Hybrid coronary revascularization: are we there yet?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: With advances in minimally invasive surgical and percutaneous coronary therapies, hybrid coronary revascularization (HCR) is well positioned to be an ideal strategy for revascularization in selected patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this review is to highlight recent outcomes and comparative effectiveness studies of HCR. RECENT FINDINGS: Patients undergoing HCR have comparable outcomes compared with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The major benefits compared with CABG appear to be related to short-term morbidity and resource utilization. Compared with PCI, HCR may decrease repeat revascularization rates by decreasing reintervention of the left anterior descending coronary artery. SUMMARY: Although HCR is associated with a significant learning curve, specifically with minimally invasive CABG techniques, the early outcomes remain promising and should be considered as a viable option for revascularization in select patients with multivessel CAD.

Facile synthesis of bimetallic Ag/Ni core/sheath nanowires and their magnetic and electrical properties.

This paper describes a facile method for coating Ag nanowires with uniform, ferromagnetic sheaths made of polycrystalline Ni. A typical sample of these core/sheath nanowires had a saturation magnetization around 33 emu g(-1). We also demonstrated the use of this magnetic property to align the nanowires by simply placing a suspension of the nanowires on a substrate in a magnetic field and allowing the solvent to evaporate. The electrical conductivity of these core/sheath nanowires (2 × 10(3) S cm(-1)) was two orders of magnitude lower than that of bulk Ag (6.3 × 10(5) S cm(-1)) and Ni (1.4 × 10(5) S cm(-1)). This is likely caused by the transfer of electrons from the Ag core to the Ni sheath due to the difference in work function between the two metals. The electrons are expected to experience an increased resistance due to spin-dependent scattering caused by the randomized magnetic domains in the polycrystalline, ferromagnetic Ni sheath. Studies on the structural changes to the Ni coating over time under different storage conditions show that storage of the nanowires on a substrate under ambient conditions leads to very little Ni oxidation after 6 months. These Ag/Ni core/sheath nanowires show promise in areas such as electronics, spintronics, and displays.

Production of Ag nanocubes on a scale of 0.1 g per batch by protecting the NaHS-mediated polyol synthesis with argon.

Au nanocages synthesized from Ag nanocubes via the galvanic replacement reaction are finding widespread use in a range of applications because of their tunable optical properties. Most of these applications require the use of nanocages with a uniform size and in large quantities. This requirement translates into a demand for scaling up the production of Ag nanocubes with uniform, well-controlled sizes. Here we report such a method based on the modification of NaHS-mediated polyol synthesis with argon protection for fast reduction, which allows for the production of Ag nanocubes on a scale of 0.1 g per batch. The Ag nanocubes had an edge length tunable from 25 to 45 nm together with a size variation within +/-5 nm. The use of argon protection was the key to the success of this scale-up synthesis, suggesting the importance of controlling oxidative etching during synthesis.