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Green energy has become a global development trend, with solar power generation being a critical aspect of this movement. However, the development of solar power generation requires significant land resources, which poses a challenge in Taiwan due to its small area and dense population. Nevertheless, Taiwan possesses ample land resources in the aquaculture industry, with approximately 40,000 ha of aquaculture area. Hence, a new aquaculture model called aquavoltaics can be developed by integrating the aquaculture industry with solar power generation. This paper employs the Cost-Benefit Analysis and Monte-Carlo Method to evaluate the economic feasibility and analyze the risk of whiteleg shrimp culture under six different aquavoltaic configurations. The results demonstrate that all six types of aquavoltaics for whiteleg shrimp culture are economically viable. Furthermore, among the ground-type aquavoltaic systems, the embankment type exhibits the highest profitability and the lowest investment risk. As for facility-type aquavoltaics, the greenhouse type represents the most favorable investment scheme. • Aquavoitaics farming white shrimp has potential for development in Taiwan. • Aquavoitaics facilitates the transformation and upgrading of the aquaculture industry while promoting diversified land development and increasing income sources for farmers. • The initial investment threshold of aquavoltaics is high, the successful transformation could be achieved through government or enterprise investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research studies the characteristics of ocean current meanders from the viewpoint of power generation engineering and the potential of maximizing ocean current power generation capacity by making generator turbines to track the meanders applying a recently proposed Cross-stream Active Mooring concept. The current meanders will hurt capacity factor of marine turbines moored at fixed locations, somewhat like the issue of wind availability for wind farms. The new mooring concept features a hydro sail system that can deploy generator turbines transversely across streams in a marine current. The hydro sail system can further adjust the horizontal position of the turbines, by changing sail angle of attack, to actively track fast streams in an ocean current. This paper first reviews and discusses the characteristics of short-term track variations of the Florida Current and the Kuroshio near Taiwan and then analyzes potential improvement in power generation using measured and simulated current velocity data in the two ocean currents, suggesting a potential increase of 10–40 % power generation achievable by tracking the meanders. Operations of the hydro sail were demonstrated by tests using remote controllable and passive scale models. Control methods are discussed. Approaches to observe, predict and track the meanders are conceptualized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural integrity analysis for reactor pressure vessel (RPV) nozzles has been a vital issue due to the irradiation embrittlement and especially the discontinuity of geometry in RPV nozzles, which may cause a higher stress concentration and influence the structural integrity of RPV nozzles. For the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) analysis of the RPV nozzle, a postulated crack with a specific crack depth is presumed to evaluate the stress intensity factors (SIFs) whose crack depth does not grow during LEFM analysis. Thus, this paper would discuss the crack propagation for the postulated crack with a specific crack depth under the different reference temperature of nil-ductility transition (R T N D T ), and the SIFs on the specific crack depth are also calculated. In recent research, the extended finite element method (XFEM) was developed, which is based on the enrichment solution space to simplify the computational fracture mechanics with the crack propagation of various discontinuities, and can be used to evaluate the crack propagation of RPV nozzle with a specific crack depth under R T N D T of −23.89, −10.89, 0.89, 2.69, and 2.89 °C. To investigate the crack propagation and structural integrity of RPV nozzles, the finite element analysis of Taiwan domestic boiling water reactor (BWR) nozzles containing the postulated circular corner crack with depths of one-fourth and one-tenth thickness along the 45° path from the tip of the nozzle corner is engaged. The present result shows that the crack was growing when the R T N D T was 0.89 °C and. In addition, the XFEM calculation of the SIFs for the specific crack depth is similar to the LEFM results. • The RPV nozzles with postulated cracks were established to investigate crack propagation through XFEM. • The differences in RT NDT were used to evaluate the fracture toughness and discuss the crack propagation for RPV nozzles. • The stress intensity factors (SIFs) obtained by XFEM, LEFM, and the ASME BPVC were compared. • The XFEM analysis would overestimate SIFs more than the ASME BPVC and the LEFM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan has advantages in the development of offshore wind power, as it has abundant wind energy resources at the seas. The local government has developed a series of measures to promote the development of wind power generation industry. The development of offshore wind farm in Taiwan, however, has to solve the problems that offshore wind farms are overlapping with some traditional fishing grounds and are unable to reach consensus with relevant stakeholders. This paper starts from the great potential of offshore wind power in Taiwan and the active promotion of the government, and analyses the impact and possible opportunities brought by offshore wind farm development to local fisheries, from the perspective of Zhanghua Area, a key area of development of offshore wind farm in Taiwan. This paper proposes that the local government in Taiwan should use marine spatial planning as a tool, through the comprehensive participation of government, developers, fishermen and other bodies, seeking the coexistence and prosperity of offshore wind farm and fisheries. Avoidance, compensation, and feedback, as well as communication and collaboration will be an important strategy to solve the conflicts of multiple use of the sea and to promote the development of marine renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation sector in Taiwan has made a significant contribution to reducing atmospheric pollution such as lowering greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, by adopting the carbon footprint (CFP) label. GHGs are a major cause of global warming. This paper analyzes the carbon footprint (CFP) system and its application to high-speed railways in Taiwan over the decade 2003–2013. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions per capita in Taiwan increased slightly from 10.3 to 10.7 t between 2003 and 2013. However, overall energy intensity has improved gradually, falling from 10.0 liters of oil equivalent (LOE)/10 3 $NT in 2003 to 7.8 LOE/10 3 $NT in 2013 due to some high energy efficiency and low carbon emission measures implemented by the Taiwan government such as the combined heat and power and green transportation policy updated. This paper describes the analysis of GHG emission trends, two central regulations (i.e., the Basic Environment Act and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act) for promoting the CFP-label system and the system’s implementation status in Taiwan over the past 10 years. Finally, a case study of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation demonstrates the successful implementation of the green transportation CFP-labeling service, the first such certified railway system in Asia. The certified CFP label is printed on the ticket with 38 g CO 2 equivalent per person-km, which is equivalent to one-third of the carbon emission by a passenger car. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Taiwan's most important port city, Kaohsiung is well known for its petrochemical industrial cluster initially developed during the Japanese colonial period in the first half of the 20th century, followed by modernization and industrialization under authoritarian developmental technocrats in the context of cold war geopolitics between China and the United State of America. Over these decades, health and safety concerns were never a priority in development of the petrochemical industry. This chronic neglect led to the August 2014 explosions of 4 km of subterranean gas pipelines connecting the port and distant industrial zones, devastating the residential neighbourhoods that had been built above them. This paper aims to provide understanding why a leak from an underground industrial gas pipeline led to the deaths of 32 and the injury of a further 321, and how people reacted to this disaster. To comprehend the subterranean as a complex assemblage, we highlight three perspectives on the elemental of earth: (1) striated earth, (2) rhizomorphic earth, and (3) affective earth. First, earth can contribute its property to sustain urban metabolism and economic development by technocrats and engineers who scientifically investigate and map the underground via striating knowledge of the subterranean. Second, the elemental of earth can also become a hazardous place of rhizome-like multiplicities and connections for disasters to extend and mutate across multiple infrastructure sets. This rhizomorphic subterranean facilitates the spread of flammable propylene, which was the proximal cause of the 2014 explosion. Thirdly, after the disaster, previous public indifference to issues of subterranean safety was replaced by acute anger and criticism of industrial land use policy. The further affective imagination on the undergound as homeland helps the public to reconcile with their long-existed everyday unawareness of and alienation from the elemental of earth under their feet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a centralized network data envelopment analysis model that combines the centralized data envelopment analysis model and network data envelopment analysis to allocate resources among sub-units. In the proposed model, this paper also considers the situations in which undesirable outputs are jointly produced with desirable outputs, the reduction of undesirable outputs is associated with the reduction of energy inputs, and some inputs are dedicated to the specific sub-unit while some inputs are shared among sub-units. To comprehensively investigate this issue, two cases are discussed. One case explores the situation in which common inputs are shared among the first process of sub-units, while the other case explores the situation in which common inputs are also shared among two processes of sub-units. The proposed model is illustrated in an empirical example of 14 Asian shipping routes operated by a Taiwanese container shipping company. In order to avoid organizational resistance, minor and major adjustment policies are demonstrated. The minor adjustment policy transfers inputs among routes but maintains the original levels of input resources, whereas the major adjustment policy reduces the total amount of input resources. The results provide valuable information for the centralized decision-maker on how to reallocate resources among the sub-units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stigmatization of children with disabilities at school is a culturally widespread social justice challenge. The paper is the second of a two-part series. In the first paper (Haight, Kayama, Ku, Cho, & Lee, 2016), we described the problem of stigmatization from the perspectives of experienced elementary school educators in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US. In this paper, we focus on the solutions provided by these same educators; specifically, their perspectives on socialization practices to minimize stigmatization and support the development of self for children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. We conducted cross-cultural analyses of individual, semi-structured, audio recorded interviews with 26 Japanese, 43 South Korean, 16 Taiwanese and 18 US educators, including school social workers. Educators from all research sites described socialization practices to support children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. For children with disabilities, US educators focused on individualized support provided in private to minimize stigmatization. East Asian educators intentionally involved peers in supporting children with disabilities. For typically-developing peers, educators described cultivating empathy (Japan), providing formal disability awareness programs (South Korea), teaching moral values (Taiwan) and respecting individual differences (US). We discuss these socialization practices within educators' sociocultural-historical contexts. Educators' perspectives can be used to develop culture- and stigma-sensitive intervention programs for children with disabilities and their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stigmatization of individuals with disabilities is a widespread social justice issue. This paper introduces a study of disability, stigmatization and self for children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. It is the first of two companion papers. It examines the problem of stigmatization from the perspectives of experienced elementary school educators practicing in diverse cultural contexts. We conducted cross-cultural analyses of individual, audio recorded interviews with 26 Japanese, 43 Korean, 16 Taiwanese and 18 US educators, including school social workers. Educators from all four cultural groups described disability and stigma as challenging children's development of self: children with disabilities may experience the self as isolated and inadequate, and typically-developing peers may experience the self as lacking culturally expected values of empathy and respect. Educators' understandings of children's experiences also were culturally nuanced. Educators variously described children with disabilities as experiencing a sense of not belonging [Japan], loss of motivation [South Korea], too much shame [Taiwan], and low self-esteem [US]. They variously described typically-developing children as challenged to show empathy [Japan], include children with disabilities in their peer group [South Korea], develop benevolence [Taiwan], and show respect for individual differences [US]. We contextualize educators' perceptions within their specific sociocultural-historical contexts. Our second paper will focus on solutions; specifically, educators' perspectives on how to minimize stigmatization and support the development of self for children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers. Together, these companion papers provide social workers with valuable perspectives for eliminating the stigmatization of children with disabilities in future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a survey of the academic contribution and influence of Chinese scholars in the field of burns.Method: The PubMed database was searched to obtain literature items originating from various countries and Chinese provinces from 1985 to 2014. The citation data were collected through the Google Scholar engine.Results: A total of 1037 papers published in 256 journals were included in this survey. China was second only to the USA in the number of publications on burns since 2010. In addition, the annual number of papers has increased significantly since 2001. The journal Burns published the most number of articles, but its proportion has been decreasing. Of the papers included in the survey, 58.34% were published in journals with a 5-year impact factor between 1 and 2, whereas only 3.66% were published in journals with an impact factor >5. Both total citations and citations per paper have decreased in the past decade. Randomized controlled trials or systematic reviews merely accounted for a small proportion. Twenty-nine provinces including 64 cities contributed one paper at least. The publications from Taiwan, Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Guangdong were high in both quantity and quality.Conclusion: The Chinese academic contribution to the field of burns is now on a rise. Although the quality of papers is lagging behind quantity, scholars and academies are dedicated to improving China's academic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent major seismic events, such as the Chi-Chi (1999) and the Wenchuan (2008) earthquakes occurred in Taiwan and China, have offered a variety of case histories on the performance of structures subjected to reverse faulting–induced deformation. A novel faulting mitigation method has recently been proposed, introducing a soft deformable wall barrier in order to divert the fault rupture away from the structure. This can be materialized by constructing a thick diaphragm-type soil bentonite wall (SBW) between the structure and the fault rupture path. The paper investigates the key parameters in designing such a SBW, aiming to mitigate the fault rupture hazard on shallow foundations. The paper employs a thoroughly validated finite element analysis methodology to explore the efficiency of a weak SBW barrier in protecting slab foundations from large tectonic deformation due to reverse faulting. A dimensional analysis is conducted in order to generalize the validity of the derived conclusions. The dimensionless formulation is then used to conduct a detailed parametric study, exploring the effect of SBW thickness w / H , depth H SBWl /H, and shear strength τ soil / τ SBW , as well as the bedrock fault offset h/H , foundation surcharge load q / ρgB , and fault outcrop location s/B . It is shown that the wall thickness, depth, and shear strength should be designed on the basis of the magnitude of the bedrock fault offset, the location of the fault relative to the structure, and the shear strength of the soil. The efficiency of the weak barrier is improved using lower strength and stiffness material compared to the alluvium. A simplified preliminary design methodology is proposed, and presented in the form of a flowchart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airports need to manage corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies for sustainable development. This paper develops a new structured approach for airports to evaluate, prioritize and categorize CSR strategies, using Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport Corporation (TIAC) as an example. Based on TIAC’s CSR-related activities, 18 CSR strategies grouped into 5 CSR goals (corporate governance and finance, green airport and environmental management, service quality and social relationship, employee and work environment management, and safety and security) are identified using the CSR value chain and diamond framework. The pairwise comparison method used in analytic hierarchy process and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method are used respectively to evaluate the relative importance, feasibility and achievability of these 18 strategies and to analyze their causal relationships via expert questionnaire surveys. A new method is developed to plan and manage the implementation of CSR strategies by incorporating the viewpoints of both internal and external stakeholders, thus reflecting the practical effects and strategic implications of the CSR implementation. The result suggests that TIAC’s CSR strategies in relation to airport safety and security, service quality and corporate governance are most significant and have a high implementation priority. This paper contributes to the airport industry and CSR research by proposing a proactive mechanism for quantitatively evaluating, prioritizing and categorizing CSR strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between host-site institutional support, innovation capabilities and exports using data from a survey of 50 Taiwan semiconductor firms. The major questions asked in the paper are whether host-site institutional support is important in stimulating firm-level innovation capability, and whether the latter is important in firms' exports. An evolutionary perspective was used to measure innovation capabilities using knowledge embodied in machinery, training, processes and products. The statistical results show that innovation capability is correlated with institutional support. In addition, the findings also indicate that innovation capabilities (IC) enjoy a positive relationship with exports. The control variable of size had a positive effect in innovation capabilities and in exports, while human capital was critical in exports. The supply of R&D grants, R&D engineers and scientists, and support from universities and R&D labs has been viewed by firms as important in supporting innovation capability and semiconductor exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer value is an important factor to evaluate the competitive strength for an international express service provider. It is also a key criterion to choose an express service. Hence, the main purpose of this paper was to develop a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model to assess the customer value for three express service providers in Taiwan based on the shippers’ perspective. Firstly we employed some concepts of fuzzy set theory to develop a fuzzy MCDM model. Subsequently, a hierarchical structure was constructed with four criteria, twenty sub-criteria and three alternatives (i.e. U PS , FedEx and DHL ). Then, this paper conducts an empirical study by means of a survey from the viewpoints of shippers in Taiwan. Finally, the results of this study showed that: (1) the ‘time’ aspect is the most important criterion affecting the customer service based on the viewpoints of exporters and importers in Taiwan; (2) the top six key factors affecting customer value for express service providers are ‘land time between house and airport at both ends,’ ‘administrative processing time,’ ‘pick-up and haul time in warehouse,’ ‘level of accuracy,’ ‘level of safety,’ and ‘rapid turnover,’ respectively; (3) FedEx offers the best customer value in Taiwan based on the proposed fuzzy MCDM model. Furthermore, some discussions are provided for express service companies. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a practical survey for business application on customer value of express service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan's per capita carbon emissions ranks first in Asia. Whether Taiwan's current "2025 Non-Nuclear Homeland" energy transition policy can achieve the goal of greenhouse gas reduction is an issue that needs to be studied urgently. On the basis of studying the status quo of energy supply and demand and carbon emissions in Taiwan, this paper first uses an econometric model to predict Taiwan's energy demand from 2021 to 2030, and then uses a Markov chain model to predict its energy structure changes and CO 2 emission trends under different scenarios, and evaluates the impact of its energy transition policies on carbon emission reduction goals. On this basis, by comparing the carbon trading markets on both sides of the Taiwan strait, the feasibility of and obstacles to the cross-strait cooperation in the carbon trading market are discussed in depth, and the opportunities for future cross-strait cooperation in the carbon trading market are proposed innovatively. The empirical results of this paper show that the carbon emissions in 2025 under the energy transition policy will be reduced by 59.8–61.1 million tons compared with those without planning constraints, but compared with the carbon reduction target (a reduction of 124.8–133 million tons), there is still a long way to go. The contribution potential of the annual carbon emission reduction target is only 45.9%–47.9%, and the contribution potential in 2030 is 57.2%–60.1%. The current "2025 Non-Nuclear Homeland" policy is not in line with Taiwan's current reality, and it is difficult to achieve the expected carbon reduction goal. In order to realize the energy transition in Taiwan in the future, it is necessary to make overall planning of energy policies, explore the cross-strait power cooperation model, and gradually try to build a cross-strait carbon trading market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We extend the single feature selection model to feature combination selection model. • The accuracy on our selection model based on FDAF-score are obviously optimized. • Our method combined with separate 7 classification models are tested on 10 data sets. Default discrimination of credit card refers to the phenomenon in which banks discriminate against certain groups of customers based on their credit status. The challenges faced by banks and other financial institutions in evaluating borrowers and making lending decisions are inseparable from the discrimination of customers' credit status. Feature selection is a critical step in default discrimination, and the selection of features directly affects the results of default discrimination. Therefore, the identification of a group of optimal features to maximize the ability of default identification is the core problem tackled in this research. The innovation of this paper is that it extends the single feature selection model based on F-score and Fisher discriminant analysis (FDAF-score) to the feature combination selection. Taking the maximum FDAF-score of the combination of the whole features as the standard, an optimal feature combination with the maximum discrimination ability is deduced. It avoids the disadvantage that single feature selection cannot ensure that the combination of selected features still has the maximum default discrimination ability. In this paper, we find that the improved feature combination selection model based on FDAF-score was better than the single feature selection FDAF-score model. The results were confirmed in four credit data sets (binary classification) of Australia, Germany, Taiwan and Japan, and six comparative data sets (five of which are multi-classification data sets). When the feature combination selection method is combined with seven common classification models, except for image and German credit data sets, the classification accuracy of most models is higher than the FDAF-score single feature selection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan would not develop reusable suborbital launch vehicle (RSLV) for commercial suborbital space tourism (SST) and intercontinental point-to-point (IP2P) transportation industry. As such, although there are many issues need be considered, spaceport becomes one of the major indices for demonstrating Taiwan's infrastructures and readiness to go from aviation tourism to SST and IP2P due to its long leading time requirement (2–3 decades usually). Currently, there are 17 civic (single use) and civic and military (dual use) airports, of which 4 are civic and one is basically civic. In this paper, these 5 airports were studied and discussed on their potential to be extended to either single use spaceport or dual use air and spaceport from the aspects of area, busyness, required extension (minor or major), redesign and reconstruction requirements, and environmental reassessment requirements. For the 5 airports included in the considerations, the 4 airports Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Songshan and Kinmen all need minor extensions for accommodating horizontal-takeoff-horizontal-landing (HTHL) RSLV. Only the Taoyuan and Kinmen airports are suitable for major extensions to also accommodate vertical-takeoff-vertical-landing (VTVL) RSLV after major extensions. The Hengchun Airport needs environmental reassessment, redesign and reconstruction due to its very local katabatic winds weather condition. However, it is also the only one suitable for extending to become a dedicated spaceport with HTHL and VTVL RSLVs accommodated. For comparison purpose, a new spaceport dedicated to SST and IP2P with the name to be determined (TBD) is proposed as an option. For the case of considering dedicated uses for SST and IP2P, then only Hengchun and TBD are the two remaining spaceport candidates. • Upgrading of the 5 airports to become potential suborbital space tourism (SST) spaceports was studied. • Four airports could become dual use as air and spaceports after minor extension for HTHL RSLV. • All of them need major extension for operating commercial SST using VTVL RSLV. • Hengchun Airport is the only airport in Taiwan which has the potential to become dedicated spaceport. • Comparison made with a new proposed SST spaceport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has witnessed an emerging interest in growing quinoa in indigenous townships in Taiwan, which has overlapped with the recovery effort from disasters following Typhoon Morakot in 2009. This paper critically examines the acclaim given to the quinoa boom as testifying to the community resilience of the indigenous people displaced by disasters and relocation policies. Tracing the changing socio-ecologies of the indigenous communities, the case study observes the simultaneous reagrarianization and depeasantization of indigenous farmers in response to a series of crises. It illustrates the ongoing depeasantization underneath the expansion of quinoa growing, which is engendering a set of paradoxical practices of community resilience that is restructuring the landscape of communities. • Quinoa boom as a practice of community resilience by indigenous farmers displaced by disasters. • Simultaneous re-agarianisation and depeasantisation of indigenous farmers in response to crises. • A set of paradoxical practices of community resilience that bring about changes, uncertainties and possibilities of reterritorializing lost lands. • The multivalent nature of "community resilience". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid industrial developments, air pollution has become a hot issue globally. Accurate prediction of PM2.5 (a category of particulate pollutant with a diameter of less than 2. 5 μ m) has been a critical topic, as it can provide valuable information for government decision-making and policy control in environmental management affairs. In this paper, we propose a deep learning model based on graph neural networks (GNNs) to predict the next 48hr PM2.5 concentration in Taiwan. In this model, monitoring stations are regarded as nodes and edges are the distances between monitoring stations. Hence, the distribution of the stations can be perceived as a graph. GNNs are promising in processing non-grid structure data that can be represented as a graph. By incorporating the GNN and gated recurrent units (GRUs), this model can effectively capture the long-term spatial–temporal features in air quality time-series data. In addition, we also investigated the problem of predicting PM2.5 concentrations in the areas without monitoring stations or at sites far away from the stations. This problem has not captured researchers' attention whose methods are based on GNN. The problem is, however, quite challenging as these areas do not have historical air quality data, leading to low prediction quality. Finally, we performed experiments to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model based on actual data sources obtained in Taiwan. The results show that the proposed model exhibits satisfactory prediction performance compared to existing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitable water vapor (PWV) and zenith total delay (ZTD) are highly correlated indicators used for forecasting rainfall effectively. These two factors are widely used when establishing qualitative and quantitative rainfall forecast models. Another indicator, however, convective available potential energy (CAPE), is also highly correlated with the occurrence of rainfall, but has not been combined with PWV or ZTD in previous studies. Therefore, a novel rainfall forecast model based on support vector regression that combines CAPE and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-derived PWV is proposed in this paper. Moreover, annual, seasonal scales, and hourly autocorrelation for predictors were also considered, and wavelet coherence (WTC) was introduced to further reveal the correlation relationships between CAPE, PWV and rainfall in both time and frequency domains. Hourly PWV, CAPE, temperature (T) and rainfall over a time span of three years were collected from four stations in Singapore and Taiwan to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. The root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) between the measured and forecasted rainfall were calculated for each year and averaged. Subsequently, the average RMSE and MAE were determined for the annual seasonal rainfall. The annual average RMSE value was 0.71 mm and the average annual seasonal RMSE value was 0.69 mm. The annual average MAE value was 0.21 mm and the annual seasonal was 0.22 mm. The average correlation coefficient (R2) for the annual value was 0.94 and the annual seasonal R2 value was 0.93. These results indicate that the forecast accuracy at the seasonal scale is basically consistent with annual scale. Additionally, a measure called comparable RMSE (CRMS) was introduced to evaluate the forecasting accuracy across all grades of rainfall. This analysis showed that the accuracy of moderate rainfall (MR) and heavy rainfall (HR) forecasts is similar, but slight rainfall (SR) forecasts are the most accurate among seasons and schemes. • A short-term rainfall forecast method is proposed using convective available potential energy (CAPE) and GNSS-derived PWV. • The forecast accuracy of seasonal scales is consistent with annual scale. • Results showed that the forecast accuracy of moderate rainfall and heavy rainfall were comparable while that of slight rainfall was highest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term electric load forecasting is essential for the operation of power systems and the power market, including economic dispatch, unit commitment, peak load shaving, load management and bidding strategy development. This paper presents a novel method that uses a hybrid convolutional neural network (CNN) that is cascaded with a fully-connected network, to conduct 24h-ahead electric load forecasting in power systems. Spearman's rank-order correlation, which serves as input size information for the CNN, was used to measure the cross-correlation between two sets of observations (chronological loads) of time shifts or lags. Both max and average pooling operations were utilized to extract data features in concatenation while spatial and conventional dropouts were employed to avoid overfitting in the hybrid CNN. The proposed method used two loops to yield the optimal CNN. The outer loop optimizes the structure and hyperparameters (such as kernel size) of the hybrid CNN by a proposed method of enhanced elite-based particle swarm optimization (EEPSO) while the inner loop optimizes the parameters (such as values of a kernel) and weights in neural networks using the Adam optimizer. The EEPSO is based on the mean search and chaotic descending inertia weight. The proposed method was used to study the 2018 and 2019 hourly load data in Taiwan Power Company. Simulation results show that the proposed method outperforms the well-known ARIMA, Radial Basis Function Network, Support Vector Regression, Long Short-term Memory and their hybrid variants. • Structure and hyperparameters of the CNN are optimized by enhanced elite-based PSO. • Both spatial and traditional dropouts are used to avoid overfitting in the CNN model. • Both max and average pooling operations are used to extract data features. • Hourly load data in Taiwan Power Company in 2018 and 2019 are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A discernible correlation emerged between global bridge disasters and bridge deterioration in recent years. To assist bridge inspectors in conducting deterioration identification, this paper presents a Pilgrimage Walk Optimization (PWO) algorithm inspired by Taiwan's unique Matsu bobee custom. The search behavior of the PWO algorithm simulates the gathering of devotees following Matsu's palanquin and their collective movements based on folk belief activities, including divination block casting, pilgrimage, the leisure ceremony, crawling beneath the palanquin, palanquin robbing, and the return palanquin ceremony. Analysis results show that the PWO outperformed contemporary metaheuristic algorithms on various multidimensional benchmark functions and was effectively applied to image segmentation for multiple types of bridge deterioration collected by an unmanned aerial vehicle. In the increasing number of engineering problems requiring edge computing to process big data, the proposed PWO algorithm is a low-cost and robust method with fault tolerance. • Presenting the innovative Pilgrimage Walk Optimization (PWO) algorithm, a revolutionary metaheuristic approach. • The new algorithm is tested on benchmark functions and applied to optimize image segmentation. • PWO algorithm outperforms contemporary metaheuristic algorithms in terms of achieving optimal solutions. • Exploring diverse bridge deterioration patterns auto-segmented using metaheuristic clustering algorithms. • PWO algorithm holds potential applications in AIoT technology and automation within the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, pre-trained transformer encoders have achieved successful milestones in natural language understanding (NLU). However, they still suffer from the representations with insufficient semantics, the sequences with finite lengths, and the need for a considerable number of parameters. These issues lead to difficulties not only in practical deployment under limited computational resources but also in downstream applications. To address such issues, this paper presents ELICE, a method of embedding language through an informative contrastive-encoder. Through the strategies of unordered composition and dropout-based contrastive learning, ELICE can enhance long documents embedding under the desirable model size and producing generic textual representations by condensing multiple unstructured features, such as titles, metadata, and segments of content. Furthermore, the contrastive learning by the NT-Xent objective is experimentally proven to ameliorate the document-level embedding space for a more isotropic one. ELICE was evaluated on four tasks of the CLUE benchmark (Mandarin NLU tasks). With the basic version, the ELICE-base has 12 million parameters and achieves 99% of the performance of the BERT-base (108 million) on average. Furthermore, on the IMDb sentiment classification (English NLU task), ELICE-base (13 million) achieves 95% of the accuracy of XLNet (110 million). Additionally, we deployed ELICE in a practical system for real-time ad-hoc document retrieval regarding legal compliance in the financial industry, and the fine-tuned ELICE outperformed the pre-trained baseline and the whitening representations. These results demonstrate the effectiveness, the robustness, and the flexibility of ELICE in the field of language understanding. • Achieve desirable model size by unordered composition and contrastive learning. • Adopt normalized temperature-scaled cross-entropy loss in pre-training/fine-tuning. • Redistribute non-smooth anisotropic embedding space about generic textual semantics. • Realize the application of legal compliance in Taiwan's finance industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many studies have explored green buildings, there remain many unsolved questions about how to expand this section of the housing market, such as how the capitalization effect of green buildings varies across time and location. This study investigates the price premiums of green buildings in Taipei City, the largest metropolis in Taiwan, to examine how they have changed over time, and assesses the magnitude of the capitalization effects under varying housing price levels. The empirical results indicate that Taipei residents are willing to pay higher prices for houses with green-label certification. The higher the certification level, the higher the price that residents are willing to pay. This study additionally identifies two characteristics of the capitalization effects in this market. The first is that the price premiums vary with the market condition. For example, during housing market downturns (e.g., 2014–2015), building green premiums may be unremarkable or non-existent. The second effect identified is that green buildings tend to exhibit an 'aristocratic trend.' This means that high-priced houses (i.e., houses priced above the 80% quantile) in the high-end label category attract the highest premiums, implying that the willingness to pay for green features tends to only exist among wealthy buyers. The result of this paper provides evidence to explain the heterogeneity of green build premiums. Regarding the specificity of these premiums, this paper provides recommendations for builders and managers. [Display omitted] • This study investigates the price premiums of green buildings in Taipei City. • This paper examines how the price premiums have changed over time. • It assesses the magnitude of the capitalization effects under varying housing price levels. • The price premiums vary with the market condition. • Green buildings tend to exhibit an aristocratic trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is related to underground pipeline gas explosions that occurred in the southern region of Taiwan in July 2014. This disaster, which resulted in substantial numbers of fatalities and injuries in addition to about 6 km of damaged roads, was the largest petroleum catastrophe in Taiwan's history. Because pipeline gas explosions of such a large extent are rare, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office and Kaohsiung Fire Department launched an investigation in which an author of this paper participated. The aim of this paper is to explore the causes of the explosions, thereby contributing to the prevention of similar cases in the future. First, the causes of the large explosions are thoroughly investigated. Second, metallographic studies are conducted on the ruptured pipelines. Finally, the results are summarized, and conclusions are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies have explored the field experiences and risk factors related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among disaster rescue workers.Methods: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck southern Taiwan on February 6, 2016. A standardized, paper-based, self-administered survey questionnaire including demographic information, field experiences and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) was conducted among emergency medical technicians (EMTs) one month after the earthquake. A multivariate regression model was used to analyze the associations between risk factors and the PCL. A two-sided p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The survey response rate was 86.1% (447/519). The respondents who exceeded the cut-off points for the re-experience, avoidance, or hyperarousal domains were 11.8%, 2.7%, or 4.7%, respectively. A proportion of 12.7% of respondents met partial PTSD. The personality characteristics of anxiety (p < 0.001), perfectionism (p = 0.023) and introvert tendency (p = 0.002) were significantly correlated with partial PTSD. Emergency medical services (EMS) were significantly associated with partial PTSD than other main tasks (p < 0.001). The prevalence of partial PTSD was higher but was not significantly different in the groups of lower educational level, longer EMT careers, earlier arrival date, fewer field working hours, or managing dead people. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that an anxious personality and EMS as the main task during the missions were significantly associated with PTSD risk.Conclusion: Not only personality characteristics but also the task components could alter the PTSD risks in disasters. A broad realization of these risks may improve the mental outcomes of disaster rescuers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry accounts for nearly half of all industry-related fatalities in Taiwan. Identified as the leading cause of such fatalities for several decades, falls also contribute to almost half of work-related fatalities. Given the strenuous nature of construction work, workers are prone to loss of awareness and balance, increasing the safety risk and number of fall accidents. Previous studies have indicated that loss of awareness may be the major cause of occupational injuries or fatalities, and identified the strong correlation between falls and loss of balance. Thus, real-time monitoring of the mental and balance conditions of workers may help identify fall portents, and thus prevent falls from happening. This paper describes a framework for developing a personal safety monitoring system based on a smartphone, which receives external signals wirelessly from motion sensors and brain wave sensors attached to a vest and inside a helmet, and transmit these signals to a monitoring server for further analysis. This paper also presents an experiment with preliminary findings regarding the detection of fall portents, using the internal motion sensors of a smartphone. In the experiment, participants performed a tiling task on a scaffold under four physiological statuses. We identified the fall portents based on the self-awareness of the participants, hazardous actions performed by the participants, and outsider observations by experiment administrators. An accelerometer-based threshold algorithm was tested, and its performance was evaluated against the identified fall portents. The results indicated that the work-related motions had a limited impact on the detection algorithm. The accuracy for the sleepiness, fatigue, normal, and inebriation statuses were 92.3%, 90.4%, 77.3%, and 68.8%, respectively. The algorithm exhibited an overall accuracy of 86%, thus, we conclude that using a smartphone to detect fall portents in a working scenario is feasible, and deserves further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan, located in a subtropical area, is a high energy-importing nation with approximately 98% of our energy supplied by imported fuels since 2000. In this regard, renewable electricity systems from its richness of solar radiation and strong monsoon are thus becoming attractive due to the energy, economic, and environmental policies for pursuing clean electricity supply, sustainable development and greenhouse gases emission mitigation in Taiwan. The objective of this paper was to present an analysis of profitable promotion and innovative measures for renewable electricity in Taiwan because the photovoltaic (PV) power and wind power systems have rapidly increased the total installed capacity from 2.7 MW in 2000 to 1006.2 MW in 2013. The description in the paper was thus summarized on an analysis of renewable electricity supply since 2000 and its future goals up to 2030, and then centered on the new promotion legislation (i.e., Renewable Energy Development Act) in the measures of feed-in tariff (FIT) and tax/subsidy incentives. Current subsidiary and innovative programs to promote the development of renewable electricity technologies, including roof-type PV power, off-shore wind power and biogas-to-power, were also described. Due to its innovation promotion for renewable energy exploitation in recent years, Pingtung County, located in the southernmost of Taiwan, was introduced as a case study. Finally, some recommendations for promote renewable electricity development were addressed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests whether in utero conditions affect long-run developmental outcomes using the 1918 influenza pandemic in Taiwan as a natural experiment. Combining several historical and current datasets, we find that cohorts in utero during the pandemic are shorter as children/adolescents and less educated compared to other birth cohorts. We also find that they are more likely to have serious health problems including kidney disease, circulatory and respiratory problems, and diabetes in old age. Despite possible positive selection on health outcomes due to high infant mortality rates during this period (18%), our paper finds a strong negative impact of in utero exposure to influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming arising from climate change can increase the spread of deadly diseases. Effort is needed to develop a set of policies for the government to stem or reduce health risks from global warming. The purpose of this paper is to examine more detail and comprehensively about the relationship among climate and event disease count in Taiwan using the partial least square latent regression model. The results obtained that of the 17 types of diseases in Taiwan, that has the most significant loading factor is Amoebiasis, Malaria and Chikungunya. At the same time, climate variables that have the biggest most significant factor are Number day with max temp more than 30, Number day Temp more than 25, and Rainfall PH. Cronbach's Alpha infectious disease 0.9696 and climate 0.2813. At the same time, the value of Dillon Goldstein's rho infectious disease 0.974 and climate 0.6404, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We present a dynamic additive model to measure and decompose revenue inefficiency. • Our model is used to measure revenue inefficiency in Taiwan's incineration plants. • The main source of electricity revenue inefficiency is technical waste. • Ownership impacts all inefficiency results for Taiwan's incineration plants. • The POO plants have the lower efficiency, inferior of other operating plants. Due to insufficient land and energy resources, municipal solid waste incineration plants are used in many countries as a means of addressing the growing volumes of generated municipal solid waste and to recover energy resources. Taiwan's government allows the private sector to offer municipal solid waste treatment services and electricity to the public. Revenue from the sale of electricity is an important source of income for municipal solid waste incineration plants. Although several studies have examined the technical efficiency of municipal solid waste incineration plants, previous studies have not measured or deconstructed the dynamic electricity revenue inefficiency of incineration plants. For our purposes, this paper presents a data envelopment analysis model that measures and deconstructs the electricity revenue inefficiency while taking into account the slacks and dynamic factors in measuring technical inefficiency levels within the context of assessing MSW incineration plants in Taiwan. This study applied the proposed model to analyze the electricity revenue inefficiency of the municipal solid waste incineration plants in Taiwan over the period of 2013–2018. In this study, we found that the main source of electricity revenue inefficiency is the technical waste from electricity production. Our empirical analysis reveals that the electricity technical, revenue and allocative efficiencies of public plants are lower than those of private plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While a link between parental depression and adolescent school victimization is frequently hypothesized, studies on this association have shown mixed results. In addition, adolescent depression has been considered a potential psychosocial mechanism underlying the link between parental depression and adolescent school victimization. However, studies to support this proposition are lacking. This paper examines the direct effect of parental depression on adolescent victimization by peers and teachers in school as well as indirect effect through adolescent depression in an Asian context (Taiwan) and further examines differences in the interrelationships of parental depression, adolescent depression, and school victimization by peers and teachers across gender and school age groups.Methods: Data were obtained from a random sample of 2,419 students (grades 7-12) and their parents in one of the largest metropolitan areas in Taiwan.Results: Parental depression did not have a significant direct association with either type of school victimization. However, parental depression showed a significant indirect association with both types of school victimization through adolescent depression. These findings applied to both males and females and both junior and senior high school students.Limitation: The study utilized cross-sectional data, and the findings cannot be used to build causal relationships.Conclusion: Our findings provide empirical support that parental depression has indirect associations with school victimization by peers and teachers through adolescent depression. The results support the importance of including family-based approaches for depression targeting parents and adolescents in future victim intervention/prevention school programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining the most economic benefits while using the least resources and causing the least environmental damage is an urgent and key problem in achieving sustainable development. The concept of eco-efficiency provides a comprehensive perspective for observing and solving this problem. This paper proposes an extended data envelopment analysis model, named the WIN-US-SBM, as a comprehensive eco-efficiency evaluation method that can accommodate undesirable outputs, all the identification problems of decision-making units (DMUs), possible slacks of variables, and the problems of an insufficient number of available DMUs and intertemporal comparability. China's Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone (WTS Economic Zone) is an important regional economic growth center. By applying WIN-US-SBM and ArcGIS software, we investigated data on the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of eco-efficiency in the WTS Economic Zone for the years 2009–2016. Later, the global Malmquist–Luenberger index was used to decompose the sources of growth in eco-efficiency. Finally, the main driving factors of eco-efficiency were explored through a Tobit regression analysis. The empirical results show that: (1) The overall eco-efficiency of the WTS Economic Zone had greatly improved, increasing by 11.46% annually, and the cumulative growth rate of eco-efficiency was 110.84% from 2009 to 2016. (2) The eastern area had the highest average eco-efficiency, followed by the western area and the middle area in that order. Also, the growth rate of the middle area ranked first (16.68%), whereas the eastern area had the slowest growth in eco-efficiency (7.22%). (3) On the whole, the growth of eco-efficiency was driven mainly by technological progress and was restricted by the decrease in management level, which implies that policy makers should focus on improving management and technical levels. (4) High levels of economic development, population density, market openness, and industrial structure had positive effects on the eco-efficiency of the WTS Economic Zone, whereas energy intensity and expenditure on science and technology had negative impacts. • An extended DEA model is proposed to measure eco-efficiency more comprehensively. • The proposed model can be widely applied to input-output efficiency evaluations. • The eco-efficiency of the WTS Economic Zone was evaluated based on a novel model. • The growth of eco-efficiency was driven mainly by technological progress. • The eco-efficiency level is negatively related to energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The system shows Energy Efficiency Ratios up to 4.6. • An independent control of temperature and humidity is achieved. • The higher the total loads the better the performance of the HLDS. • 30% electrical energy savings are attained when compared to traditional systems. • Efficient alternative for HVAC systems in high latent load applications. Hybrid Liquid Desiccant systems (HLDS) combine the liquid desiccant technology for dehumidification of air with conventional compression cycle technology for cooling. They are an alternative to conventional compression cooling systems, being more efficient and offering the possibility of independently control temperature and humidity. In this paper the design and operation of a HLDS is presented, for the air conditioning of a high latent load application with high ambient humidity levels. An analysis of the daily evolution of the performance of the system under different environmental conditions has been included. The innovative demonstration unit placed in Taiwan, in continuous operation since November 2015, achieved Energy efficiency Ratios (EER) up to 4.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Online operating guidelines find the maximum net electrical energy. • Multi-linear model for variable-frequency fans was built. • The cooling capability index was used as a clustering index for the multi-linear model. • The online operating guidelines were demonstrated in this paper. • Two cases of the plant test based on the online operating guidelines were presented. Guidelines for optimal operation strategy of cooling water temperature are presented to find the maximum net electrical energy of a cogeneration system for turbine generators (TGs) and cooling towers (CTs). In this study, a real cogeneration plant in Taiwan, consisting of variable-frequency drive fan-based CTs and a generator, was chosen as a case study. Statistical linear models were used to build TGs and CTs. A multi-linear model was established to approach a nonlinear system in the cooling tower using a physically meaningful index, the cooling capability index, as an indicator of data clustering. The results showed that the cooling capability index was a good clustering index for the CTs. The cooling tower multi-linear model regressed by the clustering data performed well in predicting the cooling water outlet temperature. The simulated case verified that the online operating guidelines were consistent with real plant data and that it has the ability to find the optimal cooling water temperature. Two cases of plant test prove that the online operating guidelines can assist operators in operating cooling water temperature to the maximum net electrical energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a shapelet-based behavioral pattern extraction method (Behavior2Shapelets) is proposed to address the behavior-sparsity issue in credit risk classification. In the proposed method, three steps are involved. First, by introducing the shapelets module, the proposed model can learn the behavioral patterns from the sparse behavioral features. Then, these extracted patterns are combined with a logistic regression model to construct an interpretable classifier. Finally, to enhance the robustness of the model, a dynamic strategy for threshold determination is used, which is based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic. The performance of the Behavior2Shapelets model is validated by using the Taiwan credit dataset and its seven derivative datasets. The empirical results demonstrate that the Behavior2Shapelets model outperforms the baseline methods in terms of classification accuracy and robustness. This highlights the feasibility of the proposed model as a solution to the behavior-sparsity problem in credit risk classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that coseismic landslides are likely to occur under stronger shaking at shorter epicentral distance under the effects of topography and amplification of shaking together with such local geology as rock and soil types. However, this paper addresses a different issue that is the role of faults played in the triggering of landslides, both coseismic and non-seismic, and the long-term slope instability that lasts for decades or centuries after devastating earthquakes. Experiences during and after gigantic landslides are important to understand what happens in and around faults. Noteworthy is that there are cases in which slope instability starts after earthquakes and lasts for some time along surface manifestation of faults, whether or not they are the causative fault. Another important issue is the recovery of stability in shallow parts of slopes. Experiences in Japan, Taiwan and China suggest that a few decades is needed for this re-stabilization. Discussion is further made of geologically generated ground water pressure that is another causative mechanism of landslides. Thus, further field study is encouraged to promote slope hazard assessment. • Long-term slope instability after major earthquakes was studied by introducing examples in the past. • Compound effects of earthquake and rainfall on slope instability are presented. • Continuous slope instability along major tectonic lines is discussed. • Landslides triggered by abnormal ground water pressure are touched upon. • The concepts of process zone and geopressure should be investigated in more details. • The studied cases suggest the importance of more geological/geomorphological studies for understanding the landslide hazards in tectonically active regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the long-term morphological pattern of the Hsinchu coast in northwestern Taiwan using three different methods: long-term isobath and shoreline change analysis, bathymetric volume change analysis, and the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) method. Our objectives include analyzing and understanding the effects of anthropogenic structures, natural processes, and their combined impacts on coastal morphological change. The shoreline analysis and bathymetric volume analysis briefly reveal that the morphological pattern of Hsinchu coast. Then, EOF analysis is applied to identify the dominant impact factors affecting the coastal morphology near the harbor, determine the weights of the impact factors, and infer the impact range of anthropogenic structures. Moreover, the EOF analysis is divided into two-time segments—namely, the periods 2005–2010 and 2017–2021—based on different bathymetric surveys and the corresponding values of impact factors. The primary and secondary EOF modes are strongly linked to the "interaction between wave and structure" and "interaction between river discharges and structure", respectively. The spatial components of the EOF modes demonstrate that the impact range influenced by river discharges was mainly located in the northern part of the harbor, while the minimum impact range of the structures on coastal morphological interaction changes under natural factors was 3.5 km south of Hsinchu Fishing Harbor. • The morphological patterns of the Hsinchu coast over a span of two decades were characterized in this paper. • The findings of the EOF analysis were utilized to identify the impact factors and determine the corresponding weights. • The findings can inform the development of effective strategies for coastal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The small dataset problem is an important issue in manufacturing and academia. • A new Newton-VSG approach generates virtual samples with non-linear distributions. • The suggested method's efficacy is verified using two real datasets. • Paired Wilcoxon test elucidates the significance of differences among four VSG methods. In today's highly competitive environment, modeling the relationship between inputs and outputs using limited data for a management system at the early stages is important, but difficult. The virtual sample generation (VSG) method has been proposed in many studies to explore potential information to improve prediction performance of learning models for small datasets. However, those studies in general must assume an underlying distribution such as a linear triangular membership function or a Gaussian distribution to generate virtual samples. Thus, previous VSG methods may not effectively upgrade learning performance when the assumed distribution is not elastic enough for small datasets. To address this issue, in this paper, we proposed a novel VSG method called Newton-VSG method to generate virtual samples for small datasets with non-linear and asymmetric distributions. In the suggested method, we used Newton's method to estimate the minimum value of data range and the shape of data distribution. Further, we developed two deep learning models including Siamese network (SN) model for screening virtual sample input values and bagging auto-encoder (AE) model for predicting virtual sample output to ensure the quality of virtual samples. One real dataset for solidification cracking susceptibility test data and an other real dataset obtained from TFT-LCD process of a leading company in Taiwan were used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. On the partial least square regression (PLSR) and the back propagation neural network (BPNN) predictive models, we compared the proposed method with three state-of-the-art VSG methods in items of the mean absolute error (MAE) and the root mean squared error (RMSE). The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method outperforms the other three VSG methods in prediction accuracy for small datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• TSLM learning strategy studied effects on verbal creativity, creative writing and characters recall. • Verbal creativity and creative writing showed significance on both measures. • Chinese characters recall was not significant. • Results suggest that TSLM lessons have potential benefits for verbal creativity, creative writing and learning Chinese characters. This paper conducts a preliminary evaluation of a learning strategy for Chinese native speakers to learn Chinese characters more effectively. The study utilizes a newly developed creative instruction approach called a Two-Stage learning Model (TSLM) and investigates its effects on students' verbal creativity and creative writing. The researchers developed this learning strategy based on children's self-generated stories, rhymes, and pictures of new Chinese characters they are learning. Learning in this manner is a natural approach because the Chinese people developed characters from drawings of natural objects, items from everyday life, and abstract concepts. This study adopted a quasi-experimental design with 54 participants (27 boys and 27 girls) in the 4th grade in an urban elementary school in Taiwan. The experimental group underwent TSLM instruction for eight weeks, and the control group received regular instruction. Participants were asked to use imagination and draw a character's picture, then explain their drawings by writing stories or making rhymes of the assigned characters. Three quantitative instruments were applied: New Creative Thinking Test (NCTT) for measuring divergent-thinking skills; Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) for evaluating creative products; and Chinese characters' recall test for assessing the number of characters recalled. Results indicated enhancement of three constructs of NCTT: fluency, flexibility, and originality. Moreover, they showed that children who underwent treatment scored higher on the creative writing tasks; the recall test results were insignificant suggesting that the difference between groups in creative performance was due to TSLM instruction. The study provides the first demonstration in real educational settings of how Chinese characters could promote verbal creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper carries out probabilistic approach to quantify the benefit-risk analysis for foods (BRAFO) of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and methylmercury (MeHg) for the people who eat the mercury-contaminated fish in Taiwan. We applied the hazard quotient (HQ) model to assess the risk of developmental neuropsychological impairment effect and the desirable dose index (DI) model to quantify the health benefits. Besides, we also applied the disability adjusted life years (DALY) model to assess the number of years lost by incidence of affected infants' intelligence quotient (IQ) and coronary heart disease (CHD) or Stroke for adult. The results of this study show that although the risk of cod and scad are higher, Taiwan residents do not need to reduce intake rate based on benefit considerations. Furthermore, according to the benefits of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), this study suggests that more intake of saury and salmon. • The probabilistic BRAFO approach quantified the EPA/DHA benefit versus methylmercury risk. • Although the risk of cod and scad are higher, Taiwanese do not need to reduce intake rate based on benefit analysis. • According to the benefits analysis of EPA/DHA, we suggest that more intake of saury and salmon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the economic feasibility of cage aquaculture in the offshore wind farm area of Changhua, Taiwan. According to the cost-benefit analysis, the results of cage aquaculture simulation for three species are economically feasible and the most suitable investment project is suggested to deploy 16 cages at the beginning. However, according to sensitivity analysis, at the current survival rates and purchasing prices, there is still a gap from the breakeven point in various scenarios. Hence, this paper argues that, if Taiwan's offshore wind power generation can be integrated with cage aquaculture, the conflict over sea area usage can be solved in order to create more employment opportunities. • Economic feasibility of cage aquaculture in the offshore wind farm area of Changhua, Taiwan. • The results of cage aquaculture simulation for three species are economically feasible and the most appropriate investment project is to deploy 16 cages. However, at the current survival rates and purchasing prices, there is still a gap from the breakeven point in various scenarios. • Taiwan's offshore wind power generation can be integrated with cage aquaculture, the conflict over sea area usage can be solved in order to create more employment opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses the phenomenon of delayed cable digitization in Taiwan and reports the results of a longitudinal analysis, determining that (1) inter-platform competition, primarily from internet protocol television (IPTV), generates a strong and positive impact on the digitization of cable service after it acquires numerous customers; (2) the installed cable base induces economies of scale that increase its digital penetration; (3) the overbuild of the equivalent-size rivalry can increase digital adoption, whereas unequal-sized competition might reversely decrease it; and (4) the monthly flat fee charged to customers does not influence digital adoption. In addition, this paper presents a discussion on the policy instruments derived from econometric results. Although repealing the horizontal integration cap in the cable TV industry could generate economies of scale, doing so may encourage monopolization over several franchises. The efficacy of intra-platform competition is reserved only for certain cases. Combining the results of these analyses reveals that inter-platform competition most effectively stimulates cable operators’ digital conversion. Hence, regulators should create a level playing field among various TV platforms, such as equal programming access and open standards, to ensure a high degree of cable digitization [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper contributes to the tourism literature by examining determinants of the Taiwanese tourist hotel industry (THI) cycle. This study uses a Markov-switching model (MSM) proposed by Hamilton (1989) to analyze the Taiwanese tourist hotel industry cycle. The MSM decomposes the tourist hotel industry cycle into two distinct states: high-growth and low-growth (HGS and LGS). The mean growth rate of HGS is 1.5% and the average growth rate of LGS is 0.07% during the period from December 1999 to February 2011. The corresponding standard deviations in the two regimes are 0.008% and 0.038%, implying that HGS is more stable than LGS. Moreover, the probability of staying in HGS is 94% and the probability of remaining in LGS is 65%. The expected durations of HGS and LGS are about 16 and 3 months, respectively. Further, the paper investigates the factors that keep the THI in HGS. Empirical test results show that growth in the international tourism market and industrial production growth rate are two key factors that keep the THI in HGS, but the SARS outbreak in 2003 has had an adverse effect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• This paper examines the efficiency of the confinement requirements among three selected specifications (ACI Specification, AISC Seismic Specification, and Taiwan encased composite building code) for designing encased composite columns. • The analysis of this study identifies major parameters that are omitted from the current confinement requirements for encased composite columns. • This paper proposes new confinement equations for encased composite columns. The proposed requirement correlates well with the flexural performance of the encased composite columns, warranting a consistent degree of safety for the range of properties studied. • The proposed confinement equations significantly reduce the amount of required transverse reinforcement, relieving the challenges in detailing seismic hoop reinforcement around the structural steel core. Confinement reinforcement for concrete columns is designed to ensure that the columns can withstand high lateral deformations during strong earthquakes. An accurate determination of the required confinement reinforcement is vital for achieving an efficient design, especially for encased composite columns in which reinforcement congestion can be a potential problem. This paper uses the confinement requirements among three selected specifications as the basis for developing confinement equations for encased composite columns. The specification selected herein are the ACI 318, AISC Seismic Specification, and Taiwan encased composite building code. In this study, new confinement reinforcement design equations are developed and validated against experimental results. The developed confinement provision, providing a means to quantify the confinement effect of I-shaped structural steel members, significantly reduces the required confinement reinforcement for encased composite columns, and consequently alleviates the reinforcement congestion problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan and Australia are non-Parties to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH Convention). However, as the first two non-Parties in the East Asia region, both have incorporated the spirit and letter of the UCH Convention into their respective domestic laws, with minor exceptions to fit into their respective historical and cultural contexts, as well as their administrative and judicial settings. This paper traces and compares the very different origins of these two pieces of UCH specific domestic legislation. A comparative analysis is also made of the structure and content, similarities and differences of each piece of legislation as well as deviations between them and between the UCH Convention. The paper argues that the Taiwanese and Australian experience demonstrates models for the successful incorporation of the UCH Convention for States striving for the preservation, protection and management of UCH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Whether to recycle the recyclable fraction in the MSW (municipal solid waste) or to incinerate it for energy recovery is a debating issue. In this paper we present a simple criterion to judge what type of waste components should be recycled or incinerated with energy recovery. According to the R1 formula presented by the waste framework directive (Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament), this paper calculates the energy performances of MSW waste-to-energy plants currently operated in Taiwan firstly. By using the assumed value of energy recovery efficiency and carbon emission costs, we compare the treatment methods between recycling (material recovery) and energy recovery by the cost and benefit analysis, and examine the suitability of recycling for waste fractions of paper, food waste, PET, PVC, and plastic bags/films under a variety of scenarios. The results show that food waste is more appropriate to be treated by recycling while plastic bags/films are suggested to be incinerated with energy recovery. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Given the difficulty of earthquake forecast, Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) has been a method to best estimate site-specific ground motion or response spectra in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology. In this paper, the first in-depth PSHA study for Taipei, the economic center of Taiwan with a six-million population, was carried out. Unlike the very recent PSHA study for Taiwan, this study includes the follow-up hazard deaggregation, response spectra, and the earthquake motion recommendations. Hazard deaggregation results show that moderate-size and near-source earthquakes are the most probable scenario for this city. Moreover, similar to the findings in a few recent studies, the earthquake risk for Taipei should be relatively high and considering this city''s importance, the high risk should not be overlooked and a potential revision of the local technical reference would be needed. In addition to the case study, some innovative Excel applications to PSHA are introduced in this paper. Such spreadsheet applications are applicable to geosciences research as those developed for data reduction or quantitative analysis with Excel''s user-friendly nature and wide accessibility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to apply a fuzzy quality function deployment (QFD) approach to prioritize knowledge management (KM) solutions for an international port in Taiwan. First, the paper examines house of quality (HOQ) matrices to facilitate handling of the ‘what’ (i.e., KM requirements) and ‘how’ (KM solutions) aspects of the QFD problem, and proposes procedures for the use of a fuzzy QFD method. A case study concerning port K in Taiwan is then used to demonstrate a systematic appraisal process for prioritizing KM solutions, and twenty attributes with sixteen feasible KM implementation solutions are measured employing an HOQ matrix. Finally, the top five feasible solutions for implementing KM at port K are identified. The empirical results show that ‘establishment of a data storage and data mining system’ in the technology dimension is the most urgent requirement for KM implementation at port K in Taiwan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines a case involving a mix of Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries, co-management and the competition for using coastal zones. In the 2000s, Taiwan''s government initiated a remodeling of the fishery right system, which is a rights-based approach to fisheries management, as an attempt to address conflicts between fishers and developers regarding the use of coastal space and to put community-based co-management into practice. The paper particularly compares the system before and after 2000 and identifies areas of concern in the implementation of the remodeled system. The results show that the government''s support for this system signifies progress in the right direction. However, concerns emerge, mostly involving fishers'' low participation, fishermen''s association''s lack of technical skills and financial resources, and the division of management responsibility. The government is advised to play a more active role in dealing with these concerns. Finally, the paper reveals that the factor of competition for using coastal zones poses a challenge to co-management, and suggests a holistic view with integrated coastal management or marine spatial planning practices, for developing co-management under the fishery right system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]