International team develops potential COVID drug screening platform
04/30/2021 06:39 PM
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Members of the research team pose for a group photo during a press event held Friday. CNA photo April 30, 2021
Taipei, April 30 (CNA) An international research team comprised of researchers from Taiwan and Malaysia has developed a platform where drugs with the potential to inhibit infection by the virus that causes COVID-19 can be identified from massive data banks of known medicines in about 20 minutes.
The platform for the rapid screening of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors was developed as an efficient tool to sift through existing medicines and determine which are most likely to prove efficacious against COVID-19, the developers said at a press conference held by National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) in Taipei on Friday.
New IKEA outlet opens in Taipei amid traffic worries from mayor
04/28/2021 03:52 PM
IKEA s new Neihu store. CNA photo April 28, 2021
Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Hundreds of people flocked to the new outlet of Swedish furniture retailer IKEA in Taipei s Neihu District on Wednesday, the first day of the store s formal opening, while Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) expressed concern about traffic in the district.
The Neihu store occupies a total of 6,200 pings, or 20,460 square meters of space, capable of handling up to 9,000 customers at a time. It replaces the Dunbei store in downtown Taipei, which was closed two days ago for good after 23 years of operation.
UMC plans NT$100 billion capacity expansion in southern Taiwan
04/28/2021 09:35 PM
CNA file photo
Taipei, April 28 (CNA) United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), the second-largest contract chipmaker in Taiwan, announced on Wednesday an investment project worth NT$100 billion (US$3.58 billion) aimed at expanding capacity at its 300 mm Fab 12A Phase 6 (P6) in Tainan, southern Taiwan.
The investment was made through collaboration with several of its leading global customers, the Hsinchu-headquartered silicon wafer foundry said in a press release. Under this mutually beneficial arrangement, these customers will each make a deposit that secures their long-term chip supply at P6 using pre-determined pricing that will enable UMC to grow organically and meet its long-term profitability and market relevance goals, the company said.
Harming animals by acts of omission included in revised law
04/27/2021 06:28 PM
A dog is pictured at a recent consumer fair held for pet owners. CNA file photo
Taipei, April 27 (CNA) Taiwan s Legislature on Tuesday passed an amendment to the Animal Protection Act that expands the definition of abuse to include acts of omission, with those convicted facing a maximum of two years in prison and a fine of up to NT$2 million (US$71,800).
Before the amendment was passed, abuse was defined as actively harming or treating animals in such a way as to render them unable to physically function for example by injuring them or causing organ failure as a result of violence, administering the wrong drugs or other improper behavior when rearing, looking after or dealing with them.
Taiwanese researcher elected to U.S. National Academy of Sciences
04/27/2021 08:32 PM
Photo courtesy of Academia Sinica
Taipei, April 27 (CNA) Taiwanese botanist Tsay Yi-fang (蔡宜芳) has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, Taiwan s top academic research institution said Tuesday.
Tsay, a distinguished fellow at Academia Sinica s Institute of Molecular Biology, was surprised and delighted that her many years of inconspicuous research in Taiwan had been recognized internationally, the institute said in a press release.
A botanist specializing in plant molecular biology, Tsay s research at Academia Sinica focuses on nitrate transport, signaling and utilization efficiency in plants, according to the release.