China in Africa

SUI Senfang and colleagues from Tsinghua University revealed the structure of a PSI-LHCR from a red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) at a resolution of 3.63 Å. It has two forms of the PSI-LHCR supercomplex, one with 3 Lhcr antenna subunits attached (designated PSI-3Lhcr) and the other one with 5 Lhcrs subunits attached (designated PSI-5Lhcr). The 3 Lhcr subunits are associated with one side of the PSI core similar to that of the higher plant PSI, whereas the other 2 additional Lhcr subunits are attached to the opposite side in PSI-5Lhcr, indicating an ancient form of PSI-LHCI.

CAS news release, April 12, 2018

ZHAO Yuanjin and colleagues from the state key laboratory of bioelectronics at China’s Southeast University have developed a heart-on-a-chip” device to mimic the beat and contraction of cardiac muscle cells in vitro. The concept is based on a colored hydrogel which is injected into a chip bearing the heart muscle cells which shows color changes upon contraction of the cells. When medication is added, the conditions of the cardiac muscle cells can be monitored through the color-changing hydrogel.”

CAS news release, April 12, 2018

The center is established as a pilot project between China and the Tunisia-based Arab Information and Communication Technology Organization (AICTO), an Arab governmental organization under the Arab League. The center is the first overseas base for China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and projected to help train satellite navigation scientists and develop digital economy in Arab countries.

CAS news release, April 12, 2018

The institute located at the College of Pharmacy of Tsinghua University aims to create a cross-disciplinary, multi-integrated and distinctive international leading traditional Chinese medicine research platform based on Tsinghua’s high provile and scientific research layout. The Institute will rely on Tsinghua University’s profile in the areas of pharmacy, chemistry, chemical engineering, life sciences, basic medicine, information science, materials science, and tissue engineering to enable modern life science research methods and traditional Chinese medicine.

China Bio news release, April 11, 2018

The group of DUAN Qingqing claims to have developed a highly efficient and simple chemical method using small molecules to induce pluripotent stem cells from somatic cells, abbreviated as CIP (Chemical Induction of Pluripotency). Somatic cells only need a bath” with two different media in order to rejuvenate somatic cells to the state of stem cells. The procedure takes advantage of the state of an “information center” chromatin inside the nucleus. The sum of the open (1) and closed (0) states of the cell chromatin constitutes a state that determines the fate of the cell, similar to a computer binary “password string,” which “locks” the cell to a specific state.This method is simpler, more efficient, and requires less initial cells than the standard protocol using genetic manipulation of cells. More importantly, many somatic cell types including liver cells are extremely difficult to culture in vitro.”

CAS news release, April 8, 2018

The design for the ship－named Dream－is expected to be finalized this year, and
the 35,000 metric ton vessel might be launched around 2021. The Dream” will become the world’s third scientific drilling ship in active service after the JOIDES Resolution and Chikyu, both used by the International Ocean Discovery Program, a worldwide scientific endeavor. he Chinese craft will be able to drill more than 10,000 meters into the ocean floor, and thus will be tasked with conducting seafloor drilling for geological research as well as surveying and recovering methane clathrate, also known as natural gas hydrate or fire ice.”

CAS news release, April 4, 2018

China will incubate several international mega science and engineering projects in the future, some of which will be upgraded into China-led global projects aimed at tackling the world’s most difficult scientific challenges. By 2020, China plans to create three to five of these mega science projects, and then add six to 10 more by 2035. Notable projects include the human genome, international thermonuclear experimental reactors, international ocean discovery, earth observations and the square kilometer array.

CAS news release, April 4, 2018

The wallpaper, developed by Ying-Jie ZHU at the CAS Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, is based on ultralong nanowires made of hydroxyapatite which give the material a high flexibility. The thermosensitive sensor is loaded on the surface by a simple drop-casting process with an ink containing polydopamine containing graphene oxide, which is electrically insulating at room temperature. When exposed to heat, the oxygen-containing groups are removed, making the material highly conductive. Connected to an alarm, the alarm goes off when a fire occurs and the sensor begins to conduct electricity.

CAS news release, April 4, 2018

In 1995, China was left out of the International Space Station (ISS) project involving 16 countries and started own developments. China now owns research technology of the whole space station system, and it is possible that China’s space station will be the only working station after 2024 when the ISS is expected to retire and China will take a dominant position in conducting space experiments. With a main control compartment, a large cylinder and a small cylinder, the core module will work to control the flight, power system and life support system of the whole station, as well as provide space for astronauts to work in, conduct experiments and rest. The complete space station will consist of one core module and two experiment modules, each weighing over 20 tons, and can be joined with two manned spacecraft and one cargo spacecraft. The station will also be equipped with a robot arm to assist in installing or dismantling equipment within the station when it floats in space. Training of astronauts for the country’s space station has now started, which include underwater exercises and survival training in the desert,

CAS news release, April 2, 2018

The submersible entered the 410-meter-deep sea area from the Chinese research vessel Dayang Yihao (Ocean No. 1). It is able to dive to a depth of 11,000 meters and will complete an 11,000-meter-deep sea test within three years. Dayang Yihao carries advanced scientific equipment and unmanned submersibles Hailong” and “Qianlong.””

CAS news release, April 2, 2018

A team of Shihua LI at Emory University, Liangxue LAI at CAS South China Institute of Stem Cells and Regeneration Medicine, and Sen YAN at Jinan University used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique to introduce a segment of a human gene causing Huntington’s, with a very long glutamine repeat region, into pig fibroblast cells, Somatic cell nuclear transfer generated pig embryos carrying this genetic alteration. The “knock in” technique changing a gene in its natural sequence led to pigs which displayed symptoms such as movement problems, respiratory difficulties, which resemble those experienced by humans with HD and degeneration of the striatum, the region of the brain most affected by HD in humans, more than other regions of the brain. The pig model more closely matches the symptoms of the human disease, and treatments to affected nervous system tissues can be better tested in pigs compared to mice.

CAS news release, March 30, 2018

The team of ZHU Tingxuan at the Institute of Psychology, CAS, combined cultural psychology and big data analysis (Twitter), to analyze the characteristics such as independence or individualism of countries or regions along the belt and road initiative. The world values database (WVS) project of the institute investigates and studies human values ​​and beliefs on a global scale. The scope of research covers 60 countries or regions. The latest data collection spans from 2010 to 2014, and the current sample size is 90350. In order to obtain indicators for individuality and social trust in countries or regions along the “One Belt and One Road” initiative, the study extracted individualistic scores (e. g., the stronguse of personal pronouns) focusing on 28 countries, and calculated relationships between this index (autonomy, equality, choice, expression) and social trust (universal trust, special trust). Using individualism as an independent variable and socio-economic variables as a control (such as per capita GDP, Gini coefficient, urban population ratio), cross-validation using the leave-one-out method was used to create a linear regression prediction model for individual emancipation and social trust indicators. The authors found that the colonial history of European and American countries is the biggest influencing factor for individualism, more important than the economic level, political history, religious beliefs, and other factors. Through regression analysis of WVS behavioral indicators, it was found that countries or regions with higher individualistic values had more trust in strangers.

CAS news release, March 28, 2018

On March 26th, CAS launched the Strategy Pilot Project of Science and Technology” (A Class) in Beijing. The project networks between the CAS Institute of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Innovation, and various CAS teams in interdisciplinary fields of materials science, chemistry, biomechanics, and clinical medicine. XIANG Libin, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the kick-off meeting.”

CAS news release, March 28, 2018

As an important base chemical, ethylene glycol is not only the main raw material of PET, an important plastic product, but also widely used in other fields of the chemical industry. At present, more than 90% of ethylene glycol production in the industry is through the oil route, namely the ethylene-epoxy hydration route, which is inefficient and energy-intensive. In addition, the route for the synthesis of ethylene glycol from coal-based syngas via dimethyl oxalate is long and costly. Methanol can be produced from coal, natural gas, biomass, or even carbon dioxide via syngas and is cheaply available. It is an important C1 platform molecule. Therefore, the direct production of ethylene glycol from methanol is of great significance. The research teams of DENG Dehui at CAS DICP, WANG Ye and CHENG Jun at Xiamen University prepared a porous MoS2-foam with modified CdS nanorod which dehydrogenated methanol under visible light irradiation to produce ethylene glycol and hydrogen. By reactor design, the selectivity of ethylene glycol formation was up to 90%, the yield was 16%, and the quantum efficiency 5 % (450nm).

CAS news release, March 28, 2018

The group of XU Yun at CAS Institute of Semiconductors and GAO Qianqiang at Buffalo University have engineered a flexible TENG based on crumpled gold films. By introducing crumpled morphology onto the gold thin film using macrocontrol, the TENG delivered a maximum voltage of 124.6 V, a maximum current of 10.13 μA and maximum power density of 0.22 mW/cm2. Importantly, the output performance was quite stable, with no obvious degradation after 6-month storage in ambient environment due to the reliability of Au films. Electricity in TENG is generated by body movements such as bending a finger or rotating the wrist. It shows the potential to power wearable electronics by the human body in the future.

CAS news release, March 27, 2018