Effect of annealing on the magnetic microstructure of high-pressure torsion iron: the relevance of higher-order contributions to the magnetic small-angle neutron scattering cross section.

The development of higher-order micromagnetic small-angle neutron scattering theory in nanocrystalline materials is still in its infancy. One key challenge remaining in this field is understanding the role played by the microstructure on the magnitude and sign of the higher-order scattering contribution recently observed in nanocrystalline materials prepared by high-pressure torsion. By combining structural and magnetic characterization techniques, namely X-ray diffraction, electron backscattered diffraction and magnetometry with magnetic small-angle neutron scattering, this work discusses the relevance of higher-order terms in the magnetic small-angle neutron scattering cross section of pure iron prepared by high-pressure torsion associated with a post-annealing process.

Magnetic nanoprecipitates and interfacial spin disorder in zero-field-annealed NiMnIn Heusler alloys as seen by magnetic small-angle neutron scattering.

Shell ferromagnetism is a new functional property of certain off-stoichiometric Ni-Mn-In Heusler alloys, with a potential application in non-volatile magnetic memories and recording media. One key challenge in this field remains the determination of the structural and magnetic properties of the nanoprecipitates that are the result of an annealing-induced segregation process. Thanks to its unique mesoscopic length scale sensitivity, magnetic small-angle neutron scattering appears to be a powerful technique to disclose the microstructure of such annealing-induced nanoprecipitates.

Making Full Use of Qualitative Data to Generate New Fish Product Ideas through Co-Creation with Consumers: A Methodological Approach.

Co-creation is a process that directly involves different stakeholders in the idea generation phase of a new product development process. A pool of 112 new aquaculture fish product ideas was obtained by applying a combination of creative and projective techniques to the co-creation process with consumers in six focus groups conducted in three European countries (Germany, France, and Spain). The subjectivity of qualitative data analysis (e.

Unraveling the magnetic softness in Fe-Ni-B-based nanocrystalline material by magnetic small-angle neutron scattering.

Magnetic small-angle neutron scattering is employed to investigate the magnetic interactions in (FeNi)B alloy, a HiB-NANOPERM-type soft magnetic nanocrystalline material, which exhibits an ultrafine microstructure with an average grain size below 10 nm. The neutron data reveal a significant spin-misalignment scattering which is mainly related to the jump of the longitudinal magnetization at internal particle-matrix interfaces. The field dependence of the neutron data can be well described by micromagnetic small-angle neutron scattering theory.

Clinical and Economic Evaluation after Adopting Contingent Cell-Free DNA Screening for Fetal Trisomies in South Spain.

Introduction: Contingent cell-free (cf) DNA screening on the basis of the first-trimester combined test (FCT) results has emerged as a cost-effective strategy for screening of trisomy 21 (T21).

Objectives: To assess performance, patients' uptake, and cost of contingent cfDNA screening and to compare them with those of the established FCT.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study including all singleton pregnancies attending to their FCT for screening of T21 at 2 university hospitals in South Spain.

Combining X-Ray Whole Powder Pattern Modeling, Rietveld and Pair Distribution Function Analyses as a Novel Bulk Approach to Study Interfaces in Heteronanostructures: Oxidation Front in FeO/Fe O Core/Shell Nanoparticles as a Case Study.

Understanding the microstructure in heterostructured nanoparticles is crucial to harnessing their properties. Although microscopy is ideal for this purpose, it allows for the analysis of only a few nanoparticles. Thus, there is a need for structural methods that take the whole sample into account.

Phase Transformations in the CeO-SmO System: A Multiscale Powder Diffraction Investigation.

The structure evolution in the CeO-SmO system is revisited by combining high resolution synchrotron powder diffraction with pair distribution function (PDF) to inquire about local, mesoscopic, and average structure. The CeO fluorite structure undergoes two phase transformations by Sm doping, first to a cubic (C-type) and then to a monoclinic (B-type) phase. Whereas the C to B-phase separation occurs completely and on a long-range scale, no miscibility gap is detected between fluorite and C-type phases.

Insights into the Local Structure of Tb-Doped KYF Nanoparticles from Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction.

Pure and Tb-doped nanocrystalline KYF specimens were synthesized by coprecipitation, and portions of the samples underwent further heat treatment at 600 °C in a fluorinated atmosphere. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction patterns acquired at 30 keV allowed to determine both long- and short-range ordered structures by Rietveld and pair distribution function (PDF) analyses, respectively. PDF examination of the as-synthesized sample allowed to discern a slight deviation from the basic cubic building unit because the Y-F bond lengths could be explained in S.

Embrionary way to create a fatty liver in portal hypertension.

Portal hypertension in the rat by triple partial portal vein ligation produces an array of splanchnic and systemic disorders, including hepatic steatosis. In the current review these alterations are considered components of a systemic inflammatory response that would develop through three overlapping phenotypes: The neurogenic, the immune and the endocrine. These three inflammatory phenotypes could resemble the functions expressed during embryonic development of mammals.

AgCuCrO(OH): a new bidimensional silver-copper mixed-oxyhydroxide with in-plane ferromagnetic coupling.

AgCuCrO(OH), a new Ag-Cu-Cr-O layered mixed oxide, prepared by soft hydrothermal heterogeneous reactions, is reported. The new phase is an oxyhydroxide and presents a structure with alternating brucite-like Cu-O and Ag-O layers connected by individual chromate groups. The crystallographic structure has been solved and refined from high resolution powder X-ray diffraction data and is supported by density functional theory calculations, yielding a triclinic, space group P1[combining macron], a = 5.

Switchable Surface Hydrophobicity-Hydrophilicity of a Metal-Organic Framework.

Materials with surfaces that can be switched from high/superhydrophobicity to superhydrophilicity are useful for myriad applications. Herein, we report a metal-organic framework (MOF) assembled from Zn ions, 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate, and a hydrophobic carborane-based linker. The MOF crystal-surface can be switched between hydrophobic and superhydrophilic through a chemical treatment to remove some of the building blocks.

Application of synchrotron through-the-substrate microdiffraction to crystals in polished thin sections.

The synchrotron through-the-substrate X-ray microdiffraction technique (tts-μXRD) is extended to the structural study of microvolumes of crystals embedded in polished thin sections of compact materials [Rius, Labrador, Crespi, Frontera, Vallcorba & Melgarejo (2011 ▸). J.Synchrotron Rad.

Simultaneous nanocalorimetry and fast XRD measurements to study the silicide formation in Pd/a-Si bilayers.

The use of a membrane-based chip nanocalorimeter in a powder diffraction beamline is described. Simultaneous wide-angle X-ray scattering and scanning nanocalorimetric measurements are performed on a thin-film stack of palladium/amorphous silicon (Pd/a-Si) at heating rates from 0.1 to 10 K s(-1).

Methane hydrate formation in confined nanospace can surpass nature.

Natural methane hydrates are believed to be the largest source of hydrocarbons on Earth. These structures are formed in specific locations such as deep-sea sediments and the permafrost based on demanding conditions of high pressure and low temperature. Here we report that, by taking advantage of the confinement effects on nanopore space, synthetic methane hydrates grow under mild conditions (3.

A new microporous zeolitic silicoborate (ITQ-52) with interconnected small and medium pores.

A new zeolite (named as ITQ-52) having large cavities and small and medium channels has been synthesized. This was achieved by using a new family of amino-phosphonium cations as organic structure directing agents (OSDA). These cations contain P-C and P-N bonds, and therefore they lie between previously reported P-containing OSDA, such as tetraalkylphosphonium and phosphazenes.

Stepwise sequential screening for Down's syndrome (combined test associated with modified genetic sonography) in pregnant women with low risk for chromosomal disorders.

Objective: To assess the sensitivity (Sen) and false positive ratio (FPR) of stepwise sequential screening [1st step: combined test (CT), 2nd step: modified genetic sonography (major malformation and nuchal fold, MGS)] as a screening method for Down's syndrome (DS) in the general population of pregnant women.

Methods: Prospective study. During a 5-year study period (July 2005 to June 2010), 17,911 pregnant women were screened for DS using a stepwise sequential screening method (CT+MGS).

Design and construction of multicrystal analyser detectors using Rowland circles: application to MAD26 at ALBA.

A concept is given for describing multicrystal analyser detectors (MADs), as they are in use for synchrotron powder diffraction, on the basis of the Rowland circle construction. The Rowland circle is typically used to describe focusing geometries and can be adapted for the case of MADs working at a single energy as well as in a limited energy range. With this construction it is also possible to quantify and optimize the walk of the beam along non-central crystals which is inevitable in certain detector designs.

Amorphization induced by pressure: results for zeolites and general implications.

We report an ab initio study of pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) in zeolites, which are model systems for this phenomenon. We confirm the occurrence of recently reported low-density amorphous phases that preserve the crystalline topology, and explain the role of the zeolite composition regarding PIA. Our results support the correctness of existing models for the basic PIA mechanism, but suggest that energetic, rather than kinetic, factors determine the irreversibility of the transition.

Influence of hydration on the dynamics of lysozyme.

Quasielastic neutron and light-scattering techniques along with molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study the influence of hydration on the internal dynamics of lysozyme. We identified three major relaxation processes that contribute to the observed dynamics in the picosecond to nanosecond time range: 1), fluctuations of methyl groups; 2), fast picosecond relaxation; and 3), a slow relaxation process. A low-temperature onset of anharmonicity at T approximately 100 K is ascribed to methyl-group dynamics that is not sensitive to hydration level.

A comparison of united atom, explicit atom, and coarse-grained simulation models for poly(ethylene oxide).

We compare static and dynamic properties obtained from three levels of modeling for molecular dynamics simulation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Neutron scattering data are used as a test of each model's accuracy. The three simulation models are an explicit atom (EA) model (all the hydrogens are taken into account explicitly), a united atom (UA) model (CH(2) and CH(3) groups are considered as a single unit), and a coarse-grained (CG) model (six united atoms are taken as one bead).

Protein and solvent dynamics: how strongly are they coupled?

Analysis of Raman and neutron scattering spectra of lysozyme demonstrates that the protein dynamics follow the dynamics of the solvents glycerol and trehalose over the entire temperature range measured 100-350 K. The protein's fast conformational fluctuations and low-frequency vibrations and their temperature variations are very sensitive to behavior of the solvents. Our results give insight into previous counterintuitive observations that protein relaxation is stronger in solid trehalose than in liquid glycerol.

Structural study of the low-temperature phase of TlH2PO4 at 180 K.

The low-temperature phase of TlH(2)PO(4) has been studied by X-ray diffraction. A structural model is proposed with space group P1. This model is compared with the structure of the antiferroelectric phase of TlD(2)PO(4) at room temperature to analyze the expected isomorphism at low temperature.

Average structure of the composite crystal urea/octanedioic acid at room temperature within the superspace formalism.

The average structure of the composite urea/octanedioic acid has been refined using the superspace formalism [superspace group H'3(1)21(00gamma)001;]. Modulation effects seem to be almost negligible. The guest substructure appears to be largely disordered and has been modelled using rigid units occupying 12 equiprobable different orientations inside the urea tunnels.

Superspace description of the structure of the composite crystal urea/n-octane at room temperature.

A structural model for the composite crystal urea/n-octane is proposed. Despite the lack of information from the largely disordered guest substructure, the final model is consistent with the collected diffraction pattern. The use of the superspace approach stresses the composite character of the inclusion compounds and makes easier a unified view of the whole urea/n-alkane family.