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Autism is a neural dysconnectivity syndrome caused by abnormal neural development. Dr. Yi-Ping Hsueh's research team at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Dr. Chien-Yao Wang at the Institute of Informational Science combined artificial intelligence and high-throughput imaging technology to establish a whole-brain imaging and quantification system for analyzing neural connectivity in autism model mice.

Trichoderma is a group of fungi commonly used in industrial enzyme and biofuel production, food manufacturing, agricultural biocontrol, and biofertilizers. Trichoderma species exist as filamentous hyphae and are widely distributed in soil, air, various waters, and plant debris. Their most notable features are high genetic diversity and strong environmental adaptability. Another common characteristic is their tendency to be male or female sterile, making sexual reproduction difficult or impossible, thus relying solely on asexual reproduction through vegetative growth.

The newest issue of the Journal of Social Sciences and Philosophy has been published by the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences. Articles in this issue (Vol.36, No.2) include

The newest issue of Asia Major has just been published by the Institute of History and Philology.

Some vertebrate animals, such as zebrafish and salamanders, can heal large cutaneous wounds within hours. Investigating this process may reveal new approaches in regenerative medicine. Dr. Chen-Hui Chen at the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology (ICOB), along with Dr. Ji-Yen Cheng at the Research Center for Applied Sciences (RCAS), and their teams have developed a macroscopic live imaging platform capable of capturing approximately 60,000 Superficial Epithelial Cells (SECs) within a single field of view. They found that fin-resident epithelial cells are highly mobile, migrating to cover nearby millimeter-sized body wounds. They propose that fin tissues or vertebrate appendages may act as a massive reservoir of healing cells, speeding up wound closure and tissue repair. This unexpected finding was published in July this year in the journal Current Biology.

We are pleased to announce the new publication of issue 25.3 of Language and Linguistics.

The newest issue of Taiwan Journal of Anthropology has just been published by the Institute of Ethnology. Articles in this issue (Volume 22 No.1) include

Fluorescence cytometry is a widely used method for identifying cellular expressions. Live cells are highly complex, and their precise identification often requires simultaneous staining of more than 20 biomarkers. However, in traditional flow cytometry, the number of available channels is limited by wavelength constraints, which has reached its physical limits and hinders accurate determination and identification of target cells. The research led by Assistant Research Fellow Dr. Ching-Wei Lin at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences has developed and demonstrated a detection technology that extends the spectral range to wavelengths up to 1550 nm. The most significant breakthrough of this technology is the expansion of the spectral range by more than 2.5 times. By combining this technology with short-wave infrared (SWIR; 900-1700 nm) fluorescent materials such as single-wall carbon nanotubes, indium arsenide quantum dots, down-conversion rare-earth nanoparticles, polymer dots, and donor-acceptor-donor small molecular dyes recently developed by synthetic materials chemists, it is possible to increase the number of spectral detection channels to >50, significantly improving the accuracy of complex live cell detection and identification. The main contribution of this work lies in addressing the uncertainty that scientists previously had about whether flow cytometry could achieve such detection limits in the SWIR range. Even with the existence of long-wavelength fluorescent materials, it was uncertain if the complexity of spectral mixing issues could be solved or reduced. This research provides positive insights in this regard, giving future researchers confidence to continue advancing in this direction. This research was published online on July 8, 2024 in ACS Nano, with financial support from Academia Sinica and the National Science and Technology Council in Taiwan.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are the leading cause of chronic hepatitis, which may lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Dr. Kevin Tsai’s team at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences found that the RNA of Hepatitis B viruses (HBV) are enriched with small chemical modifications, shedding new light on the molecular mechanisms of HBV replication, one of the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and cancer. Among the viral RNA modifications found, the cytidine methylation 5-methylcytidine (m5C) was found on viral RNAs at 11x higher amounts than on cellular messenger RNAs. Viral m5C is deposited by the cellular enzyme NSUN2 and removal of NSUN2 resulted in a loss of m5C from viral RNAs and failure in the production of viral structural proteins and genomic DNA.

Recent advances in computational design, directed evolution, and recombinant protein technology have opened new avenues for cancer therapy. Dr. Mou Yun and Dr. Jack Hu from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences have introduced a novel therapeutic protein named "STYMIE," designed to activate both cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells within the tumor microenvironment. STYMIE comprises an enhanced superantigen, a computationally designed cytokine, and a tumor-targeting antibody. Their research demonstrates significant suppression of colorectal, breast, and lung cancers through systemic STYMIE treatment. Furthermore, the study elucidates the molecular mechanisms of superantigen-mediated T cell activation, highlighting CD2 and CD58 as primary ligands. This groundbreaking work, showcasing innovative principles in immune cell engager design, was published in Advanced Science on June 28, 2024.

The newest issue of Academia Economic Papers has just been published by the Institute of Economics. Articles in this issue (Vol. 52, No. 2) include:

The latest issue of《EurAmerica》has been published. This issue includes five articles on Thinking about Law: New Perspectives on Legal Philosophy. The authors and titles of these articles are as follows: