Truncated mass divergence in a Mott metal.

The Mott metal-insulator transition represents one of the most fundamental phenomena in condensed matter physics. Yet, basic tenets of the canonical Brinkman-Rice picture of Mott localization remain to be tested experimentally by quantum oscillation measurements that directly probe the quasiparticle Fermi surface and effective mass. By extending this technique to high pressure, we have examined the metallic state on the threshold of Mott localization in clean, undoped crystals of NiS2. We find that i) on approaching Mott localization, the quasiparticle mass is strongly enhanced, whereas the Fermi surface remains essentially unchanged; ii) the quasiparticle mass closely follows the divergent form predicted theoretically, establishing charge carrier slowdown as the driver for the metal-insulator transition; iii) this mass divergence is truncated by the metal-insulator transition, placing the Mott critical point inside the insulating section of the phase diagram. The inaccessibility of the Mott critical point in NiS2 parallels findings at the threshold of ferromagnetism in clean metallic systems, in which criticality at low temperature is almost universally interrupted by first-order transitions or novel emergent phases such as incommensurate magnetic order or unconventional superconductivity.

High-Pressure Mechanistic Insight into Bioinorganic NO Chemistry.

Pressure is one of the most important parameters controlling the kinetics of chemical reactions. The ability to combine high-pressure techniques with time-resolved spectroscopy has provided a powerful tool in the study of reaction mechanisms. This review is focused on the supporting role of high-pressure kinetic and spectroscopic methods in the exploration of nitric oxide bioinorganic chemistry. Nitric oxide and other reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are important biological mediators involved in both physiological and pathological processes. Understanding molecular mechanisms of their interactions with redox-active metal/non-metal centers in biological targets, such as cofactors, prosthetic groups, and proteins, is crucial for the improved therapy of various diseases. The present review is an attempt to demonstrate how the application of high-pressure kinetic and spectroscopic methods can add additional information, thus enabling the mechanistic interpretation of various NO bioinorganic reactions.

Supercritical CO2 Processing of White Grape Must as a Strategy to Reduce the Addition of SO2.

In winemaking, sulfur dioxide addition is the most common procedure to prevent enzymatic and microbial alterations. However, the enological industry looks for safer alternatives to preserve enological products, and high-pressure treatments with supercritical CO2 are a suitable alternative. This study evaluates the effectiveness of this process in the stabilization and preservation of white grape must, studying the influence of time, pressure, and CO2 percentage on must characteristics. In spite of the percentage of CO2 turned out to be the variable that affects the most the process, no remarkable differences were observed in pH, acidity, and color intensity between untreated and treated musts. Moreover, this technique has proven to be very efficient in the reduction of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms as well as in the reduction of residual polyphenol oxidase activities, being lower than those obtained with SO2 addition (60 and 160 mg/L). Based on the results, the most convenient conditions were 100 bar and 10% CO2, for 10 min treatment.