Month: September 2018

Aresearch team led by researcher YU Wei, a researcher at the In Vitro Synthetic Biology Center of CAS Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, designed an enzymatic phosphate pathway for the stoichiometric conversion of cellulosic biomass using an in vitro multi-enzyme system. This pathway utilizes three cascades of phosphorylase (cellodextrin phosphorylase (CDP), cellobiose phosphorylase (CBP), and polyphosphate-dependent glucokinase (PGGK). )) The fiber polysaccharide is converted into high-energy phosphorylated sugar (glucose 1-phosphate and glucose 6-phosphate). Subsequent enzymes can be used to produce hydrogen, bioelectricity, or high-value chemicals. The research team used inositol as the final product and reached a yield of 98%, close to the stoichiometric substrate conversion. In addition, the in vitro multi-enzyme system also produced inositol from a corn stover hydrolysate as substrate. CAS news release, September 27, 2018

The group of ZHANG Ping at CAS Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden has studied body weight gain in mice fed with isoenergenic high-fat diets and containing bamboo shoot fiber (BSF) from eitherD. hamiltonii or D. latiforus. They found that bamboo shoot fibers suppressed high-fat-diet-induced body weight gain in mice and improved glycemic control and insulin sensitivity. At the molecular level, BSF enhanced insulin signaling measured by phosphorylated Akt, induced elevated expression of PGC-1α and more phosphorylation of AMP K and p38. CAS news release, September 26, 2018

A team around YANG Jintao from Zhejiang University of Technology and colleagues from the AS Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a hydrophilic fluorescent hydrogel‐coated flexible paper/textile film chemosensor which displays a “green‐to‐blue” emission color change upon specific chemical reaction between Hg2+ and the grafted thiourea moieties. The porous structures allow for fast capillary‐force‐driven mercury(II) diffusion into the hydrophilic hydrogel matrix, thus enabling visual detection of nearly nM‐level Hg2+. On this basis, fluorescent hydrogel‐coated wearable sensing gloves were fabricated, which significantly facilitated visual detection of toxic Hg2+‐polluted samples. CAS news release, September 21, 2018

LIU Zhongmin and ZHU Wenliang, at the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have developed a metal-modified H-ZSM-5 zeolite which showed excellent selectivity for preparing aromatics by coupling methanol and carbon monoxide. China has abundant coal reserves and is a major global producer of methanol. The aromatization mechanism proceeds via a carbonyl intermediate, which reacts with olefin to form a cyclopentenone intermediate, followed by dehydration to an aromatic hydrocarbon. CAS news release, September 21, 2018

Electrocooling can be achieved by the Peltier effect with appropriate materials.Using poly(Ni-ett) thin-film devices, a temperature difference of > 40 degrees Celsius was achieved, allowing for electrocooling of organic thermoelectric devices. It is predicted that ultra-thin devices of this type of material can achieve large temperature difference electrocooling with a heat flux density exceeding 500 W cm-2 in flexible solid-state refrigeration. CAS news release, September 20, 2018

The China Association for S&T (CAST) held a World Conference on Science Literacy in Beijing which was attended by over 1,000 scientists and representatives from 38 countries and regions, as well as 23 international scientific organizations and 58 national scientific institutes. The final declarationcalled for working together to close the gap in scientific literacy between different countries, and build a coordinated working mechanism to improve global scientific literacy and fulfill the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. According to CAST, the number of dedicated science museums in China grew from 280 in 2006 to 409 in 2014. The number of museums with science and technology sections grew from 239 in 2006 to 724 in 2014. CAS news release, September 20, 2018

The plan involves several botanical gardens throughout China and is first implemented as a test point in Shanghai Botanical Garden, which offers a test base during the 2018 World Artificial Intelligence Competition. Visitors can obtain knowledge about plants by using the image recognition functions of an AI-based software system. JST Japan China news, September 19, 2018

The Institute of Aerospace Information Research has opened “virtual ground stations” in Mongolia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Thailand, Venezuela and Belgium. In these 10 countries, the institute’s self-developed virtual ground stations receive near-real time data from China’s remote satellite ground stations which support satellites such as the HJ-1A, HJ-1B, Landsat-8 and Proba-V which have played an important role in ecological environment monitoring and disaster alleviation. The data can be received without actually installing a satellite reception antenna. China’s remote sensing satellite ground stations cover 70% of all land in Asia, and China’s data transmission network and big data real-time processing technology is advanced. Xinhuanet, Sept. 18, 2018

Beijing recently held a symposium on child nutrition and health, and experts agreed that nutritional deficiencies still exist, and the obesity rate continues to rise. Nationwide data are now covered in a public database which include information on average height, weight, blood lipids and nutritional intake data based on daily menus. The constitution of children such as upper and lower limb force, etc. is also collected. Nurseries can create menus using the platforms, and parents can obtain suggestions for daily/weekly nutritional balance and exercise of their children. Japan JST China news, September 18, 2018