BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

SCHOOL GARDEN

Chinese researchers have recently revealed that a school garden with abundant natural components can be used to cultivate the interest of primary school children in nature while helping to alleviate their study-related stress.

In a study published in the journal People and Nature, a research team from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed the impact of natural observation and inquiry-based learning activities in a school garden on the development of children’s interest in nature.

PLASMA BIOMARKER

Chinese researchers have identified a group of plasma proteomic profiles to predict the risk of dementia 15 years earlier before the disease is detected, according to a recent research article published in the journal Nature Aging.

The advent of proteomics offers an unprecedented opportunity to predict the onset of dementia. Researchers from the Fudan University in Shanghai studied 52,645 adults living without dementia for averagely more than 14 years.

HIGH-TECH COMPANIES

The total number of high-tech enterprises in south China’s Guangdong Province has exceeded 75,000, local authorities have said.

By the end of 2023, the province’s estimated annual research and development (R&D) expenditure topped 460 billion yuan (about 64.8 billion U.S. dollars), boasting 1.35 million R&D personnel and more than 665,000 valid invention patents, according to statistics revealed at a provincial conference on high-quality development.