Making Southeast Asian Migrant Workers Visible in Taiwanese Cinema: "Pinoy Sunday" and "Ye-Zai"

In Taiwan, the term for “migrant workers” (waiji yigong) refers to non-Han immigrant populations—including those from Thailand and the Philippines—whose numbers have been increasing since the 2000s. As these populations have grown, they have become part of the public conversation, and cinematic representations of migrant workers have increased as well. Immigrant films function as a form of recognition and thereby challenge the homogeneous Taiwanese national identity. Two questions arise: Is it possible to change existing stereotypes and cultural conflicts? And, how can we avoid a crisis of oversimplified presentations of immigrants? In order to address these questions, this article examines two films: Ho Wi Ding’s Pinoy Sunday (Taibei Xingqitian 台北星期天 2009), a comedy that focuses on two Filipino immigrant workers’ lives in Taipei, and Tseng Ying-ting’s Ye-Zai 椰仔 (2012), a crime film with a plot that involves tracking down “runaway migrant workers” (taopao wailao).The author employs three different lenses or paradigms to consider the establishment of migrant-worker subjects in these films in order to fully understand the power dynamics at play in the workers’ interactions with Taiwan’s broader society. Because of state and social attempts to control these migrant workers, the first important paradigm is the act of “running away,” which makes border restrictions in Taiwan clear and creates a space to explore strategies of escape from routine lives. Second, by considering how different powers intersect, the author explores the relationship between the viewer and the viewed, and how migrant workers can become the subjects, not just the objects, in this paradigm. By employing two techniques of visualization—the gaze and symbolism—these films present migrant workers’ emotions and desires, which are rarely shown in mainstream cinemas, and encourage viewers to recognize the perspectives of migrant workers. Finally, the author suggests the use of the language act as a means of resistance to show different affiliations and identities in both films; the visibility of these migrant workers challenges their discrimination. Keywords: Taiwan, Taiwanese film, waiji yigong, migrant workers, immigrant labor, Pinoy Sunday, Taibei Xingqitian, Ye-Zai, ethnoscapes, non-Han-Taiwanese identitie

COMPARISON OF KINESIO TAPING AND SPORTS TAPING IN FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL PLAYERS: A PILOT STUDY

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of kinesio taping and sports taping for collegiate basketball players in functional activities. Seventeen collegiate basketball players were recruited in particapitate this study and divided into three groups(Kinesio taping group, sports taping group and control group) in random. The ankle range of motion, plantarflexor muscle strength and endurance, vertical jump, and dynamic balance were measured before and after taping applied. The results was showed significantly increasing in ankle plantar-flexion range for Kinesio taping group(p=.03). There were no remarkable difference in the other measurements. In conclusion, the Kinesio Taping would not restriction the ankle plantar-flexion range. In future, we may recruited more subjects to identify the effect of Kinesio taping in functional activities for collegiate bsketball players

A Study of Machine Learning Models in Epidemic Surveillance: Using the Query Logs of Search Engines

Epidemics inevitably result in a large number of deaths and always cause considerable social and economic damage. Epidemic surveillance has thus become an important healthcare research issue. In 2009, Ginsberg et al. observed that the query logs of search engines can be used to estimate the status of epidemics in a timely manner. In this paper, we model epidemic surveillance as a classification problem and employ query statistics from Google to classify the status of a dengue fever epidemic. The query logs of twenty-three dengue-related keywords serve as observations for machine learning and testing, and a number of machine learning models are investigated to evaluate their surveillance performance. Evaluations based on a 5-year real world dataset demonstrate that search engine query logs can be used to construct accurate epidemic status classifiers. Moreover, the learned classifiers generally outperform conventional regression approaches. We also apply various machine learning models, including generative, discriminative, sequential, and non-sequential classification models, to demonstrate their applicability to epidemic surveillance

Paxillin facilitates timely neurite initiation on soft-substrate environments by interacting with the endocytic machinery.

Neurite initiation is the first step in neuronal development and occurs spontaneously in soft tissue environments. Although the mechanisms regulating the morphology of migratory cells on rigid substrates in cell culture are widely known, how soft environments modulate neurite initiation remains elusive. Using hydrogel cultures, pharmacologic inhibition, and genetic approaches, we reveal that paxillin-linked endocytosis and adhesion are components of a bistable switch controlling neurite initiation in a substrate modulus-dependent manner. On soft substrates, most paxillin binds to endocytic factors and facilitates vesicle invagination, elevating neuritogenic Rac1 activity and expression of genes encoding the endocytic machinery. By contrast, on rigid substrates, cells develop extensive adhesions, increase RhoA activity and sequester paxillin from the endocytic machinery, thereby delaying neurite initiation. Our results highlight paxillin as a core molecule in substrate modulus-controlled morphogenesis and define a mechanism whereby neuronal cells respond to environments exhibiting varying mechanical properties

Enhancement of brain-type creatine kinase activity ameliorates neuronal deficits in Huntington's disease

AbstractHuntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Brain-type creatine kinase (CKB) is an enzyme involved in energy homeostasis via the phosphocreatine–creatine kinase system. Although downregulation of CKB was previously reported in brains of HD mouse models and patients, such regulation and its functional consequence in HD are not fully understood. In the present study, we demonstrated that levels of CKB found in both the soma and processes were markedly reduced in primary neurons and brains of HD mice. We show for the first time that mutant HTT (mHTT) suppressed the activity of the promoter of the CKB gene, which contributes to the lowered CKB expression in HD. Exogenous expression of wild-type CKB, but not a dominant negative CKB mutant, rescued the ATP depletion, aggregate formation, impaired proteasome activity, and shortened neurites induced by mHTT. These findings suggest that negative regulation of CKB by mHTT is a key event in the pathogenesis of HD and contributes to the neuronal dysfunction associated with HD. In addition, besides dietary supplementation with the CKB substrate, strategies aimed at increasing CKB expression might lead to the development of therapeutic treatments for HD

Significant Inhibition of Tumor Growth following Single Dose Nanoparticle-Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment involves the pathology’s uptake of photosensitizers, which produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species by photoirradiation. The use of nanoparticles as carriers of photosensitizers is one promising approach to this endeavor, owing to their small size, unique physicochemical properties, and easy/diverse functionalization. In the current work, we report on the in vivo assessment of PDT efficacy of these nanoconstructs in a murine model of human breast cancer, following a single (one-shot) nanoparticle dose and photoirradiation. Palladium-porphyrin (PdTPP) was administered intratumorally via injection of aqueous suspensions of either free PdTPP or MSN-conjugated PdTPP (MSN-PdTPP) at a dose of 50 μg. Mice were then exposed to a single photoirradiation session with total energy of 80 J. One month after one-shot PDT treatment, significantly greater reductions in tumor growth were observed in MSN-Pd treated animals than in PdTPP cohorts. Electron microscopy of tumor specimens harvested at various timepoints revealed excellent MSN-PdTPP uptake by cancer cells while immunohistologic analysis demonstrated marked increases in apoptotic response of MSN-PdTPP treated animals relative to PdTPP controls. Taken together, these findings suggest that considerable improvements in PDT efficacy can readily be achieved via the use of nanoparticle-based photosensitizers

Direct growth of ultra-long platinum nanolawns on a semiconductor photocatalyst

A template- and surfactant-free process, thermally assisted photoreduction, is developed to prepare vertically grown ultra-long Pt nanowires (NWs) (about 30-40 nm in diameter, 5-6 μm in length, and up to 80 NWs/100 μm2 in the wire density) on TiO2 coated substrates, including Si wafers and carbon fibers, with the assistance of the photocatalytic ability and semiconductor characteristics of TiO2. A remarkable aspect ratio of up to 200 can be achieved. TEM analytical results suggest that the Pt NWs are single-crystalline with a preferred 〈111〉 growth direction. The precursor adopted and the heat treatment conditions are crucial for the yield of NWs. The photoelectrons supplied by TiO2 gives rise to the formation of nano-sized Pt nuclei from salt melt or solution. The subsequent growth of NWs is supported by the thermal electrons which also generated from TiO2 during the post thermal treatment. The interactions between the ions and the electrons in the Pt/TiO2 junction are discussed in this study