China Science & Technology Forum

[JSCh]

World's first 3-D-printed blood vessel successfully functions in monkey's body
(People's Daily Online) 15:10, December 13, 2016

The 3-D-printed blood vessel (Photo/People's Daily Overseas Edition)​

Kang Yujian, chief scientist and CEO of Chinese biotech company Revotek, recently announced a breakthrough in China's 3-D-printed blood vessel project. According to the announcement, the team has successfully transplanted 3-D-printed blood vessels into rhesus monkeys, and the vessels have achieved regeneration, the People's Daily Overseas Edition reported on Dec. 13.

Produced by a 3-D bio-printer with the company's own stem cell bio-ink technology, the blood vessels have been integrated into the monkeys' abdominal aortas. The structure and biological functions of the printed vessels are the same as those of real blood vessels.

According to Kang, Revotek has transplanted 3-D-printed vessels into 30 rhesus monkeys, and all the monkeys survived. The technology has yielded a method to achieve the endothelialization of artificial blood vessels, and will benefit about 1.8 billion patients with cardiovascular disease. The stem cell technology breakthrough will lead human beings into a new medical era featuring tissue manufacturing and organ repair.

Revotek signed a technology development contract with West China Hospital in May of this year, officially starting the blood vessel experiment. Researchers made bio-ink from the rhesus monkeys' own stem cells, and replaced a portion of their abdominal aortas with the 3-D-printed artificial blood vessels.

 

[艹艹艹]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/robo-advisory-services-grow-rapidly-in-china-1481511662
Robo-Advisory Services Grow Rapidly in China
Investment advice for the country’s digitally savvy has been slow to take off, but that’s changing

ENLARGE
China Merchants Securities estimates that the assets managed by robo advisers in China will reach 5.22 trillion yuan ($758 billion) by 2020.PHOTO:ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

LIZA LIN
Updated Dec. 12, 2016 1:12 p.m. ET

When Chinese investorPu Gangwanted advice on diversifying his investments in July, the Beijing native turned to a source that’s increasingly popular in his country: a robot.

Mr. Pu put 500,000 yuan ($72,610) into an account on a wealth-advisory app run by Chinese fintech startup Xuanji, a unit of Pintec Group. Users answer a set of questions posed by the Xuanji app to assess their risk tolerance and investment goals, then the software puts together a portfolio of mutual funds matching those criteria.

“I wanted a wealth-management platform that would give me unbiased and strong recommendations,” says the 53-year-old sales executive. “It’s hard to get that from traditional Chinese private bankers, as they often consider both their own corporate sales goals along with your interests.”


Robo advisers are growing rapidly in China as savers shift money out of bank accounts and into accounts run by online services, often through smartphone apps. In the past, Chinese savers who weren’t ultrarich had few choices for investment advice.

Data on the amount of assets managed by robo advisers in China isn’t readily available, butChina Merchants SecuritiesCo.estimates the total will reach 5.22 trillion yuan ($758 billion) by 2020.

Filling gaps
Tech startups offering robo-advisory services, such as Betterment, have already shaken up the wealth-management industry in the U.S. Founded in 2008, Betterment has grown to manage more than $6 billion in investor assets. More-traditional banks and brokers likeCharles SchwabCorp.andWells Fargo& Co. have also begun offering customers robo-advisory services. Researcher Cerulli Associates estimates the U.S. robo-advisory business will grow to $385 billion in the next five years from $83 billion this year.

China’s state-run banks and brokerage firms have been slow to reach out to the country’s digitally savvy savers. That has created an opening for internet giantsAlibaba Group HoldingLtd.andTencent HoldingsLtd.to offer money-market funds through apps that offer higher interest rates and are easier to access than traditional bank accounts. Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group has attracted 152 million active users and manages 760 billion yuan ($110 billion) in assets through its Yu’e Bao wealth-management platform launched in June 2013.

Now, a new crop of tech firms like Xuanji are hoping to persuade investors to use their apps to invest in stocks and bonds, not just money-market funds. Part of the appeal of Xuanji and competitors like Beijing-based CreditEase, the parent of New York-listedYirendaiLtd., and Beijing-based startup MiCai is that their robo-advisory services are cheaper and more accessible than advice from traditional human brokers.

But some traditional brokers are finding a role in the robo trend. For example, Xuanji has a partnership with Minsheng Securities Co. Minsheng uses Xuanji’s technology to offer clients who invest at least 50,000 yuan the option of robo-advisory services, and clients pay a sales fee of 1% or less on funds recommended by the robo adviser. China Merchants Bank also introduced robo-advisory services for its clients last week,with a minimum investment threshold of 20,000 yuan.

“Domestic investors, especially the younger segment and white-collar professionals, are increasingly open to using robots to manage their money,” saysJin Kuihua,a vice president at Minsheng.

Last year’s stock-market plunge in China and the country’s economic slowdown helped pique investors’ interest in robo advisory, saysZheng Yudong,Xuanji’s Beijing-based chief executive. “High-yielding fixed-income products are starting to disappear,” he says, and many people are leery of investing in stocks on their own.

Big potential
There is no shortage of potential customers for robo advisers in China. The country is home to the world’s largest middle class, and its ranks of millionaires has reached 1.6 million, according to Credit Suisse Group.

That potential has attracted DriveWealth LLC, a New Jersey-based investment platform that has formed a partnership with CreditEase and the finance arm of Chinese e-commerce companyJD.comInc.to provide wealth-management technology and services to Asian customers. “As far as growth opportunities go” for robo advising, “there is China, there is a gap, and then there is the rest of the world,” saysMichael Fitzgerald,head of corporate strategy at DriveWealth.

 

[JSCh]

Chinese scientist Chen Zhu wins 2016 Ernest Beutler Prize for Clinical Science
(People's Daily Online) 16:45, December 13, 2016

The American Society of Hematology recently honored Chen Zhu, a professor of molecular biology at the Shanghai Institute of Hematology, and Hugues de Thé, a professor of cellular and molecular oncology at the Collège de France and Hôspital Saint-Louis in Paris. Both scientists received the 2016 Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize for their significant research in the area of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), Science and Technology Daily reported on Dec. 13.

APL used to be among the most dreaded and deadly forms of leukemia. Chen's team developed a novel targeted treatment strategy using all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (As2O3), and led the first clinical trial combining ATRA, As2O3 and chemotherapy. This therapy transformed APL from a highly fatal disease to the first curable acute myeloid leukemia.

Though arsenic is known for its toxicity, arsenic trioxide has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Called "pishuang" in Chinese, it is used to treat cancer and other conditions. Chen's research represents a typical combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

The Ernest Beutler Lecture, named for a past president of ASH, is a two-part lectureship that recognizes major advances related to a single topic. The award honors two individuals, one who has enabled advances in basic science and another who has accomplished great things in clinical science or translational research.

 

[JSCh]

China establishes day for sci-tech workers
Source: Xinhua | 2016-12-13 23:42:39 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's 81 million science and technology (S&T) workers are to have their own festival -- a sci-tech workers' day on May 30 each year.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, agreed to set the day from 2017, according to a statement by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology on Tuesday.

The date was chosen because an event conflating the national conference on S&T, the biennial conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and the national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) was held on May 30, 2016.

During the event, the top leadership set the target of China becoming a world S&T power by the middle of this century.

The day will encourage all sci-tech workers to remember their mission, serve the country, play their roles in innovation and supporting the country's development to achieve the aim of building China into a world-leading S&T power, according to the statement.

 

[terranMarine]

Chinese officials say the country will start to build the first polar research icebreaker by itself before the end of December.

State Oceanic Administration director Wang Hong announced the news at the National Marine Science and Technology Innovation Conference in Beijing on Tuesday, December 13.

Construction is expected to last for approximately two years.The new icebreaker will be 122.5 meters long, 34 meters wide, and with a full displacement of 13,000 tons.

It will have a range of 20,000 nautical miles and will be designed to travel for up to 60 days at a time, with a full crew, without refueling.

The ship is also be fitted with the latest global positioning technology and research equipment.

Jiangnan Shipyard Group has been contracted to build the vessel, signing an agreement with the Polar Research Institute of China on November 30 of this year.

Chinese research vessel Xuelong (Snow Dragon), which is currently on its 33rd Antarctic expedition, is China's only polar icebreaker right now.

Xuelong was built by Kherson Shipyard, a Ukrainian company, in 1993.

 

[cirr]

China panel makers making strong investments in OLED manufacturing

Rebecca Kuo, Tainan; Adam Hwang

DIGITIMES [Tuesday 13 December 2016]

China-based panel makers are making big investments in OLED technology, with EverDisplay Optronics (Shanghai) kicking off construction of a 6th-generation (6G) AMOLED factory. In addition to EverDisplay Optronics, China-based display panel maker BOE Technology is constructing a 6G factory for flexible OLED panels in western China at an investment of CNY46.5 billion, and fellow makers China Star Optoelectronics Technology, Tianma Micro-electronics, Truly Opto-Electronics, Royol and Visionox set to invest in setting up or expanding AMOLED production capacities.

EverDisplay's construction of a 6th-generation (6G) AMOLED factory will have a monthly production capacity of 30,000 1,500mm x 1,850mm glass substrates (including flexible units) in Shanghai City, eastern China, at an estimated total investment of CNY27.278 billion (US$3.95 billion), with trial production to begin in January 2019 and full utilization of capacity to be reached in 2021, according to the company.

With a total floor space of 460,000 square meters (4.95 million square feet), the factory will have three main manufacturing processes - array, OLED evaporation and module assembly. The factory will produce 1- to 15-inch AMOLED panels and modules.

According to China-based Sigmaintell Consulting, there were 260 million smartphone-use AMOLED panels with a total area of 1.9 million square meters shipped globally in 2015 and the shipments will increase to 380 million units with a total area of 2.6 million square meters in 2016.

EverDispaly Optronics (Shanghai)'s groundbreaking ceremony
for its 6G AMOLED factory
Photo: Company

@Bussard Ramjet India??? I bet India has neither the technical know-hows nor the financial resources to play even a minor role in this important sub-sector of digital industry

 

[JSCh]

Zika antibodies from infected patient thwart infection in mice
December 14, 2016

Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Summary:

Researchers have identified neutralizing antibodies against Zika virus from an infected patient that fully protected mice from infection, adding to the current arsenal of antibodies in development for much needed antiviral therapies and vaccines.​

Zika antibodies from infected patient thwart infection in mice -- ScienceDaily

Journal Reference:

1. Q. Wang, H. Yang, X. Liu, L. Dai, T. Ma, J. Qi, G. Wong, R. Peng, S. Liu, J. Li, S. Li, J. Song, J. Liu, J. He, H. Yuan, Y. Xiong, Y. Liao, J. Li, J. Yang, Z. Tong, B. D. Griffin, Y. Bi, M. Liang, X. Xu, C. Qin, G. Cheng, X. Zhang, P. Wang, X. Qiu, G. Kobinger, Y. Shi, J. Yan, G. F. Gao. Molecular determinants of human neutralizing antibodies isolated from a patient infected with Zika virus. Science Translational Medicine, 2016; 8 (369): 369ra179 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aai8336

 

[cirr]

China to join top-3 semiconductor equipment spenders for first time, says SEMI

Jessie Shen

DIGITIMES, Taipei [Wednesday 14 December 2016]

Worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment are projected to increase 8.7% to US$39.7 billion in 2016, according to SEMI. In 2017, another 9.3% growth is expected, resulting in a global semiconductor equipment market totaling US$43.4 billion.

For 2016, Taiwan and South Korea are projected to remain the largest spending regions, with China joining the top three for the first time, said SEMI. Rest of World (essentially Southeast Asia) will lead in growth with 87.7%, followed by China at 36.6% and Taiwan at 16.8%.

Wafer processing equipment, the largest product segment by dollar value, is anticipated to increase 8.2% in 2016 to total US$31.2 billion, SEMI indicated. The assembly and packaging equipment segment is projected to grow by 14.6% to US$2.9 billion in 2016 while semiconductor test equipment is forecast to increase by 16% to a total of US$3.9 billion.

SEMI forecasts that in 2017, equipment sales in Europe will climb the most, 51.7%, to a total of US$2.8 billion, following a 10% contraction in 2016. In 2017, Taiwan, Korea and China are forecast to remain the top three markets, with Taiwan maintaining the top spot even with a 9.2% decline to total US$10.2 billion. Equipment sales to Korea are forecast at US$9.7 billion, while equipment sales to China are expected to reach US$7 billion.

In a separate release, SEMI revealed 62 new front-end facilities are expected to begin operation between 2017 and 2020. The 62 facilities and lines range from R&D to high-volume fabs, with most of the newly operating facilities being volume fabs and only seven being R&D or pilot facilities.

Between 2017 and 2020, 26 facilities and lines will begin operation in China, about 42% of the worldwide total currently tracked by SEMI. The Americas region follows with 10 facilities, and Taiwan with nine facilities. By product type, 32% are foundries, 21% are memory, 11% LED, then power, MEMS, logic, analog and opto in decreasing order.

Between 2017 and 2020, five facilities are unconfirmed, 10 are planned, 11 are announced, 26 are in construction and 10 are equipping, SEMI indicated. These numbers include facilities and lines of all probabilities, including unconfirmed projects and projects which have been announced, but may have a low probability of completion.

The projects under construction, or soon to be under construction, will be key drivers in equipment spending for the industry over the next several years, with China expected to be the key spending market, according to SEMI.

@Bussard Ramjet Another sub-sector of the digital tomorrow that requires both know-hows and continuous massive massive massive investment. India???

 

[JSCh]

BGI involved in publication of the first seahorse genome in Nature
Publish Date: 2016-12-15

Whole genome of the tiger tail seahorse (Hippocampus comes) was sequenced for the first time and the latest study was published as a cover story in Nature.

The study was an international collaboration including researchers from South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), University of Konstanz (Germany), BGI (China) and A*STAR (Singapore).

Seahorses (Family Syngnathidae) exhibit certain highly specialized phenotypes, such as a toothless tubular mouth, a body covered with bony plates, absence of caudal and pelvic fins, and a prehensile tail. They are also unique among vertebrates due to their ‘male pregnancy’ and an unusual sex-role reversal whereby males nourish developing embryos in a brood pouch until hatching and parturition occur.

In order to understand the genetic bases of their unique morphology and reproductive system, the research team sequenced the genome of the tiger tail seahorse and performed comparative analyses with genomes of other ray-finned fishes.

In this study, the researchers found that the seahorse genome is the fastest evolving one among the sequenced fishes so far, although the exact reasons still unknown. However, the higher evolutionary rate could have facilitated the emergence of proteins with more efficient or new functions, contributing to the unique body plan. In addition, compared to other teleosts the seahorse genome has lost a substantially higher number of potential cis-regulatory elements, which may play a major role in the evolutionary innovations of seahorses.

Male pregnancy is a unique evolutionary innovation of seahorses and pipefishes. In teleost fishes, the C6AST subfamily of astacin metalloproteases, including high choriolytic enzyme (HCE) and low choriolytic enzyme (LCE), are involved in lysing the chorion surrounding the eggs and leading to hatching of embryos. Another important member of this subfamily, patristacin (pastn), has undergone expansion in the seahorse; meanwhile, five pastn genes are highly expressed in the brood pouch during mid- and late-pregnancy, suggesting a possible common role of this gene for the male pregnancy of syngnathids.

T-box 4 (Tbx4) is a master control gene for limb development. The researchers observed that tbx4 has been lost in the assembled seahorse genome and hypothesized its association with disappearance of pelvic fins. Further knockout of tbx4 in zebrafish recapitulated the ‘pelvic fin-loss’ phenotype of seahorses. The result is a critical highlight of this study.

Meng Xu and Yulan Yang, two of the first authors from BGI, are in charge of genome assembly, annotation and comparative analysis. Prof. Qiong Shi, the vice president and the Chief Scientist of BGI Fisheries, is one of the corresponding authors. He has had co-launched the seahorse genome project with Prof. Qiang Lin from South China Sea Institute of Oceanology and Prof. Byrappa Venkatesh from A*STAR five years ago.

Since seahorses have been widely used for Chinese medicine and treated as vulnerable or endangered animal, the researchers also sequenced the lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus), an important aquaculture species in China. These datasets will definitely be helpful for improvement of the artificial/molecular breeding and ecological protection of seahorses in the world.



BGI involved in publication of the first seahorse genome in Nature | BGI News Center

Paper: Qiang Lin, Shaohua Fan, Yanhong Zhang, Meng Xu, Huixian Zhang, Yulan Yang, Alison P. Lee, Joost M. Woltering, Vydianathan Ravi, Helen M. Gunter, Wei Luo, Zexia Gao, Zhi Wei Lim, Geng Qin, Ralf F. Schneider, Xin Wang, Peiwen Xiong, Gang Li, Kai Wang, Jiumeng Min, Chi Zhang, Ying Qiu, Jie Bai, Weiming He, Chao Bian, Xinhui Zhang, Dai Shan, Hongyue Qu, Ying Sun, Qiang Gao, Liangmin Huang, Qiong Shi, Axel Meyer, Byrappa Venkatesh. The seahorse genome and the evolution of its specialized morphology. Nature (2016); DOI: 10.1038/nature2059

 

[cirr]

China launches first project for primordial gravitational wave detection in northern hemisphere

15.12.2016 | 09:54

The site of Project Ngari

BEIJING, 15 December (BelTA - People's Daily) - The China Institute of High-Energy Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the official launch of Project Ngari on Dec. 13. The project team plans to build the Ngari 1 telescope and begin scientific observation within five years. Once constructed, it will be the first observatory for primordial gravitational wave detection in the northern hemisphere.

In fact, since the existence of gravitational waves was first predicted by Albert Einstein, no trace was captured in scientific research until Feb. 11, 2016, when the LIGO experimental group and U.S. National Science Foundation jointly declared that they had detected a gravitational wave produced by the merging of two black holes 1.3 billion years ago.

After humans first detected a trace of gravitational waves, exploration of primordial gravitational waves, produced as early as the universe came into being, became the next scientific target. Against this backdrop, the project for detection of primordial gravitational waves was finally implemented in China.

Zhang Xinmin, chief scientist for the project, disclosed that its aim is to establish an unprecedentedly sensitive experiment on primordial gravitational waves, and that the experiment may also make breakthroughs in other large scientific questions such as the evolution of the universe, dark matter and dark energy.

Sitting 5,000 meters above sea level in Tibet, the Ngari observatory will possess distinctive geographical, observational and infrastructural advantages, according to Guo Zhaolin, the senior consultant of the project.

With the construction of the Ngari observatory, China will obtain the most accurate observation data in the study of primordial gravitational waves. However, due to China's limited experience and technical capabilities in detecting the waves, Chinese scientists will cooperate closely with top American research universities and scientific institutes.

http://eng.belta.by/society/view/ch...-detection-in-northern-hemisphere-97206-2016/

 

[cirr]

我国科学家在拉曼纳米激光研究方面取得重要进展

2016-12-16 16:46:00 央视网

央视网消息： 据国家自然科学基金委网站消息，在国家自然科学基金项目（项目编号：51502175，61575129，11304206）资助下，深圳大学光电工程学院阮双琛教授团队在拉曼纳米激光研究方面取得重要进展，研究成果近期以“A Thresholdless Tunable Raman Nanolaser using a ZnO–Graphene Superlattice（基于氧化锌-石墨烯超晶格的无阈值拉曼纳米激光）”为题发表在Advanced Materials上。论文链接：http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201604351/full。

随着纳米光技术如芯片级光通讯、生物医学成像的发展，人们对激光的研究进入到亚波长范围。亚波长激光如纳米激光的发展主要基于表面等离子体增强发射光技术。一般的纳米激光波长固定，限制了其应用，而拉曼光散射能将泵浦光转变为新的波长。发展新型拉曼纳米激光可以得到波长可调的纳米激光，有可能在应用上取得创新性的突破。

阮双琛教授团队采用空间限域生长法合成了一种新型石墨烯基超晶格材料，这种石墨烯基超晶格可以在从可见光到近红外光波段较宽的波长范围激发出表面等离子体，光激发该超晶格材料可以得到波长可调的拉曼纳米激光。该拉曼纳米激光具有无阈值、可室温操作、激光波长可调、激光波长覆盖范围广（波段从可见光到近红外光）等特点，有望在纳米光技术如生物医学成像等方面取得应用上的新突破。

图1（a）超晶格的X射线衍射谱，内图为超晶格侧面结构示意图；（b）超晶格表面高分辨电镜照片，晶面间距2.81 和1.87 可指标为ZnO层，内图为超晶格表面结构示意图；（c）超晶格纳米片侧面高分辨电镜照片；（d）超晶格选区电子衍射花样。

图2（a）ZnO的拉曼谱；（b-f）ZnO-石墨烯超晶格在不同泵浦光激发下的激光光谱，对应泵浦光波长分别为b）488nm，c）514.5nm，d）568nm，e）647nm，f）785nm，泵浦功率为3.2kW /cm2； (g) 拉曼散射过程的能级图，其中拉曼振动模V1-V4对应图（a）中的V1-V4，能级图中的四个散射光E1-E4对应拉曼激光中的E1-E4。

图3（a）在不同泵浦功率514.5nm激光激发下得到的激光光谱；（b）拉曼纳米激光功率密度随泵浦功率的变化曲线；（c）拉曼纳米激光峰E1-E4的线宽随泵浦功率的变化曲线；（d）不同温度下的拉曼纳米激光光谱；（e）不同泵浦功率密度514.5nm激光激发下E1-E4的激光光谱图。

图4（a）用于研究ZnO-石墨烯超晶格表面等离子共振的Kretschmann构造示意图；（b）Kretschmann构造得到的ZnO-石墨烯超晶格表面等离子共振反射率曲线，这是由原始数据经过四阶多项式拟合得到的曲线；（c）ZnO-石墨烯超晶格界面对拉曼振动模的高度方向选择性示意图，这是无阈值拉曼纳米激光产生的重要条件。

@Bussard Ramjet

http://china.huanqiu.com/hot/2016-12/9822096.html

 

[onebyone]

The satellite that China launched into space last year to explore dark matter – thought to be the invisible part of the cosmos – has already detected 1.6 billion particles, officials said on Saturday. Scientists will now have to analyse the information gathered to try to understand what makes some matter five times more abundant than which is visible – composed of atoms – and thought to form the greater part of the universe, Efe news reported.

Scientists established the existence of dark matter in the 1970’s due to its gravitational effects on visible matter although their knowledge about it is very scarce. Head engineer of the satellite, Wu Jian, explained that researchers have reviewed the systems of calibrated devices to ensure maximum accuracy of their observations, reported the Times.


The satellite called Wukong was launched on December 17, 2015 and after almost a year in operation is currently in orbit at an altitude of 504 km, developing its operations normally. This satellite includes a space telescope – China’s first – which notes the direction, power and electrical load of high-energy space particles.

It is expected that during its first two years of operations, the telescope will look in all directions and after passing the first stage, focus its activity in areas where initial results look most promising. China Saturday also successfully launched into space a new meteorological satellite, Yunhai-1, from Jiuquan base in the Gobi desert, aboard the Long March-2D rocket.

This satellite, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, will be dedicated to atmospheric, marine and space observation, prevention of meteorological disasters along with carrying out scientific experiments.

http://tech.firstpost.com/news-anal...-billion-particles-of-dark-matter-346968.html

 

[TaiShang]

Goat with superfine wool cloned in China

(CRI Online) December 19, 2016

The photo of world's first cloned goat with superfine wool. [Photo: nmgnews.com]

The world's first cloned goat bearing superfine cashmere wool was born in north China's Inner Mongolia Region, the Bayannur city government announced Sunday.

The goat was born and will be raised in a base for animal husbandry research conducted by experts from agricultural universities and academies in Inner Mongolia and southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The cashmere fiber from the goat is less than 13.8 micrometers thick, much finer than the average of 15.8 micrometers grown by the famous Erlang Mountain goats in Inner Mongolia.

 

[JSCh]

New AI study claims to identify personality traits from looks alone
By Tian Shi (People's Daily Online) 15:55, December 20, 2016

Chinese researchers claim to have taken facial recognition to the next stage - by predicting the personality traits of women based only on their looks. The accuracy of such predictions could reach 80 percent, according to the team's latest study.

Wu Xiaolin and his fellow researchers, all from Shanghai Jiaotong University, scoured Baidu search engine to collect 3,954 images of women, assigning each image either a positive word such as "sweet," "endearing," "elegant," "caring," or "cute," or a negative word such as "pretentious," "pompous," or "coquettish."

After being divided into separate groups, the images were fed into a convoluted neural network (CNN), with 2,000 images in the positive category S+ and 1,954 in negative category S-.

"The two classes of female face images in S+ and S- reflect the aesthetic preference and value judgments that prevail among young males in contemporary China," said Wu, in an interview with the Thepaper.cn.

Before using the data to train the neural network, the scientists asked 22 male Chinese graduate students to examine the labels on the images and say whether or not they were accurate. The answer was yes, up to 80 percent of the time.

The study, titled Automated Inference on Sociopsychological Impressions of Attractive Female Faces, was published by arXiv, an online open-sourced journal.

In late November, Wu created a controversy in the scientific community after claiming to be able to tell a criminal from a law-abiding citizen based on a computer algorithm.

 

[JSCh]

Study identifies gastric cancer biomarker and possible treatment
December 20, 2016

Killer T cells surround a cancer cell. Credit: NIH​

Scientists at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami, and Shantou University Medical College in China, have shown that the hormone receptor GHRH-R could be a potential biomarker for gastric cancer, enabling earlier diagnoses and better staging. In addition, the team found that the GHRH-R antagonist MIA-602 inhibited gastric cancer in both cell lines and human xenografts. The research was recently published in the journal PNAS.



--> http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-12-gastric-cancer-biomarker-treatment.html
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-12-gastric-cancer-biomarker-treatment.html
Jinfeng Gan et al. Growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor antagonists inhibit human gastric cancer through downregulation of PAK1–STAT3/NF-κB signaling, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1618582114