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Tag: National Central University

NCU Reveals the Linguistic Creativity

Posted on by NCUSEC

From socialite Lee Ching-ching, whose English-mixed speech became an online sensation, to former Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, whose phrase, “Student by day, security guard by night,” (白天是student、晚上是security guard) sparked widespread discussion and imitation, Chinese-English code-mixing has long attracted attention in Taiwan’s online communities. A new study by National Central University (NCU) shows that such language practices extend far beyond simple code-mixing. Instead, they demonstrate how Taiwan’s online communities creatively combine multiple languages and communicative resources to engage in social interaction and commentary, reflecting the dynamic interplay between multilingualism and online discourse. The findings were published in the Applied Linguistics Review, offering new insights into Taiwan’s multilingual digital culture.

 The study was conducted by Professor Liang Mei-Ya of the Virtual Language Learning Lab, National Central University, together with student researchers Wang Chih-Cheng and Lee Shu-Ning. The researchers analyzed 15 discussion threads and 1,145 comments posted between 2019 and 2022 on six major PTT discussion boards—Gossiping, WomenTalk, Tech_Job, Soft_Job, Crosstalk, and NTU—to examine how internet users employ translanguaging strategies in online interaction and commentary.

 The researchers noted that examining translanguaging from historical, critical, and socio-political perspectives provides valuable insights into language norms, workplace hierarchies, and gender bias. The study also offers a new perspective for understanding Taiwan’s multilingual online society and the relationship between language practices and digital communication.

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Why Marine Heatwaves Persist

Posted on by NCUSEC

Marine heatwaves in the northwestern Pacific can persist for four to five years, making them among the world’s longest-lasting ocean warming events. A new study led by researchers at National Central University (NCU) identifies the atmospheric mechanism that sustains these prolonged extremes, challenging the long-held view that they are driven mainly by local ocean and weather conditions.

The study, led by Jin-Yi Yu, Chair Professor in NCU’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Yu Zhao, a doctoral researcher at the University of California, Irvine, appears in Science Advances.

The researchers found that these long-lived marine heatwaves are closely linked to the Circumglobal Wave (CGW), a large-scale atmospheric wave pattern that circles the Northern Hemisphere through Europe, Asia, the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. Rather than isolated regional events, the study suggests that northwestern Pacific marine heatwaves are part of a cross-basin climate phenomenon connected by atmospheric teleconnections.

Drawing on more than 150 years of observations, simulations from 43 climate models and atmospheric model experiments, the team also identified a self-reinforcing feedback that helps marine heatwaves persist. Since the 1970s, stronger summertime Circumglobal Wave activity has intensified interactions between ocean basins, extending the duration of these warming events.

The findings provide a new framework for understanding persistent marine heatwaves and could improve seasonal climate predictions by enabling scientists to better forecast how long these events will last. Better prediction of prolonged ocean warming could support fisheries management, marine ecosystem conservation and climate adaptation in a warming world.

NCU Advances Tsunami Monitoring

Posted on by NCUSEC

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 29, 2025, triggered a trans-Pacific tsunami and left detectable disturbances hundreds of kilometers above Earth in the ionosphere. A research team led by National Central University (NCU), including Ph.D. student Tien-Chi Liu, Professor Jann-Yenq Liu, Yushan Scholar Prof. Kenji Satake and Dr. Chun-Yen Huang of Kyoto University, successfully detected ionospheric disturbances generated by the earthquake and tsunami using data from more than 1,400 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers across Japan and Taiwan. Their findings have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

The study represents a significant breakthrough in far-field observations. Despite the observation network being located more than 2,000 kilometers from the earthquake epicenter, the researchers successfully identified weak ionospheric signals by integrating large-scale GNSS observations with standardized data processing, ray-tracing analysis, and beamforming techniques. These methods enabled the team to reconstruct the tsunami source from subtle disturbances in the upper atmosphere.

The analysis revealed three distinct types of ionospheric waves. The first, traveling at approximately 3.6 kilometers per second, was generated directly by the seismic waves. The other two propagated at approximately 273 and 215 meters per second—velocities consistent with tsunami propagation in the ocean—confirming that tsunami-driven atmospheric waves can travel upward and produce measurable perturbations in the ionosphere detectable by GNSS observations.

The tsunami source inferred from the first ionospheric disturbance differed by only about 90 kilometers from the principal seafloor slip region independently derived from DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) pressure-gauge data by Prof. Kenji Satake and collaborators. This close agreement demonstrates that ionospheric observations can accurately identify the location of major submarine rupture and tsunami generation.

According to Prof. Jann-Yenq Liu, the ionosphere functions as a vast natural sensing network above Earth. Rapidly determining tsunami source locations and propagation directions through ionospheric observations could strengthen tsunami early-warning capabilities and improve disaster preparedness throughout the Pacific region.

NCU Uncover Key Mechanism Behind Plant Heat

Posted on by NCUSEC

As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists at National Central University (NCU) have uncovered a key molecular mechanism that enables plants to survive heat stress. A research team led by Professor Shaw-Jye Wu and Dr. Jia-Rong Wu from NCU’s Department of Life Sciences discovered that the nuclear E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB49 works together with the heat tolerance protein HIT4 to regulate heat-induced chromatin remodeling, a process essential for plant thermotolerance. Their findings were published in the international journal Journal of Experimental Botany.

Unlike previous studies that focused mainly on heat shock proteins (HSPs), the NCU team screened more than 100,000 Arabidopsis thaliana seeds using a forward genetics approach to identify genes responsible for heat tolerance. The study revealed that PUB49 physically interacts with HIT4 and is indispensable for the chromatin reorganization required to activate plant heat responses.

The research marks the first demonstration that PUB49, a nuclear U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase, directly participates in heat-induced chromocenter decondensation. By establishing a molecular link between ubiquitination, chromatin remodeling, and thermotolerance, the study opens a new avenue for understanding how plants adapt to extreme temperatures.

Professor Wu said that as climate change intensifies, heat stress has become a major threat to agricultural productivity and global food security. The discovery not only advances fundamental knowledge of plant heat adaptation but also provides a promising molecular target for developing heat-tolerant crops, helping strengthen agricultural resilience in a warming world.

NCU Uncover Key Mechanism Behind Plant Heat

Posted on by NCUSEC

As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists at National Central University (NCU) have uncovered a key molecular mechanism that enables plants to survive heat stress. A research team led by Professor Shaw-Jye Wu and Dr. Jia-Rong Wu from NCU’s Department of Life Sciences discovered that the nuclear E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB49 works together with the heat tolerance protein HIT4 to regulate heat-induced chromatin remodeling, a process essential for plant thermotolerance. Their findings were published in the international journal Journal of Experimental Botany.

Unlike previous studies that focused mainly on heat shock proteins (HSPs), the NCU team screened more than 100,000 Arabidopsis thaliana seeds using a forward genetics approach to identify genes responsible for heat tolerance. The study revealed that PUB49 physically interacts with HIT4 and is indispensable for the chromatin reorganization required to activate plant heat responses.

The research marks the first demonstration that PUB49, a nuclear U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase, directly participates in heat-induced chromocenter decondensation. By establishing a molecular link between ubiquitination, chromatin remodeling, and thermotolerance, the study opens a new avenue for understanding how plants adapt to extreme temperatures.

Professor Wu said that as climate change intensifies, heat stress has become a major threat to agricultural productivity and global food security. The discovery not only advances fundamental knowledge of plant heat adaptation but also provides a promising molecular target for developing heat-tolerant crops, helping strengthen agricultural resilience in a warming world.

NCU Develops Green Sensing Platform

Posted on by NCUSEC

A collaborative research team led by Associate Professor Cihun-Siyong Gong from the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Central University (NCU) and Professor Ren-Jei Chung from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at National Taipei University of Technology has developed a green electrochemical sensing platform driven by caffeic acid. The study has been published in the internationally renowned journal ACS Sensors.

 

The researchers first synthesized self-templated, double-shelled zinc manganite (ZnMn₂O₄) hollow microspheres using co-precipitation and calcination methods. At room temperature, a natural organic molecule—caffeic acid—was employed as a reducing agent to enable the in situ formation and uniform deposition of rhenium nanoparticles on the shell surface, resulting in a Re@ZnMn₂O₄ composite material. This approach successfully avoids the use of highly toxic reducing agents, aligning with green chemistry principles, while the double-shelled structure provides a large accessible surface area and abundant active sites for reactions.

 

Material characterization revealed that the incorporation of rhenium nanoparticles enhances conductive pathways, significantly improving electron transport and interfacial reaction efficiency. Electrochemical testing further demonstrated that the electrode exhibits optimal performance under near-physiological conditions (pH 7).

 

In terms of sensing performance, the platform achieves a low detection limit of 0.21 μM for epinephrine, along with a wide linear detection range and high selectivity. Notably, the sensor retains approximately 98% of its signal response after 12 days of storage at room temperature, indicating excellent long-term stability.

 

Overall, this study integrates advanced structural design with green synthesis strategies to propose a high-performance electrochemical sensing approach. The findings lay a solid foundation for future real-time biomedical monitoring systems and highlight strong potential for clinical applications.

NCU Team Develops High-Stability Robotic Arm

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As smart manufacturing and automation technologies continue to advance rapidly, robotic arms have become indispensable in modern industry and technological applications. A research team led by Associate Professor Jim-Wei Wu from the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Central University (NCU) has successfully integrated reinforcement learning with classical and advanced control techniques to develop a highly stable and disturbance-resilient robotic arm. This innovation significantly enhances operational precision and, backed by solid theoretical foundations and research originality, has been published in the leading international journal IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics.

The proposed control method does not rely heavily on precise mathematical models. Even under environmental uncertainty or significant variations in system load, the system maintains robust control performance. This design greatly improves the adaptability and stability of robotic arms. In addition, the team introduced a novel disturbance observer design framework that overcomes the limitations of conventional approaches, which typically handle only limited types of disturbances. The new framework enables faster and more accurate responses to sudden or dynamic disturbances, further enhancing control precision and system stability while reducing dependence on complex sensing and computational resources.

Furthermore, the system incorporates an Actor–Critic artificial intelligence architecture, allowing it to simultaneously learn how to evaluate control performance and generate optimal control strategies. By integrating classical control principles as an initial foundation, the approach significantly reduces the need for extensive parameter tuning in practical applications. This result makes the system easier to design and enables it to reach stable operation more rapidly, laying a critical foundation for the future development of highly autonomous robotic systems. 

NCU Finds 37 Subglacial Lakes in Arctic

Posted on by NCUSEC

Assistant Professor Whyjay Zheng of the Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research at National Central University, who also holds an appointment at the Taiwan Polar Institute, recently published a study in The Cryosphere. Using multi-year satellite observations, the team identified multiple active subglacial lakes beneath glaciers in the Canadian Arctic, providing critical insights into subglacial hydrological systems and glacier dynamics.

By analyzing high-resolution ice surface elevation data from 2011 to 2021, the researchers tracked subtle temporal changes in ice surface height and successfully identified 37 subglacial lakes, of which 35 were newly discovered.

In addition to Assistant Professor Whyjay Zheng, the research team includes Associate Professor Wesley Van Wychen from the University of Waterloo, Researcher Tian Li from the University of Bristol, and Researcher Tsutomu Yamanokuchi from Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan. Assistant Professor Whyjay Zheng led the study by proposing the research concept, integrating datasets, and facilitating the formation of this international research collaboration.

Assistant Professor Whyjay Zheng explained that when subglacial lakes accumulate water, the ice surface gradually uplifts; when water drains, the ice surface subsides. Through long-term satellite altimetry time series and statistical analysis, the researchers were able to monitor the filling and drainage cycles of these lakes, thereby estimating their locations, extents, and activity cycles. The findings not only confirm the existence of more subglacial lakes but also suggest that their activity is correlated with the annual ice mass loss of glaciers in the Canadian Arctic.

For more details, please refer to the article in The Cryosphere:

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1699-2026

NCU Confirms a Superluminous Supernova

Posted on by NCUSEC

In this international collaboration, the NCU team played a central role in key observing and data-analysis efforts, providing crucial data to confirm this rare strongly gravitationally lensed supernova system. Assistant Professor Ting-Wan Chen’s team used the Lulin One-meter Telescope (LOT) for image confirmation and photometric monitoring. She noted that on nights with good weather and excellent seeing, LOT images can even resolve the individual lensed images of SN Winny, providing key observational constraints for the photometric analysis and lens modeling.

Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Amar Aryan analyzed r-band imaging from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and identified an additional transient point source near the previously reported multiple images. He reported it via a Transient Name Server AstroNote as a possible fifth lensed image. Using the positions of all five copies, Leon Ecker and Allan Schweinfurth et al., built the first model of the lens mass distribution. On the data-processing side, the DETECT tool developed by graduate student Yu-Hsing Lee independently flagged this bright transient through routine cross-matching between newly discovered transients and Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) galaxy data. This substantially improves candidate-identification efficiency and rapid follow-up capability, providing a robust basis for precise measurements of the time delays between the multiple images.

Assistant Professor Ting-Wan Chen explained that gravitational lensing is like a natural magnifying glass in the universe: it bends the light from the same background object along multiple paths, allowing us to see several “duplicate” images. Because each light path travels a different distance and experiences a different amount of gravitational bending, the light reaches Earth at different times, so the images can brighten at different moments. By precisely measuring these time delays between the multiple images and combining them with a mass-distribution model of the lensing galaxy, the team can constrain cosmological distances and key parameters of the Universe’s expansion, such as the Hubble constant. First author of the paper Dr. Stefan Taubenberger added that, unlike the cosmic distance ladder, this is a one-step method, with fewer and completely different sources of systematic uncertainty, helping to clarify the long-standing Hubble tension.

For further details, please refer to the articles published/submitted in Astronomy & Astrophysics at:

Taubenberger et al.: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.21694

Ecker, Schweinfurth et al: http://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16620

Building a Resilient and Sustainable City: NCU and Taoyuan City Government Join Forces on “Environmental Governance and Smart Disaster Prevention”

Posted on by Editorial Team

In response to the growing challenges of climate change and increasing risks of extreme disasters, National Central University (NCU) and the Taoyuan City Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on August 13 for cooperation in “Environmental Governance and Smart Disaster Prevention.” Through the integration of advanced meteorological observation technologies, intelligent disaster prevention systems, and the combined strengths of administrative and academic resources, the partnership aims to create a smart city that embodies both technological resilience and environmental sustainability.
The signing ceremony was jointly attended by President Dr. Shu-San Hsiau, National Central University and Taoyuan City Mayor San-Cheng Chang. The collaboration focuses on 2 key areas: “Environmental Governance” and “Smart Disaster Prevention.” Leveraging NCU’s expertise in remote sensing technology, intelligent monitoring, and data analytics, the partnership will introduce advanced technologies into municipal management to strengthen pollution control and disaster early warning systems—addressing the increasingly severe challenges posed by climate change.
In the area of Environmental Governance, the two parties will promote environmental monitoring and forecasting systems, develop pollution control strategies, and work toward achieving net-zero carbon emissions. In terms of Smart Disaster Prevention, the collaboration will utilize information and communication technologies, meteorological radar, and other remote sensing tools—combined with big data analytics—to enhance real-time response capabilities to natural disasters. Through partnership with academic sector, the Taoyuan City Government aims to establish a governance model characterized by resilience, intelligence, and forward-looking vision.
As the leading university in Taoyuan, National Central University (NCU) has long been dedicated to the city’s sustainable development. NCU has established strong research capabilities in areas related to environment and extreme weather, continually advancing innovative scientific technologies through cutting-edge remote sensing, data analytics, and numerical modeling. By signing this MOU with Taoyuan City Government, NCU seeks to translate academic research into practical, localized applications—fulfilling its social responsibility as a university, supporting the city government in building a sustainable and livable community, and bringing long-term benefits to its citizens.
Taoyuan City Government stated that the signing of this MOU is not only a significant symbol of collaboration between administrative and academic sectors, but also a key step toward establishing a new paradigm for smart environmental governance and disaster prevention in Taoyuan. Moving forward, both parties will continue to deepen their partnership and jointly pursue the core vision of “using technology to protect the environment and smart solutions to enhance disaster resilience,” creating a safe, sustainable, and livable environment for all citizens.