Diffusion of Information Technology in Rural Areas
To summarize and exchange the results and experience in application and demonstration of the socalled 863 intelligent agricultural information technology and promote the development in the said field, an in-situ experience sharing meeting was convened by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology in Ninglang, Yecnnan Province, on October 10-13 1999.
Located at northwest Yunnan Plateau, Ninglang county is of very poor natural conditions for agricultural production with steep hills dominant. After PC based agricultural experts system was introduced in 1992, the county has enjoyed an integrated yield increase of corn, rice and buckwheat from 8.7% to 21.08%. The said growth rate is equal to that totally achieved during the period of 1980--1989. By the end of 1998, the county has extended PC-based agricultural information system serving for 795,300 mu of farming land and reached an yield increase of 15.018 million kilos and net increase of benefits Rmb 35.7345 million.
At the meeting, in addition to summarizing and exchanging experiences on diffusion of agricultural information technology, participants discussed and put forward criteria and targets for such efforts. They also reviewed the diffusion and applications in Ninglang county. Senior officials from central governmental agencies and responsible people and experts in charge of 863 intelligent agricultural information technology diffusion of 14 demonstration zones including Beijing, Jilin, Anhui and Yunnan attended the meeting. Han Deqian, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, was present at the occasion and investigated together with other participants field applications and demonstrations.
PC-based agricultural expert system is a user friendly computer software system, carrying high level agricultural knowledge and covering many disciplines and simulating diagnosis process of human beings. It is dedicated to providing easy and vivid decision making consultation for farmers who do not have much knowledge in the field. The system has created remarkable results in increasing crop yield, improving the quality of agricultural products and saving cost. With its outstanding economic and social benefits, it has become a junction point in the transition from traditional agriculture to modern one. According to incomplete statistics on 4 demonstrations zones including Yunnan, Beijing, Anhui and Jilin during the period from 1996 to now, agricultural information technology has provided service to 20 million and more mu of farming land with an increased crop yield of 350 million kilos, production cost saved RMB 150 million and increased social and economic benefits RMB 500 million. As shown by the results of demonstration zones, intelligent agricultural information technology can be applied and diffused not only over economically developed areas but also over underdeveloped ones in middle and west China. Information technology can help farmers in the provinces where natural conditions are poor for farming to raise the crop yield and improve product quality as well as helping farmers in plain and urban areas to reduce their costs, increase profits and improve quality. For example, in 1998 Beijing demonstration zone recorded a benefited area of 4.15 million mu and reached an yield increase of 100 million kilos and more, output value increased of RMB 150 million, cost saved of RMB 30 million and total economic benefits of RMB 180 million.
The Number of China’s S&T Papers Published
Being 9th in the world
At the news briefing sponsored by China S&T Information Research Institute on October 26, 1999, the survey results on Chinese S&T papers published and quoted both domestically and internationally (not including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in 1998 were publicized. Results have shown that in 1998 China had witnessed its 35003 S&T papers published internationally, 2.4% of the total Chinese papers published (1421520). As a result, China jumps to the 9th place after US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia.
The number of Chinese S&T papers quoted internationally has gone up from 9952 to 11549 papers and times quoted from 18434 to 21511 times. The said statistics on papers published internationally came out of three renowned international retrieval indicators, SCI, EI and ISTP, and domestic papers from 1286 national major S&T journals published in 1998.
In 1998 Chinese S&T personnel published 133341 papers in domestic journals, 3.8% up than that of last year. The areas enjoying most papers published are Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu, the universities are Nanjing University, Peking University and China S&T University and the personnel are Fan Hongyi, An Xueqin and Li Yantuan.
The annually increased Chinese S&T papers published and upgraded position have reflected the bumper harvest of basic studies in the nation. Journals collected by SCI has gone up from 9 to 11 with the ones collected by EI reaching as man as 90. The development has not only shown the increasing number of papers published but also more attention attached to by major international retrieval systems.
China’s Major Breakthrough for Trasgenetic Pigskin
Studies on preparation and commercialization of transgenetic pigskin for curing burnt patients chaired by Prof. Wu Jun, Institute of Burning Injury, Xinan Hospital, No. 3 Military University of Medical Sciences, have witnessed major breakthroughs. In early October 1999, the result of independent intellectual property right passed the appraisal organized by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and was granted with financial support.
The studied headed by Prof. Wu Jun screened out the pig skins of lower immunogen, low autogenous virus level with a texture close to that of human skins and transplanted human lymphocyte into pig body or shifted pigskin to T, B cell immune deficiency. They reconstructed controllable expressive carrier of skin target and eventually prepared transgenetic pigskin up to the required standards. Small scale clinical applications have shown satisfactory results featured with long survival period, anti-rejection and strong immunity.
Prof. Xiao Guangxia, Chairman of China Society on Burning Injury believed that the successful preparation of transgenetic pigskin would bring about a revolution to burning medical science and free patients from using skins of other human bodies. Application of young pigskin is helpful for preventing scare formation to some extent. With a cost much lower than that of using human skins, the new result, a new contribution to human beings, is of bright perspectives for clinic applications.
Chinese American Visiting
Scholar’s New Views on Mad Ox
While accepting the interview of Chinese journalists in Beijing, Dr. Yang Chiming, a Chinese visiting scholar in US revealed on October 20, 1999, his new concept on pathology of the socalled mad ox, which unveiled the century mystery of mad ox diseases.
Dr. Yang, Dean of Institute of Life and Health, University of California at San Diego has made integrated analysis of the pathology of mad ox disease in his cooperative studies with Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He boldly proposed the theoretical presumption that longevity radicals of mad ox protein is the subvirus triggering the disease. He believes that the true subvirus of the disease is most probably the protein radicals formed in the course of oxidizing reaction of the protein. Before this, people almost knew nothing about the role played by oxygen and radical chemistry.
Dr. Yang also believes that the fundamental cause leading the studies of mad ox diseases into an error zone is that the study itself has long been separated from other disciplines and the issue has long been studied as a biophysical problem rather than biochemical one. As a result, the role of oxygen - biological small molecule necessary for vertebrate life is ignored. Century old experiments and phenomena have shown that pathology of mad ox is in fact triggered by a protein radical and is a triggered oxidizing reaction of protein radical in vertebrate animals. The theory is able to explain all pathological phenomena of mad ox disease.
Dr. Yang’s new concept has drawn extensive concerns both at home and abroad. His new theory may open a new orientation in studies of genes, proteins, life and diseases.
China’s Multi-function Gold Screening
Device at A High Elevation
Chinese made gold screening device integrated with active carbon absorption, desorption and electrolysis has successfully passed the test run at Dulanggou Gold Mine at a height of 3700m above sea level. On October 16, 1999 it recorded 99.35% for its average absorption rate, 98.69% of desorption and 99.93% of electrolysis. Its cost is only one fourth of that of the old techniques. The new multi-function device tailored to high sea level areas has made China into the world advanced level in the field and is great importance in promoting the transfer from extensive mining to intensive one.
The birth of pile soaking technique for low grade gold mines in the 1970s has greatly facilitated gold finding. In recent years, research people with Chengdu Research Institute of Comprehensive Mining, Chinese Academy of Geology investigated pile soaking techniques applied in dozens of domestic gold mines and established more than ten demonstration projects, which were granted with second prize of National S&T Advance. The old technique is a phased separate operation for absorption and desorption which would cause 3-5% loss of active carbon and 0.5% loss of gold in addition to its complicated processing system and expensive costs. The advantage of the new device is the automatic completion of two separate processes in a single unit by reusing active carbon, which saves the transmission and reduces the loss of carbon and gold grain. It is worth pointing out that to address the problems such as lower air pressure and great temperature variations of high sea level areas, two new techniques were developed to maintain constant temperature and separate water from air. Thanks to the simplified process, the absorption time was cut down from 48 hours to 12 hours. And it is the first of its kind that can operate properly at a high elevation in the world.
Chinese Made Pentaxial Digital Couple
Planer Processing Cente
At the 6th China International Machine Tool Exhibition opened recently, Changzhou Machine Tool Factory demonstrated its pentaxial digital couple planer processing center, which shows the world that China has mastered the technology that has long been prohibited from export by the developed world.
It is reported that the said processing center is a key equipment needed urgently by many industrial sectors such as power, ship building, space and national defense. In the past, only a few countries in the world such as US, Germany, Italy and Japan were able to manufacture such equipment. For a long time China had to cast the mode manually in the first place and then process the object on forming lathe before manual polishing when dealing with complex curves such as cockpit cover, turbine blades, missile body and submarine propellers.
Started from the mid and late 1970s, China had developed digital control and service system and corresponding software for pentaxial couple system. In the 1980s, China developed pentaxial couple planer for general use. The said efforts laid a solid foundation for the latest development. Started from May 1998, Changzhou Machine Tool Factory undertook the development of digital pentaxial couple planer processing center and successfully worked out the prototype machine before China’s 50th National day.
Six Large Oil & Gas Fields to be Developed
China Petroleum and Natural Gas Group (CPNGG) disclosed on October 25, 1999 that China will open up and construct 6 new continental oil or gas fields with an annual production scale of 50 million tons before 2010 so as to make its total output of oil and gas reach 300 million tons.
Four of the said fields will be constructed in the country, the rest two being jointly developed by both Chinese and foreign partners in other countries. The four domestic large fields are distributed in Song-Liao basin, Bohai Gulf basin, western region and Sichuan, Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia and Xinjiang respectively. It is briefed that the output of gas in Sichuan, Shanxi-Gas in Sichuan, Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia and Xinjiang is expect to reach 50 billion m3.
It is reported that of the two fields to be developed abroad, one is the joint development with a foreign partner for a granted share of 50 million tons of oil and the other granted share of natural gas of 50 billion m3 from a neighboring country.
P&G Science & Education Award for CAS
P&G has reached an agreement with Chinese Academy of Sciences to donate RMB 2 million to establish CAS-P&G Science and Education Award. The award will be granted to those who have made outstanding contributions to tutoring graduate students and achieved fine research results in the fields of chemistry, physics, mathematics, machinery and engineering, information science and technology and life science.
It is revealed that P&G is the first transnational who contributed to establishing an award for CAS. P&G has already established fine cooperative ties with CAS on several joint research programs. P&G also contributed to the establishment of CAS-P&G Excellent Doctorate Student Award in May, 1999.
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