Novel Electronic Behavior Driving NdNiO3 Metal-Insulator Transition

We present evidence that the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in a tensile-strained NdNiO3 (NNO) film is facilitated by a redistribution of electronic density and that it neither requires Ni charge disproportionation nor a symmetry change [U. Staub et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 126402 (2002); R. Jaramillo et al., Nat. Phys. 10, 304 (2014)]. Given that epitaxial tensile strain in thin NNO films induces preferential occupancy of the eg dx2−y2 orbital we propose that the larger transfer integral of this orbital state with the O 2p orbital state mediates a redistribution of electronic density from the Ni atom. A decrease in the Ni dx2−y2 orbital occupation is directly observed by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering below the MIT temperature. Furthermore, an increase in the Nd charge occupancy is measured by x-ray absorption at the Nd L3 edge. Both spin-orbit coupling and crystal field effects combine to break the degeneracy of the Nd 5d states, shifting the energy of the Nd eg dx2−y2 orbit towards the Fermi level, allowing the A site to become an active acceptor during the MIT. This work identifies the relocation of electrons from the Ni 3d to the Nd 5d orbitals across the MIT. We propose that the insulating gap opens between the Ni 3d and O 2p states, resulting from Ni 3d electron localization. The transition seems to be neither a purely Mott-Hubbard transition nor a simple charge transfer

Multiancestry association study identifies new asthma risk loci that colocalize with immune-cell enhancer marks

We examined common variation in asthma risk by conducting a meta-analysis of worldwide asthma genome-wide association studies (23,948 asthma cases, 118,538 controls) of individuals from ethnically diverse populations. We identified five new asthma loci, found two new associations at two known asthma loci, established asthma associations at two loci previously implicated in the comorbidity of asthma plus hay fever, and confirmed nine known loci. Investigation of pleiotropy showed large overlaps in genetic variants with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The enrichment in enhancer marks at asthma risk loci, especially in immune cells, suggested a major role of these loci in the regulation of immunologically related mechanisms