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This research investigated the hydrogen production and energy conversion from automobile shredder residues (ASRs) and paper mill sludge (PMS) co-gasified in a full-scale fluidized bed gasification plant. The results obtained from full-scale tests provided important information on the feasible assessment of ASRs-to-energy and the selection of alternative technologies for ASRs. Based on the analysis results of produced gas composition, H 2 , CO, and CH 4 composition produced from paper-mill sludge gasified were 4.17%–6.01%, 3.08%–4.32%, 1.71%–2.4%, respectively. Another C 2 gas composition ranged from 2.9% to 3.59%. The heating value of produced gas ranged between 1.64 MJ/Nm3 and 2.18 MJ/Nm3. In the case of 10% ASR addition, the heating value of produced gas was slightly increased to 1.84 MJ/Nm3-2.34 MJ/Nm3. The dioxin emission concentration of flue gas was approximately 0.064 ng I-TEQ/Nm3. It can comply with Taiwan regulation thresholds. The dioxin leaching concentrations of residues derived from gasification were also in compliance with regulation limits by the TCLP test. Meanwhile, in the case of 10% ASRs addition, the dioxin equivalence concentration of gasified residue was nearly 0.002 ng I-TEQ/Nm3. It was far below the current regulation standard limit. In summary, the results of this research have proved the performance of ASRs-to-energy by co-gasified with paper mill sludge using a full-scale gasification plant. The results obtained from this research also provided the information for selecting ASRs alternative technologies and operating full-scale gasifiers in the future. [Display omitted] • This study has confirmed the feasibility of co-gasification of calcium-rich PMS and chlorine-rich ASRs. • Adding 5%–15% of ASRs can maintain the regular operation of the full-scale commercial gasifier. • The synthesis gas has a composition of 4.91 vol% H 2 and 2.06 vol% CO, with a LHV of 1.93 MJ/Nm3. • The HCl emission could comply with regulation thresholds in co-gasification. • Dioxin reformation reduced significantly in co-gasification of PMS and ASRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hygroscopicity affects the chemical and physical stabilities of paper-based historical relics. In this research, the moisture sorption behavior of naturally aged bamboo paper dating from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, and artificially aged and untreated modern bamboo paper was investigated using dynamic vapor sorption analysis (DVS). The results were fitted by sorption models to analyze the regularities of changes in the moisture absorption of aged bamboo paper. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the chemical and physical structures of aged bamboo paper. It was found that untreated and aged bamboo paper showed similar moisture sorption isotherms at 25 °C, indicating that aging did not alter the sorption mechanism of paper. Guggenheim Anderson de Boer (GAB) and Hailwood Horrobin (H–H) models provided good fits to the experimental data and meaningful physical parameters regarding the effective sorption surface area (S GAB), monolayer water content (W 0), and multilayer water content (W s), showing that the S GAB , W 0 , and W s of naturally and artificially aged bamboo paper were decreased. Results of FTIR demonstrated that the levels of hydrophilic groups decreased, causing a reduction in the effective adsorption sites of naturally and artificially aged bamboo paper, which was the principal reason for a decrease in their hygroscopicity. The fiber structure damage of naturally and artificially aged bamboo paper was observed through microscopic morphology, which has different influences on the capillary adsorption of paper depending on the extent of degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice-paper plant, Tetrapanax papyrifer is a woody plant native to Taiwan and widely distributed in western Japan. Due to its low commercial value, little is known about its interactions with microorganisms. Here, we isolated Neofusicoccum parvum, a known causal agent of grape stem rot and mango stem-end rot, from leaf blight on T. papyrifer. Compared to mango isolate, N. parvum from rice-paper plant showed comparable virulence on grape stem and mango fruit. N. parvum strains exhibited pathogenicity on a variety of common weeds, which may act as disease reservoirs and boost N. parvum prevalence in commercially grown mango and grape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used bibliometrics to analyze the characteristics of funded papers in the social sciences in Taiwan from 2015 to 2019, including the number of funded papers, funded paper ratio, document types, fields, type of publishing organizations, journal impact, and paper citation impact. The results indicate that the number of funded papers and the funded paper ratio of SSCI papers from Taiwan have both increased. In addition to articles and reviews, conference papers are a major type of funded paper for local SSCI papers. In terms of fields, the nontraditional social sciences, such as environmental sciences, psychiatry, and public/environmental & occupational health, have a particularly high funded paper ratio. However, the number of funded papers and funded paper ratio is the highest in the field of education & educational research. The fields of economics, management, and business have a large number of funded papers but a low funded paper ratio. Universities are the main funded institutions, but hospitals have the highest funded paper ratio. Funded papers tend to have higher paper citation impacts. Therefore, funding positively affects the productivity and impact of SSCI papers from Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper cultural relics such as double-sided printed newspapers and periodicals represent modern cultural heritage. Severe damage such as embrittlement, decay, and dreg generally occur to paper; hence, it urgently needs conservation and restoration. Therefore, herein, a new reinforcement method for the fragile double-sided printed paper cultural relics is proposed with cotton mesh and adhesive PVA217 as reinforcement materials. Using a computer measured and controlled folding endurance tester, a pendulum tensile strength tester, pH meter, pulp viscosimeter, and other instruments, the physical properties of newspaper samples before and after aging were evaluated. In addition, the mechanical properties, chromatic aberration and surface morphology of simulated samples before and after the cotton mesh reinforcement and Japanese washi paper reinforcement were assessed. The experimental results indicate that this new reinforcement method could effectively improve the physical strength, chromatic aberration and durability of the simulated samples. Widespread applications of this cotton mesh reinforcement method for the reinforcement and protection of the red revolutionary cultural relics such as double-sided printed newspaper and periodicals during the Republic of China era are foreseeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mudstone soils (MS) are widely distributed in southern Taiwan and have an inherent proclivity to geological damages and failures. However, the use of traditional and non-traditional techniques to treat MS remains a challenge and is an area relatively unexplored due to the soils' distinct and sophisticated features. This study examined the hydromechanical performance of reconstituted MS treated with colloidal nanosilica (CN), fiber (f), and combinations thereof (CN-f) via a series of laboratory tests, including the unconfined compressive strength tests, 3D volumetric shrinkage tests, free swell tests, 1D consolidation tests, and filter paper tests. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also used to inspect the geochemical composition and microstructure of the untreated and treated MS. Results suggest that CN-f treatment can significantly improve the peak and postpeak strengths and ductility of MS while achieving satisfactory improvements in swelling control, shrinkage limits, and volumetric strains. Following treatment with 15% CN and 1% f for 28 days, the MS showed an optimal 527% improvement in Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and satisfactory residual strain. Finally, the FTIR and SEM images revealed enhanced interlocking between the MS particles and the formation of marginal C–S–H and viscous gels, supporting the improved performance in MS. This study provides comprehensive analyses that offer insights into the synergistic effects of CN-f on the hydromechanical performance of MS. The findings will be valuable to engineers exploring innovative and ecofriendly alternatives for treating MS with a robust design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Among sarcomas, which are rare cancers, many types are exceedingly rare; however, a definition of ultra‐rare cancers has not been established. The problem of ultra‐rare sarcomas is particularly relevant because they represent unique diseases, and their rarity poses major challenges for diagnosis, understanding disease biology, generating clinical evidence to support new drug development, and achieving formal authorization for novel therapies. Methods: The Connective Tissue Oncology Society promoted a consensus effort in November 2019 to establish how to define ultra‐rare sarcomas through expert consensus and epidemiologic data and to work out a comprehensive list of these diseases. The list of ultra‐rare sarcomas was based on the 2020 World Health Organization classification, The incidence rates were estimated using the Information Network on Rare Cancers (RARECARENet) database and NETSARC (the French Sarcoma Network's clinical‐pathologic registry). Incidence rates were further validated in collaboration with the Asian cancer registries of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Results: It was agreed that the best criterion for a definition of ultra‐rare sarcomas would be incidence. Ultra‐rare sarcomas were defined as those with an incidence of approximately ≤1 per 1,000,000, to include those entities whose rarity renders them extremely difficult to conduct well powered, prospective clinical studies. On the basis of this threshold, a list of ultra‐rare sarcomas was defined, which comprised 56 soft tissue sarcoma types and 21 bone sarcoma types. conclusions: Altogether, the incidence of ultra‐rare sarcomas accounts for roughly 20% of all soft tissue and bone sarcomas. This confirms that the challenges inherent in ultra‐rare sarcomas affect large numbers of patients. The list of ultra‐rare sarcomas, defined as those sarcomas with an incidence ≤1 per 1,000,000, comprises 56 soft tissue sarcoma and 21 bone sarcoma types. The incidence of ultra‐rare sarcomas accounts for roughly 20% of all soft tissue and bone sarcomas, confirming that challenges inherent to ultra‐rare sarcomas affect large numbers of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans introduced paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) from Taiwan into the Pacific over 5000 years ago as a fiber source to make barkcloth textiles that were, and still are, important cultural artifacts throughout the Pacific. We have used B. papyrifera, a species closely associated to humans, as a proxy to understand the human settlement of the Pacific Islands. We report the first genetic analysis of paper mulberry textiles from historical and archaeological contexts (200 to 50 years before present) and compare our results with genetic data obtained from contemporary and herbarium paper mulberry samples. Following stringent ancient DNA protocols, we extracted DNA from 13 barkcloth textiles. We confirmed that the fiber source is paper mulberry in nine of the 13 textiles studied using the nuclear ITS-1 marker and by statistical estimates. We detected high genetic diversity in historical Pacific paper mulberry barkcloth with a set of ten microsatellites, showing new alleles and specific genetic patterns. These genetic signatures allow tracing connections to plants from the Asian homeland, Near and Remote Oceania, establishing links not observed previously (using the same genetic tools) in extant plants or herbaria samples. These results show that historic barkcloth textiles are cultural materials amenable to genetic analysis to reveal human history and that these artifacts may harbor evidence of greater genetic diversity in Pacific B. papyrifera in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including history of science in East Asia; Korean and Taiwanese academic contexts; and conversations among Asian societies.

Paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent. (Moraceae), a dioecious species, was transported by humans from Taiwan to the islands of Remote Oceania. Its introduction and cultivation in Remote Oceania was intentional due to its cultural importance as a fiber source for barkcloth textiles. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic diversity and structure of paper mulberry populations within Remote Oceania in order to infer dispersal patterns that may reflect past human interaction among island groups. We present the integrated analysis of 380 samples (313 contemporary and 67 herbarium specimens) collected in Near and Remote Oceania. Genetic characterization was based on a set of ten microsatellites developed for B. papyrifera and complemented with the analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer ITS-1 sequence, a sex marker and the chloroplast ndhF–rpl32 intergenic spacer. Microsatellite data identify a total of 64 genotypes, despite this being a clonally propagated crop, and show three major dispersal hubs within Remote Oceania, centered on the islands of Fiji, Tonga, and Pitcairn. Of 64 genotypes identified, 55 correspond to genotypes associated to female-sexed plants that probably descend from plants introduced by the prehistoric Austronesian-speaking voyagers. The ratio of accessions to genotypes between herbarium and contemporary samples, suggests recent loss of genetic diversity. In addition to the chloroplast haplotypes described previously, we detected two new haplotypes within Remote Oceania both originating in Taiwan. This is the first study of a commensal species to show genetic structuring within Remote Oceania. In spite of the genetic bottleneck, the presence of only one sex, a timespan of less than 5000 years, and asexual propagation of this crop in Remote Oceania, we detect genetic diversity and regional structuring. These observations suggest specific migration routes between island groups within Remote Oceania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel booking websites to collect information about hospitality products/services are becoming more popular in the hotel industry. As a result, the importance of these websites for tourism firms marketing their services and products through electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on these hotel booking websites continues to grow. Despite its importance, there has been little research on how guests interact with information to increase eWOM. This paper creates a new scale for assessing guest interaction with Meituan.com information to fill this void. To this end, a three-step mixed-methods approach using open-ended surveys and published relevant research is used. Data were gathered from 440 hotel guests in Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. Using SmartPLS 4, confirmatory factor analysis revealed 33 final items for the new scale. This paper significantly contributes to potential guest behavior by creating and confirming this new scale in the hospitality context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper complicates the classic security dilemma by considering the notions of ontological security and relational deterrence. It studies how the ontological security dilemma has emerged between the US, China, and Taiwan from the relational perspective and how these spiral chains will further develop in the future. The paper incurs the literature on relational analysis to expound on how different ontological security concerns allude to relational deterrence between the three actors. Taiwan's separatism is more of a threat to China's relational self than to physical security because the separatist does not belong to any already agreed relationship. A geometric model and a few simulations yield three unconventional findings. 1) The less advantaged the US military is over China, the less likely armed unification will occur. 2) The US anti-Chinese tendency is irrelevant in determining the probability of armed unification. 3) What may escalate the spiral are China's anti-Taiwan independence and Taiwan's anti-unification. Case sensitivity indicates the ontological sensibilities of a security dilemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oyster Farming is one of important fisheries and aquaculture industries in Taiwan. Each year, approximately 4000–5000 tons of discarded bamboo scaffolding (BS) used in oyster farming, are generated, so the treatment and utilization of BS should be taken seriously. This study evaluates the suitability of BS for pulp and papermaking by assessing the chemical compositions, microstructural, and fiber morphology. The pulping properties is investigated by soda pulping. The chemical composition of BS shows the potential for application in pulping. The BS microstructure shows that can enhance pulping reactions, while the fiber morphology indicates the possibility of producing high-strength paper. Through the pulping experiment, it demonstrated that BS is suitable for pulping with lower NaOH dosage and longer digestion time. The condition at 170 °C with 14% NaOH dosage for 90 min digestion has the highest yield. After refining the highest pulping yield BS pulp, it can improve the handsheet strength and bulk of the OCC-BS mixed pulp, which can achieve the strength property required for industrial paper. In summary, BS exhibits the potential for pulping application and produces a better paper strength than OCC pulp, exhibiting the feasibility of enhancing the circular utilization value of BS in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the subcritical hydrothermal liquefaction technique (SHLT) in the co- liquefaction of process rejects at a wastepaper-based paper mill (PRWPM) and waste soybean oil (WSO) for the production of biofuels and bio-char material. PRWPM emits complicated waste composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and plastic from sealing film. The waste is produced from the recycled paper process of a mill plant located in central Taiwan. The source of WSO is the rejected organic waste from a cooking oil factory located in north Taiwan. PRWPM and WSO are suitable for use as fuels, but due to their high oxygen content, their use as commercial liquid fuels is not frequent, thus making deoxygenation and hydrogenation necessary. The temperature and pressure of SHLT were set at 523–643 K and 40–250 bar, respectively. The experimental conditions included solvent ratios of oil–water, temperature, reaction time, and ratios of solvent to PRWPM. The analysis results contained approximated components, heating values, elements, surface features, simulated distillations, product compositions, and recovery yields. The HHV of the product occurred at an oil–water ratio of 75:25, with a value of 38.04 MJ kg−1. At an oil–water ratio of 25:75, the liquid oil-phase product of SHTL has the highest heating value 42.02 MJ kg−1. Higher WSO content implies a lower heating value of the oil-phase product. The simulated distillation result of the oil-phase product with higher content of alcohol and alkanes obtained at the oil–water ratio of 25:75 is better than the other ratios. Here, the carbon number of the oil product is between C8–C36. The product conversion rate rises with an increase of the WSO ratio. It is proved that blending soybean oil with water can significantly enhance the quality of liquefied oil and the conversion rate of PRWPM. Therefore, the solid and liquid biomass wastes co-liquefaction to produce gas and liquid biofuels under SHLT are quite feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwanese folk religion is a complex mixture of Taoism, Buddhism and local indigenous deities. The Buddhist ceremony "普度Pu du" (a mass for the dead) is performed in a Taoist shrine. Ordinary people go to pray there without distinguishing between Taoism and Buddhism. Most Taiwanese believe in this mixed folk religion. Off erings in Taiwanese folk religion consist of incense sticks, candles and paper currency "紙銭 zhiqian" (made from paper, printed or cut with a knife). Based on their wishes, people prepare fl owers and food. Additionally, depending on the event, they prepare "紙紮 zhiza" (off erings made from paper and bamboo). In the seventh month of the lunar calendar, there are events such as "七娘媽生 Qiniangmasheng" (on the 7th day) and "普度Pu du" (on the 15th day). On the 7th day, the worshipers prepare paper off erings called "七娘媽亭 qiniangmating" (the goddess's shrine). On the 15th day, or "普度Pu du", they prepare various kinds of paper off erings for the salvation of the dead. They display spirit-dwellings, statues of deities, ships for ghosts to board, etc. At the end of the ceremony, paper off erings are burnt with fake-paper currency. People believe that they can send off erings to heaven or the underworld by burning them. They believe this can help their relatives who are "living" in the underworld. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of Taiwanese nationalism in the late 1980s and early 1990s that rapidly, radically, but "peacefully" replaced Chinese nationalism to become the hegemonic discourse in two decades is a political "miracle." My paper argues that this compressed political transformation would not have been possible without the help of psychoanalytic discourse mediated by critical theory in the activist and critical intellectual circles. In the context of the (post-) Cold War era, there was a peculiar form of decolonization equated with de-Sinicization. At stake is a translational concept that itself becomes untranslatable: zhu-ti-xing, the Chinese word for subjectivity. By analyzing the conflicts within the Chinese-speaking activists and intellectuals in the United States and in Taiwan, I will demonstrate in this paper the ways in which the Lacanian idea of the subject as having a lack becomes a critical tool for the advocates for the independence of Taiwan to break through the existing discursive inertia and to effectively make Taiwan a nation without essence, a nation of zhu-ti-xing/subjectivity, and to facilitate the fitting of this new hegemony into the ideology of Pax Americana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Psychological insulin resistance is a common barrier to initiation and persistence with insulin therapy that affects approximately 42.7% of people living with type II diabetes mellitus, which may negatively impact self‐management. This study aimed to assess patients' levels of psychological insulin resistance and to identify factors associated with self‐management in patients with type II diabetes mellitus treated with insulin therapy. Methods: We adopted a cross‐sectional design. Subjects from the metabolism and endocrinology outpatient departments of a regional teaching hospital in central Taiwan were recruited by consecutive sampling. Patients were assessed for psychological insulin resistance and self‐management using the barriers to insulin treatment questionnaire and the partners in health scale. Results: A total of 222 patients with type II diabetes mellitus were recruited. Patients had an average psychological insulin resistance score of 3.14 (maximum of 8). Positive self‐management was associated with insulin therapy injection by patient, fewer expectations regarding positive insulin‐related outcomes, no diabetes‐related complications, less fear of injection and self‐testing, no hypoglycaemia within the previous year, and younger age. Conclusion: Insulin therapy injection by patient and no diabetes‐related complications were the most common factors associated with overall self‐management and with each domain of self‐management in patients with type II diabetes mellitus treated with insulin therapy. Insulin therapy education should be offered to improve patients' beliefs about insulin therapy and enhance patients' ability to perform self‐management. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Psychological insulin resistance is a common psychological barrier to initiation and persistence with insulin therapy.Psychological insulin resistance causes poor glycaemic control and diabetes‐related complications.Psychological insulin resistance may negatively impact self‐management in patients with type II diabetes mellitus. What is the contribution of this paper? Positive self‐management was associated with insulin therapy injection by patient, fewer expectations regarding positive insulin‐related outcomes, no diabetes‐related complications, less fear of injection and self‐testing, no hypoglycaemia within the previous year, and younger age.Insulin therapy injection by patient and no diabetes‐related complications were the most common factors associated with overall self‐management and with each domain of self‐management in patients with type II diabetes mellitus treated with insulin therapy.Patients with poor self‐management had statistically significantly higher levels of overall psychological insulin resistance, fear of injections and self‐testing, expectations regarding positive insulin‐related outcomes, and stigmatization by insulin injections, compared to those with appropriate self‐management. What are the implications of this paper? Knowing in advance the factors associated with diabetes self‐management will allow healthcare professionals prevent psychological insulin resistance in patients with type II diabetes mellitus treated with insulin therapy.Healthcare professionals can design and provide patient‐centred diabetes education based on education level to enhance self‐management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on interviews with nine PhD students and twelve PhD graduates from a research university in Taiwan, this paper explores students' motivational profiles for pursuing a PhD at a time when that degree is increasingly decoupled from academic employment. Using self‐determination theory as a conceptual lens, the paper identifies common enrolment motivations in the PhD crisis era. Amidst the doctoral enrolment crisis in Taiwan, where the traditional employment path for PhD graduates (i.e., academia) is more of a mirage than a reality, the motivations of students to pursue a PhD do not differ much from those found in the literature concerning the era of PhD expansion. Two typical motivational profiles are predominant, one dominated by the accumulation of career advantages and the other by the search for personal growth. The findings show that the first profile tends to be on the minds of most students. The second profile tends to be adopted by those who have few career concerns or those who have a greater need for self‐improvement. We also find that these motivations have unique nuances, meanings and consequences for universities and doctoral education in the PhD crisis era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, scholars of academic dependency have tended to focus their discussions on social sciences while treating other fields as separate. They suggest that in order to escape dependency, alternative discourse and autonomy should be developed. In this paper, we examine the Public Health Liberation (PHL) movement in Taiwan and theorize on the marketization and medicalization of the healthcare system since the 1980s as a dependency syndrome. The PHL was initiated by a group of public health scholars—with the second author of this paper being one of its key protagonists—and frontline public health practitioners after the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. Inspired by the mass mobilization model in public health in Asian and Latin American countries, particularly China, the Philippines, and Nicaragua, PHL trains grassroots public health educators, nurtures critical research, and has built a network of activists for radical public health reform in Taiwan. Based on participatory action research, this paper analyzes the emergence of this influential public health movement and situates it within the global context of neoliberal health reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), as coating materials, possess oil-resistant and waterproof properties. However, their persistency and toxicity have caused concerns. This study developed a method for determining five types of 20 PFASs with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry, and measured seven categories of 32 commercial samples of oil-resistant food packaging in Taiwan. The assay was validated according to the specification of Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA). Samples of 100 cm² were cut into pieces and were ultra-sonicated in 20-mL methanol at 50 °C for 45 minutes. The extracts were concentrated to 1 mL for instrumental analysis. Most matrix effect factors and extraction efficiencies of the analytes were 50%e80% and 52%e99%, respectively. Most limits of detection and limits of quantification were between 0.07e11.3 ng/dm² and 0.17e18.3 ng/dm², respectively. Most recoveries ranged from 70% to 117% at three tested levels, and the precisions (%RSD) were lower than 19%. Microwave popcorn paper contained more types and higher levels of PFASs than other packaging, with perfluoroalkyl acids at 8.3e1960 ng/dm² and fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) at 9.7e7188 ng/dm². High concentrations of FTOHs were also observed in one oil-proof paper bag at 454¡2595 ng/dm² and in one French fries paper bag at 22.4e167 ng/dm². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Significant ionospheric disturbances during the 2021 Typhoon Chanthu were observed by GPS and GLONASS. • The ionospheric disturbances following the Typhoon are accompanied and propagated with the "N"-type wave. • The propagation velocity and center frequency of ionospheric disturbances are within the range of gravity waves. Severe typhoons often result in substantial economic and human losses. Therefore, near-real-time monitoring and forecasting of severe typhoons have a significant importance. In this paper, characteristics of ionospheric disturbances during the 2021 Typhoon Chanthu are estimated and investigated from GPS and GLONASS measurements. We calculate high-precision de-trended and filtered ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) data based on GPS and GLONASS data from intensive Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations at 30-second intervals in Taiwan. Based on the VTEC values, we analyze the characteristics of ionospheric disturbances caused by Typhoon Chanthu, such as the time of appearance of ionospheric disturbances, changes in the magnitude of these disturbances, alterations in two-dimensional disturbances, fluctuations in the speed of disturbance propagation, and shifts in the frequency spectrum. The results reveal that both GPS-TEC and GLONASS-TEC exhibit noticeable disturbances during the specified timeframe. These disturbances are accompanied by the occurrence of "N"-type anomalies in TEC. Notably, at the occurrence of the disturbance, the elevation angle of GPS PRN32 and GLONASS PRN1 satellites is approximately 50°-55°, and their respective distances from the typhoon eye are roughly 350 km and 150 km. The propagation velocity and center frequency of the ionospheric disturbances are located in the range of gravity waves. Specifically, the disturbances propagation speeds of GPS PRN32 and GLONASS PRN1 are approximately 129.36 m/s and 128.33 m/s, respectively, while the center frequencies are about 1.17 mHz and 1.43 mHz. The ionospheric perturbations observed by GPS and GLONASS exhibit certain similarities, which provide valuable insights into the relationship between typhoons and ionospheric disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridges may undergo structural vibration responses when exposed to seismic waves. An analysis of structural vibration characteristics is essential for evaluating the safety and stability of a bridge. In this paper, a signal time-frequency feature extraction method (NTFT-ESVD) integrating standard time-frequency transformation, singular value decomposition, and information entropy is proposed to analyze the vibration characteristics of structures under seismic excitation. First, the experiment simulates the response signal of the structure when exposed to seismic waves. The results of the time-frequency analysis indicate a maximum relative error of only 1% in frequency detection, and the maximum relative errors in amplitude and time parameters are 5.9% and 6%, respectively. These simulation results demonstrate the reliability of the NTFT-ESVD method in extracting the time-frequency characteristics of the signal and its suitability for analyzing the seismic response of the structure. Then, a real seismic wave event of the Su-Tong Yangtze River Bridge during the Hengchun earthquake in Taiwan (2006) is analyzed. The results show that the seismic waves only have a short-term impact on the bridge, with the maximum amplitude of the vibration response no greater than 1 cm, and the maximum vibration frequency no greater than 0.2 Hz in the three-dimensional direction, indicating that the earthquake in Hengchun will not have any serious impact on the stability and security of the Su-Tong Yangtze River Bridge. Additionally, the reliability of determining the arrival time of seismic waves by extracting the time-frequency information from structural vibration response signals is validated by comparing it with results from seismic stations (SSE/WHN/QZN) at similar epicenter distances published by the USGS. The results of the case study show that the combination of dynamic GNSS monitoring technology and time-frequency analysis can be used to analyze the impact of seismic waves on the bridge, which is of great help to the manager in assessing structural seismic damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines urban and well-educated Taiwanese women's resistance to the dominance of the valorization of female appearance, providing ethnography of undoing beauty in East Asia's era of post-developmentalism. Findings reveal the importance of the factor of time in their resistance to bodily grooming. First, participants have a "holistic" understanding of "doing beauty"; they consider this set of gender inequalities "chrono-normativity," which serves as a vector of social control. Second, the burden of long-term sustainability of aesthetic investment often turns into an unbearable weight that includes an endless quest for extreme slenderness, the exhausting immaterial labor of enacting cuteness and hetero-likability, and the difficulty of long-term financial affordability. Third, due to a bleak economic outlook and strong gender inequalities, disapproval of the quest for beauty showcases women's rejection of pursuing market success based on an aspirational and future-oriented temporality. Participants' "lying down" attitude and their emphasis on "assured little happiness" are witness to an anti-aspirational temporality, since women seek a present-focused and non-dominated experience of temporality. I argue that this anti-aspirationalism should be seen as an alternative configuration of neoliberal rationality where the care of the self and its ethos of individualism eclipse the pursuit of economic productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy learning from other international contexts is an important strategy during the sports policymaking process for the government of Taiwan, and recent research has examined potential parallels between Taiwan and Scotland with regards to sports policy. Although the status of Taiwan and Scotland is not the same, interesting comparisons can be made given their shared status as 'contested nations' that are often in the shadow of their closest neighbours with whom there is an uneasy political relationship – respectively, China and England. As a consequence, sport is regarded in both countries as an important vehicle for establishing and promoting a distinctive identity, albeit with contrasting political and policy considerations. Drawing upon 15 semi-structured interviews with sports policymakers and politicians from both Taiwanese and Scottish contexts, this paper critically examines the similarities and contrasts with regards to the political considerations which shape and constrain the nature of sport policy in each context. This analysis will focus on the role of central government, local government, sport policy organisations, and sporting National Governing Bodies in both Taiwan and Scotland, with particular emphasis on the position of sport within the broader policy, political, ideological and constitutional considerations for policymakers in each context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible Summary: What is known on the subject?: People diagnosed with serious mental illness have a high risk of diabetes and are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes at ages below 60 years.Effective diabetes self‐care behaviours among people diagnosed with serious mental illness can improve glycaemic control and reduce vascular complications.Few studies have investigated diabetes self‐care behaviours and their associations with health literacy and self‐efficacy in people diagnosed with serious mental illness. What the paper adds to existing knowledge?: Diabetes self‐care behaviours in people diagnosed with serious mental illness were suboptimal; the least frequently performed self‐care activities were self‐monitoring of blood glucose.Factors associated with diabetes self‐care behaviours are gender, age, communicative and critical health literacy and self‐efficacy.Self‐efficacy is the strongest predictor of self‐care behaviours among people diagnosed with comorbid serious mental illness and type 2 diabetes. What are the implications of practice?: Mental health nurses should assess diabetes‐specific health literacy of people diagnosed with serious mental illness to ensure that they possess the knowledge and skills related to diabetes self‐care.When treating young people and those with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, nurses should incorporate strategies to minimise their perceptions of diabetes‐related distress and increase their confidence in managing comorbid diabetes. Introduction: People diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) experience greater challenges in managing their type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than do those diagnosed with T2DM alone. Aim: This study investigated diabetes self‐care activities and the factors associated with these activities in people diagnosed with SMI in a hospital setting. Methods: A cross‐sectional correlational study was conducted among 126 people diagnosed with comorbid SMI and T2DM in Taipei, Taiwan, between October 2020 and April 2021. Data were collected using self‐report questionnaires and a chart review. Three‐step hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with diabetes self‐care behaviours. Results: Diabetes self‐care behaviours in people diagnosed with SMI were suboptimal overall. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that age (β = 0.18, p =.037) and self‐efficacy (β = 0.27, p =.004) significantly associated with diabetes self‐care behaviours. Discussion: Self‐efficacy is the strongest predictor of self‐care behaviours among people diagnosed with comorbid SMI and T2DM. Implications for Practice: Mental health professionals should focus on enhancing confidence in managing comorbid diabetes in people diagnosed with comorbid SMI, especially young people and those with newly diagnosed T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the protection of a manuscript written by Hsiu Lien Lu, a Taiwanese politician on a toilet paper. Topics discussed include the friction of a textile was being used to keep the toilet paper fixed in one place, textiles with different surface roughness values were being tested to find out the most suitable one for the display of the manuscript, and polyester films of different thicknesses were used to provide a static effect to the paper since static electricity is helpful in keeping photographic objects intact.

There are ample national, transnational, and international geopolitical conflicts around the world, the two most prominent likely being the current ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, and the conflict between Taiwan (the Republic of China) and China (the People's Republic of China). To avoid criticism or the label of political bias, academics might refrain from using the term Taiwan or might not refer to it as a country. Similarly, they might not know whether they should refer to Crimea or the Donbas as being Ukrainian or Russian. Authors currently have little guidance and are somewhat left to their own devices when it comes to referring to these and other locations and territories, uncertain of the names that should be used to indicate them. They might also observe disclaimers on publishers' websites, in the footer of editorial board pages, or even as a small notice in their own manuscripts placed there by the publisher that distance the publisher from geopolitical conflicts and/or territorial claims, claiming neutrality, independent of whether those papers mention those conflicts, or not. Such disclaimers might be perceived as self-serving, placing the onus of responsibility of the choice of territorial term on authors' shoulders, so publishers should offer clearer advice to authors and editors on how to better handle this issue, that is, how to accurately name locations in geopolitically sensitive areas. There is a risk that papers that are insufficiently sensitive to such issues may be labelled as erroneous, and subjected to correction or retraction, or the authors may be subjected to public criticism or humiliation, so resolving this issue falls within the realm of academic publishing ethics. Currently, very little advice exists for geopolitical issues in the Committee on Publication Ethics and International Committee of Medical Journal Ethics ethics-related publishing guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publications in Renal Failure in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) between 1992 and 2021 were analyzed. Six publication indicators: total, independent, collaborative, first author, corresponding author, and single author publications as well as their related citation indicators, were used to compare performances of countries, institutes, and authors. Comparison of the highly cited papers and journal's impact factor (IF) contributors was discussed. In addition, the main research topics in the journal were presented. Results show that China published the most total articles and reviews, as well as the first-author papers and corresponding-author papers in the journal. The Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan ranked the top in five publication indicators: total, single-institution, inter-institutionally collaborative, first author, and corresponding-author papers. A low percentage of productive authors emerged as a journal IF contributor. Similarly, only a limited relationship between highly cited papers and IF contributing papers was found. Publications related to hemodialysis, chronic kidney disease, and acute kidney injury were the most popular topic, while meta-analysis was new focus in the last decade in the journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel approach for measuring the cost requirements and related values for building information modeling (BIM) adoption using the adaptive analytic hierarchy process approach. The proposed approach considers the importance of each BIM use item in relation to its cost, allowing for prioritization of BIM uses based on their relative value while considering prerequisite relationships and budgetary constraints. The effectiveness of the approach was demonstrated through empirical validation involving a survey of 50 construction industry professionals, and two BIM use prioritization methods (project objective-oriented and value-oriented) were recommended for decision-making under budget constraints. The lessons learned from the empirical case study include the importance of Government's role and the industrial standards in evaluating cost-benefit and promoting for BIM adoption, the different contributions of BIM uses across project phases, and the diverse perceptions of BIM cost requirements among different participants. These lessons are invaluable for countries planning BIM implementation. This paper also demonstrates the development and empirical validation of a novel approach for BIM use adoption under limited budgets, which can assist decision-makers in selecting appropriate BIM use items and estimating their associated costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of an unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation with self‐management program in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Background: A few recent studies have shown that unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation can improve the clinical outcome of patients with COPD. More studies are needed to prove its benefits. Design: This study used a quasi‐experimental design. Methods: Seventy‐two admitted COPD patients were assigned to experimental group or control group through purposeful sampling. Data were collected from March 2016 to November 2017 in the Thoracic Intensive Care Unit of a Medical Center in Taiwan. The Medical Research Council dyspnea scale, the COPD Self‐Efficacy Scale and the Clinical COPD Questionnaire were measured before education and at the first, second and third months after discharge. Results: The Medical Research Council dyspnea scale and COPD Self‐Efficacy Scale results in the experimental group were significantly improved compared with the control group in the third month after discharge. The Clinical COPD Questionnaire score continued to improve in both groups in the third month after discharge, and there was no difference between the two groups. Conclusion: A short‐term unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation with self‐ management program had significant benefits for patients with COPD. The long‐term effects need to be confirmed. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? The literature emphasizes the importance of alternative supervision of home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation rather than center‐based pulmonary rehabilitation for patients who find this inconvenient to access.Few studies have shown that unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation can improve the clinical outcome of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). What this paper adds? This study demonstrates that a short‐term unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation with self‐management program can improve dyspnea during physical activity, self‐care efficacy in certain activities and quality of life after discharge in patients with COPD. The implications of this paper: The findings of this study can be used as the basis for providing a short‐term unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation with self‐management program for patients with COPD after discharge.We recommend that patients with COPD undergo unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation with self‐management for 3 months after discharge, especially if regular hospital visits for this are not convenient.The effect of longer‐term unsupervised home‐based pulmonary rehabilitation can be further studied in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of quality culture (QC) development in Taiwan which has recently undergone major reforms of quality assurance (QA) policies. The implementation of internal quality assurance (IQA) initiatives has been an indispensable condition to form a QC in higher education which contributes to a fundamental and comprehensive evolution of Taiwanese higher education. To explore the government's policy strategies and transformation of QA approaches, this paper interviews policymakers, QA experts and academics. This paper identifies common features and distinct characteristics of QC in Taiwan's higher education, and its relations to QA mechanisms. These perspectives offer a different way of conceptualising QC in QA policies. Furthermore, QC development has not only served the purpose of enhancing quality in higher education but has also acted as a driver for QA and higher education changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the image of Taiwan (the Republic of China) in the Polish communist press in the mid-1950s. It focuses on the news coverage related to the two Polish cargo ships – the Praca and the Prezydent Gottwald – which were detained by the Taiwanese authorities in 1953 and 1954, respectively. Based on the press narratives and supported by declassified government documents, the paper analyses the impact of the Cold War conflicts and divisions on the detention of Polish ships and its coverage by the Polish communist media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change induced partly by emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is an urgent issue worldwide, calling for advanced methods of carbon sequestration. Since CO2-emitting industries often generate alkaline waste, sequestrating CO2 by mineral carbonation of alkaline waste is promising both for carbon capture and utilization, and for preventing waste disposal. Here we review the principles of mineral carbonation and we discuss mineral carbonation of alkaline waste and byproducts in Taiwan. We focus on wastes such as iron and steel slag, cement and concrete waste, incineration ash, coal combustion ash, and paper waste. We evaluate the CO2 reduction potential to reveal promising materials and industries. We found that 4.2 Mt CO2 can be directly sequestered annually. Moreover, the use of alternative materials in the cement and concrete industries can indirectly facilitate CO2 sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pineapples are an important agricultural economic crop in Taiwan. Considerable human resources are required to protect pineapples from excessive solar radiation, which could otherwise lead to overheating and subsequent deterioration. Note that simple covering all of the fruit with a paper bag is not a viable solution, due to the fact that it makes it impossible to determine whether the fruit is ripe. This paper proposes a system by which to automate the detection of ripe pineapples. The proposed deep learning architecture enables detection regardless of lighting conditions, achieving accuracy of more than 99.27% with error of less than 2% at distances of 300 ~ 800 mm. This proposed system using an Nvidia TX2 is capable of 15 frames per second, thereby making it possible to mount the device on machines that move at walking speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Taoist immortality thought,the ancients' conception of ideal living environment, and the integration of the unique social political and ideological and cultural environment,"Taoism Nature Sanctuary（" TNS） has formed a unique landscape. Through traditional literature consultation, foreign related literature were reviewed. And used Citespace platform to analyze the relevant CNKI researches in the field of TNS. Then combined with the Taiwan academic literature database and main conference papers, reports, analyze the research status from four main perspectives: history and culture, temple architecture and affiliated Taoist gardens, the influence of TNS thought on the landscape design and living environment, and the development of tourism resources. On this basis, summarized the characteristics of the present researches in terms of research methods, areas and research contents, and looks forward to the future, so as to help the realization of the concept of the world heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background On 11 January 2009, Taiwan expanded its smoke-free legislation to all indoor public places and workplaces. This study examined the impact of this policy on secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in adult non-smokers, across gender and socioeconomic status groups (SES). Methods An annual sample of about 13 000-14 000 non-smokers was drawn from cross-sectional nationwide data of Taiwan Adult Tobacco Behavior Surveys during 2005-2011. Logistic regressions were used to analyse the aggregate data to estimate the association between the 2009 smoke-free legislation and SHS exposures in homes and workplaces. Interaction terms were used to examine the impact of the 2009 smoke-free policy on reducing differences in SHS exposure across gender, education and income groups. Results The 2009 policy reduced the odds of SHS exposure in homes in 2009 (OR=0.76, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.84) and in workplaces (year 2009: OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.62; year 2010: OR=0.79, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95). The model with interaction terms showed that men were more likely than women to be exposed to workplace SHS (OR=2.02, 95% CI 1.80 to 2.27) but were less likely to be exposed to home SHS (OR=0.79, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.86). SHS exposure in homes was significantly related to lower socioeconomic status, but the 2009 smoke-free policy reduced the difference in SHS exposure across education levels. Conclusions The 2009 smoke-free policy reduced the SHS exposure for non-smokers. However, this impact on home SHS did not persist after 2009, and the effect of protection was unequal across gender and SES groups. Thus, further enforcement of smoking restrictions would be needed to reduce the risk of SHS exposure and improve protection against SHS risk among parts of the population with lower socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the potential for collaboration between China and Pakistan in the healthcare field, specifically in terms of research and publications. While China has made significant progress in medical research and publications, there are concerns about unethical publication practices that regulatory bodies are addressing. The Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences has been receiving research papers from China for the past twenty years, but the acceptance rate has remained low due to a commitment to maintaining standards and intellectual integrity. The author recently visited China to promote academic collaboration and met with faculty members from hospitals in Shanghai and Changsha. The article emphasizes the importance of following ethical guidelines and provides tips for Chinese researchers to improve their chances of acceptance. Overall, the article highlights the potential for collaboration while acknowledging the challenges and the importance of maintaining quality and ethical standards in research and publications. [Extracted from the article]

To achieve successful prevention of fire incidents originating from human activities, it is imperative to possess a thorough understanding. This paper introduces a machine learning approach, specifically utilizing deep neural networks (DNN), to develop predictive models for fire occurrence in Keelung City, Taiwan. It investigates ten factors across demographic, architectural, and economic domains through spatial analysis and thematic maps generated from geographic information system data. These factors are then integrated as inputs for the DNN model. Through 50 iterations, performance indices including the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), variance accounted for (VAF), prediction interval (PI), mean absolute error (MAE), weighted index (WI), weighted mean absolute percentage error (WMAPE), Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NS), and the ratio of performance to deviation (RPD) are computed, with average values of 0.89, 7.30 × 10−2, 89.21, 1.63, 4.90 × 10−2, 0.97, 2.92 × 10−1, 0.88, and 4.84, respectively. The model's predictions, compared with historical data, demonstrate its efficacy. Additionally, this study explores the impact of various urban renewal strategies using the DNN model, highlighting the significant influence of economic factors on fire incidence. This underscores the importance of economic factors in mitigating fire incidents and emphasizes their consideration in urban renewal planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a multi-sited physical and virtual ethnography of Chinese migrant women's entrepreneurship in Taiwan, this paper illuminates the role of digital migrant entrepreneurship in the making of globalisation. In the digital age of gendered migrant entrepreneurship, it challenges the long-lasting dichotomy between 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' globalisation and contributes to the theoretical debate about migrant transnational entrepreneurship, elucidating how capitalism and globalisation can take multiple forms. Drawing on Chinese women's migratory biographies and the commercial geographies of the objects they trade between China and Taiwan, it shows how our global economic system is simultaneously forged by supply-chain capitalism and migrants' digitalised petit capitalistic practices. Chinese migrant workers firstly manufacture goods whilst working for multinational companies in China, then, after marriage-migration, they commercialise the products in Taiwan via WeChat. Findings illustrate the link between ICTs, migrant entrepreneurship, gendered social networks, and border transgressions in shaping a mutable globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new enterprise intelligentization framework, by making the transition from process transformation to artificial intelligence (AI) transformation. The novel transformation framework can be decomposed into the conceptual model of AI strategic planning, the procedural model, the operational model, and the analytics model. For leading-edge microchip production, a new AI transformation project regarding the reticle SMIF pod (RSP) transport system designed by a medium-sized semiconductor tool vendor in Taiwan is presented. The technical advantages, gained from the implementation of the presented AI transformation project, over the existing RSP systems are manifold. The throughput and yield rate significantly increase on a semiconductor-fabrication-plant basis. The clean room construction costs less by approximately 3 million dollars per FAB, mainly attributed to the redesigned automatic optical inspection flow. The proposed model-based framework proves to be a viable tool from the process transformation to the AI transformation in the semiconductor manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic entomology as the study and ordering of insect biodiversity is a material-based practice that relies on insect bodies as a resource. Especially large amounts of insect specimens were collected and traded globally in the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century, often relying on colonial infrastructures. Taking colonial-era Taiwan as a case study, this paper asks under which circumstances specific places became collecting sites. It takes a series of articles on the insect fauna of the island as a point of departure, titled H. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute after the German naturalist who sent the specimens around the world in the early twentieth century. It explores how collecting specimens was entangled with colonial infrastructure projects, insect policies, and forest-based industries. After Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, newly constructed railways, including push car lines and logging trains, gave naturalists access to inner frontiers. Conversely, insects moved into the spotlight by disrupting these same infrastructures. A rush into the mountains was brought on by the island's abundance in old growth forests, as evergreen trees such as camphor laurels became valuable export resources. The location of insect collecting sites was determined not just by ecological factors but by forest-based industries and colonial policies as well. As ancient trees were felled and aboriginal peoples violently displaced, insect collectors followed colonial infrastructures into the mountains, resulting in what a German entomologist called the "mass fabrication" of articles about Taiwan's insect fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how COVID-19 advice is creatively delivered in a one-minute video produced by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control in February 2022. It examines metaphors in verbal, visual, and multimodal modes, and illustrates how such metaphors interact with multimodal narrativity. Drawing on the insights of studies on multimodal metaphors, this paper seeks to identify which are the most pervasive metaphors or what dominant metaphor, if any, is used in the video. It finds that the metaphorical mappings between coping with the covid pandemic and handling olympic weightlifting are represented across modes and that the creative delivery of COVID-19 advice is woven from a warp of metaphors in various modes and a weft of narrativity across modes. Such metaphorical creativity is underpinned by the semiotic flow that features four interconnected configurations: moving between metaphorization, literalization, and re-metaphorization; somehow blurring the source-target boundary; expanding the range of functions that the multimodal representation can serve; and initiating a metaphorical thought from one or more contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, influencer marketing has taken over traditional brand advertisements on social media platforms, combining word-of-mouth marketing with celebrity endorsements. However, there has been limited academic research on the key success factors in influencer marketing. This paper used a hybrid MCDM model that integrates the Delphi method and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach. Through a two-stage empirical study, the research aims to explore the crucial success factors in influencer marketing. This study focuses on the Taiwanese market. The target respondents for the survey are consumers in Taiwan who have purchased products or services based on recommendations from key opinion leaders (KOLs) or internet celebrities. This systematic research framework not only pinpoints key factors that capture consumer attention towards influencers, but it also illustrates the inter-relationship of structure and improvement directions among these factors. According to results, the key factors include influencer reputation, credibility, degree of key opinion influence, attractiveness, popularity, consistency between influencers and brands, fan engagement level, and informativeness. Finally, businesses can consider five aspects to be the purpose of collaboration, product type, target audience for the product, characteristics of the influencer's creative content, and media attributes. By comprehensively considering these aspects, businesses can determine the appropriate format for collaborative content. This decision can then guide how influencers communicate with consumers, effectively conveying brand information to the relevant target audience. The research findings provide fresh and significant insights in the field of influencer marketing studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many forms of Intangible Culture Heritage (ICH) are fast disappearing. The Lantern Festival is an important part of Chinese tradition and a critical ICH of Taiwan. However, few young people attend ICH activities. Given the importance of ICH education, this study describes what participants learned after lantern exhibitions that combined Augmented Reality (AR), mobile websites, and Paper-based Exhibition Brochures. This study evaluated what a cohort of college students (n = 115) learned about ICH through experiments and questionnaires. The results show that the public understood ICH better through digital technology. All participants thought that applying AR to ICH was good for the public to gain more information on lantern culture, although it took a lot of time to learn the new technology. The results also encouraged the application of AR to engage in ICH education. Therefore, a large number of digital technologies that are popular among young people should be used as part of ICH education in order to improve their cultural awareness and learning motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Career building can be challenging for young surgeons, especially when topics such as lifestyle, work–life balance and subspecialization arise. Suggestions and advice from senior colleagues is very valuable but many young surgeons do not have such opportunities or are limited to a few senior surgeons. The International Microsurgery Club (IMC), in collaboration with the World Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, organized a combined webinar for this topic and invited world renowned microsurgery masters polled by the IMC members to join, including Prof. Peter Neligan (Emeritus from University of Washington, United States), Prof. Raja Sabapathy (Ganga Hospital, India), Dr. Gregory Buncke (The Buncke Clinic, United States), Prof. Isao Koshima (Hiroshima University Hospital, Japan), Prof. David Chwei-Chin Chuang (Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan), and Prof. Eric Santamaria (Hospital General Dr. Manuel Gea Gonzalez, Mexico) on May 1, 2022. Prof. Joon-Pio Hong (Asan Medical Center, South Korea) and Prof. Fu-Chan Wei (Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan) were also selected but unfortunately could not make it and were therefore invited to another event in April 2023, summarized in a recently published paper. There is ample literature reporting on different aspects of developing a microsurgical career but the goal of this session was to offer an opportunity for direct exchange with experienced mentors. Moreover, insights from experienced microsurgeons from different part of the world were more likely to offer different perspectives on aspects such as career building, failure management, and team culture. This webinar event was moderated by Dr. Jung-Ju Huang (Taiwan), Dr. Susana Heredero (Spain), and Dr. Wei F. Chen (United States). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper takes a descriptive-analytical method to examine the emerging relationship between Taiwan and exiled Tibetans. It identifies four key issues to underscore the historical ties, current challenges and prospects of Taiwan and exiled Tibetan relations. The study finds that Tibetan Buddhism has played an important role in strengthening relations, especially people-to-people connections, even though higher-level exchanges and engagement were often obstructed by factors such as the Chinese hegemony and the Kuomintang's contestation of sovereignty over Tibet. Therefore, the study argues that to establish a cohesive relationship, both sides should focus on non-political factors, such as religion, education and the promotion of democratic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of the environmental conditions during the first half of the 2020 mei-yu season (Y20) and the southwest vortex (SWV), as well as their interaction, on heavy precipitation in southern Taiwan during late May 2020, based on a quantitative approach through ensemble simulations. The control experiment successfully replicates observed heavy precipitation in southern and central Taiwan and reveals a positive spatial correlation between precipitation occurrence probabilities and mean accumulated precipitation, emphasizing continuous rainfall accumulation over intermittent extreme events. Comparative analyses with sensitivity experiments elucidate that the Y20, featuring an extended western North Pacific subtropical high, intensify pressure gradients and southwesterly flow near Taiwan, favoring precipitation in windward regions but hindering it in the east. The SWV creates a moist and vortical environment near Taiwan, amplifying moisture supply and westerly winds, promoting precipitation in southern Taiwan, and enhancing frontal activity. The interaction between the SWV and the Y20, though limited in its impact on providing favorable wind and moisture conditions for precipitation southwest of Taiwan, significantly contributes to precipitation in southern Taiwan. The reason is that although the SWV primarily enhances moisture and the Y20 predominantly boost southwesterly flow, creating favorable conditions for rainfall, substantial precipitation occurs only when both factors converge in a nonlinear interaction. The interaction increases frontal activity over the Taiwan Strait and influences the movement and strength of the SWV, enhancing southwesterly flow and moisture flux in southwestern Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]