Two-axis magnetic field sensor

A ferromagnetic thin-film based magnetic field sensor with first and second sensitive direction sensing structures each having a nonmagnetic intermediate layer with two major surfaces on opposite sides thereof having a magnetization reference layer on one and an anisotropic ferromagnetic material sensing layer on the other having a length in a selected length direction and a smaller width perpendicular thereto and parallel to the relatively fixed magnetization direction. The relatively fixed magnetization direction of said magnetization reference layer in each is oriented in substantially parallel to the substrate but substantially perpendicular to that of the other. An annealing process is used to form the desired magnetization directions

Angiotensin II Type I Receptor Agonistic Autoantibody Induces Podocyte Injury via Activation of the TRPC6- Calcium/Calcineurin Pathway in Pre-Eclampsia

Background/Aims: Angiotensin II type I receptor agonistic autoantibody (AT1-AA) is closely related to pre-eclampsia, which is characterized by proteinuria and hypertension. AT1-AA has been shown to enhance the effect of AngII in pre-eclampsia, such as production of endothelin-1, activation of ROS, and vasoconstriction, which are considered to be associated with hypertension; however, whether or not AT1-AA participates in podocyte damage leading to the generation of proteinuria has not been reported. In this study we investigated the role of pre-eclamptic serum AT1-AA on podocytes and the mechanism underlying the generation of proteinuria. Methods: The levels of AT1-AA isolated from pre-eclamptic sera were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Human podocytes were cultured in vitro and treated with various concentrations of AT1-AA. Whether or not an ERK1/2 inhibitor and TRPC6 siRNA inhibit the effect of AT1-AA on podocytes was determined. Western blot was used to detect the expression of podocyte-specific proteins (nephrin, synaptopodin, and podocin) and the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and TRPC6. The arrangement of F-actin was observed by immunofluorescence. A Calcineurin Cellular Activity Assay Kit was used to detect calcineurin activity. Changes in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration was determined by confocal laser. Results: AT1-AA induced a decrease in podocyte-specific protein expression and calcineurin activity and increased expression of p-ERK1/2 and TRPC6 protein and the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. Immunofluorescence revealed rearrangement of F-actin. PD98059, an inhibitor of ERK1/2, and TRPC6 siRNA attenuated the decreased expression of podocyte-specific proteins and decreased intracellular Ca2+ concentration. The expression of TRPC6 was reduced following the addition of ERK1/2 inhibitor. Conclusion: AT1-AA induced podocyte damage in a dose-dependent manner. The underlying mechanism might involve activation of the TRPC6 –calcium/calcineurin pathway. This study provides new details regarding podocyte injury and the mechanism underlying the generation of proteinuria in pre-eclampsia

Boosting Heterosubtypic Neutralization Antibodies in Recipients of 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Vaccine

Our data demonstrated that the inoculation with vaccine derived from the 2009 pandemic influenza raised vigorous neutralization antibodies against both cognate H1N1 and heterotypic influenza viruses. This observation has important implication for vaccine development

The Precambrian Khondalite Belt in the Daqingshan area, North China Craton: evidence for multiple metamorphic events in the Palaeoproterozoic era

High-grade pelitic metasedimentary rocks (khondalites) are widely distributed in the northwestern part of the North China Craton and were named the ‘Khondalite Belt’. Prior to the application of zircon geochronology, a stratigraphic division of the supracrustal rocks into several groups was established using interpretative field geology. We report here SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages and Hf-isotope data on metamorphosed sedimentary and magmatic rocks at Daqingshan, a typical area of the Khondalite Belt. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The early Precambrian supracrustal rocks belong to three sequences: a 2.56–2.51 Ga supracrustal unit (the previous Sanggan ‘group’), a 2.51–2.45 Ga supracrustal unit (a portion of the previous upper Wulashan ‘group’) and a 2.0–1.95 Ga supracrustal unit (including the previous lower Wulashan ‘group’, a portion of original upper Wulashan ‘group’ and the original Meidaizhao ‘group’) the units thus do not represent a true stratigraphy; (2) Strong tectono-thermal events occurred during the late Neoarchaean to late Palaeoproterozoic, with four episodes recognized: 2.6–2.5, 2.45–2.37, 2.3–2.0 and 1.95–1.85 Ga, with the latest event being consistent with the assembly of the Palaeoproterozoic supercontinent Columbia; (3) During the late Neoarchaean to late Palaeoproterozoic (2.55–2.5, 2.37 and 2.06 Ga) juvenile, mantle-derived material was added to the crust

Seizing the window of opportunity to mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of Chinese residents

The health threats posed by climate change in China are increasing rapidly. Each province faces different health risks. Without a timely and adequate response, climate change will impact lives and livelihoods at an accelerated rate and even prevent the achievement of the Healthy and Beautiful China initiatives. The 2021 China Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change is the first annual update of China’s Report of the Lancet Countdown. It comprehensively assesses the impact of climate change on the health of Chinese households and the measures China has taken. Invited by the Lancet committee, Tsinghua University led the writing of the report and cooperated with 25 relevant institutions in and outside of China. The report includes 25 indicators within five major areas (climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement) and a policy brief. This 2021 China policy brief contains the most urgent and relevant indicators focusing on provincial data: The increasing health risks of climate change in China; mixed progress in responding to climate change. In 2020, the heatwave exposures per person in China increased by 4.51 d compared with the 1986–2005 average, resulting in an estimated 92% increase in heatwave-related deaths. The resulting economic cost of the estimated 14500 heatwave-related deaths in 2020 is US$176 million. Increased temperatures also caused a potential 31.5 billion h in lost work time in 2020, which is equivalent to 1.3% of the work hours of the total national workforce, with resulting economic losses estimated at 1.4% of China’s annual gross domestic product. For adaptation efforts, there has been steady progress in local adaptation planning and assessment in 2020, urban green space growth in 2020, and health emergency management in 2019. 12 of 30 provinces reported that they have completed, or were developing, provincial health adaptation plans. Urban green space, which is an important heat adaptation measure, has increased in 18 of 31 provinces in the past decade, and the capacity of China’s health emergency management increased in almost all provinces from 2018 to 2019. As a result of China’s persistent efforts to clean its energy structure and control air pollution, the premature deaths due to exposure to ambient particulate matter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) and the resulting costs continue to decline. However, 98% of China’s cities still have annual average PM2.5 concentrations that are more than the WHO guideline standard of 10 μg/m3. It provides policymakers and the public with up-to-date information on China’s response to climate change and improvements in health outcomes and makes the following policy recommendations. (1) Promote systematic thinking in the related departments and strengthen multi-departmental cooperation. Sectors related to climate and development in China should incorporate health perspectives into their policymaking and actions, demonstrating WHO’s and President Xi Jinping’s so-called health-in-all-policies principle. (2) Include clear goals and timelines for climate-related health impact assessments and health adaptation plans at both the national and the regional levels in the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for 2035. (3) Strengthen China’s climate mitigation actions and ensure that health is included in China’s pathway to carbon neutrality. By promoting investments in zero-carbon technologies and reducing fossil fuel subsidies, the current rebounding trend in carbon emissions will be reversed and lead to a healthy, low-carbon future. (4) Increase awareness of the linkages between climate change and health at all levels. Health professionals, the academic community, and traditional and new media should raise the awareness of the public and policymakers on the important linkages between climate change and health.</p

Multi-Sensor Building Fire Alarm System with Information Fusion Technology Based on D-S Evidence Theory

Multi-sensor and information fusion technology based on Dempster-Shafer evidence theory is applied in the system of a building fire alarm to realize early detecting and alarming. By using a multi-sensor to monitor the parameters of the fire process, such as light, smoke, temperature, gas and moisture, the range of fire monitoring in space and time is expanded compared with a single-sensor system. Then, the D-S evidence theory is applied to fuse the information from the multi-sensor with the specific fire model, and the fire alarm is more accurate and timely. The proposed method can avoid the failure of the monitoring data effectively, deal with the conflicting evidence from the multi-sensor robustly and improve the reliability of fire warning significantly

Design of two-dimensional hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite for solar cell

Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite (HOIP) materials have been attracted much attention in solar cells due to outstanding photovoltaic efficiency and high stability over the last few years. In this paper, we present first-principles design on Sn-based 2D HOIPs on the electronic properties and crystal structural by doping Cs atoms with different composition ratio. Our calculated results clearly reveal that Cs atom not only can be easily induced due to the low formation energy, but also can effectively impact on electronic properties with different concentrations. The band gap of Cs-doped Sn-based 2D HOIPs is decreased from 1.19 eV to 1.12 eV. We also revealed that carrier effective mass also can effectively be reduced by choosing appropriate ratio of Cs atom. Our results demonstrate that Sn-based 2D HOIPs by doping Cs atoms may be great substitute for the conventional Pb-based 3D HOIPs. The high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of Sn-based two-dimensional hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite in solar cells maybe achieved with suitable band gap, high performance, great atmospheric stability

Effect of processing parameters on microstructure of MoS2 ultra-thin films synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method

MoS2 ultra-thin layers are synthesized using a chemical vapor deposition method based on the sulfurization of molybdenum trioxide (MoO3). The ultra-thin layers are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and atomic force microscope (AFM). Based on our experimental results, all the processing parameters, such as the tilt angle of substrate, applied voltage, heating time and the weight of source materials have effect on the microstructures of the layers. In this paper, the effects of such processing parameters on the crystal structures and morphologies of the as-grown layers are studied. It is found that the film obtained with the tilt angle of 0.06° is more uniform. A larger applied voltage is preferred to the growth of MoS2 thin films at a certain heating time. In order to obtain the ultra-thin layers of MoS2, the weight of 0.003 g of source materials is preferred. Under our optimal experimental conditions, the surface of the film is smooth and composed of many uniformly distributed and aggregated particles, and the ultra-thin MoS2 atomic layers (1∼10 layers) covers an area of more than 2 mm×2 mm