Day: January 5, 2021

(Xinhua)08:15, December 29, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China is ready to work with Russia to unswervingly develop the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era between the two countries, realize their respective development and revitalization, and make greater contributions to building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during which the two heads of state exchanged new year greetings and wished the people in both countries a happy new year.

Noting that 2020 is an extraordinary year for China, Russia and the world at large, Xi pointed out that as the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the life and safety of humanity and dealt a heavy blow to the world economy, the world is entering a period of turbulence and transformation.

True gold can stand the test of fire, and the difficult period has given more prominence to the unique strength and great value of the China-Russia relationship, he added.

The two sides, Xi noted, have supported each other in overcoming the current challenges, and continued to firmly support each other on issues concerning each others core interests, which has demonstrated their high-level mutual trust and friendship.

He added that the two countries have actively taken the lead in international cooperation against COVID-19, smoothly promoted coordination between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, and jointly celebrated the 75th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the United Nations.

They have also played an important leading role within such multilateral frameworks as the Group of 20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and become the mainstay in safeguarding international fairness and justice and practicing multilateralism, Xi said.

He stressed that the idea of ever-lasting friendship and the principle of a new type of international relations established in the China-Russia Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation represent a great innovation in the history of international relations, and their strong vitality and exemplary influence will continue to show up in the current international situation.

As the next year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the treaty, Xi suggested the two sides take the anniversary as an opportunity to further expand and deepen bilateral cooperation in a larger scope.

China, he said, is actively fostering a new development paradigm and promoting reform and opening-up at a higher starting point, which will provide broader development opportunities for China-Russia cooperation.

The two sides should better synergize their development strategies and strengthen new forms and new drivers of cooperation, Xi said, urging them to carry forward the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation program, and push for all-round exchanges and cooperation between their scientific and technological communities and industrial sectors, so as to better boost the high-quality economic development of both countries.

Xi stressed that China-Russia ties boast strong endogenous power and independent value, which will not be affected by changes in the international arena or by any other factors.

By strengthening strategic cooperation, China and Russia can effectively resist any attempt to suppress and divide the two countries, and meanwhile forge a solid shield to safeguard international fairness and justice, Xi said.

For his part, Putin said that Russia-China relations have been developing steadily this year despite the impact of COVID-19, with the two sides supporting each other in the fight against the pandemic, and their cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, energy, and science and technology continuously moving forward.

As the two countries are set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of their Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, that will set an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations, he added.

Russia is unswervingly committed to pushing for high-level development of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era between the two countries, he said, adding that he is willing to work with Xi to continuously provide strategic leadership and ensure further development of bilateral ties in the new year.

Russia, he said, stands ready to join hands with China to continuously support each other on issues concerning each others core interests, deepen strategic coordination and cooperation in international affairs, and contribute to global strategic stability.

The two heads of state also agreed to continue to maintain regular communication in various ways.

(Xinhua)09:57, December 29, 2020

MOSCOW, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said Monday that the future of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 could be decided in the first quarter next year.

Borisov made the remarks during a TV interview, after Russias state space corporation Roscosmos said last month that it would discuss the operation lifespan of the ISS with NASA of the United States.

The ISS lifespan is highly dependent on the technical condition of the modules and certain political aspects, Roscosmos said then.

As for spaceflights in 2021, Borisov said it is possible that a new Nauka (Science) module will be launched to the ISS, which may later become the basis for the Russian space station.

In November, Russias rocket and space corporation Energia announced that it was working on the development of a new multifunctional space station as the ISS may stop operation in 2025.

(Xinhua)10:29, December 29, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — A national gene pool of farm and tree seeds will be jointly formed by teams from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the China Forestry Group Corporation.

This comes after the two teams signed a strategic cooperation agreement on research and development in agricultural and forestry germplasm resources.

In the next five years, the two teams will try to promote and plant about 66,666.67 hectares of high-quality farm and tree crops at home and abroad, aiming to reach an output value of 10 billion yuan (about 1.53 billion U.S. dollars) in the primary and deep processing of domestic high-quality agricultural and forestry products.

China will strive to tackle problems related to seeds and farmlands next year as part of efforts to ensure food security, according to a statement released after the annual Central Economic Work Conference in the middle of December.

The country will enhance the protection and utilization of germplasm resources and step up the construction of seed banks, the statement said.

(Xinhua)09:57, December 30, 2020

CHICAGO, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown in a study that Chiari 1 malformation, a common brain disorder, can be caused by variations in two genes involved in brain development.

To identify genes that cause Chiari 1 malformation, the researchers sequenced all the genes of 668 people with the condition, as well as 232 of their relatives. Of these relatives, 76 also had Chiari 1 malformation and 156 were unaffected.

Sequencing revealed that people with Chiari 1 malformation were significantly more likely to carry mutations in a family of genes known as chromodomain genes. Several of the mutations were de novo, meaning the mutation had occurred in the affected person during fetal development and was not present in his or her relatives. In particular, the chromodomain genes CHD3 and CHD8 included numerous variants associated with the malformation.

Further experiments in tiny, transparent zebrafish showed that the gene CHD8 is involved in regulating brain size. When the researchers inactivated one copy of the fishs CHK8 gene, the animals developed unusually large brains, with no change in their overall body size.

Chromodomain genes help control access to long stretches of DNA, thereby regulating expression of whole sets of genes. Since appropriate gene expression is crucial for normal brain development, variations in chromodomain genes have been linked to neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, and unusually large or small heads.

The association between chromodomain genes and head size inspired the researchers to measure the heads of children with Chiari malformations, comparing them to age-matched controls and to population averages provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with Chiari tended to have larger than average heads. Those children with the largest heads, bigger than 95 percent of children of the same age, were four times more likely to be diagnosed with the malformation.

The findings suggest that children with larger heads or people with other neurodevelopmental disorders linked to chromodomain genes may benefit from screening for Chiari malformation.

A lot of kids that have autism or developmental disorders associated with chromodomain genes may have undiscovered Chiari malformations, said senior author Gabriel Haller, an assistant professor of neurosurgery, of neurology and of genetics. The only treatment right now is surgery. Discovering the condition early would allow us to watch, knowing the potential for serious symptoms is there, and perform that surgery as soon as its necessary.

About one in 100 children has a common brain disorder called Chiari 1 malformation, but most of the time such children grow up normally and no one suspects a problem. But in about one in 10 of those children, the condition causes headaches, neck pain, hearing, vision and balance disturbances, or other neurological symptoms.

The findings, posted on the universitys website on Monday, have been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

(Xinhua)10:09, December 30, 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — Chinas Change-5 probe retrieved about 1,731 grams of samples from the moon. It has been much anticipated just how these would be used for research.

Researchers have set up special storage facilities, constructed laboratories for sample processing and analysis, and developed detailed operating procedures to ensure that lunar samples are not contaminated as far as possible and that the research results are reliable.

The samples will be first analyzed non-destructively, said Xiao Long, a researcher at the China University of Geosciences. He told the Science and Technology Daily that this analysis could indicate the condition of the samples.

A method for non-destructive analysis is to obtain the samples element composition and content information. Researchers do this by analyzing the wavelength and intensity of the characteristic fluorescence X-rays generated by different sample elements, said Zhao Yuyan with Jilin University.

Researchers also implement microanalysis to use them as sparingly as possible. The allowable amount of the samples under test is usually only about one percent of the constant, with a weight of about 1 to 15 milligrams.

Given the preciousness of lunar samples, it is necessary to further improve the sensitivity and resolution of the instruments, and develop new technologies and methods, said Zhao.

By analyzing the samples, scientists can correct the previous mathematical models for estimating the surface age of celestial bodies. They can also provide significant references for humans to understand the geological evolution of the moon.

Change-5 is one of the most complicated and challenging missions in Chinas aerospace history. It is also the worlds first moon-sample mission in more than 40 years.

The Change-5 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a returner, launched on Nov. 24. The return capsule landed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the early hours of Dec. 17, bringing back the moon samples.