Transforming Chinese Government＇s Functions Based on Knowledge Economy

Based on the nature of Knowledge Economy, this paper discusses the necessity and urgency for Chinese government to adjust its functions in the new economy; presents some concrete strategies of taking good chances and meeting the challenges of Knowledge Economy, including creating and protecting intellectual property rights, enhancing knowledge management, solving the problem of fairness and efficiency, breaking down local protectionism and building national innovation system.

Global innovators to feature in Intertextile Shanghai's Functional Lab

Heading into the second half of the year,the global apparel fabrics and accessories industry’s attention has begun to focus on the 2016 Autumn Edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics which will be held from 11–13 October.Over 5,000 exhibitors from more than 25 countries and regions will take part and showcase an all-encompassing range of products across 260,000 sqm.of exhibition space at the Nation Exhibition and Convention Center(Shanghai).To

中国城市知识创新职能空间分异及其影响因素

Knowledge innovation is a key component of urban innovation function and an important basis for modern urban development. Combining the multidisciplinary research of knowledge innovation, this paper constructs a measurement framework of urban knowledge innovation function from the perspective of urban geography and analyzes its spatial pattern and influencing factors. The conclusions are as follows:(1) The function of urban knowledge innovation refers to the tasks and roles it undertakes in the process of knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application, which is based on the internal knowledge stock and external practice conditions to meet the needs of human survival and development in the new era. The measurement dimensions include functional scale, functional intensity, functional scale, and functional vitality.(2) The development level of knowledge innovation functions in Chinese cities is uneven, and the cities with outstanding knowledge innovation functions are mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal areas and a few developed areas in the central and western regions, forming the diamond-shaped knowledge innovation structure with the Beijing-Tianjin, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, Shaanxi-Chengdu-Chongqing as the four vertices and central Wuhan and Hefei as the center. According to the Jenks natural breakpoint method, it is divided into national-level, regional-level, local-level and knowledge-innovative development cities.(3) The spatial differentiation characteristics of urban knowledge innovation function are simultaneously affected by various natural and human factors. Among them, economic environment, opening environment, and cultural environment have the strongest interactive explanatory power with other factors, and are the dominant factors affecting the city’s knowledge innovation function. In the future, China should fully considers the status and characteristics of the city’s own knowledge economy development with corresponding policies and measures suitable for the development of the city’s knowledge economy, and strengthen the dominant position of human and social factors in the constructing the city’s knowledge innovation function.

The genome of Orychophragmus violaceus provides genomic insights into the evolution of Brassicaceaepolyploidizationandits distinct traits

Orychophragmus violaceus,referred to as‘‘eryuelan’’(February orchid)in China,is an early-flowering ornamental plant.The high oil content and abundance of unsaturated fatty acids in O.violaceus seeds make it a potential high-quality oilseed crop.Here,we generated a whole-genome assembly for O.violaceus using Nanopore and Hi-C sequencing technologies.The assembled genome of O.violaceus was~1.3 Gb in size,with 12 pairs of chromosomes.Through investigation of ancestral genome evolution,we determined that the genome of O.violaceus experienced a tetraploidization event from a diploid progenitor with the translocated proto-Calepineae karyotype.Comparisons between the reconstructed subgenomes of O.violaceus identified indicators of subgenome dominance,indicating that subgenomes likely originated via allotetraploidy.O.violaceus was phylogenetically close to the Brassica genus,and tetraploidy in O.violaceus occurred approximately 8.57 million years ago,close in time to the whole-genome triplication of Brassica that likely arose via an intermediate tetraploid lineage.However,the tetraploidization in Orychophragmus was independent of the hexaploidization in Brassica,as evidenced by the results from detailed phylogenetic analyses and comparisons of the break and fusion points of ancestral genomic blocks.Moreover,identification of multi-copy genes regulating the production of high-quality oil highlighted the contributions of both tetraploidization and tandem duplication to functional innovation in O.violaceus.These findings provide novel insights into the polyploidization evolution of plant species and will promote both functional genomic studies and domestication/breeding efforts in O.violaceus.

Plant Polyploidy: Origin, Evolution, and Its Influence on Crop Domestication

The prevalence and recurrence of polyploidization in plant species make it one of the most important evolutionary events in plants, and as a result, polyploidization is an extensively investigated research field. Due to the rapid development of sequencing technologies, there is increased evidence to support that polyploidization plays an important role in the diversification of plant species, evolution of genes, and the domestication of crops. Here, we reviewed the influence of polyploidization on various aspects of plant evolution, mainly focused on polyploid origin, characteristics, subsequent genome divergence, and its impact on gene function innovation and crop domestication. The occurrence of many independent polyploidization events in plants was found to be tightly associated with the timing of extreme climate events or natural disasters on earth, leading to mass extinction while possibly facilitating increased polyploidization. Following allo-polyploidization, a distinct phenomenon known as sub-genome dominance occurred during sub-genome evolution, which was found to be associated with the methylation of transposons. Extensive gene fractionations(lost) following polyploidization were reported in almost all paleo-polyploids, and the evolutionary fates of multi-copy genes, such as sub-/neo-functionalization, were further proposed to illustrate their underlying mechanisms. Moreover,polyploidization was found to significantly impact species diversification, with subsequent effects on crop domestication and the development of traits with agronomic importance. Based on the progress of plant polyploidization studies, we discussed several main topics that might further improve our understanding of polyploid evolution and that are likely contribute to the application of polyploidization in crop breeding in the near future.

Facilitating Change: The Role and Function of Private Foundations in Innovation Management

1. The focus is on private foundations, which are engaged in advancing science, technology, and the humanities. In this context the Volkswagen Foundationis a prominent example for Germany. 2. Accordingly, the paper does not look at the management within firms , but at the systemic level of innovation management. Though innovation has a broadermeaning, including also economic, social, and political aspects. research and higher education are central arenas and factors of change. 3. Contemporary research and higher education are confronted with new challenges, which require new responses and new forms of innovation management: science and technology has become an integral part of the knowledge- based society; the boundaries between basic and applied research are vanishing, problem --oriented research is increasing, as a consequence the demand for inter

China Rare Earth Functional Material Industry Innovation Alliance Established

On January 21,representatives from universities,well-known research institutes and key enterprises of domestic rare earth industry gathered in Ganzhou,Jiangxi to witness the establishment of the China Rare Earth Functional Material Industry Innovation Alliance('Alliance').By leveraging the resource advantages,technical advantages,talent advantages and policy