Determinants of Aortic Prosthesis Mismatch in a Brazilian Public Health System Hospital: Big Patients or Small Prosthesis?

Background: Prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) is associated with worse outcomes.

Objective: Determine the frequency and evaluate preoperatory variables independently associated with severe PPM in a tertiary hospital focused on Public Health Care.

Methods: A total of 316 patients submitted to aortic valve replacement, who had echocardiography performed within the first 30 days after surgery, were retrospectively analyzed.

Powering a CO Reduction Catalyst with Visible Light through Multiple Sub-picosecond Electron Transfers from a Quantum Dot.

Photosensitization of molecular catalysts to reduce CO to CO is a sustainable route to storable solar fuels. Crucial to the sensitization process is highly efficient transfer of redox equivalents from sensitizer to catalyst; in systems with molecular sensitizers, this transfer is often slow because it is gated by diffusion-limited collisions between sensitizer and catalyst. This article describes the photosensitization of a meso-tetraphenylporphyrin iron(III) chloride (FeTPP) catalyst by colloidal, heavy metal-free CuInS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) to reduce CO to CO using 450 nm light.

Organic-to-Aqueous Phase Transfer of Cadmium Chalcogenide Quantum Dots using a Sulfur-Free Ligand for Enhanced Photoluminescence and Oxidative Stability.

This paper describes a procedure for transferring colloidal CdS and CdSe quantum dots (QDs) from organic solvents to water by exchanging their native hydrophobic ligands for phosphonopropionic acid (PPA) ligands, which bind to the QD surface through the phosphonate group. This method, which uses dimethylformamide as an intermediate transfer solvent, was developed in order to produce high-quality water soluble QDs with neither a sulfur-containing ligand nor a polymer encapsulation layer, both of which have disadvantages in applications of QDs to photocatalysis and biological imaging. CdS (CdSe) QDs were transferred to water with a 43% (48%) yield using PPA.

Electrostatic Control of Excitonic Energies and Dynamics in a CdS Quantum Dot through Reversible Protonation of Its Ligands.

This paper describes the pH dependence of the excitonic energies and dynamics of CdS quantum dots (QDs) capped with phosphonopropionate (PPA) in water. QDs capped with PPA carry a negative charge on their surfaces upon deprotonation of PPA above pH ∼ 8.5; the resultant electric field induces large changes in the QD's optical properties.

Electronic Processes within Quantum Dot-Molecule Complexes.

The subject of this review is the colloidal quantum dot (QD) and specifically the interaction of the QD with proximate molecules. It covers various functions of these molecules, including (i) ligands for the QDs, coupled electronically or vibrationally to localized surface states or to the delocalized states of the QD core, (ii) energy or electron donors or acceptors for the QDs, and (iii) structural components of QD assemblies that dictate QD-QD or QD-molecule interactions. Research on interactions of ligands with colloidal QDs has revealed that ligands determine not only the excited state dynamics of the QD but also, in some cases, its ground state electronic structure.