The isometric pyrochlore structure, A 2 B 2 O 7 , is generally susceptible to radiation damage, but certain compositions are remarkably resistant to radiation damage. In the binary system Gd 2 (Ti 2Ϫx Zr x )O 7 , the radiation resistance increases dramatically with the substitution of Zr for Ti, until the pure end member Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 cannot be amorphized, even at doses as high as ϳ100 dpa. Although zirconate pyrochlores are generally considered to be radiation resistant, we report results for the amorphization of a zirconate pyrochlore La 2 Zr 2 O 7 by ion beam irradiation ͑ϳ5.5 dpa at room temperature͒. The critical amorphization temperature T c is low, ϳ310 K. The susceptibility to ion-beam-induced amorphization and structural disordering for zirconate pyrochlores is related to the structural deviation from the ideal fluorite structure, as reflected by the x parameter of the O 48f .

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The ionic conductivity of isometric pyrochlore, ideally A2B2O (7), is extremely sensitive to disordering of A- and B-site cations and oxygen anion vacancies. We report the first use of ion beam irradiation-induced disordering in Gd 2Ti 2O (7) to produce a strain-free, buried, disordered defect-fluorite layer approximately 12 nm thick within an ordered pyrochlore matrix. This approach provides a new means of creating nanoscale, mixed ionic-electronic conductors in pyrochlore ceramics, such as those required for solid-state electrochemical cells.

The PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) tumour suppressor is mutated in 40–50% of human endometrial cancers. PTEN exerts its effects in part via inhibition of the antiapoptotic protein AKT. We demonstrate that two endometrial cancer cell lines that harbour PTEN mutations, Ishikawa and RL95-2, have high levels of phosphorylated AKT and high AKT kinase activity. Two additional endometrial cancer cell lines that express wild-type PTEN, Hec1A and KLE, have little phosphorylated AKT and minimal demonstrable AKT kinase activity. We tested a potential inhibitor of the AKT pathway, API-59CJ-OMe, in these four cell lines. We found that API-59CJ-OMe inhibits AKT kinase activity and induces apoptosis in the Ishikawa and RL95-2 cell lines with high AKT activity, but has little effect on Hec1A and KLE cells without AKT activity. API-59CJ-OMe may therefore have therapeutic potential for those endometrial cancers that harbour PTEN mutations and AKT activation.

The radiation-induced evolution of the microstructure of Gd2Ti2O7, an important pyrochlore phase in radioactive waste disposal ceramics and a potential solid electrolyte and oxygen gas sensor, has been characterized using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Following the irradiation of a Gd2Ti2O7 single crystal with 1.5 MeV Xe+ ions at a fluence of 1.7×1014 Xe+/cm2, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy revealed a 300-nm-thick amorphous layer at the specimen surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the Ti 2p and O 1s electron binding energy shifts of Gd2Ti2O7 before and after amorphization showed that the main results of ion-irradiation-induced disorder are a decrease in the coordination number of titanium and a transformation of the Gd–O bond. These features resemble those occurring in titanate glass formation, and they have implications for the chemical stability and electronic properties of pyrochlores subjected to displacive radiation damage.