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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION |
China-US Collaboration on New Detector
An experimental array of time of flight based on MRPC, a high timing resolution-based detector jointly developed by Chinese and US scientists has recently made its first successful run on the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at the US Brookhaven National Laboratory and it has shown important findings.
The RHIC at Brookhaven National Laboratory is currently the only heavy ion collider of the largest power of its kind in operation in the world. STAR is one of the large experimental devices running on the collider. The University of Science and Technology of China is a member of the STAR collaboration team. The experimental array was installed in the STAR experimental unit October 2002 and started its physical running January 10, 2003. As of March 23, 2003, it had completed the data collection for the 8000GeV deuteron-gold collision experiment. The preliminary results have shown the success of the array's performance, which laid a solid foundation for completing the experiment of the entire 120 arrays of time of flight.
It is reported that this collaborative study is the first large international cooperation project between the nuclear physics communities of the two countries. With the authorization of the Chinese cooperation team, the University of Science and Technology of China began its domestic pilot development of MRPC in May 2001. On the basis of their one-year efforts, researchers have worked out MRPC in a number of structures. Among the 28 MRPC modules tested in the experimental array, 24 An expedition team investigating the Muzhate Glacier in Tianshan. modules have been developed independently by the University.
China-UK S&T Business Park
With the approval of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, China and the UK will jointly create a China-UK S&T Business Park in Cambridge, UK. In partnership as a joint investment by Guangzhou International Business Incubator, Guangzhou S&T Venture Capital Co. Ltd., Huali Pioneering Investment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., along with their UK partners, the Park will be the first of its kind to be established in Europe. It will be supported by the government and run as a business. The Park will make its official inauguration during the China-UK S&T Forum to be held this September in the UK.
The Park will provide multi-faceted and tiered service for Chinese businesses entering British and European markets. It will assist Chinese small and medium S&T businesses establishing their presence in the UK. It will make office space available to the businesses, help Chinese local authorities and development parks to open their representative offices in the UK or in other European countries, and provide consultation on international development strategies, trade, financing, laws and intellectual properties. In addition, the Park will play an active role in absorbing business and capital, along with promoting S&T exchanges between the two countries.
With the solid support of the UK Trade and Industry Ministry and its Investment Bureau, the Park will help Chinese businesses incorporated in the UK be treated equally with their UK counterparts. This will include application for financial support and subsidies provided by the UK and the EU for small and medium S&T businesses.
China's Third Navigation Satellite Launched
At 0:34, May 25, 2003 Beijing local time, China's Long-March IIIA carrier rocket successfully sent its third satellite of the Plough-I navigation and positioning system into space from the Xichang Satellite Launching Center. The previous two Plough-I navigation and positioning satellites that were launched on October 31st and December 21st,, 2000 respectively have been working smoothly in space with their navigation functions. They have produced remarkable economic benefits. The satellite launched this time is a back-up for the previously launched two and constitutes, together with them, a complete satellite navigation and positioning system able to provide all-weather and round-the-clock satellite navigation services.
The satellite navigation system, made up of a number of navigation and positioning satellites, serves like a space radio navigation station by combining the advantages of both traditional astronomical and ground radio navigation and positioning functions. It is able to tell clients geographic longitudes, latitudes and the height above sea level at any time and any location. So far only a few countries in the world are capable of independently manufacturing such a satellite navigation system. The Plough series satellite navigation and positioning system, independently developed by China, not only has the above-mentioned capacity but also enjoys some innovations in its positioning performance. The system will provide effective and extensive navigation and positioning applications for the national economic construction, especially in the fields of transportation, meteorology, petroleum, marine affairs, forests fire prevention, disaster prediction, telecommunication, public security, and other special sectors.
Progress on Space Rice Breeding
The project designated "Space-based Rice and Wheat Breeding, Technical Innovations and New Varieties Screening," undertaken by the Institute of Atomic Energy under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has achieved significant progress in preparing special new breeding materials. These include breeding new rice and wheat species possessing fine quality, high yield and disease resistance. By taking advantage of the combination of space mutation technology and modern breeding techniques, the project has worked out, studied, and approved 3 purified rice and wheat species and hybrid rice combination of fine quality and high yield. Of them, the new hybrid rice, Teyouhang I, is a combination of both high quality and super high yield. This represents a major breakthrough achieved in China's space rice breeding.
By taking advantage of the new properties mutated through space breeding, Chinese scientists have recently obtained rich new seeds material of strong specificity including the rice varieties Hang I and Hang 81. They possess fine quality and advancing resistance. Rice Hanghui 63, Hanghui 7 and Hanghui 8 are of fine quality and large kernels, and the new wheat variety, Zaoyou 8581, is of fine quality and ripens extremely well. These new varieties have found extensive applications in both regular and hybrid rice breeding and the 16 new varieties and combinations derived from the applications have been applied in regional trial growing at the provincial level.
In the area of space breeding key technical innovations, scientists have created the new space rice breeding approach centered on the multi-generation-based consecutive selecting and oriented screening technology, and combined with molecular marked assisted selection. The scientists have studied the mutation features of all the elements in space environment from different facets, such as particle biology, biology in the physical field, and gravity biology. They have created a new approach to the ground mutation process under simulated space environment. This is a firm step towards thorough exploration into the space mutation breeding mechanism and to establishing a new space breeding technical system.
China's Major Breakthrough in Quanta Communication
On May 20, 2003, Dr. Pan Jianwei of the University of Science and Technology of China demonstrated the distant transmission of quanta entanglement at the Lab of the Institute of Experimental Physics of Vienna University. Thanks to his two-year painstaking efforts, Dr. Pan has achieved breakthrough progress in the collaborative study of quanta telecommunication and successfully realized high accuracy entanglement purification through experiments. The finding has pin-pointed a fundamental solution to the technical difficulty encountered in distant quanta communication caused by the retro-coherent effect. It will greatly advance the experimental study of error-allowed computation.
On May 22, Nature Magazine published in its cover story the findings of Dr. Pan and his collaborators on experimental entanglement purification of arbitrary unknown states.
Clean Chromium Salt Production
The 10,000-ton clean chromium salt production technology, jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Henan Zhenxing Chemicals Co. Ltd., has recently passed the experts' verification check. The new technology leads to a fundamental solution to the pollution caused by the chromium salt industry in terms of the commencement stage of the whole production and has basically made zero pollutant emission possible. The development will become a strong stimulus in promoting green industries in China.
Henan Zhenxing Chemicals Co. Ltd. inked a technical cooperation agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in October 2000 to establish an ecologically friendly production line for heavy chromate with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons involving an investment of RMB 70 million. As a project listed under the National 863 Program for the 10th Five-Year Plan period(2001-2005), the new technology has resulted in the birth of first-grade chromate. Compared with conventional manufacturing techniques, the new process is able to save energy by 30% and realize a resource efficiency of 99%, up from the previous 20%.
S&T Week Opened
On May 17, 2003, China's S&T Week for 2003 made its online opening through the Internet. The S&T Week is designed to diffuse popular sciences, anti-SARS knowledge and national or local policies and measures against SARS through mass media, such as the Internet, radio and TV broadcasting, and newspapers. With its priority on farmers in rural areas, the S&T Week focuses on enhancing public awareness of the SARS disease and its scientific prevention and treatment, raising people's confidence in winning the battle against SARS and improving the epidemic and diseases prevention capacity of the entire social community.
The Organizing Committee of the S&T Week, in collaboration with relevant authorities and mass media, opened a theme exhibition on "Fighting Against SARS with Sciences" and produced a series of high quality and high level TV and radio programs, including scientific lectures on SARS presented by renowned domestic experts. In addition, they opened special columns on SARS prevention and treatment in newspapers and printed 4 million handouts on the same theme. All these are to be exhibited, broadcast, or distributed during the Week. Local authorities and sections will also arrange their own activities fighting against SARS with the sciences tailored to their own specific situation.
Beijing's SARS Information Management System
Thanks to their five day-and-night efforts, Beijing Meirangong Corp. has at last put its Beijing SARS Epidemic Information Management System into operation. With the help of a dozen of workers, the Beijing Municipal Diseases Prevention and Control Center has entered thousands of epidemic investigation reports into the system.
Adopting numerous advanced Internet technologies and having such advantages as real-time monitoring, data sharing compatibility, and easy operation, the system is able to accommodate data storage in different forms, keep dynamic maintenance and satisfy different requirements of its clients. When the network system is connected, the information system will allow open access for multiple users, such as epidemic investigators, entry staff, medical personnel, analyzers, and governmental decision-makers. Different departments in different locations may be able to simultaneously enter the SARS data, make inquiries, conduct analysis or make decisions. This will greatly improve the efficiency of SARS control and coordination. Equipped with different forms of interface, the system is able to share its data or interface with the national epidemic investigation system or other application systems. It can be installed at diseases control centers at different levels from municipal disease control centers to disease control centers at the district level. It will be able to even extend to each hospital or each community. Authorities at different levels may, through the online system, review, search, and analyze the epidemic development in their own regions, experiencing timely monitoring of the disease and associated control, decision-making and adopting appropriate measures. The system I not only desirable for authorities at different levels wishing to obtain accurate real-time epidemic data and curb the spread of diseases, but the system also provides original data records extremely valuable for domestic S&T projects working with SARS studies.
The First Gene Bank of Recovered SARS Patients' Blood AntibodiesOn May 23, 2003, China's first genetic engineering antibodies bank based on recovered SARS patients' blood was established in Shanghai. With a collection of several millions different antibody genes, this gene bank is believed to be the first of its kind in the world dedicated to the fight against SARS. Established on RNA specimens collected from the white blood cells of ten recovered SARS patients, the gene bank will allow scientists to screen out antibodies effective for early SARS diagnosis and associated SARS prevention and treatment based on the tests of biological activity and safety. This testing may help to avoid the possible dangers found in the direct application of blood of recovered SARS patients.
The gene bank is jointly established with the cooperation of the Shanghai Institute of Life Science, attached to the Shanghai Individual Antibody Pharmacy Technology Co. Ltd., the US-based Genetastix Tumor Prevention and Treatment Center of Guangzhou Zhongshan University, and the Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital.
China's First SARS Patent Database
It is reported that from now on SARS study teams within the country may have access to the SARS related patent database by simply calling the number 021-52980255 or sending an enquiry to Shanghai Intellectual Property Service Center. The database has, until now, collected 1,894 domestic entries and 23,507 overseas entries on patent information relating to the coronavirus, interferon inhibitors, and virus inhibitors. Based on its latest data, published on April 23, 2003, the database will promptly update its collection of information when new information becomes available.
Special SARS Project under 863
To facilitate research activities against SARS, the National 863 Program has, under the principle of acting upon challenges and in a rapid reaction to difficulties, has established a special research project involving key technologies and associated products for SARS prevention and treatment in the domain of biology and modern agriculture. With a budget of RMB 60 million for phase one activities, the special project mainly focuses on research and development activities for SARS diagnosing techniques, clinical treatment, rapid-response medicines, testing agents, vaccination, and urgent protection wares and equipment.
As of May 9, 2003, the special project had created 48 topics in four groups, such as the clinical study of SARS treatment with combined western and traditional medicines. With a general budget package of RMB 58.5 million, 5 clinical studies have been allocated with a budget of RMB 7.5 million,. There are 18 drug making studies representing RMB 26.2 million, 14 prevention technology studies with RMB 16.5 million ,and 11 epidemic studies with RMB 8.3 million.
Comments or inquiries on editorial matters or Newsletter content should be directed to:Mr. Cheng Jiayi, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China Tel: (8610)68512650 Fax: (8610) 68512594
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