Genome editing in large animals: current status and future prospects

Large animals (non-human primates, livestock and dogs) are playing important roles in biomedical research, and large livestock animals serve as important sources of meat and milk. The recently developed programmable DNA nucleases have revolutionized the generation of gene-modified large animals that are used for biological and biomedical research. In this review, we briefly introduce the recent advances in nuclease-meditated gene editing tools, and we outline these editing tools’ applications in human disease modeling, regenerative medicine and agriculture. Additionally, we provide perspectives regarding the challenges and prospects of the new genome editing technology.     

Managing academic freedom: recent cross-Atlantic developments

This paper charts the legal and institutional status of academic freedom in America after Garcetti v. Ceballos, a key First Amendment case decided by the US Supreme Court in 2006. It also addresses, in comparative compass, academic speech protection in the UK and the EU more broadly. Although a managerial ethos of university governance has reshaped academic freedom on both sides of the Atlantic, the shaping process has not been uniform. Differences in policy formation and institutional structure have produced significant variations in the safeguarding of faculty speech. Policy groups on the Continent have been particularly active in drafting aspirational statements on academic freedom. Both the UK and the EU also have legislation outlining the rights and responsibilities of university teaching and research. No such legislation exists in the US, where the courts have played a central role in determining the legal status of academic speech. Statutory provisions in Europe, by contrast, remain judicially untested. It is anticipated that academic freedom on both sides of the Atlantic will increasingly be defined in contract, with varying degrees of third-party appeal.     

Government research for industry: recent British developments

From late 1972 the Department of Trade and Industry (and its successor, the Department of Industry) began to operate new machinery for formulating policy towards R & D outside the nuclear and aerospace fields. Under the new machinery, the research establishments of the Department no longer arrive at their programmes through a series of advisory committees, with final endorsement by the Department's Chief Scientist, but rather have requirements placed with them by one or more executive Requirements Boards, comprising industrialists, academics and officials.This paper reviews the developments, beginning in the former Ministry of Technology, which led up to this new machinery, and then examines aspects of its operations from the viewpoints of the Departmental headquarters and of the research establishments involved. Attention is paid to the strategies and composition of the Boards, and to the requirement that the research establishments earn part of their income from industry.     

Carbon nanotubes for flexible batteries: recent progress and future perspective

Flexible batteries, which maintain their functions potently under various mechanical deformations, attract increasing interest due to potential applications in emerging portable and wearable electronics. Significant efforts have been devoted to material synthesis and structural designs to realize the mechanical flexibility of various batteries. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have a unique one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure and are convenient to further assemble into diverse macroscopic structures, such as 1D fibers, 2D films and 3D sponges/aerogels. Due to their outstanding mechanical and electrical properties, CNTs and CNT-based hybrid materials are superior building blocks for different components in flexible batteries. This review summarizes recent progress on the application of CNTs in developing flexible batteries, from closed-system to open-system batteries, with a focus on different structural designs of CNT-based material systems and their roles in various batteries. We also provide perspectives on the challenges and future research directions for realizing practical applications of CNT-based flexible batteries.     

学会承载能力:理念、现状与思考

<正>一、学会承载能力相关理念学会承载能力是学会能力建设的重要组成部分,也是学会能力建设的具体化。学会的承载能力,是指在一定社会历史和学会发展阶段,在学会的资源得到合理开发利用的前提下,学会开展工作活动的最大规模总量与可承担能力。学会承载能力以可预见的工作发展水平及环境动态变化为依据,以可     

Women scientists in China: current status and aspirations

Throughout history, gender inequality has persisted in most parts of the world. Since the founding of the People''s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, substantial progress has been made towards gender equality in China. Today, a large number of Chinese women scientists are making significant contributions to advance science. However, are they facing gender discrimination in hiring and promotion? Do they have access to the same opportunities as their male colleagues? What are the potential approaches to further promote gender equality in China''s scientific community given myriad unfavorable social factors? Recently, NSR invited five Chinese female scientists and two gender experts to discuss these issues. Here are their observations and suggestions. Bing LiuProfessor at the Department of the History of Science, Tsinghua University Jun LuSenior Engineer at Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications Technology, and Deputy Chief Designer of BeiDou Grounded Test and Validation System Chih-chen WangProfessor at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Hongyang WangPresident of the China Women''s Association for Science and Technology (CWAST), Director of the National Center for Science in Liver Cancer Xiaoyun WangC. N. Yang Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University Yan ZhengChair Professor at the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology Wenpei Tang (Chair)Professor at the School of Health Humanities, Peking University     

学术谱系的起源、现状和发展

对国内外学术谱系的起源与发展、概念界定、研究方法以及学术谱系平台和计量指标进行梳理分析,并结合已有研究对科学家的学术谱系现状与发展进行探讨。研究发现,我国科学家的学术谱系研究尚属起步阶段,研究多是定性研究;国外研究依托学术谱系库的建立与文献计量学的发展,定量研究逐渐增多。由此提出我国有必要建立特色学术谱系平台,构建适合中国特色的学术谱系的计量指标体系。     

A perspective on paper-based microfluidics: Current status and future trends

"Paper-based microfluidics" or "lab on paper," as a burgeoning research field with its beginning in 2007, provides a novel system for fluid handling and fluid analysis for a variety of applications including health diagnostics, environmental monitoring as well as food quality testing. The reasons why paper becomes an attractive substrate for making microfluidic systems include: (1) it is a ubiquitous and extremely cheap cellulosic material; (2) it is compatible with many chemical/biochemical/medical applications; and (3) it transports liquids using capillary forces without the assistance of external forces. By building microfluidic channels on paper, liquid flow is confined within the channels, and therefore, liquid flow can be guided in a controlled manner. A variety of 2D and even 3D microfluidic channels have been created on paper, which are able to transport liquids in the predesigned pathways on paper. At the current stage of its development, paper-based microfluidic system is claimed to be low-cost, easy-to-use, disposable, and equipment-free, and therefore, is a rising technology particularly relevant to improving the healthcare and disease screening in the developing world, especially for those areas with no- or low-infrastructure and limited trained medical and health professionals. The research in paper-based microfluidics is experiencing a period of explosion; most published works have focused on: (1) inventing low-cost and simple fabrication techniques for paper-based microfluidic devices; and (2) exploring new applications of paper-based microfluidics by incorporating efficient detection methods. This paper aims to review both the fabrication techniques and applications of paper-based microfluidics reported to date. This paper also attempts to convey to the readers, from the authors' point of view the current limitations of paper-based microfluidics which require further research, and a few perspective directions this new analytical system may take in its development.     

Reference intervals for thyroid disorders calculated by indirect method and comparison with reference change values

IntroductionThe aim of the study was to calculate reference intervals (RIs) for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4) and free triiodothyronine (fT3) and evaluate the clinical significance of these intervals by use of reference change values (RCV) of the analytes.Materials and methodsLaboratory patient data between August and December 2021 were evaluated for the study. A total of 188,912 patients with TSH, fT4, fT3, anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (Anti-TPO) and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (Anti-Tg) results were evaluated. All measurements were performed on Cobas c801 (Roche Diagnostics, Penzberg, Germany) using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay technology. Estimated RIs were compared with manufacturer’s by means of RCVs of analytes.ResultsThyroid stimulating hormone values didn’t differ significantly by gender and age. The combined RIs for whole group (N = 28,437) was found as 0.41-4.37 mIU/mL. Free T4 values (11.6-20.1 pmol/L, N = 13,479 in male; 10.5-19.5 pmol/L, N = 17,634 female) and fT3 values (3.38-6.35 pmol/L, N = 2,516 in male; 3.39-5.99 pmol/L, N = 3,348 pmol/L in female) significantly differed by gender (P < 0.050). Both fT4 and fT3 values also showed significant differences in age subgroups comparisons. So, male and female RIs were represented separately for age subgroups. When compared with manufacturer’s RIs, TSH whole group and fT4 subgroups RIs didn’t exceed the analytes’ RCVs, but this difference was greater for fT3.ConclusionsReference interval estimation by use of indirect method out of laboratory data may be more accurate than manufacturer provided RIs. This population based RIs evaluated using RCV of analytes may provide useful information in clinical interpretation of laboratory results.     

生物质能源的现状和发展前景

一.生物质能源概述 化石资源的过度消耗引发了能源和环境危机,寻找不可再生资源的替代品成为人类社会生存发展面临的重大问题.生物质能源环境友好,可再生.     

Studying transitions: Past,present, and future

The domain of transition studies has been drawing more and more scholarly attention and, as a result, its body of knowledge is rapidly growing. This raises new challenges as well as opportunities, not the least regarding the methodological and philosophical underpinnings of research in this domain. In this respect, transition research, as a relatively young field of inquiry, has been little concerned with methodological investigation and reflection. We propose a framework that enables this reflection: the so-called ‘transition research onion’. Subsequently, we utilize this framework to systematically assess 217 peer-reviewed papers in the field of transition studies, to distill key methodological patterns and trends of the field. The findings suggest that the methodology of transition studies, in terms of depth and diversity, is underdeveloped. These insights serve to guide future research on transition processes.     

我国海上人命救助现状、问题和对策初探

不断提升海上人命救助能力是我国当下和未来的重要课题.本文梳理了我国海上人命救助的体制机制建设与政策法规发展,通过文献研究发现该主题的学术研究和技术发明数量较少,值得深入探究.本文进一步探讨了我国海上人命救助任务的特点和不足,提出通过体制机制、科技和管理等方面的不断创新推动该项事业高质量发展.     

The role of wood in meeting current and future global energy needs

Recent surveys by the FAO and other organisations have shown that worldwide the amount of wood used as fuel is far greater than had been supposed. It probably exceeds one billion tonnes annually, comparable with the quantity used for all other purposes combined. This has stimulated interest in the economic viability of growing wood as a fuel crop, particularly by coppicing.     

默顿科学社会学：当前困境与未来趋向

 目前,科学社会学领域的两大派别——默顿学派与SSK学派的科学社会研究均处于困顿状态。基于实证主义科学观,默顿科学社会学只关注科学社会结构的研究,其悬置科学知识的做法成为SSK攻击的把柄,SSK的批判使默顿学派在痛苦中反思、调整自己。与此同时,SSK突出强调社会维度的决定作用的相对主义倾向对理性标准构成了巨大威胁,受到传统科学哲学家和科学社会学家的强烈批判,其强纲领研究进路在方法论上还遭遇到了反身性难题。默顿科学社会学的精神实质是捍卫和阐扬科学的理性与客观性,其大方向是正确的,SSK并不能否定默顿科学社会学的存在价值。此外,默顿科学社会学与SSK虽然同属于科学的社会研究领域,但它们在认识论上的分歧却无法调和,在二者之间找到共同点达成一致的希望渺茫。在未来的较长一段时期内,默顿科学社会学大概会在与SSK和后现代科学哲学保持必要的张力中为自己开辟前行的道路。