China, the 3rd most innovative country in the world

[CardSharp]

i thought these were already very tapped and very popular. in fact, the real danger is the untapped resources of those who get passed over in favor of a flashier overseas researcher. we don't need too much theoretical research. we need easier, but more useful, applied research that doesn't get nobel prizes but gets straight forward useful results.

Western recognition and "sexiness" are not necessarily the definition of overseas researchers. Both of the China-Canada joint projects that I personally know about, are specialized in the field of agriculture and as far as I know both are still on going and looks to be beneficial everyone involved including the farmers in China.

 

[Martian2]

Patrick C. H. Hsieh (right) showcases the results of his experiments on Oct. 12. (UDN photo)

NCKU Research Team Developed New Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Repair, First in the World - KansasCity.com

"NCKU Research Team Developed New Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Repair, First in the World
Posted on Tue, Oct. 12, 2010 05:22 AM
Kansas City Star

Assistant Prof. Patrick C. H. Hsieh of Institute of Nanotechnology and Microsystems Engineering, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, has led a research team of myocardial regeneration to conduct an experiment on pigs and has proved that by combining self-assembling peptide nanofiber hydrogel with autologous bone marrow stem cell, myocardial protection after acute myocardial infarction, vascular regeneration and heart functions can be improved.

The research achievement of the novel stem cell therapy for heart repair has been published in Circulation, the top international journal in the cardiovascular field, in September, 2010, and the technology is currently under the applications of domestic and foreign patents.

Each year, 17,000,000 people die from heart disease worldwide. In Taiwan, there are approximately 2,000,000 heart disease patients each year and 400,000 people pass away due to heart failure. The most common cause for the heart disease is coronary occlusion or myocardial infarction, preventing blood from going to the heart and thus leading to myocardial necrosis and apoptosis. The mortality rate reaches as high as 30%.

Even if the patients are fortunate to survive, their myocardial cells lack the ability to regenerate. The myocardial cells cannot take intraventricular pressure and thus they will gradually expand and become thin. Eventually, the patients will have heart failure and face death.

The best clinical treatment is heart transplant. However, due to limited heart donors and risks such as immune rejection and infection, it is not in common use. The most common clinical treatment is drug control, including ACE inhibitors, β-blockers, digitalis glycosides and diuretics. However, they can only slow down disease progression, and they normally have side-effects. Thus, the novel treatment method, the stem cell therapy for heart repair, has become the solution to one of the most urgent medical problems.

NCKU Assistant Prof. Patrick C. H. Hsieh pointed out, “Even though recent research studies have indicated that many types of stem cells can be used to improve heart functions and be clinically effective and secure, there is still room which needs improvement. For instance, when stem cells are cultured outside the body and injected into the heart, most of them are immediately carried away by the blood flow or they face rapid death. Even if few of them survive, they hardly become mature and functional cardiac or vascular cells, thus lack effectiveness. So far, we know that when we inject stem cells into the heart, the survival rate of the cells staying in the heart after 24 hours is less than 1%. However, by combining self-assembling peptide nanofiber hydrogel with stems cells and injecting the mixture into cardiac muscle, the stem cells will not be easily carried away from the heart by the blood. Thus, the retention rate is increased to 100%. In addition, problems such as the source, amount and exclusion of stem cells, as well as how to accurately inject stem cells into damaged parts of cardiac muscle and how to pass trials in large animal experiments to ensure safety are issues yet to be solved.”

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the research team led by Assistant Prof. Patrick C. H. Hsieh has developed novel pharmaceutical compositions and treatment methods, engaged in an experiment on Lanyu miniature pig, which has similar cardiac structure to that of the human beings and used self-assembling peptide nanofiber hydrogel to inject to damaged areas of cardiac infarction, thus reducing sequelae such as ventricular wall thinning and ventricular dilation and improving diastolic dysfunction from 54.2% to 85.5% after cardiac infarction.

The self-assembling peptide nanofiber hydrogel can integrate stems cells from the bone marrow in the miniature pig to effectively prevent pathological ventricular remodeling and diastolic dysfunction, significantly improve the myocardial viability and systolic function from 65.6% to 91.4%, increase the myocardial angiogenesis from 13.7% to 46.5%, reduce the range of myocardial infarction from 18.6% to 11.3%, and even promote potential myocardial regeneration.

One of the characteristics of this research achievement is modeled on the implementation of clinical therapy, from extracting stem cells from the bone marrow and mixing it with nanofiber hydrogel to completing the surgery of cardiac injection, the process only requires 30 minutes.

Assistant Prof. Patrick C. H. Hsieh emphasized, “The time to save acute myocardial infarction patients is extremely precious. Thus a fast and effective treatment method can be applied to myocardial infarction patients in the future or provide a viable alternative to patients who are not suitable for traditional treatment methods.”

Once clinical trials are completed and are developed into treatment method, it is believed that it can benefit many patients and create huge business opportunities. In general, the advantages of this discovery include simple and rapid preparation within 30 minutes, zero side-effects, zero inflammation, zero immune response and currently 0% mortality rate, and research and development potential of integrating drug release of PDGF, FGF, p38, IGF.

The breaking research achievement is funded by the 5 Year 5 Billion Project of the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, National Science Council, National Health Research Institutes, Academia Sinica and NCKU Hospital.

Facilitated by Prof. Jyh-Horung Chen, the former Superintendent of NCKU Hospital and the President of Taiwan Society of Cardiology and Prof. Hua-Lin Wu of Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Director of Cardiovascular Research Center, the main members of the research team include Assistant Prof. Patrick C. H. Hsieh of Institute of Nanotechnology and Microsystems Engineering, Assistant Prof. Ming-Long Yeh of Institute of Biomedical Engineering, doctoral students Yi-Dong Lin and Ming-Yao Chang of Institute of Biomedical Engineering, research assistants Da-Ching Tsai, Ting-Yu Zhu, Shih-Ya Yun and Alan C.L. Tang of Stem Cell and Nano Technology Research Lab, Prof. Yu-Jen Yang of NCKU Hospital Department of Surgery, Dr. Yen-Wen Liu of NCKU Hospital Division of Cardiology, Dr. Tsai-Yun Chen of NCKU Hospital Division of Hemato-Oncology, and Dr. Kung-Chao Chang of NCKU Hospital Department of Pathology."

 

[Martian2]

Reddex--First Non-Toxic, Fire Resistant Composite Material from ITRI

"Reddex--First Non-Toxic, Fire Resistant Composite Material from ITRI
Posted Nov 4, 2010

ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute), Taiwan's largest and one of the world's leading high-tech research and development institutions, introduces Reddex, the first non-toxic fire resistant composite material technology to simultaneously offer ignition resistance and fire protection in one system, effectively reducing the risks associated with structure fires.

ITRI will receive a "2010 R&D 100 Award" from R&D Magazine next week for this breakthrough technology.

Reddex composites

Reddex introduces a new family of polymer inorganic composite which provides ignition resistance and effectively slows down the rate at which fire burns -- it is unique in its combination of these advantages. This allows more time for people to escape, for less -- and non-toxic -- smoke to be produced -- one of the most harmful aspects of a fire -- and for fire fighters to get to the scene before the fire has dramatically spread and intensified, limiting the building's structural damage -- which can save lives and money.

Reddex sets a new standard in fire protection and offers versatility in its applications. It can be prepared as a paint, paste or foam, and is offered in mechanical properties ranging from flexible to rigid. It is ideal for buildings, hospitals, schools and residences, as well as for interiors of cars, airplanes and boats. With its flexibility, Reddex is useful in applications never imaginable: films, tapes, hoses, tubes, electrical cables and wires. Reddex can be coated onto the surface of substrates, polymeric foams, woods, silicate boards and metals, etc. for the construction of fire-resistant layered structures. The Reddex composites have excellent adhesion to these useful substrates.

"Reddex signals a breakthrough in fire prevention and will to play an integral role in reducing the risks associated with fires," said Echo Tseng, director of business development at ITRI's Commercialization and Industry Service Center. "Reddex's versatility makes it cost-effective. We anticipate material manufacturers being particularly interested in this technology."

Fires are harmful and destructive, and can cost millions of dollars in maintenance and repairs. In a recent study, the U.S. municipal fire departments responded to an estimated average of 109,300 structure fires in non-residential properties annually. These fires resulted in 100 deaths, 1,410 injuries and $42.5 billion in direct property damage each year. High-rise buildings had an average of 13,400 reported structure fires per year and $179 million in direct property damage.

Reddex's key breakthrough is the polymer component that chars and burns at a slower rate than any other fire retardant. The Reddex material eventually converts into a bound inorganic porous structure, which effectively becomes a structure that has low thermal conductivity to insulate heat and good mechanical rigidity to maintain structural integrity. Reddex's formulation does not use conventional ignition resistant additives that contain halogen, sulfur or phosphor components. As a result, no toxic gas is generated when exposed to fire. By using polymers such as PU as the organic component, which is turned into water vapor and carbon dioxide when burned, much less smoke is produced."

 

[Martian2]

NCKU Banyan tree

Taiwan Today

"NCKU team makes ‘nano scissors’ breakthrough

* Publication Date：11/08/2010
* Source： Taiwan Today

A National Cheng Kung University research team has succeeded in using the world’s first “artificial targeting light activated nano scissors,” which it developed, and a custom-made photon device to carry out precision gene surgery that could be applied to cancer therapy in the future.

The team, lead by Shieh Dar-bin, head of the NCKU Medical College’s Institute of Oral Medicine, made the announcement Nov. 5.

Shieh said the team used ATLANS, currently in the clinical trial stage, to successfully switch off three types of drug resistance genes in cultivated cancer cells in laboratory mice.

According to Shieh, under the intracellular gene manipulation method, targeted genes are located, and then precise double-strand cuts are performed on the desired DNA sequences with the molecular-scale scissors.

The process, Shieh explained, is controlled by specific photon energy.

The research findings were published in the September issue of Biomaterials, the leading international journal in the field of biomedical devices. The team is working on patent applications.

Su Wu-chou, director of NCKU Hospital’s Clinical Trial Center, noted that all cancers stem from changes caused by genes. He said practical application of the new ATLANS method to cancer treatment would focus on late stage cancer patients. More work is needed in order to apply the new technology to early stage patients, he added. (SB)"

NCKU campus

NCKU SMART Team Achieved Breakthrough in Precision Gene Surgery through Photonic Manipulation of ATLANS | Business Wire

"NCKU SMART Team Achieved Breakthrough in Precision Gene Surgery through Photonic Manipulation of ATLANS
November 05, 2010 04:45 AM Eastern Time

TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A cross-disciplinary Small Medicine and Advanced Research Translation (SMART) team led by Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh of Institute of Oral Medicine in Medical College at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, has announced a breakthrough in the precision in-cell gene scission at pre-designed sequence sites using Artificial Targeting Light Activated Nano Scissors (ATLANS) and a custom build photonic device.

The research achievement is supported under National Nano Science and Technology Program funded by National Science Council (NSC), Taiwan. This innovative discovery is recently accepted by internationally renowned journal Biomaterials and is currently under patent application.

The nano-enabled novel technology recognize, capture and perform double strand cutting of the desired DNA sequence like restriction endonuclease did but it is completely artificially synthesized and controlled by specific photon energy. In addition, the team successfully shut down target drug resistant gene STAT3 in cancer cell using ATLANS and created a new inspiration toward future cancer gene therapy.

NCKU President Michael Ming-Chiao Lai expressed in the press conference of the ATLANS, “There are many technical difficulties of making modifications to cell genes and treating various diseases. In the past, even though we can enter cells to destroy genes with virus or drugs, we cannot control the genes properly. The ATLANS developed by the research team led by Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh is an innovative method which can target specific genes in the cells and make modifications, thus it is a very significant breakthrough of the clinical research technology.”

Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh pointed out, “Many human diseases such as cancer or genetic diseases are caused by gene mutations. Cancer cell and infectious pathogen may develop drug resistance through activation of certain genes. Therefore, one of the major values of the Artificial Targeting Light Activated Nano Scissor is its ability to identify the target genes in the nucleus and optically-control the precise genetic cutting to block its pathogenic functions, thus reaching treatment effect.”

Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh explained, “The ATLANS is an innovative method and it is also the first time this method is applied for in-cell gene manipulation. This technology uses nanoparticles as a quencher to protect the cutter from non-specific activation at wrong sequence sites and also protect the entire TFO layer from being disrupted by the body before reaching the final destination. Once the genetic targets are locked on, the ATLANS will be activated as the proximity of the photo-cutter is no longer restricted by the particle surface plasma. This precision molecular dynamic control is required during the execution of gene cutting in the atomic level accuracy like a molecular ‘Nano Scissors.’”

With the Nano Scissors technology, Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh’s research team further developed a GeneErasor optical system, which functions to “erase” specific target gene in the culture cell. The gene eraser is anticipated to test-run early next year. The GeneErasor system is currently of blue-ray band. The team has successfully tested a second-generation system in test tube for near-infrared laser-scan activation that performs better tissue penetration for diseases in deep organ system.

Cross-disciplinary medical research has become a global trend. The innovations of the SMART research team led by Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh has set an excellent model of trans-disciplinary and cross-university clinical-oriented research integration and demonstrated advanced niches for medical innovations, integrating the knowledge and experience of organic chemistry, optoelectronic, nano-synthesis, biochemistry, molecular biology and genomic medicine scholars and experts and creating great achievements under the long-term support of Taiwan National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Science Council, Taiwan.

Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh believed, “The success of the research achievement is due to the joint effort of the team. National Cheng Kung University has provided an excellent environment, allowing professors with different disciplines from College of Medicine, Center of Excellent for Clinical Trials and Research in Oncology Specialty, College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering, and College of Science to form a research team, find effective solutions to clinical issues and benefit future patients through the combination of medicine and clinic. The University is proposing a new concept to foster clinical and industrial translation of fundamental discovery and engineering power through a partnership network, the Center for Biomedical Excellent and Synergy in Taiwan (The BEST Center).”

Director Wu-Chou Su of Center of Excellent for Clinical Trials and Research in Oncology Specialty is an outstanding clinical oncologist. He stated, “All cancer diseases arise from genetic mutations. The Artificial Targeting Light Activated Nano Scissor applied on cancer treatment initially focuses on late stage. We still need to put in more efforts to package ATLANS for effective tumor-targeting when entering human body. The ATLANS based therapy to modify tumor sensitivity to anti-cancer drugs and improve early disease intervention is still a challenging yet to be confronted.”

The members of the nanomedical research team led by Prof. Dar-Bin Shieh of Institute of Oral Medicine in NCKU Medical College include Director Wu-Chou Su of NCKU Center of Excellent for Clinical Trials and Research in Oncology Specialty; Dean Yonghua Tommy Tzeng of College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Distinguished Professor Chen-Sheng Yeh of Chemical Department; and Professor Jih Ru Hwu of National Tsing Hua University Chemistry Department who synthesized the photocleaver compound. The doctoral student Tsung-Lin Tsai of NCKU Basic Medical Science Institute and the master student Tsung-Ju Li of NCKU Institute of Oral Medicine have put in significant efforts in this work.

Through the cooperation with Dr. Wah Chiu, the Director of National Center for Macromolecular Imaging at Baylor University in United States, the team has preliminarily analyzed the ultrastructure of ATLANS and begun the development of ATALANS-2 and also the advanced nonlinear optical system GeneErasor-3D, hoping to achieve major breakthroughs in the future."

 

[Martian2]

Taiwanese researchers develop revolutionary biodegradable plastics - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

"Taiwanese researchers develop revolutionary biodegradable plastics
2010/11/23 19:23:31

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) An university research team in Taiwan has developed a series of revolutionary plastic materials that can decompose and turn into nutrients four to six months after being buried in the ground.

A Tatung University team, led by bio-engineering professor Chen Chih-cheng in cooperation with a biochemical technology company, unveiled the results of its research on Tuesday.

Chen said the new plastic his team developed is different from others already in existence on two levels: it is 100 percent biodegradable and offers far more agricultural applications than any other material on the market.

The plastic has already been made into green plastic bags, seedling-nurturing cups and agricultural covers -- products that have been sold to European countries -- with many benefits.

Flower or vegetable seeds, for example, can be planted in the ground while in their plastic cups; instead of having to be removed from the container at the time of transplanting, the professor said.

The plastic degrades completely in the soil without leaving any toxic residues and converts into nutrients for plants; helping raise the odds that they will sprout successfully and grow well in the future, according to the professor.

The plastic is made mainly of corn starch with some biodegradable polymers, Chen said, and turns into carbon dioxide and water as it degrades.

He also noted that if the material were burned, it would generate a far smaller volume of greenhouse gas emissions than typical plastics on the market.

The technology for making the plastic has been certified in the European Union, the United States, Japan and Taiwan as environmentally friendly, Chen said.

On his team are three Ph.D. students -- Wang Chin-huang, Tsai Ping-hsun and Kuo Chou-chiang -- and master's candidate Wang Yen-wen. They work in the university's Bio-Polymer Lab. (By Lin Sze-yu and S.C. Chang)"

 

[Martian2]

Microfluidic chip device identifies bacteria types

"Microfluidic chip device identifies bacteria types

By Bridget Borgobello
06:06 September 16, 2010

A team of biomedical engineers at Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University has created a new on-chip method to identify bacteria

A team of biomedical engineers at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University has created a new “on-chip” method to identify bacteria. By creating microchannels between two roughened glass slides containing gold electrodes, the researchers are able to sort and concentrate bacteria. A form of spectroscopy is then applied to identify them, providing a portable device that can be used for tasks like food monitoring and blood-screening.

The team, led by Hsien-Chang Chang, a professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Microsystems Engineering.

A tiny electric field is applied to the specially designed microfluidic chip to separate the bacteria (a phenomenon known as dielectrophoresis). A roughened metal shelter in front of the trapping electrode enhances the collection process.

The identification technique relies on “surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy”. Raman spectroscopy. In layman terms, when electrically stimulated, the different components on the surface of a bacteria strand attach themselves to the gold electrodes, creating different wavelength peaks which then form a spectral signature.

This spectral signature or “fingerprint” can then be used to identify different strands or families of bacteria. "In the future, different species of fungi could also be sorted based on their different electrical or physical properties by optimizing conditions such as the flow rate, applied voltage, and frequency," continued Chang. "This portable device could be used for preliminary screening for the pathogenic targets in bacteria-infected blood, urethral irritation, and of raw milk and for food monitoring."

The report on Professor Chang’s new microfluidic chip was published in the American Institute of Physics’ (AIP) journal Biomicrofluidics."

 

[Martian2]

Paper-Thin Screens With a Twist - WSJ.com

"Paper-Thin Screens With a Twist
Gold Winner | Industrial Technology Research Institute
SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
By MICHAEL TOTTY

Lots of researchers have been trying to come up with a way to make flexible displays that work like computer screens but with a literal twist—they can be bent, rolled and folded like a sheet of paper.

The Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI, won the top prize in this year's Innovation Awards contest for a manufacturing technique that promises to clear the way for commercial development of high-quality displays on flexible materials.

Flexible displays are attractive for several reasons: They're lighter than glass displays, making it possible to build larger consumer devices, such as e-readers or tablet computers, that aren't too heavy. They can also be used in some novel applications, such as interactive newspapers that can be bent or rolled and be as portable as the paper-based versions.

"With a stable, viable and cost-effective flexible-display technology," says Barry H. Jaruzelski, an Innovation Awards judge and a partner at consulting firm Booz & Co., "the door is opened to a wide range of truly new applications in consumer electronics and device interfaces."

But producing flexible displays in commercial quantities has proved challenging. To understand why, and why ITRI's innovation has promise, requires a brief tutorial.

A flexible display from Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute

Making a flexible display as fully functional as the typical flat-panel computer screen requires layering thin-film transistors on a flexible substrate. Because the flexible material can curl or shift during this process, it's bonded temporarily to a rigid piece of glass. The completed flexible display then has to be detached from the glass without being damaged, which is difficult to do efficiently enough to make the displays on a commercial scale.

ITRI's solution—which it calls FlexUPD, for flexible universal panel for displays—is novel yet simple. It places a "debonding" layer of nonadhesive material between the flexible substrate and the glass. The substrate, which has an adhesive backing, is made slightly larger than the final flexible display and the debonding layer, so it stays steady on the glass. Once the transistors are layered on the substrate and enclosed, the display can be cut out from the excess substrate and easily lifted off the glass.

The idea for the debonding layer, says an ITRI spokeswoman, came from watching cooks prepare paper-thin Taiwanese pancakes, which can be easily peeled from a pan at high temperatures. Cheng-Chung Lee and Tzong-Ming Lee, ITRI division directors, are credited with the idea.

The technique, the institute says, can be used with a variety of displays, including current liquid-crystal-display, or LCD, screens and the next-generation displays made with organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs.

ITRI has demonstrated a prototype paper-thin display made with this process, and has licensed the technology to display maker AU Optronics Corp. of Taiwan. The first product using the technology, a flexible display for an e-reader, is planned for release by the end of the year, an ITRI spokeswoman says.

A flexible display from Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute

Other companies have demonstrated flexible-screen prototypes and plan to bring them to market using a different manufacturing technology. None, including ITRI's technology, have yet seen commercial success, but ITRI says its improvements make its entry more cost-effective than competing technologies. Also, it says, the technology is compatible with existing factories for fabricating displays, so it can be widely adopted by display makers.

Judges for the Innovation Awards, while noting that ITRI is still in the early stages of commercializing the technology, cited the possible benefits of flexible displays. "This looks like a simple and elegant solution to a manufacturing problem," says William Webb, director of technology resources for Ofcom in the U.K.

ITRI, a nonprofit organization, won an Innovation Award in 2009 for its FleXpeaker, a paper-thin loudspeaker system.

Mr. Totty is a news editor for The Journal Report in San Francisco. He can be reached at michael.totty@wsj.com."

 

[Martian2]

Lite-Med’s dual-module localization Extracorporeal ShockWave Lithotripter (ESWL) LM-9200 ELMA

LITE-MED :: About

"Lite-Med Inc. was founded in 1991 to carry out Taiwan government's push in manufacturing and development of medical equipment locally for advancement of the medical equipment industry in Taiwan. With successful integration of electronic, mechanical, computer and automation techniques, which is at least equal if not better than the modern world standard, Lite-Med successfully developed a high-tech medical device for the treatment of patients with kidney stones. This is a pioneer development in Taiwan and has been approved to enter the market by Department of Health (DOH) in 2005.

Lite-Med’s dual-module localization Extracorporeal ShockWave Lithotripter (ESWL), LM-9200 ELMA, consists of a high efficiency, painless, no anesthesia-needed shockwave generator, a dual-module auto stone localization system, and a ultrasound stone tracking & locking system.

Utilizing the special functions provided by the above subsystems, Lite-Med’s Lithotripter can not only reduce the side effects such as hematuria, hematoma, reduced renal function and less radiation damage but also increase the stone-hitting efficiency & patient safety, and improve the stone treatment quality.

Basing on the same shockwave technology, Lite-Med also developed an Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) unit, named Bonstar. With ease of operation, simple localization, friendly user interface, and high mobility Bonstar can effectively treat frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, and other bone, tendon, ligament related diseases. In the near future, the application of shockwave technology can be expanded into treatment of other diseases and fields such as vascular obstruction, cancer treatment, cosmetic surgery, and nervous system diseases, etc.
...
2004 Passed ISO- 13485 Certification

2006 Obtained Certificate of Approval of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy.

2008 Acquired the “2008 Taipei Biotech Award” for our product of “Automatic Dual Localization & Calculus Tracking / Locking System ESWL”

2008 Acquired the “Industrial Innovation achievement award” created by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for our product of “Automatic Dual Localization & Calculus Tracking / Locking System ESWL”

2009 Lite-Med was one of the companies receiving this year's awards of the 'Taiwan Healthcare Industry Innovation and Excellence Awards 2009'"

 

[Martian2]

"Taiwan unveils microalgal biofuel technology."

Taiwan Today

"ITRI showcases biofuel production breakthrough

Publication Date：10/04/2010
Source： Taiwan Today

The Industrial Technology Research Institute unveiled its newly-developed technology for producing biofuel from microalgae on Oct. 1.

The high-efficiency processes developed with the financial support of the Department of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs were showcased at the four-day Taipei International Invention Show and Technomart.

Lin Yun-hui, head of the ITRI’s biofuel lab, said like plants, microalgae consumes carbon dioxide in the air through photosynthesis and converts it into materials containing oils, or lipids, that can be processed into biofuel.

He pointed out that up until now, Taiwan has been promoting the use of biodiesel products made from recycled cooking oil. Currently, diesel sold at local filling stations contains about 2 percent biofuel.

However, Lin said, if Taiwan wants to raise the percentage of biofuel in diesel, it must find other source materials for producing the biofuel.

Microalgae is a perfect candidate as Taiwan, surrounded by seas, enjoys an abundance of the material that can be harvested in large quantities.

According to Lin, every liter of ocean water contains about 1 gram of microalgae. This figure can be raised to 5 grams after one week of cultivation and further boosted to as high as 150 grams per liter using the ITRI’s advanced ocean water filtering process.

Also, the institute’s new continuous-extraction process allows for more than 0.5 grams of lipids to be produced from a single gram of microalgaes.

Aside from better extraction process, another advantage is that the leftover microalgae in the bioefuel production process is high in polysaccharides, Lin explained.

The leftover could be used as feed for livestock and poultry. This in turn could help cut down on the use of agricultural land for growing feed such as soybean and corn, eventually reducing commodity price fluctuations, Lin said. (SB)"

 

[ao333]

Stop googling Taiwan tech news and posting them here. I'll report this to your party leader if you keep on doing this.

 

[Martian2]

"Kuo-sheng Nuclear Power Plant where scientists from Taiwan and mainland China are performing low-energy neutrino experiments"

"Underground neutrino detector viewed from above." (File picture; for illustration purpose only)

Physicists find new method to probe neutrino magnetic effects - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

"Physicists find new method to probe neutrino magnetic effects
2010/08/10 18:43:30

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) A local research team has recently discovered a new method to detect possible neutrino electromagnetic interaction, a discovery that will increase experimental sensitivity by more than 100 times, a researcher with Taiwan's top research institute Academia Sinica said Tuesday.

"The new method has raised the sensitivity of the study of neutrino magnetic moments, which can promote future research in particle physics and cosmology, " said team leader Henry Tsz-king Wong, a research fellow for the Institute of Physics at Academia Sinica. He described neutrino magnetic moments as a scientific term used to indicate possible neutrino electromagnetic interaction.

"The feature of the new method is that we unveiled a mechanism of atomic ionization for the detection of neutrino magnetic moments and demonstrated great enhancement in sensitivity," said Wong.

The researchers also used data made available by the Kuo-Sheng Reactor Neutrino Laboratory in northern Taiwan.

Future studies about demonstrating the existence of the "neutrino magnetic moments, " as well as for monitoring low radiation at the reactor neutrino lab and many other fields will benefit from the new method, Wong said.

"This innovative concept was received with intense interest by the international scientific community. Data analyses and experimental projects exploiting this idea are being planned in other laboratories, " said Wong, who was a researcher at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) from 1992 to 1996.

The findings were published in the Physical Review Letters journal Aug. 2. (By Sunnie Chen)"

 

[Martian2]

Challenge: How to transfer drugs past the blood-brain barrier?

Brain tumor treatment: New procedure shows promise for treating brain tumors - latimes.com

"New procedure shows promise for treating brain tumors
By Rachel Bernstein, Los Angeles Times
August 10, 2010

In a study on rats, researchers use magnets, ultrasound and tiny particles to deliver chemotherapy drugs to precise locations. Clinical trials on humans are at least four to five years away.

Patients with brain tumors don't have many good options — surgery and radiation can damage crucial parts of the brain, and chemotherapy drugs don't easily cross the blood-brain barrier. A new procedure using magnets, ultrasound and minuscule drug-coated particles may be an effective solution, according to a study on rats published in Tuesday's edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers, led by Dr. Kuo-Chen Wei of Chang Gung University in Taiwan, injected tiny magnetic beads called nanoparticles, coated with a chemotherapy drug, into the rats' tails. They used ultrasound to open up a small region of the blood-brain barrier and a magnetic field to attract the particles to a precise location in the brain.

When they applied the treatment to rats with brain tumors, the tumor growth was slowed and the rats lived two-thirds longer than untreated rats.

"The technology's not very difficult," Wei said, "but the idea is novel."

Clinical trials in human beings are at least four to five years away, he added.

Brain tumors are difficult to treat with traditional drug delivery methods because the brain is insulated from circulating blood. Focused ultrasound — similar to, but much stronger than, the ultrasound technique used on pregnant women — temporarily disrupts the barrier, allowing drugs to enter.

Once the drugs get into the brain, they should ideally be delivered to a precise location to cut down on the damage to healthy tissue. This report is the first in which magnetic targeting was combined with ultrasound to attract the nanoparticles — and their drug passengers — to a specific part of the brain.

"The method has significant clinical potential," said Dr. Kullervo Hynynen of the University of Toronto Medical School, who conducts similar research but was not involved in the new study.

Wei and his team are working to improve the treatment so they can apply it to human patients. He said they needed to try additional chemotherapy drugs and nanoparticle types, as well as improve the ultrasound and magnetic-targeting technology.

Still, some scientists worry that opening the blood-brain barrier to allow powerful chemicals into the brain is too dangerous.

"The potential for toxicity in normal brain regions could cause all kinds of problems," said Allan David, a drug delivery researcher at the University of Michigan. "I think it's an interesting study, but it's still far from clinical studies."

Some of the danger of opening the blood-brain barrier may be avoided by combining Wei's approach with a type of drug that is activated only upon reaching the tumor, David said, so that healthy brain tissue is left unharmed."

 

[Martian2]

Stop googling Taiwan tech news and posting them here. I'll report this to your party leader if you keep on doing this.

Are you intimidated by Taiwan's technological prowess? If it bothers you that much, I will gladly delete all of these posts and repost them in a new "Taiwan should be in the top 5 of any innovation list" thread.

Let me know.

 

[CardSharp]

Are you intimidated by Taiwan's technological prowess? If it bothers you that much, I will gladly delete all of these posts and repost them in a new "Taiwan should be in the top 5 of any innovation list" thread.

Let me know.

Don't ... Those of us originally from China are proud of Taiwan's achievements.

 

[Martian2]

Don't ... Those of us originally from China are proud of Taiwan's achievements.

Taiwan is 98% Han. China is 92% Han. The innovations that Taiwan displays today are a foreshadowing of the tidal wave of future Chinese innovations.

Chinese Researchers Make Cloned Human Blastocysts

"(Clockwise from left) Three-, 5-, and 6-day-old cloned blastocysts."

"At the press release, leader of the research team, Li Jian-yuan explained the newly invented cloning technology is expected to facilitate medical treatment for patients like the sufferers of Parkinson disease."

CellNEWS: Chinese Researchers Make Cloned Human Blastocysts

"Chinese Researchers Make Cloned Human Blastocysts
Tuesday, 3 February 2009

SCNT Using an Alternative Enucleation Method for Patient-specific Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs)
Tuesday, 03 February 2009

China Daily report that a research team at the Shandong Stem Cell Engineering Research Center has successfully cloned five human blastulas from 135 eggs on experiment, according to a press conference jointly held by the research centre and Yantai Procreation Medicine Center on Monday. The Yantai Region is located north-central on the Shandong Peninsula, south of the Bohai Sea.

Of the five cloned human blastulas, four were from skin fibroblasts of healthy donors while the other one was from lymphocytes of patients with Parkinson disease.

At the press release, leader of the research team, Li Jian-yuan explained the newly invented cloning technology is expected to facilitate medical treatment for patients like the sufferers of Parkinson disease.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was used to generate patient-specific embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from blastocysts cloned by nuclear transfer (ntESCs). In this study, a total of 135 oocytes were obtained from 12 healthy donors (30–35 years). Human oocytes, obtained within 2 h following aspiration, were enucleated and human fibroblasts or lymphocytes were used to construct the SCNT embryos.

The web edition of the science journal "Cloning and Stem Cells" reported the Chinese scientific achievement on January 27, 2009.

Reference:
Human Embryos Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Using an Alternative Enucleation Approach
Jianyuan Li, Xuexia Liu, Haiyan Wang, Shouxin Zhang, Fujun Liu, Xuebo Wang, Yanwei Wang. Cloning and Stem Cells. ahead of print. doi:10.1089/clo.2008.0041"