Stroke and pump thrombosis following left ventricular assist device implantation: The impact of the implantation technique.

Objectives: Several studies have shown the potential advantage of less-invasive surgery (LIS) for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. This study aims to determine the impact of LIS on stroke and pump thrombosis events after LVAD implantation.

Methods: Between January 2015 and March 2021, 335 consecutive patients underwent LVAD implantation using either conventional sternotomy (CS) or the LIS technique.

Combined antifogging and antireflective double nanostructured coatings for LiDAR applications.

To increase the performance of optical systems, a good antireflective coating is required to ensure low reflectance and high transmittance of optical surfaces. Further problems, such as fogging that causes light scattering, negatively affect the image quality. This implies that other functional properties are also required.

Broadband antireflection coatings with low polarization splitting.

A major problem for optical systems is the polarization splitting occurring at any interface in the event of oblique light. Low-index nanostructured silica layers were produced by overcoating an initial organic structure with silica and subsequent removal of the organic constituents. The nanostructured layers can be tailored to achieve defined low effective refractive indices down to 1.

Far from urban areas: plastic uptake in fish populations of subtropical headwater streams.

This study investigated the occurrence of plastic particles in the digestive tracts of fish from headwater streams in a human-thinly populated region of the subtropical Sinos River basin in southern Brazil. In total, 258 individuals from 17 species were collected using electric fishing. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of the specimens contained plastic particles.

Evaluation of diagnostic criteria in grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) with suspected atherosclerosis.

Objective:  Atherosclerosis is a common disease in older psittacines living in captivity with inadequate housing conditions. However, diagnosis in the living bird remains difficult and the disease is often only recognized during post mortem examination. In this context, we aimed at investigating the diagnostic value of currently reported methods in African grey parrots ().