The innovative nebulizer can protect frontline healthcare workers and the general public

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/04
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University (NCKUH) is showcasing a new nebulizer that is expected to significantly reduce the risk of coronavirus infection for frontline healthcare workers during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The scuba diving mask-inspired respirator prototype was created by Dr. Kao Chia-lung (高嘉隆) and Dr. Lin Chih-hao (林志豪), two months after the COVID outbreak began in early 2020. Kao told Taiwan News the product, a full-face nebulizer mask, can effectively curb the spread of the virus through respiratory droplets in indoor environments.

Patients can wear the innovative mask to filter out virus particles through an embedded high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter on the top of the mask. When the drug is administered through the nebulizer, the virus will not be released into the air.

Deputy Superintendent of Tainan Hospital, Dr. Cheng Hsiu-chi (鄭修琦), said due to the experience of combating severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Taiwanese doctors learned that incorrect handling of patients led to a higher probability of infections among people working in the same hospital. This was found to be the case with the use of nebulizers, in particular, and this experience may partially explain why Taiwan has dodged a big outbreak this time.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 1200/04/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) Taiwan's foreign exchange (forex) reserves hit another record high at the end of November as the central bank stepped into the local currency market to slow the Taiwan dollar's appreciation against the U.S. dollar.

In an admission of its market intervention by buying the greenback to cap the gains posted by the Taiwan dollar at a time of continued fund inflows, the central bank said the country's forex reserves as of the end of November stood at US$513.397 billion, up US$12.16 billion from a month earlier.

The growth was the largest-ever month-on-month increase in forex reserves in the country's history, according to the central bank. In November, the U.S. dollar fell 0.35 percent against the Taiwan dollar. Analysts said that without the central bank's support, the greenback could have lost more.

In December, the U.S. dollar continued a downtrend as foreign investors kept moving funds into the region at a time when the major central banks in the world pumped more funds into the market amid the COVID-19 pandemic, analysts said.    [FULL  STORY]

GOING DEEPER: The Danish company called on the government to initiate a pilot project for floating wind farms to open up capacity and minimize controversies

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 05, 2020
By: Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

Danish firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP) yesterday announced six proposed sites for offshore wind farm projects for its phase 3 development.

Together, the six sites add up to 6.3 gigawatts (GW) in potential capacity.

Four of the proposed sites are in waters more than 50m deep — the limit for fixed-bottom turbine technology.

While floating turbine technology is still in the experimental phase, CIP Taiwan Round 3 Projects chief executive Jesper Krarup Holst described the decision to go into deeper waters as a “no brainer” and urged the government to initiate a pilot project for floating wind farms.
[FULL  STORY]

TSMC to produce next-generation Atom & Xeon SoCs for Intel

Tom's Hardware
Date: December 03, 2020
By: Anton Shilov 

A job description on Intel's website gives us a rare glimpse at Intel's outsourcing plans. It's no secret that Intel will outsource more production to TSMC in the future, but so far, the company has been pretty vague about the details. According to the job listing, in addition to Xe-HPG GPUs and Xe-HPC compute slices, TSMC will also produce 'Atom and Xeon' system-on-chips for Intel.   

"As a member of the QAT design team, you will work as the RTL integration lead within the Custom Logic ASIC Engineering group in DCG [Data Center Group]," the job description at Intel's website (found by @Komachi_Ensaka) reads. "You will play a key role in the development and integration of QAT into Atom & Xeon based SoC on Intel and TSMC process, you will work with the IP/SoC integration team and collaborate with the SoC design, validation and emulation teams to ensure successful integration validation of the QAT IP." 

Intel’s QuickAssist Technology (QAT) is a hardware IP designed to accelerate cryptographic and compression workloads. Over the years, Intel has incorporated QAT IP into chipsets and SoCs. The company has also offered QAT add-in-cards. Given that security and compression technologies are tremendously important for all kinds of edge, networking, storage, and server applications, Intel integrates this hardware IP into all of its processors and SoCs for the said devices. 

To address various niche markets, Intel currently produces numerous specialized Atom and Xeon-branded SoCs. This year the company introduced Atom 'Snow Ridge' SoCs with up to 24 Tremont cores for 5G base stations, as well as Atom 'Elkhart Lake' SoCs with up to four Tremont cores for various edge and embedded computing applications. Also, Intel has Xeon D-series SoCs powered by Skylake-SP cores in its lineup that are aimed at networking and storage applications. So far, Intel has not announced a single Xeon-branded SoC with low-power Atom cores.     [FULL  STORY]

Fuguo founded in Yilan County's Toucheng Township in 1956

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A container of white shrimp imported from the Central American country of Honduras was opened Wednesday (Dec. 2) at Fuguo Freezing Co. (福國冷凍股份有限公司) in Yilan County's Wujie Township in a celebratory event attended by the company's management and both Taiwanese and Honduran diplomats.

The container is one of 150 transporting white shrimp that Fuguo is contracted to import from the Central American country in 2020. According to the company’s president, Wu Kou-hsien (吳國賢), Fuguo began to import white shrimp from Honduras in 2015, starting with 18 containers.

As demand has continued to grow over the years, the company will have imported 220 containers from Central America this year, including 150 from Honduras. This makes the company the nation’s biggest Central American white shrimp importer, Wu added.

Fuguo has grown from a fish vendor in Yilan's Toucheng Township in 1956 to become the country’s leading seafood wholesale company, according to Wu.

Now the company is located in Letzer Industrial Park near the border of Suao and Wujie Townships. The company’s main seafood products include imported frozen salmon, halibut, Norwegian mackerel, toothfish, shrimp, crab, and squid from all over the world as well as locally caught fish. The company is also engaged in sweetfish farming.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/03/2020
By: Flor Wang and Pan Tzi-yu

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) The Taiwan dollar ended at 28.668 against the greenback on the Taipei foreign exchange market on Thursday, gaining NT$0.098 from the previous close to finish at a 9.5-year high after the central bank took a hands-off approach.

The Taiwan dollar opened at 28.77 and remained stable around 28.5 against the U.S. dollar before noon — a level the central bank had tried hard to maintain since November amid the continued influx of hot money boosted by Taiwan's robust exports and rising stock market.

However, the central bank suddenly eased its stance and allowed the local currency to appreciate, pushing exporters to sell more Taiwan dollars in exchange for the greenback over fears they could suffer greater losses if the Taiwan dollar continues to appreciate.

During Thursday's trading, the local currency peaked at 28.401 against the U.S. dollar at one point — its highest level in 23 years and four months.    [FULL  STORY]

TECH FOCUS: AU Optronics unveiled a high-resolution surgery display and Taipei Medical University Hospital presented a contactless COVID-19 treatment platform

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 04, 2020
By: Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

More than 500 exhibitors are showcasing their latest innovations at the Taiwan HealthCare Expo, which began at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei yesterday.

Tech companies developing smart medicine products are represented alongside medical supply and pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals.

Diverse topics in healthcare have been addressed, including Kaohsiung Medical University’s virtual reality “nostalgia therapy” for people with Alzheimer’s disease and Chimei Hospital’s 3D printed device to prevent air from getting into feeding tubes.

However, the spotlight was on products that incorporate the latest 5G, high-resolution sensor chips and Internet of Things technology, as well as developments to address the COVID-19 pandemic.    [FULL  STORY]

Fuguo began in Yilan's Toucheng Township in 1956

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A container of white shrimp imported from the Central American country of Honduras was opened on Wednesday (Dec. 2) at Fuguo Freezing Co. (福國冷凍股份有限公司) in Wujie Township, Yilan County in a celebratory event attended by the company's management and diplomats from both Taiwan and Honduras.

The container is one of 150 transporting white shrimp that Fuguo is contracted to import from the Central American country in 2020. According to the company’s president, Wu Kou-hsien (吳國賢), Fuguo began to import white shrimp from Honduras in 2015, when the company imported 18 containers.

As the demand has continued to grow over the years, the company will import a total of 220 containers from Central America this year, 150 of which will have come from Honduras. This makes the company the nation’s biggest Central American white shrimp importer, he added.

Fuguo has grown from a fish vendor in Yilan's Toucheng Township in 1956 to become the country’s leading seafood wholesale company, according to Wu.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/02/2020
By: Wu Chia-jung and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Ten people won the special prize of NT$10 million (US$350,692) in the September-October 2020 uniform invoice lottery, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Wednesday.

Among the 10 winners, six spent less than NT$100 to win the top prize, including one who spent only NT$35 on a drink in a Taoyuan-based drink shop named "ChangeCha."

Meanwhile, 16 people won the grand prize of NT$2 million.

The winning number for the NT$10 million special prize in this uniform invoice lottery edition is 42024723, with 64157858 for the NT$2 million grand prize.

The winning numbers for the first prize of NT$200,000 are 68550826, 84643    [FULL  STORY]