Tunable Magnetocaloric Effect Towards Cryogenic Range by Varying Mn:Ni Ratio in All-d-metal Ni(Co)-Mn-Ti Heusler Alloys

Cryogenic magnetic refrigeration is a highly efficient and environmentally friendly technique for gas liquefaction. However, refrigerant materials undergoing large magnetocaloric response at the interesting cryogenic range are dominated by critical elements (mainly rare-earth elements) which impedes practical applicability of such refrigeration systems. Therefore, there is a need for dedicated investigations on optimization of magnetocaloric response at cryogenic range by utilizing compositions that are rare-earth free. In this work, we synthesize the mechanically stable and rare-earth free, all-d-metal Ni35Co15Mn35Ti15 Heusler alloys and investigate the role of varying Mn:Ni ratio on the magnetostructural and magnetocaloric properties of the alloy system. The results of the microstructural characterization indicate homogenous composition for the investigated alloy series. As the Mn:Ni ratio increases from 1.01 to 1.10, the martensitic transition shifts from near-room temperature down to cryogenic region (120–140 K) while the magnetization of the austenitic phase remains unaltered. Isothermal entropy change as high as ∼ 13 J kg−1 K−1 at 1.5 T is achieved for the sample with the highest Mn:Ni ratio at the temperature region for natural gas liquefaction, which significantly surpasses the values previously reported in the literature for similar alloys. In addition to large magnetocaloric response, the martensitic transformation falls in an interesting temperature of the cryogenic region, paving the way for various low-temperature magnetocaloric applications.Air Force Office of Scientific Research FA8655–21-1–7044HyLICAL 101101461Junta de Andalucía EMC21_0041

All-d-metal Ni(Co)-Mn(X)-Ti (X = Fe or Cr) Heusler Alloys: Enhanced Magnetocaloric Effect for Moderate Magnetic Fields

All-d-metal Ni(Co)-Mn-Ti Heusler alloys show high magnetocaloric/barocaloric effects ascribed to the occurrence of a martensitic transformation together with excellent mechanical properties. However, high magnetic fields are needed to fully drive the transformation and to obtain their maximum responses. To further tune the martensitic transition and the associated magnetocaloric response, we systematically investigate the role of partial Mn substitution by Fe or Cr on the parent composition Ni36Co14Mn35Ti15. On the one hand, Cr doping increases the entropy change of the transformation but causes a tighter overlap of both martensitic and Curie transitions. This significantly reduces the magnetization difference between austenite and martensite and, consequently, strongly decreases the magnetocaloric response. On the other hand, Fe doping reduces the entropy change of the transformation and separates both martensitic and Curie transitions while keeping the magnetization difference among both phases. These two combined features reduce the magnetic field needed to completely drive the martensitic transformation and leads to higher and broader isothermal entropy change peaks for moderate magnetic field changes, reaching up to 25% enhancement for 2 T when compared to the undoped alloy.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2019-105720RB-I00Junta de Andalucía P18-RT-746Air Force Office of Scientific Research FA8655-21-1-704

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium report, data summary of 50 countries for 2010-2015: Device-associated module

•We report INICC device-associated module data of 50 countries from 2010-2015.•We collected prospective data from 861,284 patients in 703 ICUs for 3,506,562 days.•DA-HAI rates and bacterial resistance were higher in the INICC ICUs than in CDC-NHSN's.•Device utilization ratio in the INICC ICUs was similar to CDC-NHSN's. Background: We report the results of International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2010-December 2015 in 703 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific. Methods: During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 861,284 patients hospitalized in INICC hospital ICUs for an aggregate of 3,506,562 days. Results: Although device use in INICC ICUs was similar to that reported from CDC-NHSN ICUs, DA-HAI rates were higher in the INICC ICUs: in the INICC medical-surgical ICUs, the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection, 4.1 per 1,000 central line-days, was nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.8 per 1,000 central line-days reported from comparable US ICUs, the overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher, 13.1 versus 0.9 per 1,000 ventilator-days, as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 5.07 versus 1.7 per 1,000 catheter-days. From blood cultures samples, frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (29.87% vs 10%) and to imipenem (44.3% vs 26.1%), and of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (73.2% vs 28.8%) and to imipenem (43.27% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC ICUs compared with CDC-NHSN ICUs. Conclusions: Although DA-HAIs in INICC ICU patients continue to be higher than the rates reported in CDC-NSHN ICUs representing the developed world, we have observed a significant trend toward the reduction of DA-HAI rates in INICC ICUs as shown in each international report. It is INICC's main goal to continue facilitating education, training, and basic and cost-effective tools and resources, such as standardized forms and an online platform, to tackle this problem effectively and systematically

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN