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In mid-2022, the COVID-19 cases have reached close to 562 million, but its overall infection rate is hard to confirm. Even with effective vaccines, break-through infections with new variants occur, and safe and reliable testing still plays a critical role in isolation of infected individuals and in control of an outbreak of a COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this urgent need, the diagnostic tests for COVID-19 are rapidly evolving and improving these days. The health authorities of many countries issued requirements for detecting SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis tests during the pandemic and have timely access to these tests to ensure safety and effectiveness. In this study, we compared the requirements of EUA in Taiwan, Singapore, and the United States. For the performance evaluations of nucleic acid extraction, inclusivity, limit of detection (LoD), cross-reactivity, interference, cutoff, and stability, the requirements are similar in the three countries. The use of natural clinical specimens is needed for clinical evaluation in Taiwan and the United States. However, carry-over and cross-contamination studies can be exempted in Taiwan and the United States but are required in Singapore. This review outlines requirements and insight to guide the test developers on the development of IVDs. Considering the rapidly evolving viruses and severe pandemic of COVID-19, timely and accurate diagnostic testing is imperative to the management of diseases. As noted above, the performance requirements for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests are similar between Taiwan, Singapore and the United States. The differences are mainly in two points: the recommended microorganisms for cross-reactivity study, and the specimen requirement for clinical evaluation. This study provides an overview of current requirements of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests in Taiwan, Singapore, and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dermatophytes are the group of keratinophilic fungi that cause superficial cutaneous infection, which traditionally belong to the genera Trichophyton, Microsporum, and Epidermophyton. Dermatophyte infection is not only a threat to the health of small animals, but also an important zoonotic and public health issue because of the potential transmission from animals to humans. Rabbit dermatophytosis is often clinically identified; however, limited information was found in Asia. The aims of this study are to investigate the prevalence and to evaluate the risk factors of dermatophytosis in pet rabbits in Northern Taiwan. Between March 2016 and October 2018, dander samples of pet rabbits were collected for fungal infection examination by Wood's lamp, microscopic examination (KOH preparation), fungal culture, and PCR assay (molecular identification). Z test and Fisher's exact test were performed to evaluate the potential risk factors, and logistic regression analysis was then performed to build the model of risk factors related to dermatophyte infection. Of the collected 250 dander samples of pet rabbits, 29 (11.6%) samples were positive for dermatophytes by molecular identification. In those samples, 28 samples were identified as the T. mentagrophytes complex and 1 sample was identified as M. canis. Based on the results of the Firth's bias reduction logistic analyses, animal source (rabbits purchased from pet shops) and number of rearing rabbits (three rabbits or more) were shown as the main risks for dermatophyte infection in the pet rabbits in Taiwan. The results of the present study elucidate the prevalence of rabbit dermatophyte infection, pathogens, and risk factors in Taiwan, and provide an important reference for the prevention and control of rabbit dermatophytosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this increasingly competitive era, internationalization strategy has adopted by firms and international human has been regarded as the essential factor that affects the operation of MNEs. Based on contingency theory and the induction method to analyze and collect data from the literature, this paper attempts to construct an International human strategies framework for different internationalization situations. Furthermore, we interviewed with related staffs in four Taiwan enterprises that adopted various International human strategies to correspond the four internationalization situations considered in this study. We hope this international human strategies framework will facilitate MNEs to create and maintain their competitive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation and sustainable development must be undertaken in accordance with the trends of the times, which presents challenges to rural areas worldwide. In addition to preserving rural food specialties and presenting them in new ways to attract consumers, these areas must link farmers' production, processing, sales, and management. It is imperative to sustainably pass on rural foods and theircooking techniques and integrate them into innovative business strategies so that delicious rural foods can be sold on the consumer market, boosting rural economies and their development. The main objective of this research was to conduct indicator modeling and empirical analysis for the sustainable inheritance of Taiwan's rural cooking techniques and the development of innovative marketing strategies. The Fuzzy Delphi Technique was used as the main research method to select agricultural experts and rural household economy organizations for indicator modeling and empirical analysis. The results of the research indicate that agricultural experts believe that market operation is the primary developmental focus of cultural inheritance and innovation, whereas household economy organizations believe that education, training, promotion, and development are the primary developmental focuses. The greatest contribution and innovation of this research are the findings that culinary education and training, organized by the farmers' association, can sustainably pass on traditional rural cooking techniques, and the process of incorporating local ingredients into commercial gourmet food should also consider aspects of the economic and marketing strategies of market operation, facilitating the sustainable inheritance of unique, traditional, local, and rural food culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber was prepared from mung bean hulls, rice bran and lemon pomace by the chemical precipitation method and then characterized. The characteristics investigated included bulk density, water-holding capacity, oil-holding capacity, swelling properties, water solubility and glucose adsorption and diffusion in vitro experiments. The results showed that the smaller the fiber particles were, the higher the bulk density was and the lower the ability of the fiber was to absorb water and oil. Mung bean hull fiber had a significantly higher bulk density and water-holding capacity than cellulose. The swelling property of mung bean hull fiber was also significantly higher than that of cellulose. The water-holding capacity, oil-holding capacity and swelling property of rice bran fiber were all significantly higher than those values for cellulose. The water-holding capacity, oil-holding capacity, swelling property and water solubility of lemon pomace fibers were also significantly higher than those for the other experimental groups. The glucose effects in the in vitro experiments indicated that mung bean hull fiber had a higher level of adsorption when the glucose level was low. Fiber made from rice bran and lemon pomace had much better adsorption when exposed to high levels of glucose. In a mixed system including fiber, amylase and substrate, the level of glucose produced in the mixture containing lemon pomace fiber with a size <50 mesh was the lowest, and it was the best inhibitor of amylase activity. After 180 min of glucose adsorption, mung bean hull fiber with a size of 30-50 mesh was able to lower glucose diffusion. All of these mechanisms might contribute the rate reduction of glucose adsorption in the intestines, as a result, decrease the postprandial serum glucose concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]