China Science & Technology Forum

[JSCh]

Chinese scientists create flu vaccine from live virus using 'revolutionary' approach
Xinhua | Updated: 2016-12-02 09:50

WASHINGTON - Chinese researchers said Thursday they may have found a simple, convenient and potentially "revolutionary" new approach to create effective vaccines by just genetically tweaking live viruses to make them capable of activating the immune system but unable to replicate in healthy cells.

In a proof-of-principle study, the vaccine they developed against flu proved effective in mice, guinea pigs and ferrets, the researchers reported in the U.S. journal Science.

"We believe our approach will become a general, simple and convenient approach for generation of live virus vaccines adapted to almost any viruses," Professor Deming Zhou of Peking University, who led the study, told Xinhua.

"This will help control pandemics of influenza and other life-threatening RNA viruses."

A major challenge for converting infectious viruses, such as those responsible for influenza, Ebola, Zika and AIDS pandemics, into live vaccines is to render them as avirulent as possible while maintaining their high infectivity to elicit sufficient immunity, Zhou said, noting achieving such a feat would "represent a revolution in vaccinology."

Traditionally, vaccines use either dead or weakened forms of viruses. Those containing weakened viruses retain some degree of ability to replicate and therefore still have toxic effects, he said.

In their study, Zhou and colleagues modified a three-consecutive-base-segment in the genome of influenza A virus, known as premature termination codon (PTC), and found their modified virus -- though still just as potent in terms of activating the immune system -- cannot replicate in regular cells.

The new vaccine was found to offer an antibody response comparable to an existing live-virus vaccine, and a second dose further increased the amounts of antibodies by a factor of six to eight.

Similar beneficial effects were seen when the viral vaccine was tested against several different strains of influenza, and tested in guinea pigs and ferrets.

"Vaccination with such live PTC viruses in animal model via the intranasal route elicited all aspects of immune responses including humoral, mucosal and T cell-mediated immunity against hyper-variable and even antigenically distinct influenza virus strains," said Zhou.

"Furthermore, multiple PTCs-harboring viruses are not only prophylactic but also therapeutic to existing infecting viruses," he noted.

Zhou said his team will continue the research on their whole new flu vaccine and test it in clinical trials as early as possible.



Journal Reference:

Longlong Si, Huan Xu, Xueying Zhou, Ziwei Zhang, Zhenyu Tian, Yan Wang, Yiming Wu, Bo Zhang, Zhenlan Niu, Chuanling Zhang, Ge Fu, Sulong Xiao, Qing Xia, Lihe Zhang, Demin Zhou. "Generation of influenza A viruses as live but replication-incompetent virus vaccines". Science (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aah5869

Protecting by changing the code
Live attenuated vaccines can be very potent, but their potential to revert to their pathogenic form limits their use. In an attempt to get around this, Si et al. expanded the genetic code of influenza A viruses. They propagated viruses that were mutated to encode premature termination codons (PTCs) in a cell line engineered to be able to express these flu proteins. Despite not being able to replicate in conventional cells, PTC-containing viruses were highly immunogenic and protected mice, guinea pigs, and ferrets against influenza challenge.

Science, this issue p. 1170

Abstract
The conversion of life-threatening viruses into live but avirulent vaccines represents a revolution in vaccinology. In a proof-of-principle study, we expanded the genetic code of the genome of influenza A virus via a transgenic cell line containing orthogonal translation machinery. This generated premature termination codon (PTC)–harboring viruses that exerted full infectivity but were replication-incompetent in conventional cells. Genome-wide optimization of the sites for incorporation of multiple PTCs resulted in highly reproductive and genetically stable progeny viruses in transgenic cells. In mouse, ferret, and guinea pig models, vaccination with PTC viruses elicited robust humoral, mucosal, and T cell–mediated immunity against antigenically distinct influenza viruses and even neutralized existing infecting strains. The methods presented here may become a general approach for generating live virus vaccines that can be adapted to almost any virus.​

 

[cirr]

Record set for linked photons

01 December 2016

Particles that have linked quantum states, known as 'entangled' particles, can affect each other's states even if they are physically separated. Now scientists have set a record by entangling ten photons — two more than achieved previously.

Entangled particles should one day enable quantum computing and communications, but they are inefficient to produce. A team led by Jian-Wei Pan of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei created the ten entangled photons by running five photon pairs through a series of four polarizing beam splitters. They also developed a laser light source that produced their photon batches about 100 times faster than did previous tests.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v540/n7631/full/540011b.html

 

[onebyone]

Researchers working on a new system they hope will be more effective in hiding submarines from detection under the sea


PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 December, 2016, 9:05am
UPDATED : Monday, 05 December, 2016, 10:24am

Chinese scientists are developing a technique they hope will be able to make submarines invisible to sonar detection under the sea.

If successful, it would ultimately involve covering subs with special rings made of aluminium alloys.

The researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan in Hubei province experimented with rings about 14 cm across and with periodically etched grooves.

They found that sound waves were guided around the rings rather than bouncing back, which would allow them to be traced by sonar detectors.

The grooves were able to steer the sound waves in a set direction like cars travelling on an expressway.

The researchers published details of their work earlier this month in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

‘Underwater Great Wall’: Chinese firm proposes building network of submarine detectors to boost nation’s defence

The scientists were originally using the technology - called a topological insulator - to control the movement of electrons to reduce heating in computer chips, but they later realised it also had applications for sound waves.

Several rings could work together to direct sound waves in almost any direction, potentially hiding a submarine from sonar in the future.

Other researchers have been working on the technology, but the Beijing and Huazhong researchers said their system was the simplest.
A research team at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore constructed an array of cylinders creating similar effects last years, but they had to spin at high speed, about 400 revolutions per second, to keep the sound on a strict course.

The Singaporean team also claimed their technology could help submarines evade sonar detection, but planting a large number of spinning cylinders over the hull of the craft could prove an engineering nightmare.

“Our method is simpler. It does not require moving parts,” said one author of the Chinese paper, who asked not to be named.

However, he added that many problems remained to be solved before the technology can be used outside the laboratory on submarines or to reduce noise on aircraft.

Submarines now use used a rubber or plastic coating to absorb sound waves produced by sonar.

The anechoic tiles also reduce noises produced from inside the sub, but the technology is old, first used by the Germany navy in U-boats during the second world war.

New materials have been developed over the decades to increase the absorption rate, but a powerful and sensitive sonar system can still pick up traces of vessels.

China and US in silent fight for supremacy beneath waves of South China Sea

Yang Jing, associate professor of acoustics at Nanjing University, said the topological insulator could trigger a revolution in acoustic studies.

“It has borrowed many ideas from quantum physics, which shed new light on sound problems,” she said.

But the technology was still in its infancy with major problems remaining, said Yang, who was not involved in the rings research.

For instance, a submarine has to remain invisible from sonar beamed from different directions and at different frequencies.

The rings, however, are now only able to deflect sound waves coming from certain angles and within certain frequencies.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...arch-might-help-shield-submarines#add-comment

 

[cirr]

Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography(EUVL), a long march indeed.

02专项“极紫外光刻关键技术研究”项目顺利完成验收前现场测试

2016-11-30 杨旺

2016年11月15日，由长春光机所牵头承担的国家科技重大专项02专项——“极紫外光刻关键技术研究”项目顺利完成验收前现场测试。在长春光机所、成都光电所、上海光机所、中科院微电子所、北京理工大学、哈尔滨工业大学、华中科技大学等参研单位的共同努力下，历经八年的戮力攻坚，圆满地完成了预定的研究内容与攻关任务，突破了现阶段制约我国极紫外光刻发展的核心光学技术，初步建立了适应于极紫外光刻曝光光学系统研制的加工、检测、镀膜和系统集成平台，为我国光刻技术的可持续发展奠定了坚实的基础。

光刻技术是集成电路制造产业的核心，决定着集成电路的元件特征尺寸。伴随半导体产业摩尔定律延续，极紫外光刻（Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography, EUVL）被公认为是最具潜力的下一代光刻技术。

极紫外光刻是一种以13.5nm的EUV光为工作波长的投影光刻技术，是传统投影光刻技术向更短波长的延伸，正处于产业化的临界点。作为工业制造领域尖端技术的融合，世界上只有少数几家研究机构及公司掌握此技术。目前，EUVL技术的国际垄断局面已经初步形成，对我国形成了技术封锁，将来的销售政策也难以预料。我国自上世纪九十年代起关注并发展EUVL技术，初期开展了EUV光源、EUV多层膜、超光滑抛光技术等基础性关键技术研究。2008年“极大规模集成电路制造装备及成套工艺”国家科技重大专项将EUVL技术列为下一代光刻技术重点攻关，《中国制造2025》将EUVL列为了集成电路制造领域的发展重点，并计划在2030年实现EUV光刻机的国产化。

在02专项任务牵引下，长春光机所应光室的短波光学研究团队潜心钻研，艰苦奋战，在EUV光学系统协同设计、膜厚控制精度达原子量级的EUV多层膜技术、深亚纳米量级的超光滑非球面加工与检测技术、超高精度物镜系统波像差检测及集成技术等方面，突破了一系列EUVL工程化关键技术瓶颈；成功研制了小视场EUVL曝光光学系统，投影物镜波像差优于0.75nm(RMS)，构建了EUVL静态曝光装置，获得32nm线宽的光刻胶曝光图形；建立了EUVL关键技术验证及工艺测试平台。通过项目的实施，圆满地实现了极紫外成像光学技术的跨越，形成了一支具有国内领先、国际先进水平的研究队伍，为开展极紫外光刻曝光光学系统的工程研制奠定了坚实的人才与技术基础。

验收测试会议现场

http://www.ciomp.ac.cn/xwdt/zhxw/201611/t20161130_4713258.html

 

[samsara]

Highlights of China's scientific and technological achievements in 2016
Xinhua | English.news.cn (2016-12-08)

(1) A J-20 stealth fighter of China flies at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 1, 2016. China's domestic-built J-20 stealth fighter made its public debut during the exhibition.

(2) A lithium-battery powered train suspended from a railway line runs in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2016. China's first suspension railway line has conducted two-month test run.

(3) Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2016 shows the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. The FAST, world's largest radio telescope, measuring 500 meters in diameter, was completed and put into use on Sept. 25. FAST, also called "China's eye of heaven," is the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope, and China holds the intellectual property rights to it. Work on the nearly 1.2-billion-yuan (180 million U.S. dollars) project started in 2011, and the installation of the telescope's main structure -- a 4,450-panel reflector as large as 30 football pitches -- was finished in early July this year. FAST's tasks include survey of neutral hydrogen in the space, observation of pulsars as well as spacecraft tracking and communications.

(4) The screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center shows the two Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong entering the space lab Tiangong-2, Oct. 19, 2016. After the launch of Shenzhou-11 on Oct. 17, the spacecraft docked two days later with China's first space lab, Tiangong-2, where the two astronauts lived for 30 days. The two astronauts who completed China's longest-ever manned space mission returned to Earth safely on Nov. 18.

(5) An AG600, the China-made largest amphibious plane in the world, is displayed for the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 30, 2016. The 37-meter-long AG600 with a wingspan of 38.8 meters, about the size of a Boeing 737, could be used to fight forest fires and perform marine rescue missions.

(6) A high-speed train runs across farmland in Binyang County of Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 16, 2016. China's high-speed railways have exceeded 20,000 kilometers in length by September this year.

(7) A drone sprays pesticide over cotton fields in Zhaoshou Village of Nangong City, north China's Hebei Province, July 6, 2016. Drone has been widely used in photography, fire extinguishing, agricultural control and other personal and commercial areas.

(8) The Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying China's Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 17, 2016.

(9) Photo taken on June 20, 2016 shows Sunway-TaihuLight, a new Chinese supercomputer, in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province. China's new supercomputing system, Sunway-TaihuLight, was the world's fastest computer at the International Supercomputing Conference in Germany on June 20, 2016. The massive supercomputer, built entirely using processors designed and made in China, dethroned the former champion, Tianhe-2, also a Chinese system but built based on Intel chips. TaihuLight is capable of performing 93 million billion calculations per second (petaflop/s). That's almost three times as fast as Tianhe-2.

(10) An experimenter of Dark Matter Experiment "PandaX", which means Particle and Astrophysical Xenon Detector, enters the Jinping Underground Laboratory, located at 2,400 meters under the surface of Jinping Hydropower Station, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 28, 2016. PandaX is designed to build and operate a ton-scale liquid xenon experiment to detect the dark matter, invisible material that scientists say makes up most of the universe's mass. The PandaX program, headed by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was conducted in the Jinping lab, one of the world's deepest underground labs opened in December 2010. The Jinping lab provides a "clean" space for scientists to pursue the dark matter. Researchers said the extreme depth helps block most cosmic rays that mess with the observation.

(11) An automatic driverless super truck manufactured by Beijing-based automaker Foton Motor is shown on an intelligent connected vehicle expo in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 14, 2016.

(12) China's unmanned submersible "Haidou-1" prepares to dive into waters near the Mariana Trench in the West Pacific, the deepest area in the world, during a scientific expedition on July 1, 2016. During the trip, the submersible dived to a depth of 10,767 meters, setting a new record for the country. It is another milestone in China's maritime science journey after Jiaolong manned submersible. In June 2012, Jiaolong reached a depth of 7,062 meters at the Mariana Trench, the deepest of China's manned submersible.

More pics at below:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2016-12/08/c_135889958.htm

 

[cirr]

Experts approve 3D printed nuclear reactor component in China

Dec 7, 2016 | By Benedict

Less than a month ago, the China Nuclear Power Research Institute and Nanfang Additive Manufacturing Technology 3D printed a pressure vessel cylinder for an ACP100 nuclear reactor. That critical 3D printed part has now passed a technical appraisal from experts.

While 3D printing is becoming commonplace in industry, architecture, construction, and other sectors, the association between additive manufacturing and nuclear power has generally been regarded as distant—at best. However, exciting developments in China could see that relationship becoming a great deal closer. After the China Nuclear Power Research Institute and Nanfang Additive Manufacturing Technology 3D printed a pressure vessel cylinder for a nuclear reactor in November, the two organizations moved quickly to gain industry approval of the 3D printed part. Now, a diverse group of nuclear power experts has given the green light to the 3D printed pressure vessel cylinder, suggesting that additive manufacturing could soon have a big role to play in developing nuclear power equipment.

The experts passing judgment on the 3D printed nuclear reactor component came from 13 research institutes, including the China Nuclear Power Institute, the National Nuclear Engineering Company, the Harbin University of Technology, and the Beijing Steel Research Institute. China Nuclear Power Research Institute called the development of the reactor part and its subsequent approval a major breakthrough, one that could signal a revolution in manufacturing that could massively shorten the production cycle for nuclear reactor components. All parties involved believe it now possible to intelligently manufacture large metal components for nuclear power stations, including reactor pressure containers.

The project to create a 3D printed pressure vessel cylinder for a nuclear reactor began in October 2015, and involved the use of Nanfang-AM's large metal 3D printer capable of printing objects with a diameter of 5.6 meters and height of 9 meters. China Nuclear Power Research Institute is currently the only large-scale comprehensive scientific research base for nuclear reactor engineering, research, design, testing, and small batch production. By 3D printing the reactor components, million-ton heavy-duty forging equipment is not needed. Furthermore, pressure vessels, which in the past have been welded, now can be printed in one print job with a higher performance than forged parts.

The China Nuclear Power Research Institute and Nanfang Additive Manufacturing Technology announced earlier this year that, using 3D printing technology, they had been able to fabricate certain CAP1400 fuel components. This achievement marked the first time that 3D printing technology had been used in the manufacture of nuclear fuel elements. The parties commented at the time that if additive manufacturing could be used in small-scale production, it could save manpower, improve the quality of nuclear fuel elements, and replace imported components with domestically produced ones.

With metal 3D printing technology seemingly on its way to making its mark in the Chinese nuclear power sector, one of the evaluators urged the industry to ensure that the gradual move to additive technologies be a smooth one. On this subject, nuclear power expert Liao Qi commented: “Only in combination with the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industry can [3D printing in the nuclear power sector] develop fully.”

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20161...inted-nuclear-reactor-component-in-china.html

 

[JSCh]

China to build its 2nd overseas observatory in Chile
(CRI Online) 15:18, December 10, 2016

China has signed an agreement to build an observatory in northern Chile, the best place in the world to observe the sky.

The agreement was signed by China's National Astronomical Observatories and the Catholic University of Chile in November, witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet during Xi's week-long Latin America tour.

Thanks to the high altitude, sunny nights and dry air, Chile is believed to be the best observatory site on earth and has attracted many developed countries to build observatory bases there.

As early as 2013, China established an astronomical research center at the Catholic University of Chile. Under its framework experts and scholars of the two countries can share research and observatory results.

Observatories built by other countries in Chile provide 10 percent of its observation time to Chilean experts. As Chile's cooperation partner, Chinese astronomers can also share the 10 percent time in observatories built by other countries.

As the 10 percent time has become insufficient since astronomy is fast developing, China decided to build its own observatory at the site.

It is China's second overseas observatory following the one in Antarctic, and 30 kilometers from Chile's famous Paranal Observatory.

 

[JSCh]

Chinese Scientists Develop World's Largest Echelle Gratings
Nov 24, 2016

Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics, and Physics (CIOMP) of Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on November 11 the development of a "large-scale high-precision diffraction grating ruling system" project, which will facilitate successful ruling of echelle gratings with the largest size (400mm×500mm) the world had ever seen.

The project was designed to develop grating ruling technology above global standards. Diffraction gratings and the way in which they are constructed with ridges or “rulings” are a vital component of any tool that needs to separate different wavelengths of light with high resolution.

Scientists spent eight years on the project resolving 18 key technologies and producing nine innovative achievements, and finally developed the world’s largest echelle (a type of diffraction grating) with a ruling area (ridged area) of 400mm×500mm.

The completion of this project means that the precision machining technology in China is in world leading position.

CIOMP is the birthplace of grating design and construction in China. As early as 1958, CIOMP developed the first machine to manufacture grating rulings, as well as the first grating. The gratings were used in spectral devices for the first atomic bomb test in China.

The manufactured echelle with the ruling area (ridged area) of 400 mm x 500 mm (Image by CIOMP) ​

Chinese Scientists Develop World's Largest Echelle Gratings---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[Beast]

Highlights of China's scientific and technological achievements in 2016
Xinhua | English.news.cn (2016-12-08)

(1) A J-20 stealth fighter of China flies at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 1, 2016. China's domestic-built J-20 stealth fighter made its public debut during the exhibition.

(2) A lithium-battery powered train suspended from a railway line runs in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 21, 2016. China's first suspension railway line has conducted two-month test run.

(3) Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2016 shows the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. The FAST, world's largest radio telescope, measuring 500 meters in diameter, was completed and put into use on Sept. 25. FAST, also called "China's eye of heaven," is the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope, and China holds the intellectual property rights to it. Work on the nearly 1.2-billion-yuan (180 million U.S. dollars) project started in 2011, and the installation of the telescope's main structure -- a 4,450-panel reflector as large as 30 football pitches -- was finished in early July this year. FAST's tasks include survey of neutral hydrogen in the space, observation of pulsars as well as spacecraft tracking and communications.

(4) The screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center shows the two Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong entering the space lab Tiangong-2, Oct. 19, 2016. After the launch of Shenzhou-11 on Oct. 17, the spacecraft docked two days later with China's first space lab, Tiangong-2, where the two astronauts lived for 30 days. The two astronauts who completed China's longest-ever manned space mission returned to Earth safely on Nov. 18.

(5) An AG600, the China-made largest amphibious plane in the world, is displayed for the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 30, 2016. The 37-meter-long AG600 with a wingspan of 38.8 meters, about the size of a Boeing 737, could be used to fight forest fires and perform marine rescue missions.

(6) A high-speed train runs across farmland in Binyang County of Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 16, 2016. China's high-speed railways have exceeded 20,000 kilometers in length by September this year.

(7) A drone sprays pesticide over cotton fields in Zhaoshou Village of Nangong City, north China's Hebei Province, July 6, 2016. Drone has been widely used in photography, fire extinguishing, agricultural control and other personal and commercial areas.

(8) The Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying China's Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 17, 2016.

(9) Photo taken on June 20, 2016 shows Sunway-TaihuLight, a new Chinese supercomputer, in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province. China's new supercomputing system, Sunway-TaihuLight, was the world's fastest computer at the International Supercomputing Conference in Germany on June 20, 2016. The massive supercomputer, built entirely using processors designed and made in China, dethroned the former champion, Tianhe-2, also a Chinese system but built based on Intel chips. TaihuLight is capable of performing 93 million billion calculations per second (petaflop/s). That's almost three times as fast as Tianhe-2.

(10) An experimenter of Dark Matter Experiment "PandaX", which means Particle and Astrophysical Xenon Detector, enters the Jinping Underground Laboratory, located at 2,400 meters under the surface of Jinping Hydropower Station, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 28, 2016. PandaX is designed to build and operate a ton-scale liquid xenon experiment to detect the dark matter, invisible material that scientists say makes up most of the universe's mass. The PandaX program, headed by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was conducted in the Jinping lab, one of the world's deepest underground labs opened in December 2010. The Jinping lab provides a "clean" space for scientists to pursue the dark matter. Researchers said the extreme depth helps block most cosmic rays that mess with the observation.

(11) An automatic driverless super truck manufactured by Beijing-based automaker Foton Motor is shown on an intelligent connected vehicle expo in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 14, 2016.

(12) China's unmanned submersible "Haidou-1" prepares to dive into waters near the Mariana Trench in the West Pacific, the deepest area in the world, during a scientific expedition on July 1, 2016. During the trip, the submersible dived to a depth of 10,767 meters, setting a new record for the country. It is another milestone in China's maritime science journey after Jiaolong manned submersible. In June 2012, Jiaolong reached a depth of 7,062 meters at the Mariana Trench, the deepest of China's manned submersible.

More pics at below:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2016-12/08/c_135889958.htm

I think CZ-5 rocket shall be mention...

 

[samsara]

I think CZ-5 rocket shall be mention...

Yes, the Long March-5 (Chang Zheng-5) Heavy Carrier rocket was missed out, as well as some readers suggested: the revolutionary advances in graphene and quantum pair physics, and perhaps the advance in fusion nuclear research. I think Xinhua is too mean, it should have expanded the list to the Top-20 at least to cover all suggested here plus few others

 

[samsara]

China’s latest scientific achievements | China Daily

Editor’s note: China has planted its footprints high to the outer space and low to the bottom of oceans. Its projects stretch from the universe origin to the smallest particle. Here we invite you to go with us to see how far China has gone.


FIGURES AND FACTS

China’s investment in research and development is expected to reach 2.5% of GDP, and the contribution of scientific and technological advances toward economic growth should come to reach 60%.

--- The 13th Five-Year Plan of China (2016-2020)


The central government's commitment is aimed at making China a leading power in science and technology by the middle of the century, or around the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

--- President Xi Jinping’s address at a biennial conference of the country's two top think tanks on May 31


Three-step goals: To develop China into an innovation-oriented country by 2020, to place China among top innovation-oriented countries by 2030, and to turn China into a technological innovation powerhouse by 2025.

--- Outline of the National Strategy of Innovation-Driven Development released by the Ministry of Science and Technology on May 23


China is now decisively the second-largest performer of research and development.

--- The US-based National Science Board that advises the President and Congress on science and engineering policy issues.

• Aerospace Probe
• Homegrown Planes
• Quantum Communication
• 500-Meter FAST (Radio Telescope)
• Deep Sea Exploration
• Neutrino Research
• Health Biotech
• Artificial Intelligence and Supercomputing

Please visit below link to read over due to its much more comprehensive list of the China's latest scientific achievements within 2016:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016latestscientficachievements/

More charts: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016cnsa/tb.html

 

[JSCh]

Transplanted Interneurons Can Help Reduce Fear: Mouse Study
December 8, 2016

Summary: Coupling training to reduce fear and transplanting embryonic interneurons into the amygdala of mice, researchers were able to reduce fear response, a new study reports.

Source: Cell Press.

The expression “once bitten, twice shy” is an illustration of how a bad experience can induce fear and caution. How to effectively reduce the memory of aversive events is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Scientists in China are reporting that by transplanting mouse embryonic interneurons into the brains of mice and combining that procedure with training to lessen fear, they can help to reduce the fear response. The study is being published December 8 in Neuron.

“Anxiety and fear-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] cause great suffering and impose high costs to society,” says Yong-Chun Yu, a professor at the Institutes of Brain Science at Fudan University in Shanghai and the study’s senior author. “Pharmacological and behavioral treatments of PTSD can reduce symptoms, but many people tend to relapse. There’s a pressing need for new strategies to treat these refractory cases.”


--> Transplanted Interneurons Can Help Reduce Fear: Mouse Study – Neuroscience News

Original Research: Abstract for “Fear Erasure Facilitated by Immature Inhibitory Neuron Transplantation” by Wu-Zhou Yang, Ting-Ting Liu, Jun-Wei Cao, Xuan-Fu Chen, Xiao Liu, Min Wang, Xin Su, Shu-Qing Zhang, Bin-Long Qiu, Wen-Xiang Hu, Lin-Yun Liu, Lan Ma, and Yong-Chun Yu in Neuron. Published online December 8 2016 doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2016.11.018

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Scientists Publish Method to Block Fearful Memories
Dec 13, 2016

Chinese scientists say they've found a new way to effectively inhibit a person's fear memory arising from traumatic events such as domestic violence, sexual assault and war.

Animal testing led by Yu Yongchun, a researcher at Fudan University's Institutes of Brain Science in Shanghai, found that fear can be effectively removed by transplanting a special kind of nerve cell into the brains of an adult mouse.

The findings are expected to shine new light on the treatment of severe mental conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The results were published online on Friday by Neuron, an influential journal in the field of neuroscience.

Yu's team noted that there are two types of neurons in the brain - excitory and inhibitory. Balanced activity between the two types of neurons allows the brain to function normally.

The part of the brain's nucleus known as the amygdala is a key area for processing fear information and developing fear memory.

"When receiving strong stimulus, the amygdala will be in a highly excited state, leading to a new excitory/inhibitory balance that may contribute to fear memory," Yu said.

Based on its analyses, Yu's team proposed that transplanting immature inhibitory neurons into a highly excited mature amygdala could not only inhibit the overexcitement of the amygdala, but also make the adult amygdala seem younger, thereby suppressing the recall of fear memory.

The hypothesis has been borne out in a series of experiments on mice, Yu said, but there's a long way to go before the treatment can be tried on humans in a clinical setting.

Yet the research is expected to help explore new strategies for treating PTSD, which is caused by indelible and traumatic memories like domestic violence, traffic accidents, hairy spiders, a nasty breakup or military combat.

Patients with PTSD often exhibit anxiety, depression, chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, drug abuse and alcohol addiction. Statistics show that about 80 percent of adults have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lifetimes, while 5 to 10 percent have experienced severe psychological trauma that can be diagnosed as PTSD.

So far, the treatment of PTSD involves a combination of psychology and medication. However, mental symptoms often return after the treatment is stopped.


Scientists Publish Method to Block Fearful Memories---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[JSCh]

Antarctic Site Promises to Open a New Window on the Cosmos
Release No.: 2016-28
For Release: Monday, December 12, 2016 - 11:00am

Cambridge, MA - Antarctica might be one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet, but it is a mecca for astronomers. Its cold, dry air enables observations that can't be done elsewhere on Earth. The South Pole has hosted telescopes for decades. Now, researchers are eyeing a new location - Dome A, which offers a unique opportunity to study the universe at little-explored terahertz radio frequencies.

"Dome A is the best site we've found - very flat, very calm winds, and the driest place anywhere on the planet," says Qizhou Zhang of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), co-author of a new study appearing online in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Dome A is the highest point in Antarctica, with an elevation of more than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters), comparable to Maunakea in Hawaii. Unlike the South Pole, it isn't visited by aircraft. Instead, researchers must trek inland from the Antarctic coast, a journey of some 750 miles (1,200 km) that takes up to three weeks to complete.

As a reward for these herculean efforts, scientists can access a type of light known as terahertz radiation, which has frequencies higher than 1 trillion hertz (1,000 times greater than the frequency used by cell phones). This radiation comes from cold clouds of interstellar gas and dust. By studying it, we can gain new insights into the origins of stars and galaxies.

Because water vapor in Earth's atmosphere absorbs this radiation, few places on Earth are suited for terahertz observations. Instead astronomers have relied on aircraft and space missions, which are more costly and less flexible.

The solution is to find an extremely dry location. Zhang and CfA co-author Scott Paine joined with their colleagues at China's Purple Mountain Observatory, led by principal investigator Sheng-Cai Shi, to create and deploy instruments to measure the conditions at Dome A over a span of 19 months. The data gathered there will also help inform climate models.

"The water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere that obscures our view of the cosmos also blocks infrared radiation escaping from the Earth's surface towards space, which is the essence of the greenhouse effect," says Paine, who studies atmospheric radiation.

The team found Dome A is frequently so arid that if all the water vapor in a narrow column stretching straight up from the ground to the edge of space were condensed, it would form a film less than 100 microns thick. That's about 1/250th of an inch, or twice the width of a human hair, and about 10 times less than that over Maunakea, one of the world's best astronomical observing sites.

Moreover, Dome A offers a natural laboratory for studying the effects of water vapor on atmospheric absorption at extremely low temperatures. The cold Antarctic atmosphere provides direct access to conditions normally found in the Earth's upper troposphere.

Developing Dome A into a permanent observatory for astronomy and atmospheric science will involve significant challenges. In return, researchers stand to gain a unique location for conducting scientific research.



Antarctic Site Promises to Open a New Window on the Cosmos2016-28 | www.cfa.harvard.edu/

 

[JSCh]

Posted: Dec 12, 2016
Nanomedical anti-tumor strategy

(Nanowerk News) Biocompatible nanocapsules, loaded with an amino acid and equipped with an enzyme now combine two anti-tumor strategies into a synergistic treatment concept. Researchers hope this increases effectiveness and decreases side effects. In the journal Angewandte Chemie ("Glucose-Responsive Sequential Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide for Synergistic Cancer Starving-Like/Gas Therapy"), the scientists explain the concept: tumor cells are deprived of their nutrient glucose as this is converted to toxic nitrogen monoxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

Anti-Tumor Synergy - Nanomedical treatment concept combines NO gas therapy with starvation of tumor cells. (© Wiley-VCH)



--> Nanomedical anti-tumor strategy | Nanowerk

Wenpei Fan et al, "Glucose-Responsive Sequential Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide for Synergistic Cancer Starving-Like/Gas Therapy", Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2016). DOI: 10.1002/anie.201610682

 

[JSCh]

New Type of Acoustic Topological Insulator Realized by Metamaterial Rings Array
Dec 12, 2016

In the past decade, exploration for new types of topological insulators is substantively followed up in different subfields of physics, making a paradigm shift for topological states, from electronics to photonics, phononics as well as mechanics.

In photonics, the field of topological insulators is rapidly developing in the past few years, where one of most representative example should be the Floquet topological insulator, proposed in periodically driven systems.

Most recently, researchers from several universities and research institutes work together to have represented an important step in the implementation of a diverse family of topological structures and networks for sound with new properties and functionalities. They provide a fertile ground for novel wave manipulations, such as the unidirectional sound transports and robust sound transports against perturbations, and push forward the fundamental explorations of topological acoustics. Their research results have been published in Nature Communications.

Researchers have theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated the anomalous Floquet topological insulator for sound: a strongly coupled metamaterial ring lattice that supports one-way propagation of pseudo-spin-dependent edge states under T-symmetry. As well, researchers also demonstrate the formation of pseudo-spin-dependent interface states due to lattice dislocations and investigate the properties of pass band and band gap states.

The model of anomalous Floquet topological insulator is a 2D coupled metamaterial ring lattice, presented in Fig. 1. It can support topological edge states at sufficiently large coupling strength between neighboring lattice rings.

A pseudo-spin for acoustic waves is defined based on wave circulation direction in the lattice rings viz. pseudo-spin-up↔clockwise and pseudo-spin-down↔anti-clockwise. By purposely designing the lattice configuration, researchers have successfully constructed the acoustic anomalous Floquet topological insulator. It can support the pseudo-spin-dependent edge states, scattering immune to boundary abrupt variations or lattice dislocations.

The edge states with different pseudo-spins can propagate in opposite directions under T-symmetry at the same boundary, shown in Fig. 2. Researchers emphasize that the edge states with different pseudo-spins are regarded as decoupled due to nearly unitary coupling between neighboring rings, closing the time-reversed channels for backscatterings. In this case, the rings no longer act as resonators and the edge state is essentially a conventional waveguide mode.

For one specific pseudo-spin, there exists a pair of edge states propagating along the upper and lower boundaries, respectively, with opposite group velocities. The observations reveal that when the coupling strength between adjacent lattice rings surpasses a threshold, acoustic waves carrying a pseudo-spin in one lattice ring may tunnel into the neighboring coupling ring with the pseudo-spin flipped. And then, they go to another lattice ring with the pseudo-spin restored or conserved, rendering an interesting zigzag route.

Of interest will be the extension of this research into non-reciprocal acoustics regime by integrating time-varying (for example, rotating the metamaterial rings), shedding lights on the development of chiral acoustic metamaterials and Chern acoustic topological insulators with various intriguing non-reciprocal properties, such as one-way sound isolation.

Fig. 1 Photograph of the fabricated samples (Image by JIA Han et al.)

Fig. 2 The simulated (a, b) and measured (c, d) pressure amplitude distributions of one-way edge states (Image by JIA Han et al.)​

New Type of Acoustic Topological Insulator Realized by Metamaterial Rings Array---Chinese Academy of Sciences

Yu-Gui Peng, Cheng-Zhi Qin, De-Gang Zhao, Ya-Xi Shen, Xiang-Yuan Xu, Ming Bao, Han Jia & Xue-Feng Zhu, "Experimental demonstration of anomalous Floquet topological insulator for sound", Nature Communications (2016), DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13368