Structure, Transport and Magnetic properties in La2x_{2x}Sr2−2x_{2-2x}Co2x_{2x}Ru2−2x_{2-2x}O6_{6}

The perovskite solid solutions of the type La$_{2x}$Sr$_{2-2x}$Co$_{2x}$Ru$_{2-2x}$O$_{6}$ with 0.25 $\leq$ x $\leq$ 0.75 have been investigated for their structural, magnetic and transport properties. All the compounds crystallize in double perovskite structure. The magnetization measurements indicate a complex magnetic ground state with strong competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. Resistivity of the compounds is in confirmation with hopping conduction behaviour though differences are noted especially for $x$ = 0.4 and 0.6. Most importantly, low field (50Oe) magnetization measurements display negative magnetization during the zero field cooled cycle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicate presence of Co$^{2+}$/Co$^{3+}$ and Ru$^{4+}$/Ru$^{5+}$ redox couples in all compositions except $x$ = 0.5. Presence of magnetic ions like Ru$^{4+}$ and Co$^{3+}$ gives rise to additional ferromagnetic (Ru-rich) and antiferromagnetic sublattices and also explains the observed negative magnetization.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Magn. Magn. Mate

Low Temperature Neutron Diffraction Study of MnTe

Investigation of transport and magnetic properties of MnTe at low temperatures sInvestigation of transport and magnetic properties of MnTe at low temperatures showed anomalies like negative coefficient of resistance below 100K and a sharp rise in susceptibility at around 83K similar to a ferromagnetic transition. Low temperature powder neutron diffraction experiments were therefore carried out to understand the underlying phenomena responsible for such anomalous behavior. Our study indicates that the rise in susceptibility at low temperatures is due to strengthening of ferromagnetic interaction within the plane over the inter plane antiferromagnetic interactions.Comment: Appearing in J. Magn. Magn. Mate

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. Methods: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model—a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates—with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality—which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. Findings: The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2–100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1–290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1–211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4–48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3–37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7–9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. Interpretation: Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

X-ray absorption spectra and electronic structure of Haucke-phase-type intermetallic compounds

Les spectres d'absorption K du cobalt dans le métal pur et dans les composés du type RCo5 (où R est une terre rare ou yttrium) ont été observés et mesurés. On trouve dans le cas des composés que les discontinuités principales se déplacent vers les petites énergies par rapport à celle du métal pur ; ceci indique un transfert d'électrons R vers Co. Une courbe tracée entre les déplacements chimiques et les électrons covalents impliqués dans la liaison (calculé en utilisant un formalisme des rayons métalliques d'après Pauling) suggère une corrélation. Cette courbe est employée pour déterminer des électrons covalents du cobalt dans TmCo5 et YCO5 ; des informations utiles concernant la liaison chimique dans ces composés ont été déduites.The K X-ray absorption discontinuity of cobalt in the compounds of the RCo5 family (R = rare earth or yttrium) has been measured with a bent crystal spectrograph. It is observed that the main discontinuity shifts to the low energy side, with respect to that in pure cobalt indicating a flow of charge from R to Co. The plot between the observed shifts and the number of covalently bonded electrons (calculated using a semi-empirical metallic radii formalism due to Pauling) suggests a definite correlation. This plot is then used to obtain the number of covalently bonded electrons of cobalt in TmCo5 and YCo5 for which the self-consistent radii data is not available. Useful conclusions are obtained about chemical bonding in these two compounds

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">Carbon Nanoparticle Toxicity to marine algae <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Navicula longa</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Isochrysis galbana.</i></span>

331-337Present study reports cytotoxicity of Carbon Nanoparticles to Navicula and Isochrysis. Cytotoxicity was determined by morphological changes, cell density count, Acid Phosphatase and Lactate dehydrogenase assays. Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) promote concentration as well as exposure dependent toxicity to Navicula & Isochrysis, which exhibited cell death, necrotic changes such as cell shrinkage and pycnosis of nucleus. Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) & Acid Phosphatase (ACP) activities elevated significantly, in both algae, in a dose and exposure dependant manner. In Navicula and Isochrysis, LDH activity was elevated by 42.3% and 60.7%, and 44.5% and 90.3%, on exposure to 0.05 mg/mL and 1 mg/mL CNPs for 10 days respectively. Similarly, ACP activity in both Navicula and Isochrysis was elevated by 34.6% and 55.4%, and 11.7% and 18.5%, on exposure to 0.05 mg/mL and 1 mg/mL of CNPs for 10 days respectively, as compared to the controls. The occurrence of tube like structures under the influence of CNPs in algae was also observed

Tailoring a Pt–Ru catalyst for enhanced methanol electro-oxidation

A carbon-supported (1:1) Pt–Ru (Pt–Ru/C) alloy catalyst has been prepared in-house by the sulfito-complex route, and has been tailored to achieve enhanced activity towards methanol electro-oxidation by annealing it at varying temperatures in air. The catalyst samples annealed between 250 and 300 ◦C in air for 30 min exhibit superior catalytic activity towards methanol electro-oxidation in a solid-polymer-electrolyte direct methanol fuel cell (SPE-DMFCs) operating at 90 ◦C. Both the as-prepared and annealed Pt–Ru/C catalysts have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and cyclic voltammetry. It is conjectured that while annealing the Pt–Ru/C catalysts, both Pt Pt and Pt Ru bonds increase whereas the Pt O bond shrinks. This is accompanied with a positive variation in Ru/Pt metal ratio suggesting the diffusion of Ru metal from the bulk catalyst to surface with an increase in oxidic ruthenium content. Such a treatment appears seminal for enhancing the electrochemical activity of Pt–Ru catalysts towards methanol oxidation

Methanol steam reforming behavior of sol-gel synthesized nanodimensional CuxFe1-xAl2O4 hercynites

This work reports the outstanding catalytic activity behavior of sol-gel synthesized nanostructured CuxFe1-xAl2O4 (0.3¿=¿x¿=¿0.8; named as CuFeAln, where n¿=¿30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80) hercynites towards methanol steam reforming (MSR) for hydrogen generation. Based on the durability studies, we had categorized the higher Cu-doped hercynites (CuFeAl70 and CuFeAl80) as the more effective in regard to activity and stability (maintenance of a methanol conversion of ~80% with low CO selectivity of 2% after 50¿h of continuous operation at 275¿°C for CuFeAl80) when compared with the lower Cu-doped counterparts (CuFeAl30 and CuFeAl40). The specific surface area of all the materials was about 50 m2¿g-1 and they had similar reduction characteristics as obtained from H2-TPR analysis. The lower reducibility below 280¿°C of CuFeAl70 and CuFeAl80 was correlated with the higher stability of these samples during time on stream operation. The powder XRD analyses had shown pure phase hercynite formation with the gradual increase of Cu-doping, while there occurred a phase segregation in the reforming atmosphere leading to the formation of metallic copper. High resolution microstructural analyses had confirmed single phase hercynite formation at nanoscale and a reduction of copper subsequent to ageing as well as certain growth of the copper metal particles (from ~5¿nm to ~8¿nm) corroborating the XRD studies. The surface features from in-situ XPS had also suggested formation of reduced copper species, which was much lower for the higher Cu-doped samples. Cu K edge XANES spectral analyses also pointed to lower occurrence of reduced copper in the aged samples of higher Cu-doped hercynites. The experimental findings had been explained on the basis of partial breakdown of the spinel lattice structure leading to the formation of CuO, followed by its reduction to metallic copper nanocrystallites in the MSR atmosphere. A definite ratio of the reduced to oxidized copper species was maintained with time on stream and this caused nearly stable conversion behavior of the catalysts in methanol steam reforming.Peer Reviewe