Study reveals key genetic mutations of nonsmokers
Study reveals key genetic mutations of nonsmokersINSIGHT: The study hopes to raise public awareness of the potential carcinogenesis of food additives and secondhand smoke, as well as hereditary factorsBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterA team of researchers yesterday unveiled the key genetic mutations of nonsmoking lung cancer patients, aiming to develop early diagnostic tools and precision medicine for the disease. Along with the US Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, they studied tumor progression of patients in Taiwan and the US, she said. The study helps with the development of screening tools through blood testing, which would allow high-risk groups for lung cancer to avoid carcinogenic substances or behaviors, he said. However, the program has only received four years of funding, which is to end next year, Chen Yu-ru said. The funding has shrunk annually, she added, while expressing the hope that the government would continue to support the program.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Building of NTU memorial for Chen Wen-chen begun
Building of NTU memorial for Chen Wen-chen begunStaff writer, with CNANational Taiwan University (NTU) student groups on Thursday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial to honor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a democracy advocate who died under mysterious circumstances and whose body was found on the NTU campus in 1981. On Thursday, NTU’s undergraduate and graduate student associations and the Dr Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation and Museum officially began construction on a memorial square, after reaching their fundraising goal of NT$12 million (US$405,501) earlier this year. People attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Dr Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square on the National Taiwan University campus in Taipei on Thursday. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times“Without the students’ efforts, this groundbreaking could never have happened,” foundation chairwoman Yang Huang Mei-hsing (楊黃美幸) said. On July 2, the campus held a memorial event at which Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and others spoke to mark the 39th anniversary of Chen’s death.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Humans all from one community: Hsinchu exhibition
Humans all from one community: Hsinchu exhibition‘YOU ARE ME’: The exhibition hopes to bring people together in the post-COVID-19 era by showcasing how people belong to one communityBy Hung Mei-hsiu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe theme of the Hsinchu City Art Gallery’s new exhibition is that all humans — regardless of ethnicity, skin color or nationality — belong to the same community, with the hope that the displays would enrich people’s experience in a post-COVID-19 era. Due to COVID-19, Germany-based artists Achim Mohne and Uta Kopp, two of the artists featured in the exhibition, contributed their works via videoconferencing, the museum said. Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien, right, accompanied by Australia-based international exhibition curator Annie Ivanova, left, looks at an art installation at the special exhibition “You Are Me — Mapping New Geographies” at Hsinchu City Art Gallery on Thursday. Empty spaces have been left among the portraits hung along the exhibition wall so that viewers can stand in the spaces and take a selfie with the portraits, the museum added. Other participating artists include Tseng Yu-chuan (曾鈺涓), Liao Chi-yu (廖祈羽), Lin Hao-chiang (林豪鏘) and Liu Chih-hung (劉致宏), it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Punches thrown as Chen Chu approved
Punches thrown as Chen Chu approvedYOU ACCUSED: The legislative speaker had rigged a vote for Chen Chu, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang said, adding that it was a ‘scandal’ for a democratic nationBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterAmid chaotic scenes, former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊) was yesterday approved as Control Yuan president, despite Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators attempting to disrupt the vote. The move triggered a melee, but that did not stop DPP legislators from voting to approve the nominees, while KMT legislators attempted to obstruct the proceedings. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Ping-jui, center, throws a punch at Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Ming-che, left, at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Luo Chih-cheng yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei defends the speaker’s podium from a balloon filled with water thrown by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party legislators, wearing raincoats, scuffle at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday as KMT legislators throw balloons filled with water.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Government mulls more funds for virus-hit firms
The government has already spent NT$200 billion (US$6.8 million) helping firms combat the COVID-19-related slowdown. Stimulus 3.0 is likely to add another NT$200 billion of relief, which would be allocated to support Taiwanese businesses hardest hit by COVID-19, mostly in the manufacturing sector, Wang said. “Orders in the traditional manufacturing sector such as textile and heavy machinery industries have dried up severely,” she said. Separately, people have claimed nearly 6.7 million vouchers as part of the government’s Triple Stimulus Voucher program, which started on Wednesday, with 1.73 million claimed electronically, the ministry’s data showed. Businesses can take the vouchers to banks or post offices to exchange them starting from Thursday next week, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Highways and Byways: The great indoors
NEW TAIPEI CITY MAIN PUBLIC LIBRARYThe Mediterranean-style reading room in New Taipei City Main Public Library. The very first building in Taiwan to attain Diamond certification was also a library, Taipei Public Library, Beitou Branch (臺北市立圖書館北投分館). Vietnamese literature in New Taipei City Main Public Library. Two Buddhist monastics use computers inside Kaohsiung Main Public Library. KAOHSIUNG MAIN PUBLIC LIBARYKaohsiung City Government’s ambitious plan to redevelop its waterfront has resulted in several eye-catching buildings.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Two pilots killed in helicopter crash
Two pilots killed in helicopter crashHAN KUANG DRILLS: The pilot and copilot of a Kiowa Warrior died while trying to make an emergency landing at a Hsinchu base. The rest of the fleet has been groundedBy Aaron Tu, Tsai Chang-sheng and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerThis year’s Han Kuang military exercises were marred yesterday afternoon by the crash of an army helicopter at Hsinchu Air Force Base that killed the pilot and copilot. A Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior crashed at 3:28pm, the third crash of a Bell OH-58D in the past two years, although the first incident, in March 2018, and the second on May 10 did not result in any injuries or deaths. President Tsai Ing-wen, third left, attends the 36th Han Kuang military exercises in Taichung yesterday. Two Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters participate in the Han Kuang military exercises yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Darwin plans to invest NT$1bn in Taiwan
Darwin plans to invest NT$1bn in TaiwanBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTaiwanese backlight module maker Darwin Precisions Corp (達運精密) has pledged to invest NT$1 billion (US$33.79 million) to expand its production capacity in Taiwan as part of the government’s Invest in Taiwan initiative, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. “It is a supplement, but we have a lot of other considerations for expanding our production in Taiwan,” Ching told the Taipei Times. Darwin said that its operations in Taiwan account for less than 20 percent of its total revenue, with the majority coming from China. Aside from seeking to stabilize supply and reduce risks amid China-US trade tensions, Darwin aims to keep “sensitive” production in Taiwan, Ching said, citing the company’s desire to keep proprietary technologies at home. “There are some technologies and resources, such as our fine-metal-mask production, that we will always keep in Taiwan,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: CECC reports new imported COVID-19 case
Virus Outbreak: CECC reports new imported COVID-19 caseNEW TESTING FACILITIES: Taoyuan International Airport Corp has constructed two new COVID-19 sample-collection houses outside Taiwan Taoyuan International AirportBy Sherry Hsiao and Shelley Shan / Staff reportersThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new imported case of COVID-19, a Taiwanese woman in her 30s who traveled to the Philippines in late January for work. A medical worker in a converted shipping container at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport collects a specimen from a passenger returning from a COVID-19-infected area yesterday. A person in protective clothing waits yesterday outside a newly converted shipping container at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for inspecting arrivals from COVID-19-infected areas. As of yesterday, Taiwan has recorded 452 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 361 imported cases, 55 local infections and 36 cases from the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla,” as well as seven deaths, CECC data showed. Meanwhile, Taoyuan International Airport Corp yesterday began using new facilities to collect specimens to test for COVID-19 at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Ko dismisses complaints by his ex-photographer
Ko dismisses complaints by his ex-photographerBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterTaipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday dismissed complaints by his former photographer about low pay and long working hours, saying that it was volunteer work. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) on Monday filed a report with the Taipei Department of Labor, asking it to investigate the allegations by Pan Jin-lin (潘俊霖). Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, center, talks to reporters at an event in Taipei yesterday. She asked the department to investigate whether it involved unreasonable working conditions or even labor exploitation, and to report its findings within a week. He said the labor department could investigate the case if it wants to.
Source:Taipei Times
July 15, 2020 16:00 UTC
CTBC Brothers clinch half-season title in CPBL
CTBC Brothers clinch half-season title in CPBLBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe CTBC Brothers on Tuesday in a makeup game that had spanned two months limited the Uni-President Lions to one run to clinch the CPBL half-season title in a 6-1 victory. To mark the occasion, team sponsor CTBC Bank yesterday announced limited-time offers, while other sponsors are offering discounts on dining and shopping. The CTBC Brothers celebrate defeating the Uni-President Lions to clinch the CPBL half-season title at the Tainan Municipal Stadium on Tuesday. The Brothers led 4-0 at the end of the third frame, having brought in four runs off of four hits and two walks. Improving his record to 8-5 with a 4.03 ERA, the Dominican lefty registered the title win striking out 14 and scattering five hits.
Source:Taipei Times
July 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Court asked to stop work at FPG Louisiana site
Court asked to stop work at FPG Louisiana site‘MAJOR FACILITIES’: FPG’s plants would destroy wetlands and increase the risk of flooding in the area, advocacy groups said in a 55-page request to a courtAP, NEW ORLEANS, LouisianaOpponents of Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG, 台塑集團) plans for a US$9.4 billion plastics complex on Tuesday asked a federal judge to stop work at the site in Louisiana. Company spokeswoman Janile Parks said that the motion was meritless, “full of speculation and short on facts.”Formosa Plastics Group’s naphtha cracker on the coast of Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei TimesThe “limited and unintrusive” site preparation does not justify shutting down the entire project, she said in a statement e-mailed by a public relations firm. US District Judge Randall Moss is likely to rule on the motion within weeks, Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney for the center, said in a news release. FG LA LLC, the Louisiana member of FPG, plans 10 chemical plants and four other “major facilities” on 1,000 hectares in St James Parish as what it calls the Sunshine Project after the nearby Sunshine Bridge.
Source:Taipei Times
July 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Ministry blames system overload for voucher snag
Ministry blames system overload for voucher snagBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday blamed technical difficulties for disruptions to the distribution of Triple Stimulus Vouchers on the first day of their release, and denied reports that it was halting distributions at the nation’s major convenience store chains. A surge in demand crashed the computer system, causing significant delays in the vouchers’ distribution, the ministry said. A Hi-Life International Co Ltd clerk, right, hands Triple Stimulus Vouchers to a customer in Taipei yesterday. The government designed the voucher system to maximize the effect of the stimulus, National Central University economics professor Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) told the Taipei Times by the telephone yesterday. The government “could put in NT$50 billion [US$1.7 billion] in stimulus and get NT$150 billion in economic activity,” Wu said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Wearing a mask for Matsu
When pilgrims rushed into the temple to get closer to Matsu, social distancing was thrown out of the window. The Baishatun pilgrimage, held for more than 200 years, is one of the largest annual religious processions in Taiwan. People on the 2020 Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage participate in a ceremony outside Chaotian Temple in Yunlin County’s Beigang Township on July 8. A man hands out free surgical masks to pilgrims waiting for the official start of the 2020 Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage on July 4 in Miaoli County’s Baishatun. A woman and girl wearing protective eye shields hand out freebies outside the Gongtian Temple in Miaoli County’s Baishatun to pilgrims waiting for the official start of the 2020 Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage on the night of July 4.
Source:Taipei Times
July 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Adimmune to begin vaccine trials
Virus Outbreak: Adimmune to begin vaccine trialsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterVaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) plans to conduct phase I clinical trials of its COVID-19 candidate vaccine next month to assess its safety, the firm said yesterday. The vaccine provider would cooperate with National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) for the trials, Pan said. Based on the results of phase I trials, we will select two dose levels that show the most promise to continue with phase II clinical trials,” Pan said. Adimmune, the nation’s largest flu vaccine provider, is a frontrunner in the local race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, as it was the first to apply to the FDA to conduct human trials. Last week, Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) applied to the FDA to run phase I human trials for its spike protein-based vaccine candidate, becoming second in the local race to produce a COVID-19 vaccine, company data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 15, 2020 15:56 UTC