npg Introduction KCNQ4, a novel potassium channel, plays a part in regulating the membrane potential and function of various cell types in the body [1] . The KCNQ4 current is a low-threshold, slow activating and noninactivating current that is expressed in the outer hair cells of the cochlea, brain, and heart. Mutations in KCNQ4 give rise to an inherited syndrome of deafness [2] . Therefore, the regulatory pathways of KCNQ4 channels play an important role in adjusting the function of outer hair cells. The KCNQ gene subfamily is composed of five K + channels, KCNQ1 to KCNQ5. The KCNQ4 channel was included in the Kv nomenclature as Kv 7.4 (voltage-gated potassium channel subunit Kv7.4) [3] . The heteromers of KCNQ2/KCNQ3 underlie the neuronal M-current, which modulates neuronal excitability. Many intracellular messengers, eg, PIP2, IP3, diacylglycerol (DAG), calmodulin, calcineurin, activators/inhibitors of PKC, tyrosine kinases, and myosin light chain kinase, have been reported to modulate M currents [4][5][6] . Moreover, the A-kinase-anchoring protein AKAP150, which binds PKC, facilitates the inhibition of KCNQ2 current [7] . Analysis of recombinant KCNQ2 channels suggests that targeting of PKC through association with AKAP150 is important for inhibition. However, the effect of PKC activation on KCNQ channels is still controversial [8] . The inhibition of the metabolism of DAG by DAG kinase blockers cannot mimic the effect of muscarinic modulation by muscarinic agonist, and it has been suggested Aim: KCNQ4 channels play an important part in adjusting the function of cochlear outer hair cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ser/thr phosphatase inhibitors on human KCNQ4 channels expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Methods: Synthetic cRNA encoding human KCNQ4 channels was injected into Xenopus oocytes. We used a two-electrode voltage clamp to measure the ion currents in the oocytes. Results: Wild-type KCNQ4 expressed in Xenopus oocytes showed the typical properties of slow activation kinetics and low threshold activation. The outward K + current was almost completely blocked by a KCNQ4 blocker, linopirdine (0.25 mmol/L). BIMI (a PKC inhibitor) prevented the effects of PMA (a PKC activator) on the KCNQ4 current, indicating that PKC may be involved in the regulation of KCNQ4 expressed in the Xenopus oocyte system. Treatment with the ser/thr phosphatase inhibitors, cyclosporine (2 µmol/L), calyculin A (2 µmol/L) or okadaic acid (1 µmol/L), caused a significant positive shift in V 1/2 and a decrease in the conductance of KCNQ4 channels. The V 1/2 was shifted from -14.6±0.5 to -6.4±0.4 mV by cyclosporine, -18.8±0.5 to -9.2±0.4 mV by calyculin A, and -14.1±0.5 to -0.7±0.6 mV by okadaic acid. Moreover, the effects of these phosphatase inhibitors (okadaic acid or calyculin A) on the induction of a positive shift of V 1/2 were augmented by further addition of PMA. Conclusion: These results indicate that ser/thr phosphatase inhibitors can induce a shift to more positive potentials of the activation ...

Cross-Strait economic activities are no longer unidirectional. The Taiwanese government opened the doors to Chinese investment in 2009. This paper addresses the following crucial question: What is the impact of Chinese investment on Taiwan's high-technology industrial development? Two further questions immediately follow: Will Chinese investment put Taiwanese industrial development at risk? Will an influx of Chinese investment lead to a turning point for Taiwanese industry? The paper first reviews Chinese investment in Taiwan under the framework of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and then explains why we have chosen to focus here on the high-technology industry in Taiwan. It then outlines the main elements of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) before seeking to answer the above research questions. Fieldwork for this paper was conducted from December 2014 to March 2016. Interviewees include Chinese investors, along with consultants from a Taiwanese institute created to promote industrial development.

This paper focuses on the changing interaction between Taiwanese entrepreneurs and local Chinese governments. Through the analysis of this changing process, it can be seen that Taiwanese businesses are a special “asset” of Chinese governments. The main argument of this paper is that both central and local governments in China have strategic considerations in respect of Taiwanese businesses. The Chinese central government values Taiwanese businesses because more Taiwanese investment in China strengthens the Beijing government in negotiations with the Taibei government. Nevertheless, since the Kuomintang (KMT) (Guomindang) regained power in 2008, the strategic value of Taiwanese businesses in the cross-Strait relationship seems to have decreased. The central government has created a profitable macro-environment enabling local officials to give a warm welcome to Taiwanese businesses. Chinese local governments value Taiwanese businessmen not only because of the central government's deliberate policy but also because they are pursuing their own self-interest. This paper firstly focuses on the changing interaction between Taiwanese businesses and Chinese local governments. It then further analyses the different but complementary interests of both central and local governments in China in relation to Taiwanese investors.

This report highlights and offers reflections on three unique features of the fourth World Congress of Taiwan Studies (wcts4) held in Seattle in June 2022. First, following the covid-19 pandemic, wcts4 was one of the first large-scale conferences in the field of Taiwan studies to be held in hybrid mode. Second, although three previous editions have taken place since 2012, wcts4 was the first to be held in the United States. Third, it is the first Congress to launch a major new publication, the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Taiwan Studies. Most media coverage of wcts4 has emphasised only that it was held in the United States. This report goes further, focusing on why it was held in the US, and why Seattle in particular, and on the Congress’s importance more generally to the global field of Taiwan studies.

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