Distinct high-T transitions in underdoped Ba1−x_{1-x}Kx_{x}Fe2_{2}As2_{2}

In contrast to the simultaneous structural and magnetic first order phase transition $T_{0}$ previously reported, our detailed investigation on an underdoped Ba$_{0.84}$K$_{0.16}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ single crystal unambiguously revealed that the transitions are not concomitant. The tetragonal ($\tau$: I4/mmm) - orthorhombic ($\vartheta$: Fmmm) structural transition occurs at $T_{S}\simeq$ 110 K, followed by an adjacent antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition at $T_{N}\simeq$ 102 K. Hysteresis and coexistence of the $\tau$ and $\vartheta$ phases over a finite temperature range observed in our NMR experiments confirm the first order character of the structural transition and provide evidence that both $T_{S}$ and $T_{N}$ are strongly correlated. Our data also show that superconductivity (SC) develops in the $\vartheta$ phase below $T_{c}$ = 20 K and coexists with long range AFM. This new observation, $T_{S}\neq T_{N}$, firmly establishes another similarity between the hole-doped BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ via K substitution and the electron-doped iron-arsenide superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Homeless persons and migrants in precarious housing conditions and COVID-19 pandemic: peculiarities and prevention strategies

Homeless persons and migrants in precarious housing conditions are vulnerable populations that have been peculiarly impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. These populations are more at risk of contracting COVID-19 as they often find it difficult to adhere to public health directives and, if exposed, may be more susceptible to illness or death due to the higher prevalence of underlying physical and mental comorbidities compared to the general population. In addition, vulnerable populations may have limited access to essential diagnostics and treatments, thus leading to untreated COVID-19 cases and their development into more severe forms. Health, social and government agencies should collaborate to develop services that support these communities, in accordance with the World Health Organization principles. Migrant and homeless centers have a central role, as they provide a significant contribution to prevent infection spread and favor access to early medical treatment to those affected, thus preventing more severe forms of infection

Gradual transition from insulator to semimetal of Ca1−x_{1-x}Eux_{x}B6_{6} with increasing Eu concentration

The local environment of Eu$^{2+}$ ($4f^{7}$, $S=7/2$) in Ca$_{1-x}$Eu$_{x}$B$_{6}$ ($0.003\leqslant x\leqslant 1.00$) is investigated by means of electron spin resonance (ESR). For $x\lesssim 0.003$ the spectra show resolved \textit{fine} and \textit{hyperfine} structures due to the cubic crystal \textit{electric} field and nuclear \textit{hyperfine} field, respectively. The resonances have Lorentzian line shape, indicating an \textit{insulating} environment for the Eu$^{2+}$ ions. For $0.003\lesssim x\lesssim 0.07$, as $x$ increases, the ESR lines broaden due to local distortions caused by the Eu/Ca ions substitution. For $0.07\lesssim x\lesssim 0.30$, the lines broaden further and the spectra gradually change from Lorentzian to Dysonian resonances, suggesting a coexistence of both \textit{insulating} and \textit{metallic} environments for the Eu$^{2+}$ ions. In contrast to Ca$_{1-x}$Gd$_{x}$B$_{6}$, the \textit{fine} structure is still observable up to $x\approx 0.15$. For $x\gtrsim 0.30$ the \textit{fine} and \textit{hyperfine} structures are no longer observed, the line width increases, and the line shape is purely Dysonian anticipating the \textit{semimetallic} character of EuB$_{6}$. This broadening is attributed to a spin-flip scattering relaxation process due to the exchange interaction between conduction and Eu$^{2+}$ $4f$ electrons. High field ESR measurements for $x\gtrsim 0.15$ reveal smaller and anisotropic line widths, which are attributed to magnetic polarons and Fermi surface effects, respectively.Comment: Submitted to PR

Microscopic evidence for field-induced magnetism in CeCoIn5_5

We present NMR data in the normal and superconducting states of CeCoIn$_5$ for fields close to $H_{\rm c2}(0)=11.8$ T in the $ab$ plane. Recent experiments identified a first-order transition from the normal to superconducting state for $H> 10.5$ T, and a new thermodynamic phase below 290 mK within the superconducting state. We find that the Knight shifts of the In(1), In(2) and the Co are discontinuous across the first-order transition and the magnetic linewidths increase dramatically. The broadening differs for the three sites, unlike the expectation for an Abrikosov vortex lattice, and suggests the presence of static spin moments in the vortex cores. In the low-temperature and high-field phase the broad NMR lineshapes suggest ordered local moments, rather than a long wavelength quasiparticle spin density modulation expected for an FFLO phase.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Health and social conditions of children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the city of Rome, Italy

OBJECTIVE: The number of children living in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in developed countries is constantly growing, resulting in important implications for children's development, physical and psychological health and increased future disparities. In this study, we explored several key elements of children living in poor neighborhoods, such as demographic characteristics, access to public health assistance and school, and availability of housing and basic hygienic conditions.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 711 children aged 0-17 years referring to primary care services in the suburbs of the city of Rome, Italy.RESULTS: Most children were born in Italy, while almost none of their parents were. Nearly 60% of the children did not have access to basic pediatric care, causing possible misdiagnosis and delayed treatment for acute and chronic conditions. A smaller percentage of the children did not have access to basic housing (8%) and hygienic facilities, such as heating, running water, and refrigerator (3.2%), leading to malnutrition, isolation and poor physical and psychological development.CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms a critical condition for children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, whose vulnerability is further worsened by the limited access to paediatric health assistance and, in some cases, to basic facilities with a severe impact on their physical and psychological development

Cadmium exposure and risk of hypertension: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

Background: Exposure to environmental toxic metals represents a significant global public health concern. Many studies have reported that cadmium (Cd) exposure increases the risk of hypertension. Since the shape of such relation has not been well characterized, we assessed it by performing a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of human studies. Methods: We searched the literature through September 5, 2024 to identify papers related to Cd, hypertension, and blood pressure. Inclusion criteria were: observational design, adult population, assessment of exposure using Cd biomarkers, and availability of exposure category-specific risk estimates for hypertension. We performed a dose-response meta-analysis of the results from included studies. Results: Of the 18 studies published between 2006 and 2024, most had a cross-sectional design. Cd was measured in whole blood and/or urine in almost all studies, whereas only two studies measured Cd in serum. The dose-response meta-analysis indicated an almost linear relation between urinary Cd concentrations and hypertension risk with RR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.02–1.37 at 2.0 μg/g creatinine compared with no exposure. In contrast, the association between blood Cd concentrations and hypertension risk was non-linear: there was a steep monotonic increase in risk for Cd concentrations below 2 μg/L, reaching a RR of 1.48 (95% CI 1.17–1.86) at 2.0 μg/L, after which a plateau seemed reached. We found similar trends when restricting to studies of Asian population, while when considering North American studies, hypertension risk increased above 1.0 μg/g creatinine. Conclusions: In this dose-response meta-analysis, risk of hypertension showed a non-linear positive association with blood Cd concentrations and a linear positive association with urinary Cd concentrations. Inconsistency in the shape of associations could relate to the different timing of exposure assessed by the biomarkers or the alteration Cd excretion at increasing exposure levels. Mitigation of Cd exposure is confirmed as a public health priority for chronic disease prevention

Selective ammonia oxidation over ZSM-5 zeolite: Impact of catalyst's support porosity and type of deposited iron species

[EN] In the presented studies an influence of different parameters, such as zeolite sample porosity, form of used iron source ([Fe-3(OAc)(6)O(H2O)(3)](+)oligocations or FeSO4 solutions) and method of iron species deposition (ion-exchange, impregnation), on the catalytic activity in the process of the selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia (NH3-SCO) was studied. Conventional and mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolites, obtained by desilication and modified with iron species, were analysed with respect to their textural, surface and crystalline properties (N-2-sorption, HRTEM, SEM, XRD) as well as the form of introduced Fe species (UV-vis-DRS). Ion-exchange with [Fe-3(OAc)(6)O (H2O)(3)](+) oligocations and impregnation with these oligocations and FeSO4 solutions were found as the most effective methods of the zeolite samples activation for NH3-SCO.This work was carried out in the frame of project No. 0670/IP3/2016/74 from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education in the years 2016-2019. Part of the work was performed in the frame of project No. 2012/05/B/ST5/00269from the National Science Centre (Poland). U. D. acknowledges to the Spanish Government by the funding (MAT2017-82288-C2-1-P). The authors would like to acknowledge to Clariant Company for the providing of the HMFI zeolite material for the presented research.Borcuch, A.; Rutkowska, M.; Marzec, A.; Kowalczyk, A.; Michalik, M.; Moreno, J.; Díaz Morales, UM.... (2020). Selective ammonia oxidation over ZSM-5 zeolite: Impact of catalyst's support porosity and type of deposited iron species. Catalysis Today. 348:223-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2019.08.054S223229348Weckhuysen, B. M., & Yu, J. (2015). Recent advances in zeolite chemistry and catalysis. Chemical Society Reviews, 44(20), 7022-7024. doi:10.1039/c5cs90100fVerboekend, D., & Pérez-Ramírez, J. (2011). Design of hierarchical zeolite catalysts by desilication. Catalysis Science & Technology, 1(6), 879. doi:10.1039/c1cy00150gRutkowska, M., Pacia, I., Basąg, S., Kowalczyk, A., Piwowarska, Z., Duda, M., … Chmielarz, L. (2017). Catalytic performance of commercial Cu-ZSM-5 zeolite modified by desilication in NH 3 -SCR and NH 3 -SCO processes. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 246, 193-206. doi:10.1016/j.micromeso.2017.03.017Góra-Marek, K., Brylewska, K., Tarach, K. A., Rutkowska, M., Jabłońska, M., Choi, M., & Chmielarz, L. (2015). IR studies of Fe modified ZSM-5 zeolites of diverse mesopore topologies in the terms of their catalytic performance in NH3-SCR and NH3-SCO processes. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 179, 589-598. doi:10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.05.053Macina, D., Piwowarska, Z., Góra-Marek, K., Tarach, K., Rutkowska, M., Girman, V., … Chmielarz, L. (2016). SBA-15 loaded with iron by various methods as catalyst for DeNOx process. Materials Research Bulletin, 78, 72-82. doi:10.1016/j.materresbull.2016.02.026Rutkowska, M., Duda, M., Macina, D., Górecka, S., Dębek, R., Moreno, J. M., … Chmielarz, L. (2019). Mesoporous Beta zeolite functionalisation with FexCry oligocations; catalytic activity in the NH3SCO process. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 278, 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.micromeso.2018.11.003Miller, J. T., Glusker, E., Peddi, R., Zheng, T., & Regalbuto, J. R. (1998). Catalysis Letters, 51(1/2), 15-22. doi:10.1023/a:1019072631175Kowalczyk, A., Borcuch, A., Michalik, M., Rutkowska, M., Gil, B., Sojka, Z., … Chmielarz, L. (2017). MCM-41 modified with transition metals by template ion-exchange method as catalysts for selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia to dinitrogen. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 240, 9-21. doi:10.1016/j.micromeso.2016.11.002Chmielarz, L., & Jabłońska, M. (2015). Advances in selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia to dinitrogen: a review. RSC Advances, 5(54), 43408-43431. doi:10.1039/c5ra03218kThommes, M., Kaneko, K., Neimark, A. V., Olivier, J. P., Rodriguez-Reinoso, F., Rouquerol, J., & Sing, K. S. W. (2015). Physisorption of gases, with special reference to the evaluation of surface area and pore size distribution (IUPAC Technical Report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 87(9-10), 1051-1069. doi:10.1515/pac-2014-1117Qi, G., & Yang, R. T. (2005). Selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) of ammonia to nitrogen over Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts. Applied Catalysis A: General, 287(1), 25-33. doi:10.1016/j.apcata.2005.03.00