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N0.423

 

 

CHINA  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
The Ministry of Science and Technology
People's Republic of China

N0.423

December 10,2005

 

 

 

 

 
IN THIS ISSUE


 

* China Popular Science Report

* China’s S&T Paper Ranks Fifth

* Chinese Made Software in Foreign Aid

* New AIDS Drug into Clinical Trials

* Green Petrochemicals Approved


 

SPECIAL ISSUES

China Popular Science Report

China Popular Science Report –2005 was published on November 29, 2005. The report listed 5 top popular science events and 10 large popular science activities in 2004. The 5 top popular science events are: a special project of innovative culture and popular science studies, a part of the strategic study under the national long and medium term planning, was completed; the nationwide scientific literacy action plan is steadily promoted; the first scientific development concept show was sponsored under the popular science theme; a world class new Beijing Observatory opened; and the 2004 annual meeting of China Association for Science and Technology established a high-level popular science platform. The 10 large popular science activities include the visit of China S&T Hall by Hu Jingtao, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, the National S&T Week, the first Beijing Public Science Day sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences among many others.

The Report says in 2004 China’s popular science activities are featured with increased attention of leaders, becoming part of planning efforts, promoted by policies, public participation, active media coverage, and nationwide attention. The popular science activities in the year had attracted extensive participation of government departments and non-government bodies. The report shows diverse popular science activities sponsored in 2004 by 29 government agencies and non-government organizations. The number of the popular science events and activities organized in the year tops that in the past years. China’s popular science activities have become better tailored and are meeting diversified needs of farmers, teenagers, and urban residents. Popular science medias have shifted to a reader oriented development mode.

 

Strategic Study of Technology Standards Completed

 

Strategic study of technology standards, a major topic under the special project for mainstream technology standards listed in China’s 10th five-year plan, has rolled out a number of results, including a strategic study of China’s technology standards, a study of the establishment of national technology standard system, and strategies and warning solutions for technology trade. All the results have passed a verification check staged on November 30, 2005.

 

The strategic study of China’s technology standards has worked out an overall strategy for developing China’s technology standards, defined the strategic lines of building up the adaptability of technology standards and competitiveness, and lined up four major development strategies focusing on technology standards for proprietary technologies. It becomes a document to support and guide a coordinated economic and social development in the country. The study of the establishment of a national technology standard system made proposals on establishing an innovative national technology standard system, and on reforms to promote the new national technology standard system, establishing a standardized management and operation system, and strengthening technology standard systems in major fields. These proposals provide evidences for a leap-forward development of China’s technology standards and standardization process.  The strategies and warning solutions for technology trade lined up strategic measures and warning solutions for China’s technology trade. It also proposed three implementation strategies for technology support, quality enhancement, and international coordination. The findings on technology trade measures have been listed in the nation’s long and medium term planning, making it a guide for the development of China’s technology trade measure system. 

 

China’s S&T Paper Ranks Fifth

 

Statistics unveiled on December 6, 2005 show that China’s S&T papers published in international journals in 2004 has maintained a sustained growth. In 2004, the Chinese papers collected by major international indexes has taken a share of 6.3% of the total collected, which makes China sit in 5th place in the world for the third time since 2002. The raised citations also explain an improved quality of Chinese papers.

 

Statistics show that 111,356 Chinese papers were collected in 2004 by SCI, EI and ISTP, with a growth of 19.3% compared with the preceding year, only next to the United States, Japan, the UK, and Germany.

 

Viewing the collection in disciplines, the five top disciplines that produce most international papers in 2004 are chemistry, physics, electronics, telecommunication and automation, computer science and technology, and material science. The top five disciplines whose papers enjoy most citations are chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, electronics, telecommunication and automation. 

Chinese Made Software in Foreign Aid

On November 16, 2005, the Department of High Tech Development, a part of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Department of Foreign Aid under the Ministry of Commerce worked out a joint summary report to support the export of Chinese made software through foreign aid channels. The Ministry of Science and Technology, in close collaboration with the Department of Foreign Aid under the Ministry of Commerce, supports the export of Chinese made software by taking full advantage of foreign aid channels. The effort is not only good for the application and industrial development of Chinese made software, but also plays an important role in addressing the intellectual property issues encountered in providing information technology products through foreign aid projects. The effort raises the efficiency of foreign aid fund usage, leveraging the pricing strength of Chinese made software.

According to the report, the Department of Foreign Aid will support the export of Chinese made software through providing information technology products that are installed with Chinese made software to the recipient countries. In the meantime, the MOST Department of High Tech Development will be responsible for organizing software products for foreign aid projects, and for preparing and updating the enterprise catalogue. The Department will entrust the MOST High Tech Center to work on the concrete screening and recommending of exporting software, export coordination, after-sale support, and other related matters.

 

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

New AIDS Drug into Clinical Trials

IBE-5, a new anti-AIDS drug developed by the Jiangzhong Pharmaceutical Group, also an investor for the project, was approved on December 1st, 2005 by the State Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials, after strict animal tests and safety clearance.

IBE-5, a valid anti-AIDS element extracted from plants, can noticeably reduce the number of AIDS viruses in the affected monkeys. It also can effectively curb the mutation of AIDS viruses in monkeys, with a therapeutic effect much better than cocktail therapy in comparison. Experts say that it will make a major medical breakthrough, if the therapeutic effects in humans can be the same as in monkeys. In the meantime, animal tests have show a fine perspective of the new drug in prohibiting hepatitis B viruses. The new drug and the associated synthesizing techniques have applied for patent rights in a number of countries, in a move to pave way for mass production. It is China’s first proprietary anti-AIDS drug.

Green Petrochemicals Approved

A green chemical project for oil refining and basic organic chemicals, initiated under the National 973 Program, passed a verification check on November 2005. The five-year long efforts have produced the following main results:

1)    To address the high alkene content in gas products, researchers studied the reaction network of alkene, and proposed a new concept for dual reaction zones in the catalyzing and cracking processes. They also developed the proprietary paraffin catalyzing and cracking techniques with high yields and different structures, which makes large-scale industrial applications possible.

2)    Researchers developed a RIDOS technology for clean gas production, and realized its commercial applications. They also developed RS-1000,a highly active agent for diesel oil’s deep desulfurization. Industrial applications show that the new catalyst can produce a diesel oil with a sulfur content lower than 50g/g, an indicator required under the Europe IV standard.

3)    While working on a green roadmap for CPL, researchers invented a molecular screening based realignment technique, with which they synthesized HTS with a hollow structure. They also developed a production unit for industrial applications. The efforts resulted in a line of new techniques, including a consecutive separation array with membrane filters, and a one-step cyclohexane and hydroperoxide reaction chain for preparing cyclohexane oxime. Also derived from the project is an industrial unit for producing cyclohexane oxime, the first of its kind in the world, with a capacity of 70,000 tons a year, using catalyst regeneration and recycling technologies.

4)    Researchers integrated the non-crystal alloy catalyst with the stable magnetic bed reactor, and developed a new refining technique for adding hydrogen in CPL, which goes for further diffusions and applications.

Study of Major Pest Disasters

A project to study major pest disasters and the associated genesis and control, initiated under the National 973 Program, passed a verification check on October 2005. The project works on the key scientific issues involving weakened disease resistance and pests’ rampant activities. Researchers have achieved noticeable progresses in cloning disease resistant genes and pathogenic genes, and in studying pests’ drug resistance and delayed breeding, and pathogenic interactions.

Researchers found that two mutation spots that lead to the drug resistance of Nilaparvata lugens sit in Y138S of Nla1 and Y173S of Nla3 respectively. The discovery leads to new technical lines to curb the damages imposed by the insects on major crops. The finding is also important for raising China’s innovative technical level in fighting pests and securing food safety. In addition, researchers cloned genetic starters that induce the occurrence of rice blast, and established a new silent genetic carrier using DNAβ, a new satellite DNA molecule from TYLCCNV. The finding is of potential application perspectives for genetic engineering of broad-spectrum disease resistance, and for sorting out plants’ functional genes. The project also cloned a new disease resistant gene named Pi-d2 from paddy rice, and identified and spotted a number of QTLs for rice blast.

Key to Energy Efficiency

A project to study the key scientific issues involving energy efficiency, a part of the National 973 Program, passed a recent verification check. To address the key scientific issues in energy efficiency, researchers focus their study on two issues: an enhanced and controllable transmission process (element energy efficiency), and the integration and optimization of energy utilization (systematic energy efficiency), and achieved the following major results: proposed a coordinated field theory (rules) for enhanced heat flow exchanges, and verified its broad validity using numerical modeling and experiments; developed proprietary new enhancement technologies and corresponding heat exchange units, including the one that have resulted in noticeable economic benefits: cross compact oval pipe, compact pipe for flow expanding, new technology for coordinated field arrangement, wing shaped heat ventilating pipe with outlets scarce in front and dense in rear, and controllable suspension arm pipe array; established a framework for energy utilization modeling, and produced new methods and the associated software for optimizing industrial process energy. The methods and software have been used at some petrochemical enterprises; established compound energy modeling for structures and the associated optimization, and made them part of the demonstration buildings using solar energy and integration technology; and worked out new technologies to improve absorption refrigeration driven by low temperature heat source, in a move to find solution for low end applications.

Clean Nuclear Energy Technology

Not long ago, a basic study of accelerator-driven clean nuclear energy physics and technology, sponsored by the National 973 Program, passed a verification check. In the past 5 years, the project had completed a range of studies concerning optimization of ADS scheme, basic physics of ADS reactor, nuclear physics and materials of ADS, low energy proton RFQ accelerator, and ECR ion sources. Researchers have landed the following major accomplishments: proposed the design for a critical unit of fast heating coupling, developed an experimental ADS critical unit of fast heating coupling named Phosphor I, and realized the first instance of low fuel concentration for an experimental ADS sub-critical unit; working on a low energy proton RFQ accelerator, with the completed mainframe assembly and ongoing sub-system tuning; the accelerator’s ECR ion source parameters reached an advanced level matching its overseas counterparts, with a fine solution to the secondary bouncing bombardment of electrons, which increase the life span of ion sources; created an ADS nuclear database, the third of its kind in the world following the United States and Japan, with its secondary ion database internationally acknowledged as the best.

Molecular Biology for Genetic Breeding

 

Not long ago, a project to study domestic animals’ genetic breeding and molecular biology based cloning, initiated under the National 973 Program, passed a verification check. The study resulted in a number of meaningful phase results involving the functional genomes that tell the economic values of major domestic animals, super high yield breeding of domestic animals, strength of hybrids, and molecular basis for animal cloning.

 

The project collects the DNA samples from major domestic animals in the country. Based on the molecular evaluation of genetic resources, researchers sketched out a basic roadmap telling the origin, domestication, and evolution of major domestic animals. They also made original descriptions of the genetic diversity, origin, and domestication of domestic animals, which become valuable data for the study in the area. The project positioned a group of functional genes bearing important economic and quality values. Researchers were also involved in producing the world first rooster’s genome chart that had been published in the journal Nature. They raised the number of pig’s breed yield by 0.5-1.5 heads, using pig’s FSHβ gene to support the breeding process. They also cloned inter-genus fishes, and lined up scientific evidences for the genetic origin of the cloned fish and for dynamic changes of supplier’s mitochondria. The efforts help to unveil the major impacts of cytoplasm on body growth rhythm.    

 

Progresses in Mastering LIGA

 

A project to study quasi-LIGA design and the associated applications, undertaken by Shanghai Jiaotong University, has recently landed substantive progresses. The three new techniques with multi-level 3D microstructures have produced filature nozzles built in three-level microstructures, with a thickness larger than 1.4mm. Researchers defined the application ranges of the three techniques, after an intercomparison of the strength and weakness. They produced filature nozzles, double-deck nickel minigear moulds, and integrated probers, using quasi-LIGA multi-level 3D microstructures processing techniques. They also rolled out Fresnel lens and FOA, using quasi-LIGA mobile microstructures technique.

 

The project has resulted in 2 national invention patents, and published 6 papers. In addition, researchers involved in the development of MEMS components for a number of domestic enterprises, using quasi-LIGA technology. Considering the fact that MEMS switch is a promising micro-implement, researchers have worked on the design, processing and performance test of MEMS switch and the associated components. They also optimized the shape and geometric parameters of mini springs in the switch, using finite element analysis software, and developed a unit able to test the dynamic performance of mini springs. 


       Comments or inquiries on editorial matters or Newsletter content should be directed to:

Mr. Mao Zhongying, Department of International Cooperation, MOST 15B, Fuxing Road Beijing 100862, PR China  Tel: (8610)58881360 Fax: (8610) 58881364

http://www.most.gov.cn