Prison overcrowding and ill-treatment: sentence reduction as a reparation measure. A view from Latin America and Europe.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years mass protest movements have taken to the streets in many countries across the world. Despite strong international and domestic legal protections for the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and other fundamental human rights, entire assemblies are frequently labelled violent and less lethal weapons are used to disperse them. METHODS: This article examines the weapons often used by police against public assemblies. Focusing on striking weapons (batons), chemical irri-tants, kinetic impact projectiles and stun grenades, the article uses examples from various countries to illustrate how these weapons are being used and the associated human rights and health impacts. Re-sults: Worrying trends identified include the use of dangerous or untested equipment, such as thermal foggers to deploy chemical irritants; the use of inherently abusive weapons, such as whips or sjam-boks; and the increasing use of certain types of munitions, specifically indiscriminate kinetic impact projectiles. DISCUSSION: The article seeks to support medical and legal professionals becoming more familiar with the weapons being used in the countries they practice in, the effects of those weapons, and clinical aspects in the presentation and care of those exposed.

Quantitative, Spectro-kinetic Analysis of Oxygen in Electron-Beam Sensitive, Multimetallic Oxide Nanostructures.

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.

Exceptional Low-Temperature CO Oxidation over Noble-Metal-Free Iron-Doped Hollandites: An In-Depth Analysis of the Influence of the Defect Structure on Catalytic Performance.

A family of iron-doped manganese-related hollandites, K x Mn1-y Fe y O2-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 ß-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.

Unambiguous localization of titanium and iron cations in doped manganese hollandite nanowires.

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.

Chlorine Insertion Promoting Iron Reduction in Ba-Fe Hexagonal Perovskites: Effect on the Structural and Magnetic Properties.

BaFeCl0.13(2)O2.48(2) has been synthesized and studied. A proper tuning of the synthetic route has been designed to stabilize this compound as a single phase. The thermal stability and evolution, along with the magnetic and structural properties are reported here. The crystal structure has been refined from neutron powder diffraction data, and it is of the type (hhchc)2-10H. It is stable up to a temperature of 900 °C, where the composition reads BaFeCl0.13(2)O2.34(2). The study by electron microscopy shows that the crystal structure suffers no changes in the whole BaFeCl0.13(1)O3-y (2.34 ≤ 3 - y ≤ 2.48) compositional range. Refinement of the magnetic structure shows that the Fe is antiferromagneticaly ordered, with the magnetic moment parallel to the ab plane of the hexagonal structure. At higher temperature, a nonreversible phase transition into a (hchc)-4H structure type takes place with overall composition BaFeCl0.13(1)O2.26(1). Microstructural characterization shows that, in some crystals, this phase intergrows with a seemingly cubic related phase. Differences between these two crystalline phases reside in the chlorine content, which keeps constant through the phase transition for the former and disappears for the latter.

SrMnO3 Thermochromic Behavior Governed by Size-Dependent Structural Distortions.

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).

Unknown aspects of self-assembly of PbS microscale superstructures.

A lot of interesting and sophisticated examples of nanoparticle (NP) self-assembly (SA) are known. From both fundamental and technological standpoints, this field requires advancements in three principle directions: (a) understanding the mechanism and driving forces of three-dimensional (3D) SA with both nano- and microlevels of organization; (b) understanding disassembly/deconstruction processes; and (c) finding synthetic methods of assembly into continuous superstructures without insulating barriers. From this perspective, we investigated the formation of well-known star-like PbS superstructures and found a number of previously unknown or overlooked aspects that can advance the knowledge of NP self-assembly in these three directions. The primary one is that the formation of large seemingly monocrystalline PbS superstructures with multiple levels of octahedral symmetry can be explained only by SA of small octahedral NPs. We found five distinct periods in the formation PbS hyperbranched stars: (1) nucleation of early PbS NPs with an average diameter of 31 nm; (2) assembly into 100-500 nm octahedral mesocrystals; (3) assembly into 1000-2500 nm hyperbranched stars; (4) assembly and ionic recrystallization into six-arm rods accompanied by disappearance of fine nanoscale structure; (5) deconstruction into rods and cuboctahedral NPs. The switches in assembly patterns between the periods occur due to variable dominance of pattern-determining forces that include van der Waals and electrostatic (charge-charge, dipole-dipole, and polarization) interactions. The superstructure deconstruction is triggered by chemical changes in the deep eutectic solvent (DES) used as the media. PbS superstructures can be excellent models for fundamental studies of nanoscale organization and SA manufacturing of (opto)electronics and energy-harvesting devices which require organization of PbS components at multiple scales.

Transitory Ischemia as a form of white torture: a case description in Spain.

Transitory Ischemia is a form of torture that has been insufficiently described and studied in forensic and psychiatric studies of torture. It is usually left out of medical evaluation reports and not explored in detail under the Istanbul Protocol. Although ischemia, when experienced during brief periods of time, does not produce any detectable sequelae, prolonged periods of ischemia can be detected by either clinical examination or electromyography. The authors describe the use of brief periods of ischemia as a torture technique against a non-violent activist in Seville (Spain).

Ordered rock-salt related nanoclusters in CaMnO2.

Oxygen engineering techniques performed under adequate controlled atmosphere show that the CaMnO(3)-CaMnO(2) topotactic reduction-oxidation process proceeds via oxygen diffusion while the cationic sublattice remains almost unaltered. Extra superlattice reflections in selected area electron diffraction patterns indicate doubling of the CaMnO(2) rock-salt cell along the cubic directions of a distorted rhombohedral cell originated by ordering of Ca(2+) and Mn(2+) ions distributed in nanoclusters into a NaCl-type matrix, as evidenced by dark field electron microscope images. The local nature of the information provided by the transmission electron microscopy techniques used to characterize the rock-salt type Ca(1-x)Mn(x)O(2) solid solution clearly hints at the existence of subtle extra ordering in other upper oxides of the Ca-Mn-O system. The combination of local characterization techniques like electron microscopy with more average ones like powder X-ray and neutron diffraction allows a very complete characterization of the system.

Ab initio determination of heavy oxide perovskite related structures from precession electron diffraction data.

Two complex perovskite-related structures were solved by ab initio from precession electron diffraction intensities. Structure models were firstly derived from HREM images and than have been confirmed independently using two and three-dimensional sets of precession intensities. Patterson techniques prove to be effective for ab initio structure resolution, specially in case of projections with no overlapping atoms. Quality of precession intensity data may be suitable enough to resolve unknown heavy oxide structures.

Strategies to stabilize new oxides in the Sr(n+1)(CoTa)(n)O(3n+1) Ruddlesden-Popper homologous series.

Two new oxides of the Ruddlesden-Popper series have been isolated and structurally characterized in the Sr-Co-Ta-O system. X-ray and electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy show that polycrystalline Sr(3)CoTaO(7) constitutes the n=2 member of a new Sr(n+1)(CoTa)(n)O(3n+1) homologous series, the essential feature of which is the existence of two connected Co/Ta octahedral layers, separated by Sr atoms. Sr(2)CoTaO(6), the n=infinity member of the series, shows a particular short-range ordering of Co and Ta at the octahedral sites leading, as shown by high-resolution electron microscopy, to the disordered intergrowth of simple and double perovskite type domains. Strategies to stabilize new oxides of this series are discussed.

Influence of Sr-doping in Ba7Rh6O18, a new one-dimensional oxide of the homologous series (A3Rh2O6)alpha(A3Rh3O9)beta.

The synthesis and microstructural characterization, by means of selected-area electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy, of Ba7Rh6O18 is reported. This material, isostructural to Ba7Co6O18, is formed by rows of one trigonal prism and five face-sharing octahedra running parallel to the c-axis of a trigonal unit cell with parameters a = 1.004(5) and c = 3.165(7) nm. The substitution of Sr by Ba is accommodated by means of twin formation due to a rearrangement of the rows of polyhedra.

Strategies to stabilize new members of the (A3A'BO6)alpha (A3B3O0)beta homologous series in the Sr-Rh-O system: structure of the one-dimensional (alpha = 3, beta = 2) [Sr10(Sr0.5Rh1.5)TP(Rh6)Oh])24 oxide.

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.

Recurrent intergrowths in the topotactic reduction process of LaBaCuCoO5.2.

A new perovskite-related oxide with the LaBaCuCoO5.2 composition has been stabilised. Its structure can be described as formed by the recurrent intergrowth of two alternating blocks of YBaCuFeO5 (2ac, i.e., two-fold perovskite superlattice) and YBa2Fe3O8 (3ac) structural types. From the starting material LaBaCuCoO5.2-delta (delta = 0), the rigorous control of the oxygen content has allowed the stabilisation of three new five fold perovskite-related superstructures with the compositions delta = 0.4, 0.8 and 1.1, which can also be described as recurrent intergrowths of two blocks showing 2ac and 3ac periodicity. The reduction process takes place through the 3ac periodic blocks, when 0 < delta < 0.8. Further oxygen decrease seems to involve the 2ac periodic blocks made up of pyramidal layers, giving rise to infinite layer units. The stability limit for these fivefold superstructures is delta = 1.1. In agreement with this the as-synthesised materials constitute an example of topotactic reaction, since their basic structure is kept through the reduction process.