Authoritarianism in the Living Room: Everyday Disciplines, Senses, and Morality in Taiwan’s Military Villages

With the nationalist government – Kuomintang (KMT) – retreating from mainland China in 1949, some 600,000 military personnel relocated to Taiwan. The military seized former Japanese colonial properties and built its own settlements, establishing temporary military dependents’ villages called juancun (眷村). When the prospect of counter-attacking the mainland vanished, the KMT had to face the reality of settling permanently in Taiwan. How, then, did the KMT’s authoritarian power enter the everyday lives of its own support group? In this article I will focus on the coercive elements of KMT authoritarianism, which permeated these military villages in Taiwan. I will look at the coercive mechanisms through the analytical lens of Foucauldian discipline. I argue that disciplinary techniques such as surveillance, disciplining of the body and the senses, as well as the creation of morality regimes played an important role in the cooptation of village residents into KMT authoritarianism by normalising and naturalising it

Altered Striatocerebellar Metabolism and Systemic Inflammation in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most second common neurodegenerative movement disorder. Neuroinflammation due to systemic inflammation and elevated oxidative stress is considered a major factor promoting the pathogenesis of PD, but the relationship of structural brain imaging parameters to clinical inflammatory markers has not been well studied. Our aim was to evaluate the association of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures with inflammatory markers. Blood samples were collected from 33 patients with newly diagnosed PD and 30 healthy volunteers. MRS data including levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cre), and choline (Cho) were measured in the bilateral basal ganglia and cerebellum. Inflammatory markers included plasma nuclear DNA, plasma mitochondrial DNA, and apoptotic leukocyte levels. The Cho/Cre ratio in the dominant basal ganglion, the dominant basal ganglia to cerebellum ratios of two MRS parameters NAA/Cre and Cho/Cre, and levels of nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and apoptotic leukocytes were significantly different between PD patients and normal healthy volunteers. Significant positive correlations were noted between MRS measures and inflammatory marker levels. In conclusion, patients with PD seem to have abnormal levels of inflammatory markers in the peripheral circulation and deficits in MRS measures in the dominant basal ganglion and cerebellum

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

PROGRAMMABLE M13 HYPERPHAGE DISPLAY OF DIVERSE ANIMAL TOXIN LIBRARIES TO DISCOVER MEMBRANE PROTEIN TARGETED THERAPEUTICS

Animal toxins and cysteine-reinforced miniproteins present underexplored landscapes for drug discovery due to their unique structural attributes, potent bioactivity, and selective targeting. Recognizing the value of these compounds for therapeutic strategies, we developed a high-throughput strategy for large-scale screening of these miniproteins. To meet the urgent requirement for large-scale screening of cysteine-reinforced miniproteins, we devised a high-throughput strategy targeting the discovery of innovative drug candidates. Central to this strategy is the construction of two distinct libraries: the 'Animal Toxin' library, assembled from Uniprot database resources, and the 'Metavenome' library, developed to expand the former through sequence homologous proteins within an extensive Metagenomic database. Using programmable phage display integrated with high-throughput oligonucleotide library synthesis, we encoded these libraries with chosen polypeptides, thereby representing a substantial fraction of the cysteine-rich toxins universe for protein-protein interaction studies. We optimized our phage display using a programmable hyperphage technique for M13 phage display. Our hyperphage system enables the fusion of ligands with all five copies of the P3 protein expressed on the phage surface. This polyvalent display system not only enhances binding avidity but also amplifies the sensitivity to detect lower affinity interactions. Moreover, we have coupled single-round screening with next-generation sequencing (NGS) to evaluate the binding of all library members simultaneously. This innovative combination allows for rapid and efficient identification of potential ligands for target membrane proteins and can even detect interactions with very rare members of a library that might otherwise be outcompeted in a typical multiple-round panning process of traditional phage display. As an initial demonstration of the utility of our platform, we focused on two distinct receptors, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Mas-related G-protein coupled receptor member X4 (MrgprX4), which are implicated in cellular growth processes and pain/itch signaling, respectively. We rediscovered known ligands, identified novel binders, and provided insights into potential binding modalities of these ligands. Our findings demonstrate the potential of our libraries in discovering bioactive ligands and the prospects of these binders as scaffolds for novel therapeutics. Altogether, our platform offers a promising approach for membrane protein-targeted drug discovery and exploring the structural diversity of cysteine-rich miniproteins

Study of the Representation and Resistance of Violence in TV Cartoon Text: A Comparison between Perspectives of Adult and Children

本研究旨在探討成人眼中的暴力卡通，對兒童來說是否真的是暴力嗎？本研究具 體進行步驟有三，一為Tom & Jerry的文本分析；二為兒童對暴力卡通的行動與敘說；三為身為幼教工作者，該如何進行批判的媒體識讀？本研究站在文化研究的立場，透過童年之死派、電子世代派等理論觀點來探討此議題，同時說明媒體識讀對全民之重要性。 本研究共有四個主要發現： 1.不同角度看世界－成人與兒童觀點之差異：透過Tom & Jerry中角色形象性格分析與劇情解析，得知以成人觀點其屬暴力卡通。但在兒童眼中，劇中暴力行為僅是逗趣的故事劇情，並不是暴力。成人與兒童對暴力卡通的觀看角度截然不同。 2.男女大不同－不同性別探討暴力卡通之區別：男女生分享劇情的切入點與方式 大有不同。女生敘說，多著墨劇情情感面，對暴力並未細談；男生則針對劇情中的動作及細節加以敘述。 3.朋友的影響力－同儕文化與兒童敘說：兒童在發言時，常因身旁有無要好同儕 而決定是否發言。 4.向日葵心中的太陽－成人角色的定位：透過活動過程中與兒童的分享交流，皆可看見成人的縮影。由此可知，兒童所處的社會環境（指所接觸的成人）對他們的影響力比電視卡通來得大。成人毋需過度在意電視傳播內容的好壞，或是過於執著替兒童選擇成人眼中的優良讀物。重點應該是在兒童觀看這些電視媒體訊息時，成人到底扮演什麼樣的角色。 關鍵字：卡通、暴力再現、批判的媒體識讀The purpose of this study is to inquire violent representation and resistance from TV cartoon text (Tom & Jerry as an example), and to compare the difference between perspectives of adults and children. The theoretical framework in this study follows by cultural studies tradition, and focuses on the discourse from David Buckingham and Joseph Tobin in particular. The concrete research’s concerns in this study include: (1) content analysis of Tom & Jerry, (2) children’s action and narrative related to violence in TV cartoon, and (3) how kindergarten teacher to conduct the critical media literacy in the classroom? There are four main findings from this study as follows: 1. The difference between perspectives of adult and children：For adult, it is a violent cartoon through the roles’ personalities and the story in Tom & Jerry. However, it is not violence just a funny cartoon from the children’s view. In other words, obvious differences between adults and children are clear. 2. Gender issues related to narratives about the violence in TV cartoon：This study finds the difference of narratives related to gender issue when kids talk about Tom & Jerry. Girls focus on the emotion and seldom talk about the violence in Tom & Jerry, but boys not only focus on actions but also describe details in Tom & Jerry text. 3. Friendship plays the key issue to influence on children’s narrative: Friendship decides kids whether to speak or not. 4. The position of adult’s role to conduct critical media literacy：This study finds adult’s impact is stronger than the impact from the TV cartoon. That is, media texts do not really matter, but the key issue is from the position of adult to conduct the critical media literacy. Keywords: cartoon, the representation of violence, critical media literac

Antisolvent Engineering to Enhance Photovoltaic Performance of Methylammonium Bismuth Iodide Solar Cells

High absorption ability and direct bandgap makes lead-based perovskite to acquire high photovoltaic performance. However, lead content in perovskite becomes a double-blade for counterbalancing photovoltaic performance and sustainability. Herein, we develop a methylammonium bismuth iodide (MBI), a perovskite-derivative, to serve as a lead-free light absorber layer. Owing to the short carrier diffusion length of MBI, its film quality is a predominant factor to photovoltaic performance. Several candidates of non-polar solvent are discussed in aspect of their dipole moment and boiling point to reveal the effects of anti-solvent assisted crystallization. Through anti-solvent engineering of toluene, the morphology, crystallinity, and element distribution of MBI films are improved compared with those without toluene treatment. The improved morphology and crystallinity of MBI films promote photovoltaic performance over 3.2 times compared with the one without toluene treatment. The photovoltaic device can achieve 0.26% with minor hysteresis effect, whose hysteresis index reduces from 0.374 to 0.169. This study guides a feasible path for developing MBI photovoltaics

Charge and Energy Transfer Dynamics in Dimethylsilylene-Spaced Aminostyrene Stilbene Monomer Using Time-Resolved Techniques

We used transient absorption and time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) techniques to investigate the charge transfer reaction in monosilylene-spaced aminostyrene stilbene monomer. With 266 nm excitation, both stilbene (<b>sti</b>) and aminostyrene (<b>ast</b>) moieties were excited. In nonpolar solvents, the transient absorption band centered at 600 nm appeared promptly and is assigned to the excited state of <b>sti*</b>; this state relaxes at time constant 1.2–1.4 ps and is explained to proceed energy transfer to <b>ast</b> 1ππ*. The second transient band at 460 nm is assigned to absorption of <b>ast</b> 2ππ*; this state accessed from direct excitation has a lifetime 65 ps. This agrees with the observation of 85–89 ps emission decay from the TCSPC measurements. In polar solvent, an excited absorption band centered at 530 nm appeared with a rise time constant 0.2–0.6 ps. This band is assigned to the charge transfer state. This charge transfer process occurs as the acceptor fluorophore (<b>sti</b>) is excited and the electron moves from the occupied π orbital of donor <b>ast</b> to <b>sti*</b> forming <b>ast</b>⁺<b>sti</b>^–. This rise time corresponds to the combined processes of charge and energy transfers. The second rise in this charge-transfer state at time constant 0.74–1.5 ps is observed and assigned to occur from electron hopping from <b>ast</b> 2π* orbital to <b>sti</b> π*. The third time constant 18–31 ps is observed and is attributed to conversion of anti to syn form in the charge-transfer state because the syn form is more polar and further stabilized in polar environment. A rapid charge transfer process in monosilylene-spaced system although two Si–C single bonds are used as spacer is possibly because of the short distance of the <b>ast</b> and the <b>sti</b> conjugated systems, resulting in π orbital overlap between donor and acceptor

Biomedical applications and colloidal properties of amphiphilically modified chitosan hybrids

Chitosan is among the most abundant biopolymers on earth and has been either used orexhibited potential in a wide variety of industrial and biomedical applications. With theadvancement of materials technologies, chitosan has been chemically modified to self-assemble into nanoarchitectures that are usable in advanced biomedical applications, suchas drug nanocarriers, macroscopic injectables, tissue-engineering scaffolds, and nanoimag-ing agents. Colloidal amphiphilically modified chitosan (AMC) is a relatively recent materialreceiving increased attention with numerous publications addressing the medical advan-tages of specific systems. To date, many reviews have focused on the synthesis andbiomedical properties of chitosan-based biomaterials, but a comprehensive study focusingon the colloidal properties of AMC in relation to biomedical performance appears to be lack-ing. This review provides a survey of the field, critically reviewing the colloidal propertiesand biomedical performance of AMC systems, such as nanoparticle drug delivery systemsand macroscopic medical devices. Finally, the future development, market potential, andclinical implications of these promising colloidal-structured biomaterials are summarised.