It has been forty years since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated the modernization project of Post-Mao China. As with other sectors, learning from the West was one of the basic strategies taken by the CCP to achieve the modernization of Chinese socialist legality, even as Chinese law is meant to be grounded in the orthodoxies of Marxism-Leninism. In order to learn from the West, the CCP generally adopted an elastic and dualistic approach to reform that is based on the utilitarian incentives of Deng Xiaoping. In the political sector, for example, the CCP looked back into the past and the CCP’s successful experiences under Marxist-Leninist doctrine. The aim was to immunize politics from the influence of western liberal-democratic ideology. But in the economic area, the CCP moved toward the West by vigorously adopting advanced western rules and institutions for managing the economy. This article examines how this strategy formed the basic contours of Chinese socialist legality in the past forty years. The article identifies the resulting internal lacuna, especially with respect to the realization of the “rule of law.” This article also analyses the possible future of a Chinese-socialist rule of law. That possibility will be affected by changing external circumstances, particularly the deterioration of China-US relations.

Flexible alkyl side chain in conjugate polymers (CPs) improves the solubility and promotes solution processability, in addition, it affects interchain packing and charge mobilities. Despite the well-known charge mobility and morphology correlation for these semi-crystalline polymers, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of the impact of side chain on their crystallization kinetics. In the present work, isothermal crystallization of five poly(3-alkylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3ATs) with different side-chain structures were systematically investigated. To suppress the extremely fast crystallization and trap the sample into amorphous glass, an advanced fast scanning chip calorimetry technique, which is able to quench the sample with few to tens thousands of K/s, was applied. Results show that the crystallization of P3ATs was greatly inhibited after incorporation of branched side chains, as indicated by a dramatic up to six orders of magnitude decrease in the crystallization rate. The suppressed crystallization of P3ATs were correlated with an increased π–π stacking distance due to unfavorable side-chain steric interaction. This work provides a pathway to use side-chain engineering to control the crystallization behavior for CPs, thus to control device performance.

In late December 2019, patients of atypical pneumonia due to an unidentified microbial agent were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Subsequently, a novel coronavirus was identified as the causative pathogen which was named SARS-CoV-2. As of 12 February 2020, more than 44 000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been confirmed in China and continue to expand. Provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China have launched first-level response to major public health emergencies one after another from 23 January 2020, which means restricting movement of people among provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation between the migration scale index and the number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and to depict the effect of restricting population movement. In this study, Excel 2010 was used to demonstrate the temporal distribution at the day level and SPSS 23.0 was used to analyse the correlation between the migration scale index and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. We found that since 23 January 2020, Wuhan migration scale index has dropped significantly and since 26 January 2020, Hubei province migration scale index has dropped significantly. New confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Wuhan gradually increased since 24 January 2020, and showed a downward trend from 6 February 2020. New confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Hubei province gradually increased since 24 January 2020, and maintained at a high level from 24 January 2020 to 4 February 2020, then showed a downward trend. Wuhan migration scale index from 9 January to 22 January, 10 January to 23 January and 11 January to 24 January was correlated with the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Wuhan from 22 January to 4 February. Hubei province migration scale index from 10 January to 23 January and 11 January to 24 January was correlated with the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Hubei province from 22 January to 4 February. Our findings suggested that people who left Wuhan from 9 January to 22 January, and those who left Hubei province from 10 January to 24 January, led to the outbreak in the rest of China. The ‘Wuhan lockdown’ and the launching of the first-level response to this major public health emergency may have had a good effect on controlling the COVID-19 epidemic. Although new COVID-19 cases continued to be confirmed in China outside Wuhan and Hubei provinces, in our opinion, these are second-generation cases.

The aim of this study was to explore the association between serum Mg and cardiovascular mortality in the peritoneal dialysis (PD) population. This prospective cohort study included prevalent PD patients from a single centre. The primary outcome of this study was cardiovascular mortality. Serum Mg was assessed at baseline. A total of 402 patients (57 % male; mean age 49·3±14·9 years) were included. After a median of 49·9 months (interquartile range: 25·9–68·3) of follow-up, sixty-two patients (25·4 %) died of CVD. After adjustment for conventional confounders in multivariate Cox regression models, being in the lower quartile for serum Mg level was independently associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality, with hazards ratios of 2·28 (95 % CI 1·04, 5·01), 1·41 (95 % CI 0·63, 3·16) and 1·62 (95 % CI 0·75, 3·51) for the lowest, second and third quartiles, respectively. A similar trend was observed when all-cause mortality was used as the study endpoint. Further analysis showed that the relationships between lower serum Mg and higher risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality were present only in the female subgroup, and not among male patients. The test for interaction indicated that the associations between lower serum Mg and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality differed by sex (P=0·008 and P=0·011, respectively). In conclusion, lower serum Mg was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the PD population, especially among female patients.

Due to the special crystal structures and electron configurations, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) are expected to have favorable activities for electrocatalytic reactions. In this paper, a set of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) criteria are applied for the HEA-based electrocatalyst design. Specifically, FeNiMnCrCu HEA is predicted to have a better OER performance than the baseline FeCoNiCrAl HEA. To demonstrate this design approach, both FeNiMnCrCu and FeCoNiCrAl samples are prepared and tested. Their crystal structures and electrocatalytic performance are examined. This paper demonstrates the potential of using finely tuned HEAs for OER applications.

Synthesis of non-uniform circular antenna arrays using a hybrid invasive weed optimization is introduced in this paper. The excitation weights and positions of array elements are optimized to reduce the peak side lobe level (PSLL) of the radiation pattern. The method proposed in this paper can effectively constrain the number of the array elements, size of the array, and the angular spacing of the adjacent element simultaneously. The radiation pattern has the constraint of a fixed major lobe beamwidth. Synthesis results of three different circular antenna arrays are given. The results show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed synthesis method in non-uniform circular antenna arrays.

Two-dimensional nonlinear magnetosonic solitary and shock waves propagating perpendicular to the applied magnetic field are presented in quantum electron–positron–ion plasmas with strongly coupled classical ions and weakly coupled quantum electrons and positrons. The generalized viscoelastic hydrodynamic model is used for the ions and a quantum hydrodynamic model is introduced for the electrons and positrons. In the weakly nonlinear limit, a modified Kadomstev–Petviashvili (KP) equation with a damping term and a KP–Burgers equation have been derived in the kinetic regime and hydrodynamic regime, respectively. The analytical and numerical solutions of the modified KP and KP–Burgers equations are also presented and analysed with the typical parameters of a white dwarf star and pulsar magnetosphere, which show that the quantum plasma beta and the variation of positron number density have remarkable effects on the propagation of magnetosonic solitary and shock waves.

It is known that iodine deficiency during pregnancy can interfere with normal fetal growth and development. However, iodine levels of pregnant women in Shanghai, China, and factors that could influence its levels remain unclear. A total of 916 pregnant women were selected from the Maternal and Child Care Service Centre of Minhang District in Shanghai. Morning urinary iodine (UI) and iodine content of salt from the participants' home were measured, and UI concentration was adjusted by creatinine concentrations. Serum tri-iodothyronine, thyroxin, free tri-iodothyronine, free thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormone were tested in the second trimester of pregnancy by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay. The median levels of UI in pregnant women were 156·3, 176·9 and 175·1 μg/g creatinine in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. The prevalence of UI deficiency (UI < 150 μg/g creatinine) was 48·3, 34·2 and 36·2 % in the three trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. Factors that significantly influenced the UI levels include the following: iodine content of household salt; age; occupation; multivitamin supplement with iodine; seaweed intakes. Furthermore, UI and iodine content of salt were moderately correlated (r 0·406, P< 0·001). In addition, there was no significant association between UI and thyroid hormone levels. The present study showed a high prevalence of UI deficiency in pregnant women in Shanghai, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. Both iodine content of household salt and multivitamin supplement with iodine are the main determinants of UI levels in Shanghai.

The unique properties of silicon oxide materials, no matter intrinsic or doped, utilized in thin film solar cells (TFSCs) in the area of photovoltaic (PV) are making TFSCs one of the most attractive photovoltaic technologies for the development of high-performing electricity production units to be integrated in everyday life. In comparison to other silicon materials, the particular diphasic structure of silicon oxide materials, in which hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) crystallites are surrounded by an oxygen-rich hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) phase, causes them present excellent photoelectrical material properties, such as a low-parasitic absorption in the broadband spectral range, independent controllability of longitudinal and lateral conductivity, refractive indices (3.5-2.0), band gap (2.0-2.6 eV) and conductivity tenability (with orders of 1-10-9 S/cm) with oxygen doping, and so on. Various types of silicon oxide materials, including intrinsic, p- or n- type, further applied in TFSCs have also played significant roles in improving the efficiency of various types of single-, dual-, and triple-junction thin-film solar cells from both the optical and electrical points of view. In this paper, we present our latest progress in studying the performance improvement role of intrinsic or doped silicon oxide materials in pin-type a-Si:H, a-SiGe:H, and μc-Si:H single-junction solar cells. By effectively tuning the band gap values of intrinsic a-SiOx:H materials with oxygen doping and adopting the layers with a suitable band gap (1.86 eV) as the P/I buffer layers of a-Si:H solar cells fabricated on metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) boron-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:B) substrates, a significant Voc increases up to 909 mV and an excellent external quantum efficiency (EQE) response of 75% at the 400 nm typical wavelength can be achieved by matching the band gap discontinuity between the p-type nc-SiOx:H window and a-Si:H intrinsic layers. The serious leakage current characteristics of pin-type narrow-gap (Eg<1.5 eV) a-SiGe:H single-junction solar cells can also be finely tuned by integrating an n-type μc-SiOx:H layer with a small oxygen content in addition to improving the long-wavelength response, an effective approach gives rise to the highest FF of 70.62% for pin-type a-SiGe:H single-junction solar cells with an average band gap of 1.48 eV. In addition, our studies proved that the application of p-type μc-SiOx:H window layers in μc-Si:H single-junction solar cells can effectively improve the short-wavelength light coupling by suppressing the parasitic absorption and promoting the anti-reflectivity with a graded refractive index profile. On the basis of the optimum single-junction solar cells with omnipotent silicon oxide materials, an initial efficiency of 16.07% has been achieved for pin-type a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H/μc-Si:H triple-junction solar cells with an active area of 0.25 cm2. The omnipotent properties of silicon oxide layers in TFSCs, including effective optical coupling and trapping, suitability in compensating for the band gap discontinuity, the shunt-quenching capacity, and so on, make them likely to be extended to other types of solar cells such as polycrystalline chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) and perovskite-sensitized solar cells, opening up new opportunities for acquiring solar cells with higher performance.

During the last thirty years, market reforms have turned China into an economic behemoth as the country moves deeper and deeper into capitalist development. The study of Chinese labor owes its dynamism in recent years to this dramatic economic and social transformation. Scholars are intrigued by two parallel historical transformations: On the one hand, millions of peasant migrants have been transformed into urban industrial and service workers; on the other hand, millions of former state-owned enterprise employees have lost their lifelong “iron rice bowl” job security and other benefits that they enjoyed under the Maoist socialist system. The new directions of labor studies about China reflect the unique trajectories of these important institutional and social changes. If earlier discussions mainly focused on the harsh labor conditions in sweatshops and despotic management in all kinds of factories, recent research and writing have explored a variety of emergent questions, from the impact of the new labor laws and institutional arrangements to the formation of a new working class and its relation to Chinese workers' recently highlighted legal rights and resistance. These studies have already contributed greatly to our knowledge of what is going on with Chinese workers and their labor movements in the twenty-first century.

We study the effect of the spacing between electrodes in very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on the properties of microcrystalline silicon films and their related n-i-psolar cells. We vary the spacing from 0.2 to 1.0 cm to deposit microcrystalline silicon at 67.8 MHz while maintaining other growth parameters. The spacing between the electrodes significantly changes the plasma conditions, which govern film precursor chemistry as well as introduce etching and ion bombardment to the film; thereby, influencing nucleation and growth of the microcrystalline Si films. The resulting films were characterized by UV-Vis spectrometry, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. We found that deposition rate decreases, while surface roughness and short circuit current density increase with smaller spacing.

The decomposition mechanism of block copolymer templates inside as-synthesized mesostructured solids has been systematically studied using solid-state 1H magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and high-vacuum Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. It is shown that there exists hydrogen-bonding interaction between silanols and block copolymers at the inorganic–organic interface in the self-assembled as-synthesized mesostructured solids, which plays an important role in protecting the surfactants against decomposition during the high-temperature hydrothermal treatment process. Increasing silanol concentration can enhance the hydrogen-bonding interaction and thus shows better “protection” effect. Moreover, the thermal decomposition of the block copolymer in as-synthesized mesostructured solids in air commences at higher temperatures compared with that in acidic solution or in air, providing further evidence in support of the silanol protection mechanism.

Light-induced metastability of amorphous/microcrystalline (micromorph) silicon tandem solar cell, in which the microcrystalline bottom cell was deposited in a single-chamber system, has been studied under a white light for more than 1000 hours. Two different light-induced metastable behaviors were observed. The first type was the conventional light-induced degradation, where the open-circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF), and short-circuit current density (Jsc) were degraded, hence the efficiency was degraded as well. This phenomenon was observed mainly in the tandem cells with a bottom cell limited current mismatch. The second type was with a light-induced increase in Voc, which sometimes resulted in an increase in efficiency. The second type of light-induced metastability was observed in the tandem cells with a top cell limited current mismatch. The possible mechanisms for these phenomena are discussed.

In this article, we present a study of boron-doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si: H) films by very high frequency-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) using high deposition pressure. Electrical, structural and optical properties of the films were investigated. Dark conductivity as high as 2.75S/cm of p-type nc-Si: H prepared at 2.5Torr pressure has been achieved at a deposition rate of 1.75Å/s for 25nm thin film. By controlling boron and phosphorus contamination, single junction nc-Si: H solar cells incorporated p-layers prepared under high pressure and low pressure, respectively, were deposited. It has been proven that nanocrystalline silicon solar cells with incorporation of p layer prepared at high pressure has resulted in enhanced open circuit voltage, short circuit current density and subsequently high conversion efficiency. Through the optimization of the bottom solar cell and application of ZnO/Al back reflector, 10.59% initial conversion efficiency of micromorph tandem solar cell (1.027cm2) with an open circuit voltage of 1.3864V, has been fabricated, where the bottom solar cell using a high pressure p layer was deposited in a single chamber.

None of the award-winning films reviewed in this article has a blissful tone. In these films, we watch young girls in assembly lines producing all sorts of commodities in China as well as four hundred Chinese workers disassembling a coking plant in Germany. We are immersed in people's personal stories, such as a peasant woman forced to leave her farm and her lone hut, located in the area due to be submerged by the Three Gorges Dam project, and a sixteen-year-old girl learning to labor on a cruise ship along the Yangtze River. In most of the films we also meet managers, Chinese or foreign, who are concerned with nothing but maximizing profit through intense exploitation of labor. These films document how the massive force of modernization in a globalized world affects lives of common people in China. Their struggles with poverty, corrupt officials, and greedy business owners are displayed in sharp contrast to both shining metropolitan glory and rural banality. In this regard, the Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's photographs of China, as shown in the film Manufactured Landscapes, seem emblematic enough: Modernization in China has altered the trajectory of people's lives as well as the landscapes of their nation. This article discusses the issues embedded in the stories the seven documentaries present: the impact of global capitalism; the relations between national development and globalization; the conflicts between corporate social responsibility and profit-making; and the predicament of migrant workers and their human agency.

High rate deposition of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films and solar cells were prepared by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) process in a high power and high pressure regime. The experiment results demonstrate that in high-rate deposited μc-Si:H films, the structural evolution is much more dramatic than that in low-rate deposited μc-Si:H films. A novel VHF power profiling technique, which was designed by dynamically decreasing the VHF power step by step during the deposition of μc-Si:H intrinsic layers, has been developed to control the structural evolution along the growth direction. Another advantage of this VHF power profiling technique is the reduced ion bombardments on growth surface because of decreasing the VHF power. Using this method, a significant improvement in the solar cell performance has been achieved. A high conversion efficiency of 9.36% (Voc=542mV, Jsc=25.4mA/cm2, FF=68%) was obtained for a single junction μc-Si:H p-i-n solar cell with i-layer deposited at deposition rate over 10 �/s.

This article examines shop-floor bargaining in China in both the socialist and reform eras. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in three manufacturing factories, document analysis, and secondary sources, the author discusses how government policies and organizational structure shape the interaction between workshop managers and workers and how the practice on the shop floor alters managerial attempts in return. The author argues that, despite different economic structures in the two historical periods, Chinese workers are not the docile labor force often portrayed in literature and media. Instead, they utilize any leverage given within organizational structures and bargain for not only economic gains, but also for respect and autonomy. Their bargaining, though different from institutionalized union bargaining, influences managerial decisionmaking in a subtle way with ideological implications.

A wide bandgap microcrystalline silicon film for the window layer of microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells was obtained with very high frequency (VHF) glow discharge technology. The material was deposited on corning 7059 substrate at about 170 When H2/SiH4 was more than 100, Raman spectra showed that this material was highly crystallized, and no peak correlation with amorphous silicon was observed. This material showed strong n type before any intentional doping. We considered that the unintentional doping of oxygen and unpurified gases. The doping performance of this material was investigated by introducing B2H6 into the reacting gas. As increasing the rate of B2H6/SiH4 from zero to 0.5%, the conductivity changed from 10-1S.cm-1 (n type) to 10-8 S.cm-1 dramatically and than backed to 10-1 S.cm-1 (p type), which indicated that this material had excellent doping ability. Raman spectra also showed that the microstructure of these materials did not change obviously in this doping range. We gained the p-uc-Si:H film with thickness less than 30nm, and the conductivity was more than 10-2 S.cm-1, and crystalline volume fraction no less than 40%, the Egopt could be wider than 2.10eV. Using this p window layer in microcrystalline silicon solar cells with no ZnO rear reflection, the conversion efficiency was 8.30% (Voc=0.531V, Jsc=24.66mA/cm2, FF=63.41% ).

High rate deposition of high quality and stable hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films were performed near the threshold of amorphous to microcrystalline phase transition using a very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) method. The effect of hydrogen dilution on optic-electronic and structural properties of these films was investigated by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman scattering and constant photocurrent method (CPM). Experiment showed that although the phase transition was much influenced by hydrogen dilution, it also strongly depended on substrate temperature, working pressure and plasma power. With optimized condition high quality and high stable a-Si:H films, which exhibit σph/σd of 4.4×106 and deposition rate of 28.8Å/s, have been obtained.