliary electron withdrawing groups (EWGs) of different strength. The optical properties of the dyes in chloroform solution are uniformly modulated by the terminal EWGs so that absorption maxima wavelengths move to higher values as the EWG’s strength increases. A computational (DFT level) analysis provides useful information on the electronic structure of the dyes: upon photoexcitation, the electron density moves away from iI core or towards it according to the different EWG considered. Optical analysis is performed on dyes 2 thin films as well and a general broadening and red shift of the absorption is observed as compared to the behaviour in solution; all the dye’s thin films are characterized by narrow bandgaps (< 1.60 eV) and diffused absorption of most of the visible light. From XRD diffraction analysis performed on drop casted films of the dyes, it is possible to observe a lamellar organization in the solid phase with lamellae width clearly linked to the nature of the terminal EWG. HOMO and LUMO energies of the dyes, determined by cyclic voltammetry analysis performed on dyes’ thin films, show very stable LUMO and HOMO energy levels, suggesting, respectively, a tendency to act as n-type semiconductors and a very good thermo-oxidative stability. The dyes are finally employed as active layers in organic field-effect transistors to study their charge transport properties: all of them display unipolar n-type charge transport with the presence of the electron accumulation phenomenon under the application of positive gate voltages. For one of the dye, mobility () up to 10-2 cm2/V∙s was measured, whereas values around 10-3 cm2/V∙s were found for the others