Cardiopulmonary bypass time: every minute counts.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to examine the impact of CPB times on postoperative outcomes. We sought to determine the optimum cut-offs of CPB per graft time and cumulative CPB time and their predictive accuracy for mortality in conjunction with EuroSCORE II. METHODS: The de-identified data of 1960 patients who had undergone isolated on-pump CABG from 2009 to 2014 were analyzed. The risk strata of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)/graft and cumulative CPB times, identified with a decision tree, were added into an augmented model for predicting short- and intermediate-term postoperative clinical events. RESULTS: Prolonged cumulative CPB time (>180 minutes) was significant in predicting mortality while adjusting for EuroSCORE II, postoperative complications, prolonged ICU stay and prolonged mechanical ventilation. Whereas prolonged CPB/graft time (>56 minutes) was marginally non-significant in terms of its direct effects, its indirect effect on mortality could be manifested through enhanced risks of complications, prolonged ICU stay (>48 hours) and prolonged mechanical ventilation (>24 hours). CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged CPB times could predict postoperative clinical events, in particular mortality. To minimize the occurrence of unfavorable adverse outcomes, it is recommended that the CPB/graft time and cumulative CPB time be kept below 56 minutes and 180 minutes respectively.

Structure and morphology in diffusion-driven growth of nanowires: the case of ZnTe.

Gold-catalyzed ZnTe nanowires were grown at low temperature by molecular beam epitaxy on a ZnTe(111) B buffer layer, under different II/VI flux ratios, including with CdTe insertions. High-resolution electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) gave information about the crystal structure, polarity, and growth mechanisms. We observe, under stoichiometric conditions, the simultaneous presence of zinc-blende and wurtzite nanowires spread homogeneously on the same sample. Wurtzite nanowires are cylinder-shaped with a pyramidal-structured base. Zinc-blende nanowires are cone-shaped with a crater at their base. Both nanowires and substrate show a Te-ended polarity. Te-rich conditions favor zinc-blende nanowires, while Zn-rich suppress nanowire growth. Using a diffusion-driven growth model, we present a criterion for the existence of a crater or a pyramid at the base of the nanowires. The difference in nanowire morphology indicates lateral growth only for zinc-blende nanowires. The role of the direct impinging flux on the nanowire's sidewall is discussed.

Ultrafast room temperature single-photon source from nanowire-quantum dots.

Epitaxial semiconductor quantum dots are particularly promising as realistic single-photon sources for their compatibility with manufacturing techniques and possibility to be implemented in compact devices. Here, we demonstrate for the first time single-photon emission up to room temperature from an epitaxial quantum dot inserted in a nanowire, namely a CdSe slice in a ZnSe nanowire. The exciton and biexciton lines can still be resolved at room temperature and the biexciton turns out to be the most appropriate transition for single-photon emission due to a large nonradiative decay of the bright exciton to dark exciton states. With an intrinsically short radiative decay time (≈300 ps) this system is the fastest room temperature single-photon emitter, allowing potentially gigahertz repetition rates.

Exciton and biexciton fine structure in single elongated islands grown on a vicinal surface

We report a microphotoluminescence study of the exciton and the biexciton localized in very elongated islands formed by well-width fluctuations in a thin CdTe/CdMgTe quantum well grown on a vicinal surface. The electron-hole exchange interaction in a local reduced symmetry splits the exciton states. The resulting transitions are linearly polarized along the two orthogonal principal axes of the island. The valence band mixing induced by the elongated shape of the potential leads to a strong polarization anisotropy and to the observation of dark exciton states under magnetic field. The biexciton-exciton transition reproduces all the fine structure of the exciton state including the transition of the biexciton to the dark exciton state.