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The oxygen stoichiometry of hollandite, KxMnO2-δ, nanorods has been accurately determined from a quantitative analysis of scanning-transmission electron microscopy (STEM) X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (XEDS) experiments carried out in chrono-spectroscopy mode. A methodology combining 3D reconstructions of high-angle annular dark field electron tomography experiments, using compressed-sensing algorithms, and quantification through the so-called ζ-factors method of XEDS spectra recorded on a high-sensitivity detector has been devised to determine the time evolution of the oxygen content of nanostructures of electron-beam sensitive oxides. Kinetic modeling of O-stoichiometry data provided K0.13MnO1.98 as overall composition for nanorods of the hollandite. The quantitative agreement, within a 1% mol error, observed with results obtained by macroscopic techniques (temperature-programmed reduction and neutron diffraction) validate the proposed methodology for the quantitative analysis, at the nanoscale, of light elements, as it is the case of oxygen, in the presence of heavy ones (K, Mn) in the highly compromised case of nanostructured materials which are prone to electron-beam reduction. Moreover, quantitative comparison of oxygen evolution data measured at macroscopic and nanoscopic levels allowed us to rationalize beam damage effects in structural terms and clarify the exact nature of the different steps involved in the reduction of these oxides with hydrogen.

International audience; Contrary to molecular species, only very few solids are reported to host manganese (V) species. Herein, we report three new compounds with a hydroxyapatite structural backbone built on the Mn V O 4 3− anion: Sr 5 [(Mn 1−x Si x)O 4 ] 3 (OH) 1−3x (x =0 and 0.053), Sr 5 (MnO 4) 3 (OH) 1−y F y (y = 0.90), and Sr 5 [(Mn 1−x Si x)-O 4 ] 3 F 1−3x (x = 0.058). These solids are fully characterized using powder X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), thermogravimetric analysis, and magnetic measurements. Especially, we report for the first time EELS Mn−L 2,3 spectra of manganese with the oxidation state (V). Contrary to other Mn(V) oxides, these solids and the nominal compound Sr 5 (MnO 4) 3 OH do not comprise Ba 2+ cations but rely only on Sr 2+ cations, showing that barium is not a required element to stabilize Mn(V) species in inorganic solids. We show that by tuning soft chemistry conditions on the one hand and post-treatment topological transformation conditions on the other hand, Mn(V) and hydroxyl groups can be substituted by Si(IV) and fluoride ions, respectively. Hence, we deliver solids with a potentially wide composition range. These compounds show significant oxygen anionic conduction, thus suggesting the emergence of new functional materials built from high-oxidation state manganese cations.

A family of iron-doped manganese-related hollandites, KxMn1−yFeyO2−δ (0 ≤ y ≤ 0.15), with high performance in CO oxidation have been prepared. Among them, the most active catalyst, K0.11Mn0.876Fe0.123O1.80(OH)0.09, is able to oxidize more than 50% of CO at room temperature. Detailed compositional and structural characterization studies, using a wide battery of thermogravimetric, spectroscopic, and diffractometric techniques, both at macroscopic and microscopic levels, have provided essential information about this never-reported behavior, which relates to the oxidation state of manganese. Neutron diffraction studies evidence that the above compound stabilizes hydroxyl groups at the midpoints of the tunnel edges as in isostructural β- FeOOH. The presence of oxygen and hydroxyl species at the anion sublattice and Mn3+, confirmed by electron energy loss spectroscopy, appears to play a key role in the catalytic activity of this doped hollandite oxide. The analysis of these detailed structural features has allowed us to point out the key role of both OH groups and Mn3+ content in these materials, which are able to effectively transform CO without involving any critical, noble metal in the catalyst formulation., This work was supported by FEDER/Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through Research Projects MAT2017- 87579-R, MAT2017-82252-R, RTI2018-101604-B-I00, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Project PID2020- 113006-RB-I00, and ENE2017-82451-C3-2-R. The authors acknowledge the National Centre for Electron Microscopy (ELECMI National Singular Scientific Facility) for provision of corrected aberration microscopy.

Objetivo: Evaluar la pérdida celular endotelial en pacientes operados mediante facoemulsificación de catarata no complicada, comparando datos de cirujanos noveles y cirujanos expertos. Método: Se realizó un estudio observacional y prospectivo en el que se evaluaron 50 ojos consecutivos aleatorizados en dos grupos de 25 ojos cada uno. Se realizó a cada ojo recuento de células endoteliales mediante microscopía especular preoperatoriamente y al mes de la cirugía. Los ojos con cataratas complicadas fueron excluidos. Resultados: La mayoría de los pacientes eran mujeres, con una edad media de 75.5 años. La disminución de la densidad celular al mes de la cirugía fue significativa tanto en ojos operados por cirujanos expertos como por cirujanos noveles, con una pérdida del 14.8% y el 15.6%, respectivamente, sin diferencia estadísticamente significativa (p = 0.491). Además, la correlación entre la pérdida de ambos grupos fue de 0.58 (p = 0.0094). La pérdida celular en ojos operados por cirujanos noveles demostró una buena correlación (0.577) con la energía acumulada disipada del ultrasonido durante la facoemulsificación (p = 0.0025), frente a los expertos, en los que no pudo demostrarse esta asociación. El total de energía acumulada disipada empleada por cirujanos noveles fue significativamente mayor (p = 0.045), un 63% más que los expertos. Conclusiones: La diferencia en el recuento endotelial tras cirugía de catarata se demuestra asociada a la propia cirugía, con cifras similares para cirujanos noveles y expertos, y se observa una buena correlación entre ambos grupos. Teniendo en cuenta la pérdida de celularidad endotelial corneal, la seguridad del procedimiento realizado por cirujanos noveles es equivalente a la del realizado por expertos.

International audience; New insights into the chemical and structural features of iron or titanium-doped KxMnO2 hollandites are reported. Neutron diffraction and atomically resolved transmission electron microscopy elucidate the localization of the dopant cations that could be one of the key factors governing the functional activity of these nanomaterials.

In the past decade diabetes management has been transformed by the addition of continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump data. More recently, a wide variety of functions and physiologic variables, such as heart rate, hours of sleep, number of steps walked and movement, have been available through wristbands or watches. New data, hydration, geolocation, and barometric pressure, among others, will be incorporated in the future. All these parameters, when analyzed, can be helpful for patients and doctors’ decision support. Similar new scenarios have appeared in most medical fields, in such a way that in recent years, there has been an increased interest in the development and application of the methods of artificial intelligence (AI) to decision support and knowledge acquisition. Multidisciplinary research teams integrated by computer engineers and doctors are more and more frequent, mirroring the need of cooperation in this new topic. AI, as a science, can be defined as the ability to make computers do things that would require intelligence if done by humans. Increasingly, diabetes-related journals have been incorporating publications focused on AI tools applied to diabetes. In summary, diabetes management scenarios have suffered a deep transformation that forces diabetologists to incorporate skills from new areas. This recently needed knowledge includes AI tools, which have become part of the diabetes health care. The aim of this article is to explain in an easy and plane way the most used AI methodologies to promote the implication of health care providers—doctors and nurses—in this field.

Gestational diabetes (GDM) burden has been increasing progressively over the past years. Knowing that intrauterine exposure to maternal diabetes confers high risk for macrosomia as well as for future type 2 diabetes and obesity of the offspring, health care organizations try to provide effective control in spite of the limited resources. Artificial-intelligence-augmented telemedicine has been proposed as a helpful tool to facilitate an efficient widespread medical assistance to GDM. The aim of the study we present was to test the feasibility and acceptance of a mobile decision-support system for GDM, developed in the seventh framework program MobiGuide Project, which includes computer-interpretable clinical practice guidelines, access to data from the electronic health record as well as from glucose, blood pressure, and activity sensors. The results of this pilot study with 20 patients showed that the system is feasible. Compliance of patients with blood glucose monitoring was higher than that observed in a historical group of 247 patients, similar in clinical characteristics, who had been followed up for the 3 years prior to the pilot study. A questionnaire on the use of the telemedicine system showed a high degree of acceptance.

[EN] We describe here a type of magnetoresistance that takes place in naturally layered and outstanding ordered single phase manganites that may be mediated by magnon excitation. In particular, we show the effect for the Ruddlesden-Popper compound, LaSr2Mn2O7 synthesized by ceramic method. This material exhibits, besides the conventional colossal magnetoresistance, another type of magnetoresistance at low temperature, associated with breaking of the A-type antiferromagnetic coupling of Mn-containing planes. Excitation of magnons or application of a magnetic field breaks this antiparallel alignment so that some electrons, initially confined on the planes, become itinerant along the interplain directions through a double exchange mechanism, giving rise to resistance variations of the order of~60% for polycrystalline samples. The effect described heremight be present in other types of manganites exhibiting a natural layered structure, opening up the possibility of developing magnetoresistive devices based on antiferromagnetic oxide materials without requiring artificial multilayered structures., This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through Research Projects No. CSD2009-00013, No. TSI-020100-2011-280, No. MAT2011-23068, No. MAT2012-37109-C02-01, No. MAT2014-54372-R, and No. MAT2017-86450-C04-R.

El libro colectivo que se publica y que tiene ahora tiene en sus manos es fruto del trabajo desarrollado en el marco del Plan de Apoyo a la Investigacion, Desarrollo Tecnologico e Innovacion del Vicerrectorado de Investigacion de la Universidad de Jaen, bajo el patrocinio de la Fundacion Caja Rural de Jaen. En efecto, en virtud de la convocatoria del bienio 2014-2015 se nos concedio la ayuda correspondiente para el desarrollo de la actividad investigadora denominada «La mediacion como alternativa a la judicializacion de asuntos mercantiles y administrativos. Aspectos sustantivos y procesales» (Codigo UJA2014/06/04). Han sido numerosas las actividades desarrolladas por los miembros de este proyecto durante estos dos ultimos anos. Quizas, por la repercusion que tuvo, sea destacable la organizacion del Congreso Internacional que, sobre la mediacion como alternativa a judicializacion de asuntos civiles, mercantiles y administrativos, se desarrollo en la Universidad de Jaen en marzo de 2017. A raiz de este evento y como consecuencia del trabajo de investigacion llevado a cabo anteriormente, han sido numerosas las personas con reconocida competencia en la materia que han querido colaborar para elaborar la obra que ahora ve la luz bajo el titulo generico de La mediacion como metodo para la resolucion de conflictos. El libro se divide en cinco partes diferenciadas en donde se pretende profundizar en aspectos importantes de la vida diaria en donde podria aplicarse la mediacion. En concreto, despues de analizar la mediacion desde una perspectiva general, se entra a estudiar diferentes aspectos de la mediacion civil, mercantil y concursal. El tercer bloque esta dedicado al dificil encaje de la mediacion en el Derecho administrativo y en el proceso contencioso-administrativo. Despues se llevan a cabo estudios concretos sobre la mediacion en materia de consumo, en el ambito laboral y en el penal. Por ultimo, se cierra con una serie de aportaciones de Derecho comparado, analizando y dando noticia de la regulacion de la mediacion en Italia, Reino Unido, Portugal y Colombia, ademas de estudiar la mediacion internacional en el caso concreto del proceso de Oslo en el conflicto palestinoisraeli.

In this work the design of a Luenberger observer is proposed to estimate the unmeasurable state space variables from Hovorka?s model. This model is linearized and evaluated in an operation point where Luenberger observer is designed using the Ackermann methodology. The observer is employed to estimate the unmeasurable variables of virtual patients which are generated by Bergman?s model. Once the unmeasurable state variables are obtained by the Luenberger observer using only the input-output information of the Bergman?s model, a control algorithm based on eigenvalues relocation trough Ackermann methodology for linear systems is applied. In this methodology, a constant feedback gain vector is obtained in order to compute the control signal (insulin) to be applied to virtual patient and keep on normoglycemia rank. The carbohydrates ingestion is considered as the main disturbances. In order to assess the proposed methodology, two tests are designed: the first one consists of changing the reference signal in order to evaluate the control sensitivity; and the second one includes different proportions of prandial insulin used in open-loop to try the controller response under distinct operation conditions. The results are obtained via simulation using Simulink of Matlab.

Manganese related perovskites (AMnO3, A=alkaline earth) present a wide range of fascinating functional properties due to the ability of Mn to adopt several oxidation states and different coordination polyhedra. Regarding their catalytic behaviour, CaMnO3-δ selectively oxidizes, at least on a laboratory scale, propene to benzene and 2-methyl propene [1]. Moreover, the Ca-Mn-O system presents a great variety of oxides with different Ca/Mn ratio and crystalline structure and a particular behaviour: their reduction process leads to a rock-salt type structure which, in most cases, can be again oxidized to the starting material [2]. Here we show the combination of oxygen engineering performed under adequate controlled atmosphere with local characterization techniques like atomic resolution electron microscopy associated to Energy Electron Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) to provide a complete characterization of other member of the Ca-Mn-O system. In particular, Ca2Mn3O8 crystallizes in a monoclinic layered structure [3] with sheets of MnIV in octahedral coordination held together by Ca2+ cations alternately stacked along a axis (Fig. 1). The total reduction process of this material leads to Ca2Mn3IIO5 with rock-salt type structure. By means of partial reduction, different samples have been stabilized in the Ca2Mn3O8-d system. Among them, Ca2Mn3O6.5, a new layered calcium manganese oxide with only Mn3+, has been stabilized. The different samples obtained in the Ca2Mn3O8-δ system have been characterized by using High Angle Annular Dark Field (HAADF) and Annular Bright Field (ABF) imaging associated to EELS and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopic (EDS) in an aberration-corrected JEOL JEMARM200cF electron microscope. The structural evolution and the local variation of the Mn oxidation state in different phases with different anionic composition will be discussed.

A new hexagonal polytype in the BaMn1-xFexO3-δ system has been stabilized. Powdered Ba0.8Sr0.2MnIV0.4FeIII0.6O2.70 crystallizes in the 4H hexagonal polytype (space group P63/mmc) according to X-ray diffraction. HAADF images and chemical maps with atomic resolution have been obtained by combining Cs-corrected electron microscopy and EELS spectroscopy. The structure is formed by dimers of face-sharing octahedra linked by corners. EELS data show a random distribution of the transition metals ions identified by Fe and Mn-L2,3 chemical maps. A systematic difference in contrast observed in the O–K signal mapping suggests that anion deficiency is randomly located along the hexagonal layers in agreement with ND data. The magnetic structure consists of ferromagnetic sheets with the magnetic moments aligned along the x-axis and coupled antiferromagnetically along the c-axis.

The influence of particle size in both the structure and thermochromic behavior of 4H-SrMnO3 related perovskite is described. Microsized SrMnO3 suffers a structural transition from hexagonal (P63/mmc) to orthorhombic (C2221) symmetry at temperature close to 340 K. The orthorhombic distortion is due to the tilting of the corner-sharing Mn2O9 units building the 4H structural type. When temperature decreases, the distortion becomes sharper reaching its maximal degree at ∼125 K. These structural changes promote the modification of the electronic structure of orthorhombic SrMnO3 phase originating the observed color change. nano-SrMnO3 adopts the ideal 4H hexagonal structure at room temperature, the orthorhombic distortion being only detected at temperature below 170 K. A decrease in the orthorhombic distortion degree, compared to that observed in the microsample, may be the reason why a color change is not observed at low temperature (77 K).

SummaryBackground: Physical activity (PA) is essential to prevent and to treat a variety of chronic diseases. The automated detection and quantification of PA over time empowers lifestyle interventions, facilitating reliable exercise tracking and data-driven counseling.Methods: We propose and compare various combinations of machine learning (ML) schemes for the automatic classification of PA from multi-modal data, simultaneously captured by a biaxial accelerometer and a heart rate (HR) monitor. Intensity levels (low / moderate / vigorous) were recognized, as well as for vigorous exercise, its modality (sustained aerobic / resistance / mixed). In to -tal, 178.63 h of data about PA intensity (65.55 % low / 18.96 % moderate / 15.49 % vigorous) and 17.00 h about modality were collected in two experiments: one in free- living conditions, another in a fitness center under controlled protocols. The structure used for automatic classification comprised: a) definition of 42 time-domain signal features, b) dimensionality reduction, c) data clustering, and d) temporal filtering to exploit time redundancy by means of a Hidden Markov Model (HMM). Four dimensionality reduction techniques and four clustering algorithms were studied. In order to cope with class imbalance in the dataset, a custom performance metric was defined to aggregate recognition accuracy, precision and recall.Results: The best scheme, which comprised a projection through Linear Discriminant Ana -lysis (LDA) and k-means clustering, was evaluated in leave-one-subject-out cross-validation; notably outperforming the standard industry procedures for PA intensity classification: score 84.65 %, versus up to 63.60 %. Errors tended to be brief and to appear around transients.Conclusions: The application of ML techniques for pattern identification and temporal filtering allowed to merge accelerometry and HR data in a solid manner, and achieved markedly better recognition performances than the standard methods for PA intensity estimation.

A solid solution of 6H-type BaTi1-yCoyO3-δ samples where 0.1 ≤ y ≤ 0.4 and δ ≤ 0.05 has been prepared in air and characterized by a combination of X-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, hydrogen-reduction thermogravimetric analysis, high resolution electron microscopy, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and impedance spectroscopy. For y = 0.1, Co acts as an acceptor dopant and is incorporated as CoIII ions with charge balanced achieved by the formation of O(2) oxygen vacancies in the h-BaO3 layers that separate pairs of face-sharing octahedra. For samples with y > 0.1, Co is present as both CoIII and CoIV ions and in all cases δ ∼ 0.03. This indicates a change from primarily aliovalent (CoIII) to isovalent (CoIV) doping with increasing Co-content with a general formula BaTiIV1-y(CoIII0.06CoIVy-0.06)O2.97 for 0.2 ≤ y ≤ 0.4. All samples are semiconducting at room temperature with relative permittivity in the range ∼20−50. The bulk conductivity increases with y and displa...

Chemical doping of 15 atom % Mn by Ti in 2H-BaMnO3 leads to two new polytypes, 4H- and 9R-BaMn0.85Ti0.15O3−δ, depending on the oxygen content. The 4H polytype (a = 5.71355(4) and c = 9.41230(8) A, space group P63/mmc) was prepared in an inert atmosphere and forms face sharing dimers linked by corners based on a stacking sequence (hc)2 where h and c refer to hexagonal and cubic BaO3 layers, respectively. Selected area electron diffraction patterns and high resolution electron microscopy reveal the coexistence of two types of crystals; the majority corresponds to an ordered (hc)2-4H polytype whereas a minority fraction shows a disordered microstructure. Such differences may be associated with nonhomogeneous cationic distribution within the crystals. Oxidation in air at 1523 K for 48 days leads to conversion to the 9R polytype (a = 5.68007(1) and c = 20.98208(6) A, space group R3m) with a (hhc)3 stacking sequence; Mn4+ ions are exclusively located on the central B-site (M1) of the face sharing trimers linke...

The influence of the partial substitution of Sr by Ba in the SrCoO3−y on its structure and properties has been investigated. SrBaCo2O5 is stable at room temperature as a cubic phase with a high oxygen vacancy concentration. This structure is stable up to 800 K. Above this temperature, the phase decomposes into a monodimensional rhombohedral (SrBa)7Co6O18 phase. At 1200 K, a reversible rhombohedral → cubic transformation is observed, the rhombohedral phase remaining stable until room temperature. SrBaCo2O5 shows antiferromagnetic behavior with TN ≈ 525 K. As determined by neutron diffraction data, the magnetic Co spins align ferromagnetically on the (111) planes and these planes are stacked antiferromagnetically in the normal direction (type II antiferromagnet). The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity indicates SrBaCo2O5 to be a semiconducting p-type material with an activation energy of ∼0.3 eV.

The crystal structures of 6H-type BaMn0.15Ti0.85O3, BaMn1/4Ti3/4O2.95, and BaMn1/2Ti1/2O2.84 and 12R-type BaMn2/3Ti1/3O3 have been established by a combination of X-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction, and high-resolution electron microscopy. The 6H-type structure (space group P63/mmc) can be described by a stacking sequence (hcc)2 along the c-axis with any anion deficiency located exclusively in the h-BaO3 layers. Ti atoms display a strong preference for the corner-shared octahedral site, whereas both Mn and Ti are distributed over the octahedral sites in the face sharing dimers. The 12R-type structure (space group R3m) can be described by a stacking sequence (hhcc)3. Ti atoms again display a strong preference for the isolated corner-sharing octahedral site, whereas Mn atoms occupy the central site of the face-sharing trimers. The electrical properties have been characterized by impedance spectroscopy and reveal the fully oxidized compounds to be electrical insulators with relative permittivity value...

The complete structural characterization of the hexagonal cobaltite BaMn 0.4 CO 0.6 O 2.83 has been performed by combining high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron and neutron diffraction. The structure is closely related to the 12H (cc'chh) 2 with oxygen deficient cubic c'-BaO 2 layers. This framework forms a laminar structure in which tetramers of face-sharing octahedra occupied by manganese and cobalt are connected by comers to two tetrahedral layers mostly occupied by cobalt. A magnetic study shows only the presence of short-range magnetic interactions indicating that there are no interactions between the tetramers through the tetrahedral layers, thus impeding the three-dimensional magnetic ordering of the system. A spin-glass-like state was found to be compatible with the observed phenomenology.

Polycrystalline Sr3CaMn2CoO9 and (Sr0.5Ca0.5)15Mn7Co4O33 have been synthesized and characterised by X-ray and electron diffraction, high resolution electron microscopy and magnetic measurements. These oxides constitute the α = 3, β = 1 and α = 4, β = 1 terms of the homologous series (A3B2O6)α(A3B3O9)β, respectively. Isolated rows of polyhedra sharing faces along the c-axis are made up of units of two and one face-sharing octahedra (occupied by Mn) linked by one trigonal prism (occupied by Co) in an ordered way. The chains are separated by columns of Sr/Ca atoms. Magnetic measurements suggest antiferromagnetic correlations in the two new commensurate monodimensional oxides. The influence of the size of alkaline-earth atoms on the long-range magnetic interactions is discussed.

From the philosophical and literary viewpoints, it can be said that both Richard Rorty (New York, 1931 – California, 2007) and Henry James (New York, 1843 – London, 1916) were two American philosophers whose ideas and hypotheses brought about an important shift in Western thought. Richard Rorty was an American pragmatic thinker who questioned philosophers in general; his desire was to inquire about the ineffable matters that are beyond temporality. Consequently, it is possible to notice some major shifts in his thinking when he demystifies the language of philosophy and begins to consider it as an average language, relating it to literature. Rorty takes writers such as Marcel Proust, Walt Whitman and Henry James, among others, as models. On the other hand, Henry James, the American author and critic of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was one of the greatest figures of English literature. James became well known for his novels and stories based on themes of consciousness and on the detailed description of the inner life of his characters. He is also considered one of the early precursors of the interior monologue. As a result of this literary foray, called «Jamesian experiment», Henry James started to be regarded as one of the most important writers of contemporary narrative. James was in charge of developing different literary techniques that characterized the novel of the twentieth century: the interior monologue, the inclusion of a self−conscious narrator and the use of the point of view technique. We think it is relevant and interesting to put forward a comparative relationship between these two American literary and philosophical writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, who were critical of the historical−social and existential time in which they lived.

Electron diffraction and high resolution electron microscopy have been used to characterize two new one-dimensional superstructures in the A Rh O system (A = Ca, Sr) related to the 2H-ABO3-type. They are formed by the intergrowth of n A3A′BO6 blocks, showing the Sr4RhO6-type, with A12A′2B8O30 blocks, constituted by two A3O9 and two A3A′O6 layers alternating in the stacking sequence 1:1, leading to the A27A′7B13O60 ( n = 5 ) and A30A′8B14O66 ( n = 6 ) compositions. A crystallographic shear mechanism is proposed to describe the structural relationship between Sr4RhO6 (A3A′BO6-type) and the new superstructures.

Two new members of the one-dimensional (A3NiMnO6)α(A3Mn3O9)β homologous series, with the compositions (Sr0.75Ba0.25)5NiMn3O12 and Sr9Ni2Mn5O21, have been synthesised. Their structures can each be described as a hexagonal array of infinite one-dimensional chains of face-sharing polyhedra, running parallel to the c axis and separated by the Sr/Ba cations. The structure of (Sr0.75Ba0.25)5NiMn3O12, which constitutes the (α = 3, β = 2) member of the series, is made up of three face-sharing octahedra linked by one trigonal prism. For Sr9Ni2Mn5O21 (α = 2, β = 1) the sequence of polyhedra along the chains corresponds to a motif consisting of two octahedra−one trigonal prism−three octahedra−one trigonal prism. The manganese atoms occupy the octahedral sites in both phases, while the Ni2+ cations are distributed in the trigonal-prismatic sites in a disordered way. Only a small fraction of these (close to 20%) is located at the centres of the trigonal prisms, 80% being displaced towards the rectangular faces of the polyhedra and giving rise to a square-planar-like coordination. Both oxides present twinned microstructures, as evidenced by SAED and HREM. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)

The α = 3, β = 1 term of the homologous series (A3A‘BO6)α(A3B3O9)β has been stabilized for the Sr3.3Ca0.7CoRh2O9 composition. The structural characterization by powder X-ray and electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy indicates this material is isostructural to Sr4Ni3O9. In this structure, two face-sharing octahedra alternate to one trigonal prism forming chains of one-dimensional polyhedra running parallel to the c-axis of a trigonal unit cell (P321) of parameters a = 9.5767(7), c = 7.9720(4) A. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility of the Sr3.3Ca0.7CoRh2O9 is consistent with a weak antiferromagnetic interaction between magnetic cations. At low temperature our data seem to indicate the existence of a partially ordered magnetic state, as deduced from the small value of the magnetic part of the specific heat as well as the low entropy associated with the magnetic correlations.

The (alpha =3, beta =2) member of the (A3ABO6) (A3B3O9) homologous series has been stabilised in the Sr-Rh-O system for a [Sr10(Sr0.5Rh1.5)TP(Rh6)Oh]O24 composition. The structural characterisation has been performed by powder X-ray and electron diffraction measurements and high-resolution electron microscopy. In this structure, three face-sharing [RhO6] octahedra linked by one [Rh/SrO6] trigonal prism comprise the infinite one-dimensional chain that runs parallel to the c axis of a trigonal unit cell (Pc1), with parameters a=9.6411(1) and c=21.2440(4) A.

The α = 3, β = 6 term of the series (A3B2O6)α (A3B3O9)β has been synthesized in polycrystalline form. The structural characterization by powder X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy indicates that this material is isostructural with Ba9Co8O24. In the structure, seven face-sharing octahedra alternate with a trigonal prism defining chains running parallel to the c axis of a rhombohedral unit cell (Rc), with parameters a = 1.00766(4) nm and c = 4.1571(2) nm. The structural refinement shows the presence of a small percentage of Rh vacancies leading to the composition Ba9Rh7.92O24. Pauli paramagnetic behaviour is observed. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002)

Automatic blood glucose classification may help specialists to provide a better interpretation of blood glucose data, downloaded directly from patients glucose meter and will contribute in the development of decision support systems for gestational diabetes. This paper presents an automatic blood glucose classifier for gestational diabetes that compares 6 different feature selection methods for two machine learning algorithms: neural networks and decision trees. Three searching algorithms, Greedy, Best First and Genetic, were combined with two different evaluators, CSF and Wrapper, for the feature selection. The study has been made with 6080 blood glucose measurements from 25 patients. Decision trees with a feature set selected with the Wrapper evaluator and the Best first search algorithm obtained the best accuracy: 95.92%.

The MobiGuide system provides patients with personalized decision support tools, based on computerized clinical guidelines, in a mobile environment. The generic capabilities of the system will be demonstrated applied to the clinical domain of Gestational Diabetes (GD). This paper presents a methodology to identify personalized recommendations, obtained from the analysis of the GD guideline. We added a conceptual parallel part to the formalization of the GD guideline called ”parallel workflow” that allows considering patient’s personal context and preferences. As a result of analysing the GD guideline and eliciting medical knowledge, we identified three different types of personalized advices (therapy, measurements and upcoming events) that will be implemented to perform patients’ guiding at home, supported by the MobiGuide system. These results will be essential to determine the distribution of functionalities between mobile and server decision support capabilities.

In some private mobile radio/public access mobile radio (PMR/PAMR) applications, there is a stringent need for high-coverage locations probabilities. A spectrally efficient approach in this case is the use of several radio transmitters operating in a simulcast mode. There have been several analog mobile radio systems working in this way up to now, but less is known about the performance of digital trunked radio systems operating in simulcast mode. In this paper, predicted digital Trans-European Trunk RAdio (TETRA) system performance results operating in a quasi-synchronous mode are presented. These results were obtained by simulation of such a system under a wide range of operational conditions. A comparison is also presented with the European analog standard MPT 1327 currently in operation. It has been concluded that quasi-synchronous techniques well known in analog PMR/PAMR can also be successfully used in digital PMR/PAMR applications.

The pressure effects on the magnetic properties of Ca 3 Co 2 O 6 have been studied in a powder sample by using both AC and DC magnetometry. The results show that the low temperature ferrimagnetic phase, resulting from antiferromagnetic coupling between ferromagnetic Ising-like spin chains, is reinforced under pressure. We show that this reinforcement can be described in terms of the interchains bond-length compression.

The title solid solutions are prepared from stoichiometric mixtures of BaCO3, TiO2, and Co3O4 (Pt crucible, 1648 K for 2 d (y = 0.1), 1473 K for 3 d (y = 0.2), 1373 K for 3 d (y = 0.3), 1398 K for 6 d (y = 0.4)).

The α = 3, β = 6 term of the series (A3B2O6)α (A3B3O9)β has been synthesized in polycrystalline form. The structural characterization by powder X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy indicates that this material is isostructural with Ba9Co8O24. In the structure, seven face-sharing octahedra alternate with a trigonal prism defining chains running parallel to the c axis of a rhombohedral unit cell (Rc), with parameters a = 1.00766(4) nm and c = 4.1571(2) nm. The structural refinement shows the presence of a small percentage of Rh vacancies leading to the composition Ba9Rh7.92O24. Pauli paramagnetic behaviour is observed. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002)