Superconductivity on the border of itinerant-electron ferromagnetism in UGe2

The absence of simple examples of superconductivity adjoining itinerant-electron ferromagnetism in the phase diagram has for many years cast doubt on the validity of conventional models of magnetically mediated superconductivity. On closer examination, however, very few systems have been studied in the extreme conditions of purity, proximity to the ferromagnetic state and very low temperatures required to test the theory definitively. Here we report the observation of superconductivity on the border of ferromagnetism in a pure system, UGe2, which is known to be qualitatively similar to the classic d-electron ferromagnets. The superconductivity that we observe below 1 K, in a limited pressure range on the border of ferromagnetism, seems to arise from the same electrons that produce band magnetism. In this case, superconductivity is most naturally understood in terms of magnetic as opposed to lattice interactions, and by a spin-triplet rather than the spin-singlet pairing normally associated with nearly antiferromagnetic metals.     

IgA nephropathy, the most common cause of glomerulonephritis, is linked to 6q22-23

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a major public health problem, affecting 1 in 1,000 individuals and with an annual death rate of 20% despite dialysis treatment. IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common form of glomerulonephritis, a principal cause of ESRD worldwide; it affects up to 1.3% of the population and its pathogenesis is unknown. Kidneys of people with IgAN show deposits of IgA-containing immune complexes with proliferation of the glomerular mesangium (Fig. 1). Typical clinical features include onset before age 40 with haematuria and proteinuria (blood and protein in the urine), and episodes of gross haematuria following mucosal infections are common; 30% of patients develop progressive renal failure. Although not generally considered a hereditary disease, striking ethnic variation in prevalence and familial clustering, along with subclinical renal abnormalities among relatives of IgAN cases, have suggested a heretofore undefined genetic component. By genome-wide analysis of linkage in 30 multiplex IgAN kindreds, we demonstrate linkage of IgAN to 6q22-23 under a dominant model of transmission with incomplete penetrance, with a lod score of 5.6 and 60% of kindreds linked. These findings for the first time indicate the existence of a locus with large effect on development of IgAN and identify the chromosomal location of this disease gene.     

Genome-wide association study identifies novel breast cancer susceptibility loci

Breast cancer exhibits familial aggregation, consistent with variation in genetic susceptibility to the disease. Known susceptibility genes account for less than 25% of the familial risk of breast cancer, and the residual genetic variance is likely to be due to variants conferring more moderate risks. To identify further susceptibility alleles, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study in 4,398 breast cancer cases and 4,316 controls, followed by a third stage in which 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for confirmation in 21,860 cases and 22,578 controls from 22 studies. We used 227,876 SNPs that were estimated to correlate with 77% of known common SNPs in Europeans at r2 > 0.5. SNPs in five novel independent loci exhibited strong and consistent evidence of association with breast cancer (P < 10(-7)). Four of these contain plausible causative genes (FGFR2, TNRC9, MAP3K1 and LSP1). At the second stage, 1,792 SNPs were significant at the P < 0.05 level compared with an estimated 1,343 that would be expected by chance, indicating that many additional common susceptibility alleles may be identifiable by this approach.     

面向亚轨道解体事故的碎片扩散分布建模研究

针对未来愈发频繁的商业亚轨道发射活动, 为降低亚轨道突发解体事故给民航客机带来的运行风险, 提高空管监视系统对危险情况的应急响应能力, 利用协方差传播算法对亚轨道解体事故碎片落点进行快速预测。该算法围绕线性化的标称轨迹, 将碎片落点预测的随机过程建模为高斯-马尔可夫过程。同时, 通过概率密度函数构造高斯-马尔可夫过程在一定置信度下的概率椭球, 量化碎片落点在标称轨迹附近的位置。在此基础上, 参照航天器标准解体模型, 对影响碎片传播轨迹的弹道系数进行推导计算。仿真结果表明, 该方法可有效提高碎片危险区的预测准确度。     

硬件在环测试台模拟车辆电池的电压分布

驾驶辅助系统不仅是为了辅助驾驶员进行一般的驾驶活动,而且要能在关键情况下接管驾驶。使用原型车进行试驾是测试该系统最现实的方式,试驾可使驾驶辅助系统暴露在各种实际环境下,从而检查其可靠性。由于带有原型的测试驱动器成本很高,而且难以完全相同方式复制驾驶活动,因此在系统开发和测试过程中经常使用硬件在环（HiL）测试台。HiL测试台不仅提供相关硬件,还可以为这些被测系统（SUT）提供模拟环境。在实际车辆的试驾过程中,由于不同的环境影响,电气系统的电压会发生变化,这些变化是基于不断变化的电气负载影响。目前,车辆电气系统的电压变化无法在硬件在环测试台上模拟。为了确定电压变化的原因和潜在现象,需要对实际试驾记录数据进行检查,以了解潜在现象。然后将这些结果用于推导唯象激励,该唯象激励可用于模拟测试台上的真实电压曲线。本文分析了车辆测量结果,目的是找出车载电压长期和短期热变化的可能原因,提出一种在HiL测试台上进行虚拟测试驱动的情况下真实模拟电压变化的方法。