Nucleation and growth of orbital ordering.

The dynamics of the first-order phase transitions involving a large displacement of atoms, for example, a liquid-solid transition, is generally dominated by the nucleation of the ordered phase and the growth of the nuclei, where the interfacial energy between the two phases plays an important role. On the other hand, electronic phase transitions seldom exhibit such a nucleation-growth behavior, probably because two-phase coexistence is not dominated by only the interfacial energy in such phase transitions. In the present paper, we report that the dynamics of a phase transition associated with an ordering of d orbitals in a vanadate exhibits a clear nucleation-growth behavior and that the interfacial energy between the orbital-ordered and -disordered phases dominated by the orbital-spin coupling can be experimentally obtained.

Physical fitness of non-disabled school-aged children born with extremely low birth weights.

Background: The assessment of long-term outcomes in survivors born with extremely low birth weights (ELBWs) has become increasingly important. However, little has been reported on the physical fitness of non-disabled school-aged children born with ELBWs.

Aims: To assess the physical fitness of non-disabled school-aged children born with ELBWs.