Magnetic phase transitions and entropy change in layered NdMn1.7Cr0.3Si2

A giant magnetocaloric effect has been observed around the Curie temperature, TC ∼ 42 K, in NdMn1.7Cr0.3Si2 with no discernible thermal and magnetic hysteresis losses. Below 400 K, three magnetic phase transitions take place around 380 K, 320 K and 42 K. Detailed high resolution synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction (10-400 K) confirmed the magnetic transitions and phases as follows: TN intra ∼ 380 K denotes the transition from paramagnetism to intralayer antiferromagnetism (AFl), TN inter ∼ 320 K represents the transition from the AFl structure to the canted antiferromagnetic spin structure (AFmc), while TC ∼ 42 K denotes the first order magnetic transition from AFmc to canted ferromagnetism (Fmc + F(Nd)) due to ordering of the Mn and Nd sub-lattices. The maximum values of the magnetic entropy change and the adiabatic temperature change, around TC for a field change of 5 T are evaluated to be −ΔSM max ∼ 15.9 J kg−1 K−1 and ΔTad max ∼ 5 K, respectively. The first order magnetic transition associated with the low levels of hysteresis losses (therma

Practical high-performance lead-free piezoelectrics: Structural flexibility beyond utilizing multiphase coexistence

Due to growing concern for the environment and human health, searching for high-performance lead-free piezoceramics has been a hot topic of scientific and industrial research. Despite the significant progress achieved toward enhancing piezoelectricity, further efforts should be devoted to the synergistic improvement of piezoelectricity and its thermal stability. This study provides new insight into these topics. A new KNN-based lead-free ceramic material is presented, which features a large piezoelectric coefficient (d(33)) exceeding 500 pC/N and a high Curie temperature (T(c)) of  ∼200°C. The superior piezoelectric response strongly relies on the increased composition-induced structural flexibility due to lattice softening and decreased unit cell distortion. In contrast to piezoelectricity anomalies induced via polymorphic transition, this piezoelectricity enhancement is effective within a broad temperature range rather than a specific small range. In particular, a hierarchical domain architecture composed of nano-sized domains along the submicron domains was detected in this material system, which further contributes to the high piezoelectricity

Orthogeriatric care pathway: a prospective survey of impact on length of stay, mortality and institutionalisation

Introduction: Care pathways for elderly hip fracture patients are increasingly implemented but there has been only limited evaluation of their use. Our objective was to investigate the impact of such a care pathway on the use of healthcare resources and on patients' outcomes. Materials and methods: The prospective survey covered 493 hip fracture patients 65years of age or older that were treated either before "Usual Care=(UC)” or after "Co-Managed-Care=(CMC)” implementation of the care pathway. Primary outcome was length of stay (LoS). Secondary outcomes were 1-year mortality and change in residential status from prefracture baseline to 1-year after surgery. Data were analysed by descriptive and interferential statistics and adjustment for baseline differences amongst the two patient groups was done. Results: Patients in the CMC sample had more preexisting comorbidities (CCI 2.5 versus 2.1). Prior to the fracture, a larger proportion amongst them needed help in ADL (49 versus 26%), and they were more likely to reside in a nursing home (36 versus 29%). Prefracture mobility status was equal in both samples. In the CMC sample LoS was significantly shorter (LoS 8.6 versus 11.3days, p<0.01) and patients were less likely to experience a complication (59 vs 73%, p<0.01) while being in the hospital. There was no significant difference in 1-year mortality or in change of residential status. Conclusions: A care pathway for elderly hip fracture patients allowed decreased LoS without affecting mortality or change of residential status 1year after fracture compared to prefracture baseline

Overturning established chemoselectivities : selective reduction of arenes over malonates and cyanoacetates by photoactivated organic electron donors

The prevalence of metal-based reducing reagents, including metals, metal complexes, and metal salts, has produced an empirical order of reactivity that governs our approach to chemical synthesis. However, this reactivity may be influenced by stabilization of transition states, intermediates, and products through substrate-metal bonding. This article reports that in the absence of such stabilizing interactions, established chemoselectivities can be overthrown. Thus, photoactivation of the recently developed neutral organic superelectron donor 5 selectively reduces alkyl-substituted benzene rings in the presence of activated esters and nitriles, in direct contrast to metal-based reductions, opening a new perspective on reactivity. The altered outcomes arising from the organic electron donors are attributed to selective interactions between the neutral organic donors and the arene rings of the substrates

Magnetic phase transitions and entropy change in layered NdMn 1.7

A giant magnetocaloric effect has been observed around the Curie temperature, TC ∼ 42 K, in NdMn1.7Cr0.3Si2 with no discernible thermal and magnetic hysteresis losses. Below 400 K, three magnetic phase transitions take place around 380 K, 320 K and 42 K. Detailed high resolution synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction (10-400 K) confirmed the magnetic transitions and phases as follows: TN intra ∼ 380 K denotes the transition from paramagnetism to intralayer antiferromagnetism (AFl), TN inter ∼ 320 K represents the transition from the AFl structure to the canted antiferromagnetic spin structure (AFmc), while TC ∼ 42 K denotes the first order magnetic transition from AFmc to canted ferromagnetism (Fmc + F(Nd)) due to ordering of the Mn and Nd sub-lattices. The maximum values of the magnetic entropy change and the adiabatic temperature change, around TC for a field change of 5 T are evaluated to be −ΔSM max ∼ 15.9 J kg−1 K−1 and ΔTad max ∼ 5 K, respectively. The first order magnetic transition associated with the low levels of hysteresis losses (therma

Neutral organic super electron donors made catalytic

Neutral organic super electron donors (SEDs) display impressive reducing power but, until now, it has not been possible to use them catalytically in radical chain reactions. This is because, following electron transfer, these donors form persistent radical cations that trap substrate-derived radicals. This paper unlocks a conceptually new approach to super electron donors that overcomes this issue, leading to the first catalytic neutral organic super electron donor

Symmetry-mode analysis for intuitive observation of structure-property relationships in the lead-free antiferroelectric (1-x)AgNbO3-xLiTaO(3)

Functional materials are of critical importance to electronic and smart devices. A deep understanding of the structure-property relationship is essential for designing new materials. In this work, instead of utilizing conventional atomic coordinates, a symmetry-mode approach is successfully used to conduct structure refinement of the neutron powder diffraction data of (1-x)AgNbO3-xLiTaO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.09) ceramics. This provides rich structural information that not only clarifies the controversial symmetry assigned to pure AgNbO3 but also explains well the detailed structural evolution of (1-x)AgNbO3-xLiTaO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.09) ceramics, and builds a comprehensive and straightforward relationship between structural distortion and electrical properties. It is concluded that there are four relatively large-amplitude major modes that dominate the distorted Pmc21 structure of pure AgNbO3, namely a Λ3 antiferroelectric mode, a T4+ a-a-c0 octahedral tilting mode, an H2 a0a0c+/a0a0c- octahedral tilting mode and a Γ4- ferroelectric mode. The H2 and Λ3 modes become progressively inactive with increasing x and their destabilization is the driving force behind the composition-driven phase transition between the Pmc21 and R3c phases. This structural variation is consistent with the trend observed in the measured temperature-dependent dielectric properties and polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops. The mode crystallography applied in this study provides a strategy for optimizing related properties by tuning the amplitudes of the corresponding modes in these novel AgNbO3-based (anti)ferroelectric materials.T. Lu and Y. Liu acknowledge the Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function of the Australian Research Council (ARC) for financial support in the form of a Discovery Project (DP160104780). This work was also supported by the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China under grant No. 2015DFA51100

De novo domestication of wild tomato using genome editing

Breeding of crops over millennia for yield and productivity1 has led to reduced genetic diversity. As a result, beneficial traits of wild species, such as disease resistance and stress tolerance, have been lost2. We devised a CRISPR–Cas9 genome engineering strategy to combine agronomically desirable traits with useful traits present in wild lines. We report that editing of six loci that are important for yield and productivity in present-day tomato crop lines enabled de novo domestication of wild Solanum pimpinellifolium. Engineered S. pimpinellifolium morphology was altered, together with the size, number and nutritional value of the fruits. Compared with the wild parent, our engineered lines have a threefold increase in fruit size and a tenfold increase in fruit number. Notably, fruit lycopene accumulation is improved by 500% compared with the widely cultivated S. lycopersicum. Our results pave the way for molecular breeding programs to exploit the genetic diversity present in wild plants

Age-dependent alteration of TGF-β signalling in osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of articular cartilage, with aging as the main risk factor. In OA, changes in chondrocytes lead to the autolytic destruction of cartilage. Transforming growth factor-β has recently been demonstrated to signal not only via activin receptor-like kinase 5 (ALK5)-induced Smad2/3 phosphorylation, but also via ALK1-induced Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation in articular cartilage. In aging cartilage and experimental OA, the ratio ALK1/ALK5 has been found to be increased, and the expression of ALK1 is correlated with matrix metalloproteinase-13 expression. The age-dependent shift towards Smad1/5/8 signalling might trigger the differentiation of articular chondrocytes with an autolytic phenotype