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No.42 October, 2005 |
Headline News |
Life Science |
Earth Science |
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| International Cooperation |
Research & Development |
Briefs |
Friendly Visits |
Nano Tube Films Mimicking Structure of Gecko's Planta
Using a simple approach of template-directed assembly, Prof. Jiang Lei, and his Task Group from the Key Laboratory of Organic Solids of the Institute of Chemistry, CAS fabricated superhydrophobic aligned polystyrene nano tube films. Shown in the research, water droplets have great adhesive strength to cling to the surface of the aligned polystyrene nano tube films, and they will not fall down even if the surface is turned or converted. They got this result from their understanding of the fact that the gecko's setae with nano structure can produce a strong adhesion.
They have measured the adhesive force between droplets and films using highly sensitive microelectronic scale. The highly adherent aligned polystyrene and superhydrophobic nano tube fabricated by Jiang Lei and his group is quite similar to a gecko's planta in structure and performance. It can act as a mechanical hand when smaller amounts of droplets transfer from superhydrophobic to ordinary hydrophile surface. The relevant research findings were published in the latest issue of the Advanced Materials and reported as news in Nature ( Nature 2005, 436, 471).
New Antiarrhythmic Agent Approved by Chinese SFDA
After 15 years of pre-clinical research and clinical trial, a novel drug-acehytisine hydrochloride, jointly developed by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and the Chinese Pharmaceutical University, has been officially approved by the State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) of China.
Acehytisine Hydrochloride is a new drug against heart rhythm disorders discovered by SIMM scientists, which is a diterpene alkaloid extracted from Guanbaifuzi (Radix Aconiti Coreani). A series of pharmacological studies have indicated that the alkaloid is a bioactive diterpenoid inhibiting ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardias induced by hypercalcemia, coronary artery ligation, and aconitine, as well as suppressing acetylcholine induced atrial flutter and fibrillation in the canine models. In addition, it inhibits the Na + influx in guinea-pig ventricular myocytes. In human clinical trials, electro-physiological assays indicate that it can prolong the conduction time in intra-atrium, atrioventricular node, His-Purkinje System and ventricles, which might be the major mechanism of its anti-arrhythmic action.
Global Transfer of Patent on New Strain of Kiwifruit Realized
Through negotiation, the Wuhan Botanical Garden (WBG), CAS, has recently officially entered an agreement with a Italian firm ， the Kiwigold Consortium ， to grant the transfer of patented rights of Jintao (Golden Peach), a patented strain of kiwifruit, in China and other parts of the world. This is the third contract since Jintao 2001, a new strain of kiwifruit developed by the Wuhan Botanical Garden (WBG), CAS, entered the international market through patent right transfer by granting the propagation and commercialization rights. The propagation and commercialization rights of Jintao have been gradually spreading from Europe to South America, China and other parts of the world. Thus, Jintao, the new strain of kiwifruit cultivated by the Wuhan Botanical Garden (WBG), CAS, has realized the patent transfer of the crop with independent property rights in the world market.