Conformation-dependent recognition of mutant HTT proteins by selective autophagy

正With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,a study led by Prof.Lu Boxun(鲁伯埙)from Fudan University demonstrates that a toxic mutant HTT species is resistant to selective autophagy,revealing the fundamental mechanism of Huntington’s Disease.The study was published in     

Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment： discovery of a new kind of neutrino oscillation

On March 8, 2012, the Daya Bay Collaboration announced that a new kind of neutrino oscillation （corresponding to neutrino mixing angle 013） had been discovered. Its measured oscillation amplitude is 9. 2%, with an error of 1.7%, corresponding to a probability of one part per ten million for null oscillation. This result revealed a basic property of neutrinos and opened a gateway towards the understanding of the ＂mystery of matter-antimatter asymmetry＂. It is well received by the international community of high-en- ergy physics, and is considered to be a milestone of neutrino physics.     

Exceptionally preserved brachiopods from the Chengjiang Lagerst（a｜¨）tte（Yunnan,China）：Perspectives on the Cambrian explosion of metazoans

The Cambrian explosion was coined to describe the geologically sudden appearance of numerous bilaterian body plans（Phyla）around the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition,around 565-520million years ago.Many explanations and conjectures have been postulated in order to explain the pattern and duration of this explosive radiation of many different phyla of early metazoans.Here,we focus on the evolution of a phylum of marine suspension-feeding animals—the brachiopods,as exemplified by the exceptionally preserved taxa from the celebrated Chengjiang Konservat Lagerst（a｜¨）tte（Yunnan,China）.The abundant soft-bodied preservation at these fossil quarries gives us the only firm insights into what brachiopods looked like and how they functioned and lived when they first appeared on the Earth.Studies of Chengjiang brachiopods demonstrate that the early animals developed a remarkably varied organization of tissues and organs shortly after the onset of Cambrian explosion.In the marine suspension-feeding brachiopods,most importantly the tentaculate feeding structure of early brachiopods is already differentiated into two shapes of lophophore,anteriorly coiled（spiralled）and posteriorly arching tentacle crowns and the unique latter type was previously not documented from fossil and living brachiopods.Also unlike any known Recent brachiopod,all the known Cambrian brachiopods from Chengjiang have an open digestive tract that was disposed either as a Ushaped gut in linguliform and stem group brachiopods,or straight gut with a posterior anus in some calcareous-shelled stocks.Moreover,in contrast toliving lingulids,all the Cambrian brachiopods have an epibenthic lifestyle either cemented by a ventral valve or attached by variable pedicles to establish complex ecological community encompassing primary tierers and variable secondary tierers.It is therefore assumed that brachiopods were the first benthic metazoan that achieved their success in ecological stratification and tiering complexity by late Atdabanian.The setae are also important for the brachiopod suspension-feeding life style,and in the Chengjiang braehiopods they include two types cilia-like and spine-like setae.The mantle canals of different braehiopod species are also distinctly variable in arrangement,mainly disposed in pinnate,baeulate and peripheral conditions.Of these,the peripheral disposition of mantle canals is for the first time proposed here so as to differentiate from the bifurcate condition in recent lingulids in that the former is devoid of posteriorly extending main trunks of sinus,but possesses a diverging dorsal vascula media in dichotomy.     

A potential multifunctional nano-platform based on compact alloyed quantum rods for in vivo multimodal imaging

Challenges in diagnostic imaging have led to an explosion of interest in combining modalities to more accurately interpret disease and abnormalities in vivo. Magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） and near-infrared optical imaging （NIRF） are highly complementary imaging techniques. Combining these methods would therefore have significant advantages and may be realized through the use of nanomaterials. Semiconductor nanocrystals have emerged as an important class of nanomaterials because of their tunable optoelectronic properties that arise from size, shape and composition. More recently, the rod architecture, also known as quantum rods （QRs）, has been achieved. With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology, the research team led by Prof. Cai Lintao at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology （Chinese Academy of Sciences） developed a promising strategy for engineering multifunctional imaging nanoprobes with the stable near-infrared QRs, which was recently published in Advanced Functional Materials （2014, 24, 25： 3897）.     

Both China and the world materials community have greatly benefitted from his service

Recently we learned from our colleagues in China that Professor Shi Changxu has received the highest national scientific award from the President of China.It is a great honor to have this opportunity to celebrate with Professor Shi on such an auspicious occasion. I came to know Professor Shi,when I first returned to China in the early eighties and we have since become good friends.Over the past few decades,I have come to learn that he is an extremely dedicated researcher with a very strong sense of how to help China develop its science and technology capabilities     

Kaposi＇s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Towards better understanding of its latency and pathogenesis

Kaposi＇s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus （KSHV） is a double stranded DNA virus. It was found to be related to Kaposi＇s sarcoma （KS）, primary effusion lymphoma （PEL） and multicentric Castleman＇s disease （MCD）, which cause severe illness in AIDS patients. As a member of human herpesvirus family, KSHV displays two distinct phases in its life cycle, the default latent and lytic replication phase. Following primary infection, the virus can quickly establish latent infection in the host. However, it is still not fully understood up to date how KSHV establishes and maintains viral latency in the host cells. KSHV mainly infects endothelial cells in the host, promoting proliferation and angiogenesis. Abundant angiogenesis is the key feature of KS and is the critical factor for KS progression. The mechanism of KSHV mediated pathogenesis is also largely unknown. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the mecha- nisms of KSHV latency and pathogenesis, with particular views from our work.     

Discovery of glacial-interglacial Indian summer monsoon dynamics

Precipitation carried by the Indian summer monsoon （ISM） is significant for the living environment of the are- as occupying nearly half population of the world including southwestern China. Through decadal multi-discipline efforts, Professor An Zhisheng＇s international group in the Institute of Earth Environment of Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully reconstructed the changing history of the ISM during the Pleistocene （2.6 Ma） based on an a- nalysis of a 666-m long lacustrine sediment core drilled from the Heqing Basin on the southeastern fringe of the Ti- betan Plateau, and discovered that glacial-interglacial ISM is driven by changes of cross-equatorial pressure gradient （XEPG） modulated by southern-and northern-hemisphere ice volume and air temperature.     

A genome-wide association study identifies two new cervical cancer susceptibility loci in the Han Chinese population

With the long-term continuous and strong support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the research team headed by Prof.Ma Ding has published their research findings in an article＂A genome-wide association study（GWAS）identifies two new cervical cancer susceptibility loci at 4q12 and17q12＂in Nature Genetics（2013,45（8）：918—922）.Abundant epidemiological and clinical evidence indicates that persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus（HPV）is the major risk factor and a requirement for the development of cervical cancer;     

Loess in China: A Good Archive of Climatic and Environmental Changes during the Quaternary

Quaternary scientists in China have significantly improved our knowledge of loes s deposition as well as our understanding of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmenta l changes over the past 2.5 million years. It is recognized that loess is o f aeolian origin with loess forming dust continuously deposited. It is also bel ieved that grainsize, magnetic susceptibility, carbon isotopes and fossil asse mblages in loess deposits are good proxy indicators of paleomonsoon climate and paleovegetation changes over the past 2.5 million years. Chinese loess is regar ded as one of the best terrestrial archives of climatic and environmental change s during the Quaternary. Further investigation of loess deposits and their recor ds of climatic and environmental change aids understanding of climate change and gives scientific backing for the project of ecological and environmental restor ation in northwest China.     

International cooperation in NSFC

International cooperation is an important strategy for all the funding agencies in the world. It plays a key role in the internationalization of China＇s scientific research. Since its establishment in 1986, National Natural Science Foundation of China （NSFC） has been developing international cooperation to fulfill its mission of supporting basic research, fostering talented scientists, and promoting socioeconomic develop-ment.     

A step forward for unveiling the molecular mechanism of programmed cell death in plant sexual reproduction

Plant eliminates unwanted cells by means of programmed cell death（PCD）in many developmental processes including suspensor degeneration during early embryogenesis.Suspensor is an important and terminally differentiated structure that connects the embryo to maternal tissues during embryogenesis in seeds,which was discovered almost 170 years ago.How the suspensor is eliminated and how the elimination is triggered have been attractive questions to plant scientists for many decades.Funded by NSFC and973 project,Prof.     

Urban Integrated Transportation Planning Based on Transit Oriented Development and its Research Challenges

Satisfying the increasing traffic demand with the least amount of resource and environmental costs, the sustainable development object of urban traffic system determines that from long-term viewpoint, it is necessary to establish urban integrated traffic planning system with public transport as it is. The planning idea of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is an important method to realize urban integrated traffic planning system. Research and practice reveal that harmony and integration is the key method to solve urban traffic problems. The integration of traffic system and land-use is the basic problem. Urban traffic development strategy with TOD provides ideas and ways to harmonize the traffic and land-use systems, which brings out a series of new research subjects and challenges in the field of traffic planning.     

Scientists deciphered the most perplexing fossil insects

Under financial support from the National National Science Foundation of China, Prof. Huang Diying （Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences） and his group published a paper titled ＂Amphibious flies and paedomorphism in the Jurassic period＂ in Nature （2013, 495（7439）： 94--7）. It has been known for long that the most puzzling fossil insects are Saurophthirus and Strashila.     

Three Important Advances in Engineering Strength Theories

There are there great advances in the research on engineering strength theories in the latter half of the 20th Century. The first advance was the development of strength theory from the single -shear strength theory including the Tresca yield criterion and Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion to theoctahedral-shear strength theory; the second one was that from the octahedral -shear strength theory to the twin -shear strength theory; and the third was the theories from the single criteria to the unified strength theory. These three advances are summarized in this paper. It is interesting and useful for researchers to choose an appropriate failure criterion in studying the strength of materials and structures , for engineers to correctly use it and for students to understand strength theory.     

The Suggestions on Improving the NSFC Peer Review System

NSFC's reputation as a responsible steward ofpublic funds rests on the integrity of the proposal re-view process. It allows NSFC to earn the society'sconfidence by demonstrating that the agency is guidedby principles of quality and merit when allocating theresources entrusted to it. The proposal review processis at the core of everything NSFC does, thereby de-serving constant examination and improvement.1 A definition of peer reviewPeer review is the name given to the judgment ofscientifi…     

China'''' s Fundamental Research in Energy Utilizations and Environment

The progress in the science of energy utilizations will act crucial effect on the developments of energy science and technology, which will then promote social and economical developments and fulfill requirements for the national strategic objectives. For the sake of sustainable development, a harmonious blend of energy utilizations and environment considerations will become one of the vital topics in the future research area of energy science. It is suggested that clean and high-efficiency utilization of traditional or fossil energy resources, fundamental investigations on the energy and environment theory, renewable energy utilizations, and the development of nuclear energy are selected as priority research areas during the period of the Tenth Five-year Plan of China, according to the development trend of the world energy science and the research background of Chinese energy science. It is expected to promote the interdisciplinary investigations in the science of energy u-tilizations and provide scien     

Nuclear Technique and Agriculture in China

Nuclear technique is a powerful scientific tool in agricultural research, an area with fruitful achievements in China. Application of nuclear technique in agriculture (Nuclear Agricultural Sciences) based on the development of related science and technology is a high-tech area, and also a significant aspect of non-electrical power application of nuclear technique. As an important component of agricultural science and technology, Nuclear technique application in agricultural field has achieved a lot and made remarkable contributions to the economic, social and ecological development of China. The current paper reviews the achievements, and presents the situation of the application of nuclear technique in the Chinese a-griculture briefly. The author strongly suggests that Chinese     

Synaptic NMDA receptors in the insular cortex contribute to neuropathic pain

Neuropathic pain is defined as pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system. Detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms of neuropathic pain will be helpful for the clinical treatment. Funded by the NSFC and CIHR, researchers from Xi＇an Jiaotong Uni- versity, University of Toronto, and Zhejiang University have revealed the critical roles of NMDA receptors in the insular cortex in the development of neuropathie pain.     

Regenerative Medicine-Opportunities and Challenges

In this paper, the definitions and contents of regenerative medicine, including tissue engineering, cell therapy, cytokine therapy and microecologic cure, were presented. And then, the prospects and difficulties for clinical application of these therapies were further mentioned. It indicated that the regenerative medicine came to a new era with full of opportunities and challenges. To face and seize this evanescent opportunity is worthy of detailed discussions.     

An epigenetic mechanism controls parasite immune evasion

Malaria is a major tropical parasitic disease in humans.The most deadly form of the human malaria parasite,Plasmodium falciparum,causes 300—500 million clinical cases and more than 1 million deaths worldwide each year.One critical component of virulence in malaria infections is the var genes that encode P.