IN BRIEF (Page 19)
Beijing
10 years of joint work
The first Sino-foreign joint lab Sino-French Lab in Computer Science, Automation and Applied Mathematics (LIAMA) celebrated its 10th anniversary last Thursday.
LIAMA was jointly established by the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control. It has launched more than 100 research projects on open-source software and computer imaging of plant growth.
In the past 10 years, LIAMA has attracted four other leading French research organisations to join. Chen Zhu, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at the anniversary ceremony that the success of LIAMA could become a model and basis to develop a Sino-Europe research academy.
More science news
Leading Chinese science journalists have called for more science articles in the mass media.
Making the appeal at a seminar on science communication organised by the Chinese Society of Science and Technology Journalism (CSSTJ) recently, they said 20 percent of all media coverage equivalent to science's contribution to the Chinese economy should be devoted to science reporting.
The appeal was made after a survey showed that science reporting accounted for only 3 percent of total reporting in the Chinese mass media.
CSSTJ is collecting the appeals and will make a formal petition to Chinese media regulators, asking them to encourage mass media to report more on science.
Doctor's scholarship
Soong Ching Ling Foundation based in Beijing established a scholarship for Taiwan students studying traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the mainland universities last week.
The five-year program receives a donation of 5 million yuan ($640,00) from the Clifford Group, a Hong Kong based corporation mainly engaged in real estate development.
Each year, 150 students will be selected from 11 TCM universities around China to receive a scholarship of 5,000 yuan ($640). The top award will be 20,000 yuan ($2,570) for students making special contributions to TCM research.
WASHINGTON
Wired to be generous
Altruism, one of the most difficult human behaviors to define, can be detected in brain scans, US researchers reported on Sunday. They found that activity in a specific area of the brain could predict altruistic behavior and people's own reports of how selfish or giving they are.
Tests to stop drug overuse
Rapid flu tests can help doctors decide when patients need antibiotics and when they do not, researchers reported on Monday.
They said their findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, might help persuade doctors to ease off on the antibiotics they prescribe for patients in the hospital.
Experts almost universally agree that antibiotics are overused in the United States and elsewhere, and that this overuse has helped new, drug-resistant strains of bacteria to evolve.
NEW YORK
Angry women at risk
Some women who make a habit of venting their anger may be more likely to develop blockages in the heart arteries, new research suggests.
Past studies have linked anger and hostility to a greater risk of heart disease, but most of those have focused on men.
These latest findings, published in the Journal of Women's Health, suggest that there is a relationship between anger and heart health in women, but it's complex.
Researchers found that women who tended to outwardly express their anger had a higher risk of artery blockages if they also had one of several other heart risk factors: older age, diabetes or high cholesterol.
China Daily and agencies
(China Daily 01/24/2007 page19)
