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This paper proposes a probabilistic hazard assessment model for debris flows considering the uncertainties of multiple influencing factors based on copula approaches. Fifty-nine rainfall-induced debris flows occurred between 2001 and 2009 in Taiwan are taken as an illustrative example to validate the proposed approaches. A copula-based probabilistic model is developed to model the joint probability distribution of debris-flow volume V and its influencing factors (e.g., rainfall intensity, RI and landslide area, AL). The developed model is then used to make probabilistic prediction of debris-flow volume for a specific hazard level, and compared with the empirical approaches. The proposed probabilistic model is also used to develop the exceedance probability charts of quantities for a specific debris-flow basin. Results show that the developed V–RI–AL probabilistic model can provide reasonable estimates of debris-flow volume in Taiwan for a specific probability level of 0.94, and show better predictive performance than the empirical relationships by using an independent debris-flow dataset in Taiwan for validation. The developed multivariate joint probabilistic model can also provide the exceedance probability of debris flows through considering the uncertainties of debris flow and its influencing factors, providing a preliminary reference for hazard assessment of the debris flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to address the research questions of whether individual's oral health status is associated with subjective well-being, as well as if there is possible moderating role of self-rated oral health among two groups of Chinese older adults (≥55 years old) in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi and Taichung, Taiwan. Using survey data collected in 2018 (N = 430, Honolulu) and in 2017 (N = 645, Taichung), ordinary least square regressions were applied. Results showed that, for both samples, oral health status was negatively and significantly associated with subjective well-being, and both associations were moderated by self-rated oral health. In addition, the moderating effects were more salient for the Honolulu sample, who enjoyed higher levels of self-rated oral health and life satisfaction. These results suggest the significant associations of both oral health status and self-rated oral health on individual health and well-being for Chinese older adults residing in different cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research spearheads the exploration of chance events in sport studies by the case study of Taiwanese archery, artistic gymnastics and baseball based on policy prominence and Taiwan's international competitiveness. By using Porter's national diamond model that examines the competitive advantage, this paper explores how unexpected and uncontrollable events impact competitive advantage and how nations can proactively respond to chance events. Three elite sports/disciplines in which Taiwan has were selected for in-depth case studies with 21 semi-structured interviews. The result shows that chance events are wide-ranging and the impact is context-specific, and chance events impact a nation's elite sport competitive advantage by altering the national diamond. The key contributions of the study are the disaggregation/development of crises and the identification of unexpected successes and failures as major chance events. This study has substantial practical implications for how elite sport policy actors and practitioners acquire and maintain competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to review the existing literature on Organizational Ambidexterity (OA), specifically in the context of the hotel industry. This review synthesizes the literature on OA in the hotel industry using the TCCM (Theory, Context, Characteristics, and Methodology) framework and SPAR-4-SLR (Scientific Procedure and Rationale for Systematic Literature Review) protocols. Thirty research papers have been reviewed using Scopus and Google Scholar databases in a time frame of 2014-2023. The results indicate that most of the research had a quantitative focus toward research conducted in developing countries like Spain, Taiwan, and Italy. Moreover, OA scholars predominantly used resource-based theory in the context of the hotel sector. There is a void of research in developing countries seeking mixed and qualitative approach. The present study provide a conceptual framework for future research focusing theoretical development, characteristics, contexts, and Methodological dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has exacerbated severe rainfall events, leading to rapid and unpredictable fluctuations in river water levels. This environment necessitates the development of real-time, automated systems for water level detection. Due to degradation, traditional methods relying on physical river gauges are becoming progressively unreliable. This paper presents an innovative methodology that leverages ResNet-50, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model, to identify distinct water level features in Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) river imagery of the Chengmei Bridge on the Keelung River in Neihu District, Taiwan, under various weather conditions. This methodology creates a virtual water gauge system for the precise and timely detection of water levels, thereby eliminating the need for dependable physical gauges. Our study utilized image data from 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2023. This river, crucial to the ecosystems and economies of numerous cities, could instigate a range of consequences due to rapid increases in water levels. The proposed system integrates grid-based methods with infrastructure like CCTV cameras and Raspberry Pi devices for data processing. This integration facilitates real-time water level monitoring, even without physical gauges, thus reducing deployment costs. Preliminary results indicate an accuracy range of 83.6% to 96%, with clear days providing the highest accuracy and heavy rainfall the lowest. Future work will refine the model to boost accuracy during rainy conditions. This research introduces a promising real-time river water level monitoring solution, significantly contributing to flood control and disaster management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As the application of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent, many high-tech firms have employed AI applications to deal with emerging societal, technological and environmental challenges. Big data analytical capability (BDAC) has become increasingly important in the AI application processes. Drawing upon the resource-based view and the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to investigate how BDAC and collaboration affect new product performance (NPP). Practically, a harmonic working team is particularly important for creating management synergies, this empirical analysis demonstrates the importance of BDAC and collaboration for NPP. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on the performance of firms that applied AI in their operations. This study collected data from firms in Greater China, including China and Taiwan, as Greater China is currently the leading manufacturer of semiconductor, electronic and electric products for AI applications in the manufacturing process. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling is employed for statistical analysis. Findings: The analytical results indicate that BDAC positively relates to collaboration capability (CC) in AI applications but not to team collaboration (TC). CC positively correlates with TC, and both CC and TC positively correlate with NPP. Further, the mediating effect was examined using the Sobel t-test, which reveals that CC is a significant mediator in the influence of BDAC on NPP. Practical implications: The strategic implementation of BDAC and collaboration can allow an enterprise to improve its NPP when driven by the external environment to use AI, which further enhances NPP. These processes indicate that AI and BDAC are both crucial for the success of a company's collaboration and for effective management to improve NPP in the face of global competition. Originality/value: This study introduces the concept of BDAC to explain the relationship between CC and TC, as they pertain to NPP. This study presented a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings and could provide a framework for managing BDAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to compare the differential impact of Taiwan High-speed Railway (T-HSR) and Hainan East Ring High-speed Railway (HER-HSR) stations on the surrounding construction land expansion, reveal the underlying institutional reasons, and then provide policy recommendations for coordinating the rational development of land resources and ecological environment protection around high-speed railway (HSR) stations. The research methods include the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, buffer analysis, and GIS spatial analysis. The results show that (1) The spillover impact of HSR stations on the surrounding construction land expansion is the result of the game between different actors around the development and protection of land around HSR stations under the action scenarios of various external factors. The surrounding construction land of 12 stations of T-HSR increased by 269.98 km2 within the study scope and period, while the surrounding area of 10 stations in HER-HSR increased by 187.61 km2. (2) There are nine stations in T-HSR that affect the expansion of surrounding construction land within 1.0–3.0 km and lead to the expansion of construction land of 22.44 km2, while there are six stations in HER-HSR that affect the expansion of construction land within 1.5–3.5 km and lead to the expansion of construction land of 24.20 km2. Other stations cannot effectively identify their areas of influence due to other reasons. (3) Each station of HER-HSR has a stronger influence intensity and degree on the expansion of surrounding construction land than that of T-HSR, which is closely related to institutional factors such as land planning, land property rights, and public participation. In conclusion, the differences in land planning, land property rights, public participation, and other basic systems will lead to differences in the expansion of surrounding construction land for HSR stations. This research aims to provide institutional adjustment suggestions to achieve coordinated economic development and ecological protection around HSR stations in two Chinese islands with different institutional environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety of terminal operations is the foundation of international commercial port operations. One of the main safety issues in the ports is that operators often fail to comply with safety codes. The existing literature has shown that the safety climate, safety self-efficacy, and safety compliance each play an important role in a company's safety management, and this paper seeks to establish a safety compliance model in the maritime context. In particular, the research introduces the concept of non-compliance cost and explores the relationships between safety compliance and the non-compliance cost, the safety climate and safety self-efficacy. The researchers conducted an empirical study at container terminals in Taiwan, and applied the Hierarchical Linear Model to analyze the empirical data. The results of this study reveal that an organization's safety climate, non-compliance cost and the employees' safety self-efficacy positively affect worker safety compliance. Among these factors, the non-compliance cost has a mediating effect that mediates the relationship between the safety climate and safety compliance, although the non-compliance cost does not mediate the relationship between the employees' safety self-efficacy and safety compliance. Based on these findings, this article discusses the theoretical and practical implications for safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rise of renewable energy/green energy issues in recent years, many countries have agreed to adopt the forms of environmental protection, cleanliness, and no impact on the environment for the sources and composition of energy. They have also drawn up relevant international agreements (i.e., Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement) to strictly limit and manage CO2 emissions. The newly advocated electric vehicles have gradually been regarded as a method to improve the environment by all countries. Through the introduction of new electric transport modes, the innovation and reform of the energy structure are promoted, and traditional transportation has also changed. In recent years, Taiwan has promoted the policy of replacing traditional fuel two-wheeled vehicles with electric two-wheeled vehicles (ETWVs), and gradually increased the number of ETWVs in Taiwan by replacing old fuel vehicles and subsidizing the purchase of ETWVs. This study is aimed at college students to explore the important factors that affect their willingness to buy ETWVs. As college students are the first group to buy ETWVs, if their willingness to buy ETWVs can be increased, environmental sustainability may be enhanced. Through a questionnaire designed to investigate the two-wheeled vehicle use preferences of college students in Taiwan, this paper explores the significant factors affecting college students' purchase of ETWVs. This study applies Logistic Regression and Ordered Logit models, and the results of model estimation show that household income, gender, environmental awareness, recognition of ETWVs, the fuel costs of existing vehicles, number of people in each household, operational efficiency of ETWVs, and subsidy and incentive measures will all positively affect the purchase intention of college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on goal orientation theory, this paper aims to examine the mediating effect of utility perception on the relationships between three types of goal orientation and transfer motivation. The study applied a longitudinal field design with a total of 239 trainees from a technological institute in northern Taiwan and used AMOS 24 to examine the hypotheses. The findings show that learning goal orientation demonstrates the strongest impact on utility perception and transfer motivation. Learning goal orientation is the desired training trait, and utility perception is a critical factor in transfer motivation. If managers assert a given training program to be useful to trainees, then the anticipated training effect will likely be enhanced. The contribution of this study is its use of goal orientation theory to examine how three goal orientations affect transfer motivation through utility perception. Further, since there have been inconsistent results about the effect of proving goal orientation on training effectiveness, this study examines if there are significantly differences between learning goal orientation and proving goal orientation through statistical analysis. Third, by focusing on practitioners rather than students, this study indicates that utility perception is an important mediator between goal orientation and transfer motivation. [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]

The success of any Chinese invasion of Taiwan necessarily involves an amphibious landing operation on Taiwan's beaches. The most vulnerable of these beaches have been referred to as "Red Beaches." Despite the threat of China's invasion of Taiwan garnering significant attention in recent years, little of this attention has been devoted to the questions of how Taiwan defends these critical Red Beaches and to what extent Taiwan's Red Beach defensive strategy has evolved. Employing Lykke's Ends-Ways-Means analytical framework, this paper seeks to answer these questions by examining Taiwan's Red Beach defensive strategy during the Tsai Ingwen administration (2017-present). The main findings are that contrary to popular understanding, Taiwan's defense strategy has undergone significant change entering Tsai's second term. The range of Red Beach defensive operations has extended from the littoral zone to as far as Chinese territory, with the planned use of pre-emptive missile and air-to-ground strikes against "key nodes" of PLA forces. Together with the significantly increased role of Taiwan's missile, naval and air force capabilities, Taiwan's current Red Beach defense strategy can be characterized as having greater range, more integrated, and more offensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This quasi‐experimental study aimed to explore effects of walking exercise on disease activity, sleep quality, and quality of life among individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus. Methods: After recruiting people with systemic lupus erythematosus from a hospital in Taiwan between October 2020 and June 2021, participants were free to opt to receive one walking exercise programme plus standard care for 3 months or to membership of a control group receiving routine care. Primary outcomes included Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Score, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale, and a quality‐of‐life scale for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, namely, LupusQoL. These scales were administered first, at baseline and later, within 1 week following completion of the intervention. Between‐group effects were compared using generalized estimating equations with adjustment for baseline variables. Results: The experimental and control groups each included 40 participants. Multivariate analysis indicated that adding the walking exercise programme into routine care elevated sleep quality and LupusQoL (the latter in the subscales of physical health, planning, and intimate relationships), except for disease activity. Conclusion: Findings of this study supported the addition of walking exercise as part of routine care for people with systemic lupus erythematosus and may be a reference in the provision of adequate care for these patients. Summary statements: What is already known about this topic? Systemic lupus erythematosus is a lifelong autoimmune disease that affects any organs throughout the body, thus insidiously causing negative impacts on the affected patients.Today, use of exercise programmes such as walking exercise has been studied as a remedy for many medical conditions, but its effectiveness in minimizing the symptoms of distress among people with systemic lupus erythematosus is unknown. What this study adds? Participants with systemic lupus erythematosus who opt to receive the walking exercise programme for 3 months in addition to routine care experience improved sleep quality and quality of life compared with those receiving routine care alone. The implications of this paper: In accordance with the belief that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," early implementation of an exercise programme should be considered in addition to routine care for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.Evidence from this research could provide empirically informed and robust data for healthcare policymakers and in turn might help to reduce the incidence of morbidity among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child abuse and exploitation pose significant threats to the health and well-being of children. While the Taiwanese government introduced the Protection of Children and Youth Welfare and Rights Act in 2011 to address these issues, progress has been slow. This paper aims to examine the evolution of Taiwan's child protection system (CPS), with a particular focus on interdepartmental collaboration. Through the collection of legislation, statistics, conference proceedings, and reports, this study analyzes the working model between law enforcement and public health. Three cases of collaboration between law enforcement and public health at the community level are presented: social safety net programs, early intervention for child abuse, and trauma-informed training for first responders. The accomplishments and challenges of each project are discussed, along with a review of the CPS in relation to the United Nations (UN) strategy INSPIRE's approaches. Although Taiwan has shown a commendable emphasis on prevention and family support, the collaboration between law enforcement and public health is still in its early stages. The next crucial step is to strengthen integration in the early stages of identifying, assessing, and referring cases of child abuse and neglect. This can be achieved by generating more evidence on effective working models and promoting their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design/methodology/approach: This paper used pervious related to aviation literatures to summarise and viewpoint the current aviation environment and conduct the risks, value, and resilience of grounded aircraft-value in the post-pandemic era. Purpose: Throughout 2020 to date, this major event, known as SARS CoV-2, has had a decisive impact on global air transport. Since the outbreak began, passenger travel has declined due to infection risks and new laws and travel restrictions. Dependent Surveillance-Despite the recent recovery in demand from the airline industry, risks posed by new models remain a concern for many airlines. From the data of Broadcasting (ADS-B) is helpful for preliminary observation and judgment of the value level of a certain type of aircraft. Findings: This paper not only focuses on the aviation environment, but discusses aviation highlights such as international perspectives, domestic (i.e. Taiwan) perspectives, and several issues between industry and academic perspectives. Research limitations/implications: The next phase of research needed in this area is a closer assessment of the value of aircraft in the development of global networks, which could have important policy implications for aircraft manufacturers and the aviation industry. Originality/value: This paper provides a contemplative perspective about the aviation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the new era of artificial intelligence (AI), education industry should develop in the direction of intelligence and digitalization. For evaluating learners' academic performances, English high-stakes test is not only a mere means for measuring what English as a Foreign Language (EFL) stakeholders know or do not know but also likely to bring life-changing consequences. Hence, effective test preparation for English high-stakes test is crucial for those who futures depend on attaining a particular score. However, traditional corpus-based approaches cannot simultaneously take words' frequency and range variables into consideration when evaluating their importance level, which makes the word sorting results inaccurate. Thus, to effectively and accurately extract critical words among English high-stakes test for enhancing EFL stakeholders' test performance, this paper integrates a corpus-based approach and a revised Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) method to develop a novel frequency-range analysis (FRA) method. Taiwan College Entrance Exam of English Subject (TCEEES) from the year of 2001 to 2022 are adopted as an empirical case of English high stake test and the target corpus for verification. Results indicate that the critical words evaluated by FRA method are concentrated on Quadrant I including 1,576 word types that account for over 60% running words of TCEEES corpus. After compared with the three traditional corpus-based approaches and the Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) method, the significant contributions include: (1) the FRA method can use a machine-based function words elimination technique to enhance the efficiency; (2) the FRA method can simultaneously take words' frequency and range variables into consideration; (3) the FRA method can effectively conduct cluster analysis by categorizing the words into the four quadrants that based on their relative importance level. The results will give EFL stakeholders a clearer picture of how to allocate their learning time and education resources into critical words acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colletotrichum, a genus within the phylum Ascomycota (Fungi) and family Glomerellaceae are important plant pathogens globally. In this paper, we detail four Colletotrichum species found in mangrove ecosystems. Two new species, Colletotrichum rhizophorae and C. thailandica, and a new host record for Colletotrichum fructicola were identified in Thailand. Colletotrichum tropicale was collected from Taiwan's mangroves and is a new record for Rhizophora mucronata. These identifications were established through a combination of molecular analysis and morphological characteristics. This expanded dataset for Colletotrichum enhances our understanding of the genetic diversity within this genus and its associations with mangrove ecosystems. The findings outlined herein provide data on our exploration of mangrove pathogens in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural sector has significant impact on the people health and on the economy of the world. Climate variation is important reason in causing plant diseases hence, affecting the estimated crop production. Prior detection of plant diseases is utmost important for improving the quality and quantity of production within the due course of time. In this paper, this challenge is addressed by automatically detecting tomato diseases from the hand-crafted features extracted from the plant leaves and machine learning classifiers. Different frequency bands are extracted using Gaussian filters and local statistics of leaves are captured using patterns to design frequency decomposed local ternary pattern (FDLTP). It provides a fast and accurate solution to avoid uncertainty in the farm production. Benchmarked dataset of Taiwan tomato leaves is used to verify the results. Performance of machine learning classifiers as well as deep learning solutions are compared, and 95.6% accuracy is obtained using proposed feature along with k-nearest neighbor classifier. It is a quick and easy to deploy method for real time application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For an optimal system design (OSD), data envelopment analysis (DEA) treats companies as black boxes disregarding their internal processes. Considering the effect of these processes into account companies can upgrade their internal mechanisms of optimal budgeting allocation. The internal processes can be defined as series and parallel networks or a combination of them. In the literature, DEA is utilized as an approach for OSD in order to determine the optimal budget for a company's activities in a system of series network production; but it is shown that this model is not suitable for budgeting parallel systems. To fill this gap, a new model is presented in this paper to evaluate a company's optimal budgeting which has a parallel network system. The presented parallel network OSD via DEA models, allocates the optimal budget to each of the internal processes of the decision-making units (DMU) based on the efficiency of the parallel internal processes. The model, with a limited budget, also is able to identify the amount of budget deficit and congestion. In this regard, two real cases are studied using the suggested model, which is presented in the parallel network OSD via DEA and Forest production in Taiwan. The optimal budget, budget deficit and congestion, and also the advantages of the proposed model are discussed in these examples as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do some movement parties successfully institutionalize into a functioning party organization while others struggle? This paper argues that not all movement parties institutionalize in the same way. Movement parties that emanate out of a long-term social movement organization face a qualitatively different set of challenges than those that form out of a short-term movement. Routinization—the process of parties developing rules, regulation, and predictable behavior—is a particularly crucial component for short-term movement party institutionalization. When parties emanate out of long-standing social movement organizations, they are advantaged because they already have existing formal rules and regulations. Short-term parties however, are disadvantaged because they lack these organizational structures. Further, short-term movement parties not only need routinization, but must make it a priority; the sequencing of their institutionalization matters. I demonstrate the importance of routinization with the case of Taiwan's New Power Party, a movement party formed out of the 2014 Sunflower Movement. This case shows how struggles to routinize early for short-term movement parties leads to crucial causal mechanisms hindering party institutionalization instead of helping it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees' innovative performance determines an organization's long-term sustainability and competitive advantages, particularly in the technology sector. Drawing on social exchange and work conformity theory, we investigate how employees' informational and normative conformity relates to their innovative performance through the lens of instrumental and expressive ties. R&D managers and professional-level employees from Taiwan's 2000 largest high-tech firms participate in the survey. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with a valid sample of 399 responses from the participants. The findings reveal that, through the mediating roles of instrumental and expressive ties, employees' informational conforming behaviors promote their innovative performance. In contrast, normative conformity may reduce employees' innovative performance by weakening their social ties. Conformist behaviors have long been deemed as the inhibitor of creativity and innovation. Nevertheless, this study adopts a social exchange perspective and clarifies how conformity can both promote and hinder professional employees' innovative performance by affecting their social networking. The paper concludes with managerial implications, discussion, and recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new term, autonomic imbalance (自律神經失調 or AI), which refers to a wide variety of physical and mental symptoms that are medically unexplained, has recently emerged in Taiwan. Many people compared this condition to neurasthenia, a now obsolete diagnosis. Whether neurasthenia and AI are medically the same or merely similar is a debate that is better left to clinicians; however, this article endeavours to explore the significance of the comparability in terms of socio-cultural theory of health. With Deleuze and Guattari's notion of minor literature as reference, the objectives of this paper are as follows: to address how and why neurasthenia and AI should be treated as 'minor diagnoses' and consequently expose the limitations of current clinical medicine; to provide and discuss reasons why AI can be seen as a reincarnated form of neurasthenia; and to further elaborate how this approach may elevate inquiries on the varieties of medically unexplained symptoms to highlight the bodies that suffer without a legitimate name. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper introduces an enhanced low transient voltage and fast transient response boost converter. It uses a hysteresis-controlled circuit fed by a voltage signal from a rail-to-rail current sensor, resulting in improved efficiency, and transient response. The converter is designed using Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC) 0.18 µm CMOS 1P6M technology, delivers an output voltage of 1.8 V while operating with an input voltage range of 0.5 V to 1 V and supports an output load current range of 10 to 100 mA. The key contributions of this paper are: i) introducing a new boost converter architecture employing pseudo-current hysteresis-controlled (PCHC) techniques, ii) incorporating voltage and current loops into the proposed architecture, and iii) demonstrating superior transient performance. Experimental measurements reveal a peak power efficiency of 98.6% at 10 mA and transient times of 15.4 µs and 11.8 µs for a step load change from 10 to 100 mA and back to 10 mA, respectively, with transient voltages of 51 mV. The presented boost converter outperforms in terms of performance, compared to previous works using the figure of merit (FOM) formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The People's Republic of China (PRC), the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Republic of Singapore represent different types of political regimes and provide a fascinating contrast concerning their performance with regard to the global conflict between liberal democracies and autocracies. This paper examines briefly their common historical backgrounds and provides a detailed analysis of common 'Asian' cultural features and popular support for democracy on the micro-level. It then systematically assesses their performance concerning liberal democracy and quality, governance scores, and socio-economic development. Finally, the reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic are documented showing again specific regime characteristics. We use most recent V-Dem, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, World Values Surveys and similar data. The conclusions point to possible international consequences and the crucial position of Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grouper aquaculture is a rapidly growing and dynamic industry within the Taiwan aquaculture sector that serves as an important source of income generation. Farming fishes at a better location (FFABL) is a promising production strategy. This study evaluated the production and economic performance of grouper farming in Taiwan. This investigation employed two steps: (1) a cost–benefit analysis to determine the main component affecting profitability; and (2) multivariate statistics to clarify the relationship between biological and economic factors. The findings suggest that the best choice of species is hybrid giant grouper that generates and highlights a positive income, viable benefit–cost ratio and profit rate. The study found the feed management of hybrid giant groupers requires more consideration due to its low feed conversion ratio. The producers need to replace trash fish in commercial feed during the production cycle to ensure better feed management. Finally, this paper argues that feed is the main constraint for grouper farming, which is sensitive to any change in feed productivity, and this constraint must be solved to sustain the grouper industry in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, Taiwan's government is committed to aggressively developing renewable energy sources, with wind power being among the top three. However, when wind turbines experience failures, it is common to shut them down and call for professional help to troubleshoot, leading to significant losses due to transportation costs and downtime. Traditional maintenance methods rely on expertise and are limited by paper manuals and screen-based tutorials. As Industry 4.0 progresses, IoT technology is being increasingly adopted across industries, leading to greater automation. Augmented reality (AR) technology is also gaining recognition as science and technology rapidly advance. AR technology adds virtual objects to the physical world and presents the potential to simplify tasks that once required significant time and effort. Additionally, it provides real-time information to technicians and has become an indispensable auxiliary system in various sectors. In this study, we aim to develop an AR-based, interactive, and real-time wind turbine maintenance auxiliary platform system using Unity3D and Vuforia. The system can control and repair wind turbines, monitor operational data and conditions in real time, and alert users to maintenance and repair tasks in the event of failures. This AR maintenance assistance platform also includes a remote expert system. When users are unable to troubleshoot issues themselves, they can connect with remote experienced experts for support, increasing wind farm efficiency and enabling real-time monitoring. The presented AR system can assist operations and maintenance (O&M) of a wind farm in reducing the maintenance cost and time, and thus increase the efficiency and output yield of the wind farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Taiwanese government launched the Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030, the Implementation Project of Bilingual Instruction in several domains of primary and junior high school education was promoted by the Taiwan Ministry of Education. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a dual-objective strategy in which students simultaneously acquire language skills and subject knowledge. CLIL has been widely implemented and proven to be successful in European countries. This strategy will become the primary method of bilingual education for instructors in grades K-12. Other non-European countries, such as Latin America and Indonesia, however, found difficulties applying CLIL in class. The issues need to be identified to encourage researchers and practitioners to find solutions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers to implementing CLIL from the perspective of K-12 teachers. We surveyed 102 K-12 teachers in Keelung using a questionnaire. The findings indicate that (1) 49.0% of teachers feel concerned if they are required to teach half of their content in English, (2) 64.8% of teachers are willing to improve their English proficiency in their spare time for implementing CLIL in class, and (3) only 36.3% of teachers are willing to adopt CLIL in class, while 50.0% of teachers are willing to implement CLIL if a teaching assistant system supports them with English course materials. Teaching assistant systems that provide English course materials might influence teachers' willingness to implement CLIL in class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having knowledge of the drop size distribution (DSD) is of particular interest to researchers as it is widely applied to quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) methods. Polarimetric radar measurements have previously been utilized to derive DSD curve characteristics frequently modeled as a gamma distribution. Likewise, approaches using dual frequency measurements have shown positive results. Both cases have relied on the need to constrain the relationship between the DSD parameters based on prior knowledge or assumptions of the collected data. This paper presents a methodology for retrieving the DSD parameters using the dual frequency and polarimetric nature of measurements from a unique data set taken at co-located S-band and C-band dual polarization radars. Using the reflectivity and differential phase measurements from each radar, an optimization routine employing particle swarm optimization (PSO) and T-Matrix computation of radar parameters is able to accurately retrieve the gamma distribution parameters without the constraints required in previous methods. Retrieved results are compared to known truth data collected using a network of OTT PARSIVEL disdrometers in Taiwan in order to assess the success of this procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant heat-related casualties underlie the urgency of establishing a heat-health warning system (HHWS). This paper presents an evidence-based pilot HHWS developed for Taipei City, Taiwan, through a co-design process engaging stakeholders. In the co-design process, policy concerns related to biometeorology, epidemiology and public health, and risk communication aspects were identified, with knowledge gaps being filled by subsequent findings. The biometeorological results revealed that Taipei residents were exposed to wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) levels of health concern for at least 100 days in 2016. The hot spots and periods identified using WBGT would be missed out if using temperature, underlining the importance of adopting an appropriate heat indicator. Significant increases in heat-related emergency were found in Taipei at WBGT exceeding 36°C with reference-adjusted risk ratio (RaRR) of 2.42, taking 30°C as the reference; and residents aged 0–14 had the highest risk enhancement (RaRR = 7.70). As for risk communication, occurring frequency was evaluated to avoid too frequent warnings, which would numb the public and exhaust resources. After integrating knowledge and reconciling the different preferences and perspectives, the pilot HHWS was co-implemented in 2018 by the science team and Taipei City officials; accompanying responsive measures were formulated for execution by ten city government departments/offices. The results of this pilot served as a useful reference for establishing a nationwide heat-alert app in 2021/2022. The lessons learnt during the interactive co-design processes provide valuable insights for establishing HHWSs worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing prominence of social network services, political communication has experienced a paradigm shift. To communicate with internet users, politicians, candidates, and political organizations create fan pages. Initially, they provide text-only material on their pages; later, to increase engagement, they include photos, images, and videos. This paper investigates image-based political images in Taiwan for the first time during a nationwide referendum. Unlike an election, a referendum is a policy-based vote. We evaluate over 2000 Facebook images shared by the two most prominent political parties in order to comprehend the aspects of images and the tactics of political organizations. In addition, we examine the textual content, objects, and colors of the collected data. We find that the characteristics of propaganda materials vary between political groups. Nonetheless, the color strategies employed by both sides are equivalent, with each side utilizing its own representative colors for consolidation and the opponent's colors for attacking. [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]

Storm‐flood‐dominated deltas are sedimentary systems in which a complex interplay of hydrodynamic processes occurs during storms (e.g. tropical cyclones) due to the coeval action of continental and oceanic processes. This paper reports on a superbly exposed, 135.5 m thick stratigraphic succession of the Pleistocene Cholan Formation exposed along the Da'an River, Taiwan. The sedimentary succession comprises alternating mudstone and sandstone, is mostly fine‐grained, and exhibits multiple event beds that record deposition during tropical cyclones and post‐depositional deformation features produced during earthquakes. Detailed facies analyses reveal that deposition towards the base of the succession occurred in the palaeo‐Taiwan Strait in storm‐flood‐dominated prodelta and delta‐front environments passing upwards into delta‐plain environments. Tropical cyclone beds are encountered throughout the subaqueous storm‐flood delta successions, and are identified by (i) trough cross‐stratified sandstone bedsets with erosive bases that contain both mud clasts and mudstone beds, (ii) sandstone with aggrading wave ripples and (iii) hummocky cross‐stratified sandstone with rare gutter casts filled with coal fragments and shell remains. Tropical cyclone deposits are either top‐down burrowed or capped by massive or laminated mudstone. Seismites are rare and are mainly recognised through soft‐sediment deformation of beds; they do not show evidence of slope failure. Compared to storm‐flood delta successions described elsewhere, the Cholan Formation shows significantly fewer oscillatory‐generated sedimentary structures and gutter casts. This difference is attributed to the Cholan Formation being deposited in and along the margin of a strait characterised by strong shore‐parallel currents and relatively small storm waves due to its position between Taiwan and mainland China. This study refines depositional process interpretations of the Cholan Formation, provides criteria for recognising storm‐flood delta deposits in tectonically active straits with multiple sediment sources fed by steep drainages and short river catchments, and provides additional criteria for recognising tropical cyclone deposits in shallow‐marine settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the proportion of renewable energy generation systems increases, traditional power generation facilities begin to face challenges, such as reduced output power and having the power turned off. The challenges are causing changes in the structure of the power system. Renewable energy sources, mainly wind and solar energy cannot provide stable inertia and frequency regulation capability. Ultimately, the power system's emergency response capability to face an N-1 is reduced, which leads to a reduction in system stability. Therefore, the application technology of the battery energy storage system is used to support the impact of changes in the new power system structure. This paper designed control technologies based on the WECC second-generation generic model, namely, dynamic regulation, steady regulation, and virtual inertia regulation. The models and control strategies are verified on Taiwan's 2025 power system target conditions, which consider the expected capacities for battery energy storage systems, and renewable energy sources with different load and N-1 fault levels. According to the simulation results, the capabilities of the RoCoF limitation, frequency nadir, frequency recovery, and system oscillation regulation are evaluated in the proposed strategies. Finally, the analysis results can help power operators make informed decisions when selecting and deploying battery energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Internet becoming indispensable in our lives, social media has become an integral part of our lives. However, with this has come the phenomenon of a single user registering multiple accounts (sockpuppets) to advertise, spam, or cause controversy on social media sites, where the user is called the puppetmaster. This phenomenon is even more evident on forum-oriented social media sites. Identifying sockpuppets is a critical step in stopping the above-mentioned malicious acts. The identification of sockpuppets on a single forum-oriented social media site has seldom been addressed. This paper proposes a Single-site Multiple Accounts Identification Model (SiMAIM) framework to address this research gap. We used Mobile01, Taiwan's most popular forum-oriented social media site, to validate SiMAIM's performance. SiMAIM achieved F1 scores between 0.6 and 0.9 on identifying sockpuppets and puppetmasters under different datasets and settings. SiMAIM also outperformed the compared methods by 6–38% in F1 score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from an investigation of nature-based practices, from the perspectives of 10 academics/educators from six nations. Participants engaged in a focus group exploring the prevalence and inclusion of nature in social work practice and education. While the study focused on individual members' experiences and perspectives, the findings highlight important context-specific factors for including nature within social work to reconnect humans with nature for health, well-being, healing, and justice. An Integrative Environmental Model for social work is proposed to assist future practice and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground response analysis (GRA) requires the use of dynamic soil property curves (DSPCs). However, because regional DSPCs are not always available, globally recorded DSPCs are utilized in regional GRA the majority of the time. For those regions where regional DSPCs, based on laboratory estimations, exist, the DSPCs are affected in a variety of ways. For this reason, inverse GRA (IGRA), performed on instrumented earthquake (EQ) data, appears to be a realistic alternative for determining in situ DSPCs. Existing IGRA studies, based on downhole EQ data from around the world, show constraints, particularly in determining damping ratio (β) properties. Furthermore, previous frequency domain IGRA studies have only detected DSPCs for the surficial layer. Whereas a few of the frequency domain IGRA studies have determined the shear modulus degradation (G/Gmax) curve for multiple soil layers, they have been unable to determine the β curve for those layers. In the current study, we propose a novel frequency domain framework for determining the G/Gmax and β curves for a two-layered soil system positioned between successive accelerometer levels. The proposed framework was applied to 28 EQ records from the Lotung downhole array in Taiwan to determine the G/Gmax, β, and shear strain (γ) values for the top two layers from the ground surface. In addition, average DSPCs for the two layers are proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed DSPCs was tested by using them in a GRA and comparing them with recorded ground motions. It has been noted that, at present, there are limited downhole array records available. Therefore, there is ambiguity involved in applying the proposed framework presented in this paper to a larger number of records from downhole arrays. However, physical modeling of the wave propagation mechanism through layered media can be done on a smaller scale to determine dynamic soil properties in the future. Several attempts have been made to estimate the G/Gmax and β based on centrifuge testing using recorded acceleration time histories at different levels in the centrifuge model. In addition, the one-dimensional propagation of shear waves could be determined in those studies by taking special measures. However, these studies were based on a stress–strain imaging method in the time domain, which has its own limitations. However, recently, a frequency domain method was used to determine the G/Gmax and β from centrifuge modeling for a single soil layer. In that study, the β values obtained were scattered. Thus, the frequency domain framework proposed herein could be a viable alternative for determining the G/Gmax and β of a multilayered soil profile (here, two layers) when used in centrifuge testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate publicly traded restaurant companies and food & beverage companies from 2014 to 2019 in Taiwan to explore their human capital efficiency. Design/methodology/approach: According to the theoretical framework of human capital in micro and macro perspectives, the empirical model is built with two stages; the first stage is to examine the perspective of micro-level human capital theory through determining whether knowledge ability and working experience (proxies for micro-level human capital) can efficiently convert to employee-level output such as salary. The second stage is to test macro-level human capital theory through checking whether company inputs such as salary expenses and benefits expenditures can be efficiently transferred into enterprise annual revenues. Findings: The results of this research reveal that the average efficiency score of stage 1 is 73.6% while that of stage 2 is 75.1%; this indicates that micro-level human capital has more room to improve than macro-level human capital. Meanwhile, the findings also demonstrate that there is negative relationship between efficiency score from stage 1 and turnover rate; this implies that companies with higher micro-human capital have lower turnover rates. Furthermore, there is significantly positive relationship between a company's efficiency score from stage 2 and its return on equity (ROE). Originality/value: This study contributes to both academia and industry. From a theoretical perspective, the theory of strategic human resources management is applied through the methodology of production theory to examine human capital management efficiency in the restaurant and food and beverage industry. From a practical perspective, this study identifies the factors that assist the restaurant or food and beverage industry retain employees and gain a solid workforce, because manpower is the core resource for an industry and a country to grow sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopted a participant observation method and reflected on planning and operating a nine-week nine-credit Taiwanese culture and Mandarin study abroad program. The program ran successfully in the face of surging COVID-19 cases in Kaohsiung and increased political tension associated with Nancy Pelosi's visit in Taiwan during the summer of 2022. This program resulted from a new international partnership between West Virginia University (WVU) in the United States and National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan (NSYSU) through the Taiwan's Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) initiative funded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education in 2021. This paper discusses how the administrative and pedagogical collaboration between WVU and NSYSU has made the study abroad programs affordable and accessible for students and productive for WVU student and faculty participants alike. The primary objective of the paper is twofold. First, the faculty lead's experience is shared to offer insights for higher education institutions in the U.S. and Taiwan interested in taking part in BEST or other grant-funded programs as they evaluate their options for developing study abroad programs. Second, administrators and faculty who have completed their study abroad programs can reflect on the feedback from both students and the faculty lead in the study as they assess their programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The devastating earthquake of 2015 in Nepal overwhelmed the Nepal government, which resulted in the government seeking help from the international community. The call from the Nepal government was responded to quickly by many countries. While the government accepted the help from far countries, the Nepal government rejected the humanitarian aid offered by Taiwan saying that Nepal only takes such aid from its neighboring countries. This paper examines the reasons behind the aid rejection of Taiwan by Nepal and tries to answer what could have happened if it was accepted. Though Nepal is one of the Least Developed countries, even during the disaster time, the aid was rejected. The paper concludes that, even during the most crucial time, there is politics in accepting aid. Nepal's rejection of Taiwan's aid was because of the pressure to obey the diplomatic relation with China, as Nepal is dependent on China but not on Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Angle Health Law Review is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Taiwan Law Review is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Taiwan Law Review is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Taiwan Law Review is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the possibilties of having the fourth time party turnover in Taiwain's 2024 presidential election after the ruling DPP was serverely defeated in the 2022 local elections. It first reviews Taiwan's previous election cycles at both the presidential and local levels, since 1996. It then identifies theoretical elements from Taiwan's prior experiences for the purpose of further theorizing party turnover mechanisms. Finally, the theoretical framework that this paper constructs is utilized to examine the political tides of the two major political parties, the DPP and KMT, in Taiwan after the 2022 local elections, and to delineate both certain and uncertain factors that influence whether a fourth party turnover is about to occur in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, governments of all countries have attached great importance to the development of underground economic activities. The reason is that the characteristics of the underground economy are hidden and the information disclosure is not sufficient, which not only distorts the economic data indicators, but more importantly, the existence of the underground economy has led to the loss of a large amount of tax base, affecting the long-term economic development of the country. Whether raising the tax burden rate boosts the tax revenue or expand the scale of the underground economy. In this paper, we use Kuznet Tax Curve (KTC) method to analyze the relationship between GDP and TTR/DTR/ITR. We find that the tax base erosion rate of indirect tax is lower than that of direct tax. In addition, we explore the relationship among economic growth, tax rate and tax revenue and adopt SUR-OLS method and Threshold approach to estimate the response of economic growth on total tax revenue(TTR), direct tax revenue(DTR) and indirect tax revenue (ITR) in Taiwan from 1991-2020. Our empirical research shows that when DTR tax rates are between 12.59% and 13%, an increase in income leads to a decrease, not an increase, in DTR, leading to severe tax base erosion. That is, the relationship between GDP and DTR presents a N-shaped relationship. However, ITR does not exist any tax rate threshold effect. Obviously, with the increase of GDP, ITR also increases. This reflects that the difference of tax structure between direct tax and indirect tax plays a key role in the relationship between tax rate and tax base erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the development and challenges of 'cultural equality' and cultural policy in Taiwan. On 10 May 2019 Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed the 'Cultural Fundamental Act' provides comprehensive system design and policy tools for cultural equality. We use the two-preceding cultural-disadvantage cases roughly show that it is difficult to implement cultural equality in Taiwan on three levels: (1) Inability to tolerate differences due to social discrimination, which prevents children of special ethnic groups or people with disabilities to develop their subject identity. (2) Current obstacles and difficulties in cultural participation, such as lack of time, inconvenient transportation, lack of information sources, unfriendly space design, etc. (3) Support and construction of an inclusive culture: Empower children and people with disabilities to hone their artistic and cultural skills, encourage their creation, and inspire more works to be produced. Finally, this paper proposes some suggestions for cultural policy in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) leaders have tried to manage their respective approaches to China to avoid creating problems in bilateral relations and in the U.S.-ROK alliance. U.S. policymakers have been careful not to place Seoul in the position of having to choose between Washington and Beijing. However, a U.S. military conflict with China would bring differences in U.S. and ROK interests to the fore and force South Korean leaders to make tough choices in response to U.S. requests for diplomatic, economic, and military support. This paper considers what types of diplomatic and economic support the United States might expect from the ROK in the event of a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan. It then examines potential U.S. requests for military support from the ROK in three scenarios: 1) a PRC joint firestrike campaign intended to inflict sufficient damage to compel Taiwan to negotiate its political status with Beijing; 2) a PRC joint blockade intended to inflict sufficient damage to Taiwan's economy to compel negotiations; and 3) a joint island landing campaign intended to seize Taiwan and bring it under PRC control. Each involves a different type of military conflict, a different projected duration, and different military demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Education Research (1680-6360) is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)