Mechanisms functional underlying the characteristics structural and of acupoints

Acupoints are particular areas on the surface of the body through which the Qi and blood of the Zang-fu organs and meridians flow. Acupoints can respond to stimuli and reflect syndromes. Research on the essential morphology of acupoints has two key focuses： anatomical structure and physiological func- tion. The structure is the material and anatomical basis for the function, while the function is the manifes- tation of the structure. The two factors not only have profound significance for our understanding of the essence of acupoints, but also have great value for clinical acupuncture and moxibustion practice. Based on the structural and functional characteristics of meridians under different physiological and pathological con- ditions, this paper illustrates the essence of acupoints and explores the rules and biological basis of the acu- point functions induced by acupuncture and moxibustion.     

The New Progresses in Coupling Relations of Mountain-oasis-desert System

In this paper, the concepts and principles of mountain-oasis-desert system (MODS) are put forward according to the natural geographical situations in arid zone of western china. The spatiotemporal characteristics and dynamic changes of typical MODS, the process of material circulation, energy transform and information transmission among MODS and the mechanism of MODS interaction and symbiosis are analyzed. The foundation and frame of the coupling type are determined by landform types and climate characteristics: the spatial pattern of the coupling type is determined by the hydrological characteristics; the vegetation type reflects the appearance of the coupling type; the soil state restricts the function of the coupling type and the human activities influence the development course of the coupling type. Interface course of MODS is closely related to such medium as water, soil, air, etc., and water is the major medium during the course of material circulation, energy transform and information transmission. The disorder of water salt, water heat and water land restricts the stability of water ecosystem.     

NSFC Delegation Visits the U.S.

The Science Fund Performance Evaluation Delegation, headed by Prof. Sun Jiaguang, Vice President of NSFC, visited the U. S. A. from July 6 to 11, 9008. During the visit, the delegation met with the administrative sections of the National Science Foundation （NSF）, National Institutes of Health （NIH） and the White House Office of Management and Budget （OMB）, and obtained more comprehensive under-standing of the concepts, procedures, structures and relevant working systems of performance evaluation at NSF and NIH through face-to-face consultation and discussion. The delegation was composed of NSFC staff from the Bureau of Planning, Bureau of Finance, Bureau of Policy, Bureau of International Cooperation, General Office and a representative from the Chinese Ministry of Finance.     

Development of Studies on Relationship between Astronomical Phenomena and Natural Disasters

1 Significance of the ResearchLiving and progress are the two main motifs of the human society. The security of anima and property of the human is imperiled by frequent natural disasters. Natural disaster is one of main factors restricting development and advancement of the the society. The physical process of gestation and happen of natural disasters is complex and the process is affected by many factors. At present, it is difficult to exactly predict natural disas-     

Discussion on the Organization of International Cooperation and Exchange Projects in Agricultural Sciences in NSFC

Basic research is one of the key components in a-gricultural sciences. It is the source of the development of agricultural technology, and the driving force for the sustainable development of agriculture. The internationalization of basic research is one of the characteristics of the times. The international cooperation and exchange is very important for the development of basic research of agricultural sciences, since China is a developing country, and the input in basic research of agricultural sciences cannot meet the demand for the social and     

Residual Strength Study for Damaged Hull and Risk Analysis and Formal Safety Assessment

Residual strength assessment and prediction has been introduced in the project studies, including the determination of risk failure scenario, the change law of structural capacity and load effects in the damage of ship structure, the models for structural response and ultimate strength analysis, and dynamical model of reliability assessment. In addition, the project has improved the calculation method of ship ultimate load -bearing capacity, and studied the change law, assessment criteria of residual strength, and the method of predicting lifetime for aging ships. The valuable conclusions have been obtained by a large number of engineering calculations. The project and its extended results can provide theoretical foundation and background condition to make risk rule and modem design system, and can implement risk analysis and formal safety assessment for the marine world. The results will improve design quality and shipping safety of ship and offshore and enhanced their society and economic benefits.     

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     

Combustion chemistry

In the pasl decade, Qi Fei and his group at University of Science and Technology of China focused on the basic research of combustion chemistry with the funding from the National Na＊ural Science Foundation of China, and ac- quired systematic achievements with original innovations. Their pioneering development of the synchrotron-based combustion diagnostic tools enabled the comprehensive species detection of complex combustion systems which was a world-class combustion research problem for a long time. A great number of important combustion species were detected for the first time. In particular, the observations of enols and hydroperoxides verified two significant as- sumptions in oxidation mechanisms. Furthermore, kinetic models of various types of fuels were developed and vali- dated independently. These progresses provide important experimental databases and kinetic models of transporta- tion surrogate fuels and next generation bio fuels for the basic research in the development of advanced engine tech-     

Research and Suggestions on the Coordinated Management and Protection of Intellectual Property in China

From two aspects of intellectual property management, namely the subject and the object, this article discusses the development and improvement of intellectual property system in China and the gap and problems existed compared with developed countries. Based on this, the issue of how to improve the coordinated management of intellectual property is studied and the relevant proposals are put forward.     

Multi-disciplinary Research in Traditional Chinese Medicine—An Exploration

This paper discusses the present state of Traditional Chinese Medicine being divided into three leading lines of thought, namely, the Clinical line, the Integration of Western and Chinese Medicine line and the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine line. It also describes the position of Traditional Chinese Medicine being a medical science rich in philosophy and wisdom and a culture centred upon medical science and technology. It outlines the basic characteristic of Traditional Chinese Medicine being rooted in the ‘Holistic Theory’ and ‘Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment’ and pointed out various flaws in methodology in Integration of Western and Chinese Medicine research. It also stresses that in order to make fruitful progress in the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine, multi-discipline research in Traditional Chinese Medicine should be made on a thoroughly understanding of the basic methodology of Traditional Chinese Medicine and follow its established principles.     

The Challenging Topics and Future Directions of the Research in Limnology and Watershed Sciences

Based on reviewing the problems in limnology and watershed sciences in meeting the national demands and the development of theories and methodology, this paper proposed some challenging topics to the sciences, covering the process of lake evolution and the quantitative analysis of human impacts, in -lake nutrient cycling an biogeo-chemical process, the process and mechanisms of material flow in lake-watershed system, digital watershed and the modeling of the surface process of lake -watershed, and ecosystem health and scientific management of lake-watershed.     

Accelerated crystallization of zeolites via hydroxyl free radicals

<正>With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China,the research team led by Prof.Yu Jihong(于吉红)at the State Key Laboratory of Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry,Jilin University,collaborated with Prof.Su Jihu from the University of Science and Technology of China and the research team led by Prof.Avelino Corma from Universidad     

Department Director＇s Fund for Earthquake Relief

On May 30, 2008, NSFC Department of Chemical Sciences launched its Director＇s Fund Emergency Program ＂Technologies for the collection and analysis of the bacteria and viruses in the air of earthquake stricken areas＂, which was undertaken by Prof. Zhu Tong and his research group from the Environment and Health Research Center and the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of Peking University. Based on the technologies for bio aerosol collection, biological analysis and monitoring, an ambulatory system for biological monitoring and early warning will be set up to monitor the bacteria and viruses spreading in the earthquake stricken areas in Sichuan Province, so as to deliver data and facts for the early warning, prevention and control of possible epidemic situation.     

Molecular mechanism for activityregulation of MLL-family methyltransferases

<正>With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the Chinese Academy of Sciences,the Ministry of Science and Technology of China,and the Basic Research Project of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission,the research teams led by Prof.Lei Ming(雷鸣)and Chen Yong at the National Center for Protein Science Shanghai,Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology,and Prof.LI     

Delineation of a new mechanism underlying accurate mitosis and chromosome stability

<正>With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences,the research team led by Prof.Yao Xuebiao(姚雪彪)and Prof.Liu Xing at the University of Science and Technology of China and Anhui Key Laboratory of Cellular Dynamics and Chemical Biology,cooperated with Profs.Teng Maikun,Niu Liwen,Zang Jianye,     

Prof. Zhu Zuoyan Attended the China-EU High-level Forum on S & T Strategy

Prof. Zhu Zuoyan attended the "China-EU High-level Forum on Science and Technology Strategy" and de-livered a keynote speech titled "Development of the Basic Research in China: Opportunities and Challenges".As one of the major events organized in honor of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties betweenChina and Europe, the China-EU High-level Forum on S&. T Strategy was held in the Great Hall of the People fromMay 12 to 13. NSFC is one of the co-organizing par…     

Reactions of xenon with iron and nickel are predicted in the Earth＇s inner core

With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Nos. 11274136, 11025418 and 91022029） and the Ministry of Science and Technology （the National Basic Research Program of China, Grant No. 2011CB808200）, the research group led by Prof. Ma Yanming and Prof. Zou Guangtian at the State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, reported that the chemical reaction of Xe and Fe/Ni takes place under conditions found in the Earth＇s inner core, leading to the formation of inter-metallic compounds of XeFe3 and XeNi3. The result was published in Nature Chemistry （ 2014, 6（7）： 644-648）.     

Dynamic reassortments model of the human-infecting influenza A （H7N9） virus

With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Prof. George F. Gao＇s laboratory at the CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, with collaborators reported the genetic heterogeneity of the human-infecting influenza A （H7N9） virus and posed virus dynamic reassortments model, which was published in Nature Communications （2014, 5. 3142）.     

Three-dimensional quantum Hall effect and metal——insulator transition in ZrTe_5

<正>With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key RD Program of China,the joint research team led by Prof.Zhang LiYuan at the Southern University of Science and Technology and Prof. Qiao ZhenHua(乔振华)at the University of Science and Technology of     

A Brief Introduction to a Major Project—The Physical-Chemical Processes in the Lower Atmosphere and Their Interaction with the Ecological System over the Yangtze Delta

With rapid industrialization and agricultural modernization in the past two decades, the Yangtze Delta Region in China has been one of the regions in the world most influenced by human activity. How has the economic development impacted on ecosystem, environment, agriculture and regional climate in this region? What are the mechanisms of the interactive processes and feedbacks? What will be the future changes under different development scenarios? These are questions of critical importance to sustain the rate of social and economic development. A Major Project, The Physical-Chemical Processes in the Lower Atmosphere and Their Interaction with the Ecological System over Yangtze Delta, as one of the Ninth Five-Year Major Programs (1996—2000) funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC, just focused on those questions. Under the leadership of Prof. Zhou Xiuji, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences this project has made significant achievements and great progress in answering the above questions.