Quantitatively comparing weekly changes in retinal vascular characteristics of eyes eventually treated versus not treated for retinopathy of prematurity

Purpose To quantitatively compare retinal vascular characteristics over time in eyes eventually treated versus not treated for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), using ROPtool analysis of narrow-field retinal images. Methods This longitudinal study used prospectively collected narrow-field retinal images of infants screened for ROP, prior to treatment, if needed. Images were analyzed using a methodology that combines quadrant-level measures from several images of the same eye. For the longitudinal analysis, one examination per postmenstrual age (PMA) was included per eye. We compared the following ROPtool indices and their change per week between eyes eventually treated versus not treated for ROP: tortuosity index (TI), dilation index (DI), sum of adjusted indices (SAI), and tortuosity-weighted plus (TWP). Analysis was performed on three levels: eye (mean value/eye), quadrant (highest quadrant value/eye), and blood vessel (highest blood vessel value/eye). Results Of 832 examinations (99 infants), 745 images (89.5%) had 3-4 quadrants analyzable by ROPtool. On the eye level, ROPtool indices differed between eyes eventually treated versus not treated at PMA of 33-35 and 37 weeks for TI, SAI, and TWP, and at PMA of 33-34 and 37 weeks for DI (P ≤ 0.0014), and change per week differed between eyes eventually treated versus not treated only for SAI at PMA of 32 weeks (P < 0.001). Conclusions Quantitative analysis of retinal vascular characteristics using ROPtool can help predict eventual need for treatment for ROP as early as 32 weeks PMA. ROPtool index values were more useful than change in these indices to predict eyes that would eventually need treatment for ROP

Thermochromism, Franck–Condon Analysis and Interfacial Dynamics of a Donor–Acceptor Copolymer with a Low Band Gap

The electronic properties of the donor–acceptor (DA) polymer poly­{5,6-bis­(octyloxy)-4-(thiophen-2-yl)­benzo­[<i>c</i>]-1,2,5-thiadiazole} (PTBT) have been investigated using spectroscopic and computational techniques. Electronic absorption and emission spectra reveal the presence of an ordered and a disordered phase in solution. Franck–Condon modeling of the ordered phase yields Huang–Rhys factors of 0.55 (20 °C) and 0.51 (−180 °C), indicating little structural distortion between ground and excited state. DFT calculations with resonance Raman spectroscopy are consistent with a lowest energy excited state that is electronically delocalized and has little charge-transfer character, unexpected for a copolymer with a low bandgap (∼1.8 eV). Transient absorption spectroscopy of PTBT:fullerene blends reveals near-unity internal charge-transfer yields in both ordered and disordered film morphologies. In the disordered blend, charge transfer is complete within the laser pulse (100 fs), whereas the ordered blend also features a slower phase due to exciton diffusion in the phase separated morphology. In the ordered blend, the spectra and dynamics of charge transfer reveal that excitons and charges promptly occupy delocalized states on extended polymer chains. The pervasive use of donor–acceptor structures in polymer devices makes understanding the interplay of morphology and electronic structure of these polymers essential and here a spectroscopic and computational investigation gives an extensive picture of the electronic properties and their effect on charge dynamics in a DA polymer

Triplets with a Twist: Ultrafast Intersystem Crossing in a Series of Electron Acceptor Materials Driven by Conformational Disorder

Control over the populations of singlet and triplet excitons is key to organic semiconductor technologies. In different contexts, triplets can represent an energy loss pathway that must be managed (i.e., solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and lasers) or provide avenues to improve energy conversion (i.e., photon upconversion and multiplication systems). A key consideration in the interplay of singlet and triplet exciton populations in these systems is the rate of intersystem crossing (ISC). In this work, we design, measure, and model a series of new electron acceptor molecules and analyze them using a combination of ultrafast transient absorption and ultrafast broadband photoluminescence spectroscopies. We demonstrate that intramolecular triplet formation occurs within several hundred picoseconds in solution and is accelerated considerably in the solid state. Importantly, ISC occurs with sufficient rapidity to compete with charge formation in modern organic solar cells, implicating triplets in intrinsic exciton loss channels in addition to charge recombination. Density functional theory calculations reveal that ISC occurs in triplet excited states characterized by local deviations from orbital π-symmetry associated with rotationally flexible thiophene rings. In disordered films, structural distortions, therefore, result in significant increases in spin–orbit coupling, enabling rapid ISC. We demonstrate the generality of this proposal in an oligothiophene model system where ISC is symmetry-forbidden and show that conformational disorder introduced by the formation of a solvent glass accelerates ISC, outweighing the lower temperature and increased viscosity. This proposal sheds light on the factors responsible for facile ISC and provides a simple framework for molecular control over spin states