Sodium superionic conductors (NASICON)-type materials are widely explored as Li- and Na-ion cathodes and solid-state electrolytes but are largely ignored as anodes due to their lower capacities and higher intercalation...

The ground state of BaFe 12 O 19 (BFO) is controversial as three different quantum states, namely, quantum paraelectric, frustrated antiferroelectric, and quantum electric dipole liquid (QEDL), have been proposed. We have investigated the quantum critical behavior of BFO as a function of chemical pressure (a nonthermal variable) generated by smaller isovalent ion Ca 2+ at the Ba 2+ site. Analysis of synchrotron x-ray diffraction data confirms that Ca 2+ substitution generates positive chemical pressure. Our dielectric measurements reveal that Ca 2+ substitution drives BFO away from its quantum critical point (QCP) and stabilizes a quantum electric dipolar glass state whose dielectric peak temperature (T c ) increases with increasing Ca 2+ content as T c ∼ (x−x c ) 1/2 , a canonical signature of quantum phase transitions. Our dielectric measurements reveal that pure BFO is slightly away from its QCP with a T c of 2.91 K. Specific-heat measurements reveal excess specific heat of non-Debye and nonmagnetic origin with linear temperature dependence below T c which could be due to the QEDL state of BFO.

Background: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic affected millions of people physically and many more psychologically. Health care workers (HCWs) are amongst those bearing the brunt of the pandemic-induced psychological trauma. This study was one of the first to analyze the psychological effects of the second pandemic wave in India on non-frontline HCWs, a group that has not received much consideration so far.Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was performed on a COHORT of 139 HCWs involved in non-covid services during the early phase of the second pandemic wave. In addition to information on demographics and other baseline characteristics, the survey included questions from the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 items (DASS-21).Results: The prevalence rates of depression, anxiety and stress in the COHORT were 14.33%, 15.82% and 12.23% respectively. Clinical HCWs had higher mean anxiety scores than the non-clinical group (p=0.01), while the depression and stress scores were similar across all groups (p=0.23 and 0.21, respectively). Multivariate analysis demonstrated correlation of multiple factors with the DASS-21 scores, of which covid positivity and a longer time spent on covid-related information correlated well with all the DASS-21 scale scores (p<0.05).Conclusions: This study demonstrates reasonable prevalence rates of depression, stress and anxiety amongst non-frontline HCWs in the setting of the second covid wave in India. Clinical HCWs seem to be more prone to pandemic-induced anxiety during this wave. There is an urgent need for promoting psychological coping strategies amongst all classes of HCWs.

We present here results of low temperature magnetization and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism studies on single crystals of BaFe12O19 which reveal for the first time emergence of a spin glass...

No abstract