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Natural superlattice structures MnBi 2 Te 4 (Bi 2 Te 3 ) n ( n  = 1, 2, ...), in which magnetic MnBi 2 Te 4 layers are separated by nonmagnetic Bi 2 Te 3 layers, hold band topology, magnetism and reduced interlayer coupling, providing a promising platform for the realization of exotic topological quantum states. However, their magnetism in the two-dimensional limit, which is crucial for further exploration of quantum phenomena, remains elusive. Here, complex ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic coexisting ground states that persist down to the 2-septuple layers limit are observed and comprehensively investigated in MnBi 4 Te 7 ( n  = 1) and MnBi 6 Te 10 ( n  = 2). The ubiquitous Mn-Bi site mixing modifies or even changes the sign of the subtle interlayer magnetic interactions, yielding a spatially inhomogeneous interlayer coupling. Further, a tunable exchange bias effect, arising from the coupling between the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic components in the ground state, is observed in MnBi 2 Te 4 (Bi 2 Te 3 ) n ( n  = 1, 2), which provides design principles and material platforms for future spintronic devices. Our work highlights a new approach toward the fine-tuning of magnetism and paves the way for further study of quantum phenomena in MnBi 2 Te 4 (Bi 2 Te 3 ) n ( n  = 1, 2) as well as their magnetic applications. MnBi 2 Te 4 and Bi 2 Te 3 can form natural superlattices, where the MnBi 2 Te 4 layers are separated by multiples of Bi 2 Te 3 . The combination of these two materials offers a potential platform for the interplay of tunable magnetism and topology. Here, the authors show that MnBi 4 Te 7 and MnBi 6 Te 10 display a complex magnetic ground state with coexisting ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic domains.

Due to complex thermodynamic and kinetic mechanism, phase engineering in nanomaterials is often limited by restricted phases and small-scale synthesis, hindering material diversity and scalability. Here, we demonstrate the exploration to unlock the stoichiometry as a degree of freedom for phase engineering in the Pd-Te binary compound. By reducing diffusion rates, we effectively engineer the stoichiometry of the reactants. We visualize the kinetic process, showing the stoichiometry transition from Pd 10 Te 3 to PdTe 2 through a sequential multi-step nucleation process. In total, five distinct phases are identified, demonstrating the potential to enhance phase diversity by fine-tuning stoichiometry. By controlling spatially uniform nucleation and halting the phase transition at precise points, we achieve stoichiometry-controllable wafer-scale growth. Notably, four of these phases exhibit superconducting properties. Our findings offer insights into the mechanism of phase transition through stoichiometry engineering, enabling the expansion of the phase library in nanomaterials and advancing scalable applications. The precise control and transition between multiple stochiometric phases is challenging. Here, the authors grow and characterize four wafer-scale stoichiometric phases of a Pd-Te binary compound through a sequential multi-step nucleation process.

PurposeThe gap between the self-declarations of buyers as responsible consumers and the purchase of sustainable products means that consumer knowledge needs to be examined in depth, to guide the initiatives of eco-entrepreneurs towards sectors and demands that will make them viable and to advance responsible production and consumption – Objective 12: Sustainable Development 2030. The purpose of this study is to analyse the profile of consumers in relation to the purchase of ecolabelled products and to establish relations between purchasing decisions with environmental, social and ethical factors.Design/methodology/approachMultiple correspondence analysis is applied to the results of a questionnaire administered to a sample of 407 consumers resident in Spain. Information is gathered on environmental, social and economic concerns and the importance consumers attach to certain product attributes such as ecolabels, price and quality.FindingsConsumers concerned over environmental, social and economic questions attached greater importance to information on ecolabels, principally within the textile, and drugstore sectors, followed by electrical and electronic appliances and the food sector. These consumers selected ecolabelled products with a good quality–price relationship.Originality/valueThe academic and business value of this research is its focus on the attributes of sustainable products so that eco-entrepreneurs may advance initiatives that are at once viable and sustainable, motivating consumers with concerns over environmental, social and economic issues.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart and pathological circulatory conditions, are the world’s leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Endothelial dysfunction involved in CVD pathogenesis is a trigger, or consequence, of oxidative stress and inflammation. Endothelial dysfunction is defined as a diminished production/availability of nitric oxide, with or without an imbalance between endothelium-derived contracting, and relaxing factors associated with a pro-inflammatory and prothrombotic status. Endothelial dysfunction-induced phenotypic changes include up-regulated expression of adhesion molecules and increased chemokine secretion, leukocyte adherence, cell permeability, low-density lipoprotein oxidation, platelet activation, and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. Inflammation-induced oxidative stress results in an increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mainly derived from mitochondria. Excessive ROS production causes oxidation of macromolecules inducing cell apoptosis mediated by cytochrome-c release. Oxidation of mitochondrial cardiolipin loosens cytochrome-c binding, thus, favoring its cytosolic release and activation of the apoptotic cascade. Oxidative stress increases vascular permeability, promotes leukocyte adhesion, and induces alterations in endothelial signal transduction and redox-regulated transcription factors. Identification of new endothelial dysfunction-related oxidative stress markers represents a research goal for better prevention and therapy of CVD. New-generation therapeutic approaches based on carriers, gene therapy, cardiolipin stabilizer, and enzyme inhibitors have proved useful in clinical practice to counteract endothelial dysfunction. Experimental studies are in continuous development to discover new personalized treatments. Gene regulatory mechanisms, implicated in endothelial dysfunction, represent potential new targets for developing drugs able to prevent and counteract CVD-related endothelial dysfunction. Nevertheless, many challenges remain to overcome before these technologies and personalized therapeutic strategies can be used in CVD management.

SrTiO 3 -based conducting interfaces, which exhibit coexistence of gate-tunable 2D superconductivity and strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC), are candidates to host topological superconductive phases. Yet, superconductivity is usually in the dirty limit, which tends to suppress nonconventional pairing and therefore challenges these expectations. Here we report on LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 (LAO/STO) interfaces with large mobility and mean free paths comparable to the superconducting coherence length, approaching the clean limit for superconductivity. We further show that the carrier density, mobility, and formation of the superconducting condensate are controlled by the fine-tuning of La/Al chemical ratio in the LAO film. We find a region in the superconducting phase diagram where the critical temperature is not suppressed below the Lifshitz transition, at odds with previous experimental investigations. These findings point out the relevance of achieving a clean-limit regime to enhance the observation of unconventional pairing mechanisms in these systems. SrTiO 3 -based oxide interfaces, which exhibit coexistence of gate-tunable two-dimensional superconductivity and Rashba spin-orbit coupling, are candidates to host topological superconductive phases. By controlling the chemical ratio in LaAlO 3 , the authors demonstrate tuning of carrier densities, mobilities and the formation of superconductivity, showing that, approaching to clean limit, significant enhancement below the Lifshitz transition is observed, at odds with previous experimental investigations.

Defects in ceramic materials are generally seen as detrimental to their functionality and applicability. Yet, in some complex oxides, defects present an opportunity to enhance some of their properties or even lead to the discovery of exciting physics, particularly in the presence of strong correlations. A paradigmatic case is the high‐temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7‐δ (Y123), in which nanoscale defects play an important role as they can immobilize quantized magnetic flux vortices. Here previously unforeseen point defects buried in Y123 thin films that lead to the formation of ferromagnetic clusters embedded within the superconductor are unveiled. Aberration‐corrected scanning transmission microscopy has been used for exploring, on a single unit‐cell level, the structure and chemistry resulting from these complex point defects, along with density functional theory calculations, for providing new insights about their nature including an unexpected defect‐driven ferromagnetism, and X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism for bearing evidence of Cu magnetic moments that align ferromagnetically even below the superconducting critical temperature to form a dilute system of magnetic clusters associated with the point defects. A dilute ferromagnetic system in the superconducting state of YBa2Cu3O7−δ is reported. The interplay between the local structure, composition, and physical properties of previously unforeseen point defects buried within the YBa2Cu3O7−δ is explored. These defects, composed of Cu and O vacancies, lead to short‐range ferromagnetic coupling of surrounding Cu spins, which ultimately form ferromagnetic clusters embedded within the superconductor.

An increasing sea surface temperature as a result of climate change has led to a higher frequency and strengthening of hurricanes across the northeastern Caribbean in recent decades, with increasing risks of impacts to endangered corals and to the sustainability of coral reefs. Category five Hurricanes Irma and María during 2017 caused unprecedented damage to coral reef ecosystems across northeastern Puerto Rico, including mechanical destruction, localized sediment bedload (horizontal sediment transport and abrasion), and burial by hurricane-generated rubble fields. Hurricanes inflicted significant site-, depth-, and life history trait-specific impacts to endangered corals, with substantial and widespread mechanical damage to branching species, moderate mechanical damage to foliose species, and moderate to high localized damage to small-sized encrusting and massive morphotypes due to sediment bedload and burial by rubble. There was a mean 35% decline in Acropora palmata live cover, 79% in A. cervicornis, 12% in Orbicella annularis, 7% in O. faveolata, 12% in O. franksi, and 96% in Dendrogyra cylindrus. Hurricane disturbances resulted in a major regime shift favoring dominance by macroalgae, algal turf, and cyanobacteria. Recovery from coral recruitment or fragment reattachment in A. palmata was significantly higher on more distant coral reefs, but there was none for massive endangered species. Stronger hurricanes under projected climate change may represent a major threat to the conservation of endangered coral species and reef sustainability which will require enhancing coral propagation and restoration strategies, and the integration of adaptive, ecosystem-based management approaches. Recommendations are discussed to enhance redundancy, rapid restoration responses, and conservation-oriented strategies.

Well-defined synthesis conditions of high quality MFe 2 O 4 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, and Cu) spinel ferrite magnetic nanoparticles, with diameters below 10 nm, have been described based on facile and efficient one-pot solvothermal or microwave-assisted heating procedures. Both methods are reproducible and scalable and allow forming concentrated stable colloidal solutions in polar solvents, but microwave-assisted heating allows reducing 15 times the required annealing time and leads to an enhanced monodispersity of the nanoparticles. Non-agglomerated nanoparticles dispersions have been achieved using a simple one-pot approach where a single compound, triethyleneglycol, behaves at the same time as solvent and capping ligand. A narrow nanoparticle size distribution and high quality crystallinity have been achieved through selected nucleation and growth conditions. High resolution transmission electron microscopy images and electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis confirm the expected structure and composition and show that similar crystal faceting has been formed in both synthetic approaches. The spinel nanoparticles behave as ferrimagnets with a high saturation magnetization and are superparamagnetic at room temperature. The influence of synthesis route on phase purity and unconventional magnetic properties is discussed in some particular cases such as CuFe 2 O 4 , CoFe 2 O 4 , and ZnFe 2 O 4 .

Boosting large-scale superconductor applications require nanostructured conductors with artificial pinning centres immobilizing quantized vortices at high temperature and magnetic fields. Here we demonstrate a highly effective mechanism of artificial pinning centres in solution-derived high-temperature superconductor nanocomposites through generation of nanostrained regions where Cooper pair formation is suppressed. The nanostrained regions identified from transmission electron microscopy devise a very high concentration of partial dislocations associated with intergrowths generated between the randomly oriented nanodots and the epitaxial YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 matrix. Consequently, an outstanding vortex-pinning enhancement correlated to the nanostrain is demonstrated for four types of randomly oriented nanodot, and a unique evolution towards an isotropic vortex-pinning behaviour, even in the effective anisotropy, is achieved as the nanostrain turns isotropic. We suggest a new vortex-pinning mechanism based on the bond-contraction pairing model, where pair formation is quenched under tensile strain, forming new and effective core-pinning regions. It is well known that to reduce dissipation in a superconductor it is necessary to introduce artificial pinning centres, that is, small regions in which superconductivity is suppressed. This is usually achieved by introducing small regions of non-superconducting phases. A new concept of pinning centres, the local suppression of superconductivity induced by strain, is now demonstrated.

The integration of two-dimensional semiconductors and arbitrary materials or architectures offers the possibility to enhance the functionality of a material and improve device performance. However, the traditional vertical epitaxy process requires a lattice-matched planar substrate, which limits the scope of heterogeneous integration. Bottom-up heteroepitaxial growth of single-crystal thin films on arbitrary materials with a large lattice mismatch typically results in highly defective interfaces. Here we report a general synthesis route for heteroepitaxial growth of semiconducting 2H-MoTe2 films on arbitrary substrates with different crystal symmetries, lattice constants and three-dimensional architectures, which overcomes the limitation of the substrate. The in-plane two-dimensional epitaxy process through phase transition enables the direct synthesis of single-crystal semiconducting 2H-MoTe2 films on arbitrary single-crystal substrates (including silicon, GaN, 4H-SiC, sapphire, SrTiO3 and Gd3Ga5O12) and three-dimensional architectures without the limitation of lattice matching and a planar surface. This heteroepitaxial method provides a way of heterogeneous integration of semiconducting 2H-MoTe2 films with other functional materials or architectures for the fabrication of integrated devices.The integration of two-dimensional semiconductors and arbitrary materials or architectures offers the possibility to enhance the functionality of a material and improve device performance. Now, a general synthesis route is reported for heteroepitaxial growth of semiconducting 2H-MoTe2 films on arbitrary single-crystal substrates and three-dimensional architectures without the limitation of lattice matching and a planar surface.