China Accelerates Biomedical Industrialization
To implement the high tech industrial development plan defined for the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005) and accelerate the development of China's biomedical engineering industry, the Chinese State Development Planning Commission published a public notice on Feb. 11, 2003 to organize the implementation of the special project for biomedical engineering high tech industrialization (hereafter referred as the special project in brief).
The Notice presents the major objectives of the special project as follows: accelerate the industrialization of high tech findings and results, guide and promote the sustainable, fast and healthy growth of China's biomedical engineering industry, make China's biomedical engineering products reach an industrial scale of RMB 50 billion-70 billion in 2005 and maintaining an annual growth of 10%-15%; accelerate industrial restructuring and develop industrial patterns featured with integration, intensiveness and specialization, promoting the industrialization of ten series products in four major categories and developing special industrial fields of relative strength; enhance technical innovation and conversion capacity by taking advantage of resource advantages in production, learning and research, and jointly establish national engineering research centers, developing mechanism for sustainable industrial technical innovations and improving the overall industrial level and its international competitiveness.
The said special project will be implemented in a phased manner during the 10th Five-Year Plan period. Those who are qualified may apply for establishing their dedicate sub-projects under the State Development Planning Commission through project sponsors such as governmental agencies under the Chinese State Council, the planning authorities of provinces, autonomous regions, major cities under direct jurisdiction of the central government, major cities and major enterprise groups on governmental planning list. The application deadline for 2003 is April 30, 2003, and the application deadline for 2004 and 2005 is October 30 of the previous year.
China Is to Realize Its Manned Space Dream
Not long ago a senior official responsible for China's manned space program disclosed that Shenzhou V spacecraft will be sent into space around November 2003. The specific date of launch will have to be determined upon the weather and the progress of the overall testing of the spacecraft. In addition, Chinese scientists will take into consideration other possible affecting factors in the space such as ground temperature, solar activities and the condition of space radiation when scheduling astronauts' return. Up to date, Shenzhou V spacecraft has entered the phase of general assembling and testing. Most of the onboard scientific and research instruments and equipment have passed the approval check.
It is briefed that on the basis of the previous four trial flights, the spacecraft's seven major sub-systems, namely the astronaut system, the application system, the manned spacecraft system, the carrier rocket system, the launching cabin, the measuring system and the landing site have been greatly improved. The manned spacecraft has been equipped with special security chair able to help the astronaut stand up 4 to 5 excessive gravity accelerated velocity in launching and the emergency return system able to make its automatic return to the earth landing site in the emergency situation.
At present, 12 Chinese astronauts candidates are pressing ahead with their tense training. Among them, three will be chosen to embark on China's first manned space flight in Shenzhou V. Chinese astronauts' space suites have been made ready. Each space suite weighs about 10 kilograms. In addition, 20 and more China's home-made space food have reached the required standards.
China Took the Lead in Measuring the 4.3billion-year Zircon
On Feb. 9, 2003, Mr. Liu Dunyi, Director of Beijing Ion Probe Center disclosed that their Center had successfully measured the only shelled zircon (a mineral with highly stable performance) older than 4.3 billion years in the world with its high sensitivity and high resolution ion probe spectrum. The said zircon is the third of its kind in the world but the only one keeping its growth shell. Chinese scientists bombarded the sample with ion stream and measured the obtained ion stream. The development will help scientists to find a gold key to the mystery of the earth's first 500 million years after its formation.
The earth has a history of 4.56 billion years. However, what happened in the early 500 million years after its formation has remained a mystery as people had found no continental shelled rocks older than 4 billion years in the past. Before the said development, the ancient zircon grains found by Australian scientists are loosely imbedded in sedimentary rocks that are much younger than the former.
The two zircon grains older than 4.3 billion years thus far discovered in the world are broken and wearing no growth shell and therefore cannot tell anything related to the stories in the course from 4.3 billion years ago to 3.6 billion years ago.
Scientists from the U.S. and Australia worked together with the Center to determine the age of 115 zircon grains brought from Australia. Scientists found among them a zircon grain of 290x115microns in Z shape with 15-30 microns and aged between 3.6-3.7 billion years. The zircon grain has kept its growth shell with its core in bay shape. Testing has shown that its core has an age of between 4.323 and 3.95 billion years. Australian scientists finally confirmed the measuring result after their testing in Australia's Curtin University of Technology with the same instrument.
Major Progress for Low Temperature Heat Conversion
On the basis of their 15-year research efforts, Prof. Wu Yuyuan and his collaborators of Xi'an Jiaotong University have successfully worked out the new evaporation condensing technology and produced the world first new evaporation condenser with the technology. In collaboration with Hangzhou Oxygen Making Group, the research team have achieved breakthrough proprietary theoretical and technical findings in improving evaporating and condensing based heating conversion ratio, reducing condenser's size and weight and upgrading the performance, security and reliability of the conversion system.
It is briefed that China's low temperature heating conversion technology has explained for the first time in the world two phased flow boiling heat transmission phenomena and both theoretically and practically confirmed the mechanism forming such phenomena. Chinese scientists have firstly proposed the new mechanism and structure in which narrow duct based air phase movement intensifies circular evaporation boiling heat conversion. They also created the new structure made up of multiple fluid feeding channels, which remarkably enhanced the heat transmission effect while effectively reducing the temperature difference in heat transmission and greatly enhancing heat transmission coefficient. In addition, they created for the first time in the world new mechanism and structures on intensified imbalanced condensing heat transmission. The new evaporation condenser made on the said new heat transmission mechanism has recorded a boiling heat transmission coefficient 5 to 9 times higher than that of the conventional evaporation condenser with its temperature difference in heat transmission reaching the minimum among its international counterparts and the reduced size and weight by one third or more. The new technology has found an effective technical solution to the key issues long unsolved in traditional condensers both at home and abroad, and found the fundamental solution to the problem of unevenly distributed gas and liquid within the heat converter.
The said new evaporating condensing technology is China's first proprietary new finding of international leading level in China's 50-year history of oxygen making as well as the key component for China's new generation oxygen making device. The new technology has resulted in a reduced cost by 39% but an increased oxygen output by 15%-20% per unit and a saved electricity of 70,000 kwh per unit. The oxygen-making device equipped with the new evaporation condenser has been working smoothly for over 5 consecutive years, a world record against other similar products both at home and abroad in terms of its consecutive running.
China's Rich Harvest for Nanometer Material Study
China National Natural Science Foundation S&T Award has recently unveiled its winners for 2002. The Study of Integrated Design, Structural System and Performance of New Inorganic Compound co-chaired by Hong Maochun, a research fellow of Fujian Institute of Matter Structure under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Wu Xintao, an academician of CAS were conferred with the Second Prize of the Award. The findings have led to the successful development of nanometer cage, nanometer tube and nanometer thread in unique structures and new series of high polymeric compound with semi-conductor properties.
Their finding has constructed the metal nanometer cage of the largest volume with its inner room exceeding 1000A3, capable of containing different ions and small molecules. In the meantime, it developed inorganic- organic nanometer tubes and made them into the first metal organic nanometer tube array in special clusters. In addition, the winners have turned out different metal nanometer threads under the principle of rational mixing. What makes the winners most proud of is that these cages, tubes and threads are made up of even nanometer grains.
The nanometer cages, tubes and threads developed by Hong and Wu have shown unusually special features and strength though they are remaining at the experimental stage. Experts believe that once developed into materials, they will be easily studied for their structure, performance and utility.
It is disclosed that the paper presenting the findings has been recommended by its authors' international counterparts as a new direction for the study of the electric property of inorganic high polymeric compounds. Many renowned overseas scholars have shown great interest in the development and are willing for cooperation.
New Hope for Petroleum Substitutes
The super high yield rape project chaired by Dr. Chen Jinqing, a research fellow of Zhejiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has recently been selected as one of the ten major S&T progresses voted by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The study has worked out the theoretical evidence for oriented crop seeds breeding, and paved a new pilot approach for mankind to leading to extracting matters from plants to be the substitute of petroleum.
The study team headed by Chen proposed the original scenario of base matter competition on the basis of their in-depth study on organic synthesizing of crop protein and fat. The team also for the first time in the world worked out the technical lines for increasing rape seeds oil content by using adverse PEP genes from the angle of photosynthesis distribution, effectively blocking the channels through which rape protein is formed so as to increase the oil output according to the law of conservation of energy. Under the support of the theory, the team developed Chaoyou I and super-high oil and high erucic acid Chaoyou II new varieties whose oil content reached 47% or above, which became the rape varieties of the highest oil content in the world cabbage family. The two new varieties have also recorded the highest oil yield among their existing genetically modified counterparts.
So far the Chaoyou series rapes have completed their environmental release and were approved by the Ministry of Agriculture for experimental production. Both its invention patent application at Chinese Intellectual Property Bureau and PCT process have entered substantive examination. The finding has been published in the U.S., Canada, France and Germany and its utility, originality and innovation have been confirmed.
Dr. Chen expressed that in addition to Chaoyou rapes, his study team have achiewed desired results in oriented seeds breeding for soybean, sesame, sunflower and rice. Now the team is working hard at increasing the effective medicinal compound of Chinese traditional herbs and the oil content of rose essence.
New Genes for Lupus Discovered
On Feb. 15, 2003, US Journal of Immunology published the findings of Dr. Sun Jian , a Chinese scholar, telling the story that loss of transfer factor Aiolos has led to the expression of human lupus erythematosus in rats. The finding concludes that Aiolos gene is a candidate gene that may cause some systematic lupus erythematosus.
Dr. Sun discovered that the rat that has lost Aiolos gene would produce double-chain DNA antibody and resulted in glumerulus nephritis caused by immune compound sediments. Such phenomena are clinically important benchmarks for diagnosing lupus erythematosus, and nephritis based kidney crocking up is a major cause leading to the death of lupus erythematosus patients.
The finding has provided a new rat model for the further study on systematic lupus erythematosus. As there is only 1% difference between the genes of rats and human beings, the rat-based study of human systematic lupus erythematosus is of great importance to understanding the mechanism triggering such a disease.
It is significant to notice that Dr. Sun and his Swiss colleagues have mated the rat that lost Aiolos with a rat that lost its OBF-1 transfer factor and discovered that their offsprings would not produce similar self immunity and systematic lupus erythematosus, which confirmed that OBF-1 depletion may completely prevent the occurrence of lupus erythematosus. This finding has created a new approach to treating systematic lupus erythematosus. These findings have applied for international patent rights.
Progress on Hepatitis C Testing
Hepatitis C different region antibody testing agent package jointly developed by the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Beijing Jinweikai Biomedicine S&T Co. Ltd. is one of the major medical projects listed under the nation's 9th Five-Year Plan. The said bioengineering product is created on the basis of advantageous antigens screened out from the major epidemic genes of hepatitis C prevailing in China through computer simulation technology. Scientists worked out high quality hepatitis C testing confirmation agent through restructuring the genetic expressions on single HCV section. As far as the field of bioengineering technology is concerned, this result should belong to the category of high-tech new products.
The trial applications at Beijing Red Cross Blood Center and other hospitals have shown that the testing agent package is of numerous merits such as time saving, simple operation, and accurate and objective readouts and its technical indicators having all reached or even surpassed the level of similar products abroad. In addition to its merit of low cost, the new testing package is able to shorten the hepatitis C confirmation time period by more than 30 days. Now the testing package has been granted with Class II new drug certificate and the approval series number for drug production issued by the State Drug Administration.
Breakthroughs in Deep Fracturing Technology
Daqing Oil Field has mastered the deep natural gas well fracturing technology, which has made China one of the few countries in the world able to perform special rock fracturing technology at an depth over 3,000 m and a temperature of 170℃. China's super thick lava fracturing technology has reached the internationally advanced level.
Researchers of Daqing Oil Drilling Engineering Institute have worked out the solutions to a number of key technologies such as lava fracturing risk prediction and control, fast interpretation of testing fracturing, high temperature and pressure resistant fracturing fluid and pillars. With the applications of these technologies, Daqing Oil Field has found successful fracturing in its three deep gas wells and six natural gas reserves layers the year before. The maximum discharge of fracturing fluid in Zhaoshen No. 10 well reached 7m3 per minute and the fracturing was for the first time successfully performed over rhyolite multi-fracture layers in high angles. Researchers also found fracturing success in super thick reserves of Xushen No. 1 well and Weishen No.5 well and obtained resistance free natural gas flow of 1.18 million m3 and 1.02 million m3 respectively.
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