Duty and Distinction: Scientists as Intellectuals in Modern China

As critical players in the Chinese state’s pursuit of modernization and political legitimacy, Chinese scientists have been the recipients of state attention and scrutiny throughout modern history. This paper will analyze how Qian Xuesen (1911-2009) became a national hero as the Chinese Communist Party’s model scientist. Qian developed his scientific expertise in the United States, before Cold War political tensions forced his extradition. Upon his return to China, Qian became a key missile scientist in the state’s emerging nuclear weapons program. By analyzing Qian’s public persona as portrayed in official state media, this paper will argue that the CCP conferred distinct political duties to scientists, defining a new socio-political role for scientist-intellectuals. Beginning from the Mao era and continuing through to the present day, the CCP’s portrayal and promotion of Qian’s legacy gives insight into the state’s strategy to use science to bolster authority and legitimize policy

Neutron powder diffraction study on the iron-based nitride superconductor ThFeAsN

We report neutron diffraction and transport results on the newly discovered superconducting nitride ThFeAsN with $T_c=$ 30 K. No magnetic transition, but a weak structural distortion around 160 K, is observed cooling from 300 K to 6 K. Analysis on the resistivity, Hall transport and crystal structure suggests this material behaves as an electron optimally doped pnictide superconductors due to extra electrons from nitrogen deficiency or oxygen occupancy at the nitrogen site, which together with the low arsenic height may enhance the electron itinerancy and reduce the electron correlations, thus suppress the static magnetic order.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted by EP

Primary tissue culture of human laryngeal carcioma and interaction with native lymphocytes

Primary tissue culture of human laryngeal carcinomas, producing cells similar to the original tumour, was effected in serum-supplemented medium. This culture method provided a good investigative model for the study of lymphocyte/epithelial cell interactions in tumour and normal cultures. Of 107 laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinomas, 45% grew. The appearances were compared with similar preparations taken from normal true cord of the same larynx, of which 70% grew. No morphological differences were found by light or electron microscopy. Bizarre morphology occurred in 20% of cultures, mainly in tumour but also in normal cultures. This appeared in cultures which had ceased proliferation at an earlier stage than non-bizarre cultures and was identified by inactivity of monolayer and lack of intracellular activity, as observed by time-lapse video microscopy. Cultures were revealed by time-lapse video microscopy to support motile lymphocytes, which appeared phase-dark, both on the upper and lower monolayer surfaces under phase-contrast optics. Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes migrated from laryngeal explants onto the emerging monolayer. These cells remained activated on the culture for as long as 19 days. Many attempts were made by tracking methods to identify lymphocyte phenotype, which was found to be T cell, although heterogeneous subset identities existed. Bizarre type cultures lacked motile lymphoid cells suggesting that lymphocytes require stimulants produced by proliferating cultured epithelial cells. Mitotic tumour cells were shown, using vector analysis, to be chemotactic for T cells. This was a unique function of the culture method. This chemotactic phenomenon could not be repeated if diffusion was increased, presumably because products of cell growth were dissipated. Mitotic chemotaxis be related to mediators by the epithelium specific for T cells

The challenge of building professional relations across cultures: Chinese officials in America

This meticulously detailed description and its analysis require almost no introduction, effectively they speak for themselves; and the case study is relevant to all business and government cross-cultural meetings. It has always been advisable to understand the cultural factors in international negotiations and Richard Lewis, for example, is only one of many writers who have been arguing for decades that negotiation is becoming a science, dominated by the USA. Lewis writes that anyone who has mediated, for instance, at a Japanese-US joint venture knows that the moment intercultural factors enter the equation, the landscape can change utterly

Erythropoietic Protoporphyria Masquerading as Angioedema in a 4-Year-Old Female

Angioedema is a common presentation with a broad differential, including rare disorders with which an allergist must be familiar. Our objective was to report a case of swelling of the hands and feet mimicking angioedema with hepatomegaly in a 4-year-old girl. The patient was evaluated for painful swelling of the hands and feet after exposure to sun. Examination revealed edema and erythema of the extremities and hepatomegaly. Laboratory evaluation included elevated liver transaminases and plasma protoporphyrin, with normal urine porphyrins. Liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of erythropoietic protoporphyria, a disorder of heme biosynthesis in which patients may present with photosensitivity and angioedema. It is important for allergists to recognize this entity in patients with cutaneous disorders of unclear etiology in order to prevent possible life-threatening sequelae