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The use of spatial knowledge is necessary in a variety of artificial intelligence and expert systems applications. The need is not only in tasks with spatial goals such as image interpretation and robot motion, but also in tasks not involving spatial goals, e.g. diagnosis and language understanding. The paper discusses methods of representing spatial knowledge, with particular focus on the broad categories known as analogical and propositional representations. The problem of neurological localization is considered in some detail as an example of intelligent problem-solving that requires the use of spatial knowledge. Several solutions for the problem are presented: the first uses an analogical representation only, the second uses a propositional representation and the third uses an integrated representation. Conclusions about the different representations for building intelligent systems are drawn.

This editorial paper presents the papers published in a special issue focusing on modeling, qualitative analysis, and simulation of the dynamics of systems in the applied and life sciences. All papers lead to a forward look at research perspectives. First, a brief description of the scientific contribution of the papers published in this issue is given. Then, based on the contents of the papers published in this issue, a forward look into research perspectives is designed. An important aspect of the perspectives is the invention of new mathematical tools.

Millipore's HEScGRO Medium Advances Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

A TCM Specialist — Beijing Tongrentang Co Ltd.

Diagnostics Firm Adaltis to Acquire Shanghai Hua Tai Biotechnology.

Organon Acquires Stake in HUYA to Develop Chinese Biopharmaceuticals.

Renhuang Pharmaceuticals Received Major Order from Anhui Huayuan Pharmaceutical.

Sinovac Biotech Ltd—A Leading Chinese Biotech Company.

Skystar Bio-Pharmaceutical Signs Letter of Intent for Joint Scientific Research Project with TNI-Penta.

Boston Scientific's Reports on Major Adverse Events of TAXUS Stent Study in Diabetic Patients.

AsiaPharm Acquires Nanjing-based Pharmaceutical Group.

DSM Biologics and Crucell Announced Licensing Agreement with AbGenomics Corporation.

Grant Life Sciences Signs Collaboration Agreement with Taiwan's UCL for Diagnostic Products Validation.

ScinoPharm Launches More Cancer Treatment APIs.

The article is about Ambu and its business in Malaysia.

BioScience Managers banks on growth of anti-infectives market.

Rodin Therapeutics applies insights of epigenetics to neurological disorders.

LBT Innovations finalizes joint venture to drive global production of world-class automated diagnostics technology.

Phylogica expands collaborations with Janssen for peptide-drug conjugates.

Immune Design and Medicago announce license agreement and collaboration to develop novel adjuvanted pandemic influenza vaccines.

Bayat Foundation inaugurates new pediatric critical care facility at Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul.

China’s Tencent Develops a Robot Journalist to Write News Stories

Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute Signed Partnership Agreement to Boost Gene Technology Efficiency over 30%

Chang-Chun Institute of Applied Chemistry Research Progress in Cell Membrane Structure

Conserving Orchids in Xishuangbanna

Chinese and Arab Leaders to Boost Tech Transfer

Universal Health Acquired Increase of Shares of HK$50 Million by Chairman Jin Dongtao, Further Increase Expected

Testicular Xenografting Shortens Reproduction Cycle of Transgenic Monkeys

The Three Gorges Dam Affects Eco-hydrological Environment and Vegetation Distribution of East Dongting Lake

Why Rhabdolaimus Dominates Nematode Communities in Karst Mountain Peaks in Southwest China?

Research Uncovers Molecular Mechanism for Inflammatory Cell Death

Large Polyglutamine Repeats Cause Muscle Degeneration

The Shanghai Prosthodontics Symposium Returns to DenTech China 2015

Infinitus and Cambridge Jointly Establish International Research Centre

Neurological Soft Signs Show Robust Heritability and Familiality in Healthy Twins, Patients with Schizophrenia and Non-psychotic First-degree Relatives

Education created Feminism, or vice versa? Madame Peng Liyuan’s tour in the United States

The following topics are under this section:

• Shanghai neurologists test brain implant to tackle drug addiction
• Bio-imaging breakthrough developed by China-Australia collaboration
• Gene-editing researchers reduce cancer risk
• Beijing Genomics Institute to invest in construction of the National Genome Science Data Centre
• DNA data storage becomes a top emerging technology
• Researchers find new gene linked to deafness
• Scientists discover highest energy cosmic gamma rays in Tibet
• China tightens rules on genetic research after rogue scientist He Jiankui's designer baby scandal
• First remote 5G breast cancer surgery a success
• Vaccine shortage hits many parts of China
• First China-Belgium Science and Technology Exchange Symposium held in Brussels

The following topics are under this section:

• ASIA-PACIFIC — Collaborative research effort reveals chemical compound that kills drug-resistant bacteria
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Big Data Analytics used for Personalized Assessment Tool for Cancer Diagnosis
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Identifying the Molecular Mechanisms of Creating a Memory
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Funding for New Stem Cell Research provides Hope for Premature Born Babies
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Human Cortical Organoids used to Identify Mechanisms behind Epilepsy in Angelman Syndrome
• ASIA-PACIFIC — The Future of Contact Lenses: Self-Moisturising Technology
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Glycosylation of Protein Structure on Virus provide Insight to Molecular Understanding
• ASIA-PACIFIC — Comprehensive Mapping of the Human Brain using Synchrotron X-rays
• REST OF THE WORLD — Uncovering New Tricks for Old Drugs
• REST OF THE WORLD — Combination of Prenatal Smoking and Drinking adds on to Risk of SIDS
• REST OF THE WORLD — Blood Pressure Readings Could Provide Valuable Information on Early Warning Signs of Heart Disease
• REST OF THE WORLD — Study finds Households in the United States Wastes nearly a Third of the Food they Buy

The following topics are under this section:

• Could Jurassic Park become a Reality?
• Brightening the Future with Liquid Sunshine
• New Gene Therapy for Huntington’s Disease Proves Successful in Mice
• Fight or Flight?
• Distinguishing between Two Species of Red Pandas
• Freeze-drying Soil for Studying Reactive Nitrogen Gas Emissions
• Remodelling the Future of Air Pollution Studies

For the month of August 2020, APBN explores the wonders of the human brain and how researchers and scientists are leveraging on technological advancements to gain insights to its inner mechanisms. In the Columns section, scientists from ACT Genomics discuss the topic of Precision Oncology and patient selection for PARP inhibitor treatment in BRCA- & HRR-associated cancers. This month APBN interviewed Dr Ling Kai Yi, co-founder and Chief Science/Technology Officer of Singapore-based clean meat company, ShiokMeats to take a closer look at how the team is fighting for sustainability in the seafood industry.

The risk of rupture of intracranial saccular aneurysms is one of the leading dilemmas for patients and neurologists. Although the probability of rupture is small, the consequences of rupture are usually fatal or crippling, and a concern for the patient is whether or not to treat an existing aneurysm. In this paper, an idealized model of saccular aneurysms with assumed Fung material behavior was investigated for rupture potential when the stresses exceeded the maximum wall strength of the aneurysm wall. Numerical simulations used various levels of blood pressure, from normal to hypertensive, in order to determine correlations of aneurysm size and risk of rupture. Results showed that hypertensive individuals harboring cerebral aneurysms with a size of at least 6 mm are at risk.

This article discusses the view that human consciousness may share aspects of "animal awareness" with other species, but has its unique form because humans possess language. Two ingredients of a theory of the evolution of human consciousness are offered: the view that a précis of intended activity is necessarily formed in the brain of a human that communicates in a human way; and the notion that such a précis underwrites the uniquely human aspect of consciousness.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is defined as a noninvasive technique of brain stimulation conducted for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. rTMS can effectively excite the brain neurons and increase brain plasticity, which becomes particularly useful in psychiatric and neurological fields. Biomarkers that predict clinical outcomes in depression are essential for increasing the precision of treatments and clinical outcomes. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a noninvasive neurophysiological test that is promising as a biomarker sensitive to treatment effects. The aim of our study was to investigate a novel nonlinear index of the resting state EEG activity as a predictor of clinical outcome and compare its predictive capacity to traditional frequency-based indices. EEG was recorded from 50 patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD) and 24 healthy comparison (HC) subjects. TRD patients were treated with excitatory rTMS to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for 4–6 weeks. EEG signals were first decomposed using the ICA algorithm and the extracted components were then processed by time-frequency analysis. We then go on to compare the participants’ depression severity before, after, and 2 months after finishing the last treatment session using the proposed rTMS therapy. Absolute powers (APs), band powers (BPs), and theta and beta band entropies (BAs), which were extracted from the EEG, are used as features for the classification of changes in patients and normal cases after applying rTMS. Accordingly, we can go beyond the Beck score and clinically classify the EEG signal into two classes: depression and normal. The results demonstrated 78.37%, 74.32%, and 82.43% accuracy for artificial neural network (ANN), $k$-nearest neighbor (KNN), and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers, respectively, indicating the superiority of the proposed method to those mentioned in similar studies. Also, the electrophysiological changes are shown to be evident in patients with major depression. Our data show that the time-frequency index yields superior outcome prediction performance compared to the traditional frequency band indices. Our findings warrant further investigation of EEG-based biomarkers in depression.