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This study aimed to utilise the characteristics of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, including the adjustable correlated colour temperature (CCT) and illuminance levels, to evaluate the effects of various CCT and illuminance level combinations on visual perception and their patterns under different lighting conditions. Five white light balances with different CCTs were created together with four levels of illuminance. Based on the patterns of visual perception, when the CCT increased with the illuminance levels, the participants' visual perception changed from dim, boring, and sleepy to intense, vivid, energetic, and bright. As the CCT decreased, the participants gradually perceived the lighting as warm and relaxing. As illuminance levels increased, dim and unpleasant feelings progressively changed to bright and pleasant ones. The study attempted to identify lighting combinations that can respond to different psychological needs and can be used as a guide in the future design of lighting equipment. Practitioner summary: Appropriate lighting conditions could aid individuals in increasing the quality of life. This study conducted an experiment to evaluate the effects of various correlated colour temperature and illuminance level combinations on visual perception by using LED lighting. The results showed the effect of the different lighting combinations on the visual perception of the participants. Abbreviation: LED: light-emitting diode; CCT: correlated colour temperature; K: Kelvin; lx: Lux; CIE: Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage; ANSI: American National Standards Institute [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizing and maintaining a competent and flexible supply chain is a major challenge to manufacturers in today's increasingly competitive and uncertain environments. Virtual integration represents the substitution of ownership with partnership by integrating a set of suppliers through information technology (IT) for tighter supply-chain collaboration. From the systems and control perspectives, this study develops a theory of virtual integration with an empirical model to examine the role that virtual integration plays in facilitating manufacturers to achieve greater manufacturing flexibility and comparative cost advantage. Based on a survey of Taiwanese manufacturing firms, our results show that environmental uncertainty tends to motivate manufacturers to increase their manufacturing flexibility, with both virtual integration and supplier responsiveness playing a vital enabling role. The results demonstrate the importance of supplier responsiveness for manufacturers to gain manufacturing flexibility and comparative cost advantage in supply-chain operations. Environmental uncertainty, thus, might first appear as a threat to a manufacturer, but with the help of IT and more responsive suppliers, such a threat could be transformed into a competitive edge, as reflected in the manufacturer's higher levels of manufacturing flexibility and comparative cost advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many benefits of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, but their implementation is both complicated and difficult because the product spans functional silos and involves many internal and external entities. An ERP system is the outcome of social processes, and different ERP systems can embody distinct social arrangements when developed in different cultural contexts. Such social arrangements are difficult to change due the closure effect of technology stabilization. This leads to various misfit problems, both during and after ERP implementation, causing adverse effects on delivered ERP quality. With a survey of 85 ERP implementation cases in Taiwan, this study derives and empirically tests the main as well as the interaction effects of the country of origin of the ERP package, consultant quality, top management support, and user support of the ERP system quality as perceived by the client after implementation. The results demonstrate the important role of the country of origin of the ERP package and consultant quality in configuring a high-quality ERP system and alleviating the negative effect of misfit problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to analyze the adverse drug events, using the human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS), and to identify the causality between the error factors. Twenty‐five cases related to medication errors were identified. Seven experts were recruited to form an expert team for this study. The HFACS and root cause analysis were utilized in this study to identify the causal factors and the root causes of medication errors. The frequency of each error factor was recorded, and odds ratio was applied to measure the strength of the relevance of the error factors between adjacent levels of the HFACS. The results showed that 222 errors were identified and the main pathways and subpathways of medication errors from Level 4 to Level 1 of the HFACS were arranged in this study. According to the results, the deficiencies in organizations could be the main reasons causing adverse drug events in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this study is to extend DeLone and McLean's IS success model by introducing justice – fair treatments received from the exchanging party – and trust into a theoretical model for studying customers' repurchase intentions in the context of online shopping. Design/methodology/approach – The research model was tested with data from 219 of PCHome's online shopping customers using a web survey. PLS (partial least squares) was used to analyze the measurement and structural models. Findings – Data collected from 219 valid respondents provided support for all but one hypotheses (with a p-value of less than 0.05). The unsupported hypothesis regards the relationship between service quality and satisfaction (H4). The study shows that trust, net benefits, and satisfaction are significant positive predictors of customers' repurchase intentions toward online shopping. Information quality, system quality, trust, and net benefits, are significant determinants of customer satisfaction. Besides, online trust is built through distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Overall, the research model accounted for 79 percent of the variance of repurchase intention. Originality/value – An endeavor to extend the updated IS success model in terms of the peculiar nature of e-commerce is needed. The study complements the updated IS success model with justice trust perspectives, considering them a more comprehensive measure of online shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention in an e-commerce context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this study, we tested the validity of the 2009 Chinese version of the King''s Health Questionnaire (KHQ) in patients with an overactive bladder (OAB). Materials and Methods: In 2009, the Taiwan Continence Society commenced linguistic validation and other elements of production required for a Chinese version of the KHQ. Data for the psychometric assessment came from a multicenter clinical trial. Patients who visited urology clinics with OAB and symptoms of urgency frequency with or without urge incontinence were asked to fill out the KHQ at the initial visit and again 1 week later. The internal consistency was measured by Cronbach''s alpha statistics. The test-retest method was used to compare the reliability of responses of the two completed questionnaires using Spearman''s rank correlation coefficient. An alpha value > 0.70 was considered acceptable. Results: In total, 55 patients were enrolled, including 37 women and 18 men. Forty-seven (85.5%) patients correctly completed both questionnaires. The alpha values exceeded the minimum requirement for reliability in all domains of the questionnaire, except for the severity measure item (0.60). The internal consistency was also consistently high between tests 1 and 2 in all domains. Test-retest reliability also showed significant correlations between the two tests in all domains. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the 2009 Chinese version of the KHQ is a reliable instrument for assessing health-related quality of life in patients with OAB. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is devoted to studying the time variations in the series of elasticities of factor substitution, which in a sense manifests changes in production technology and structure. A LKM translog cost function model is used to estimate the Allen-Uzawa elasticities of substitution for Taiwan's manufacturing sector in 1965-91. The variations are analysed using a regression model which incorporates the linear spline setting and income variable. Empirical results indicate that obvious structural breaks in the elasticity series conform to major exogenous disturbances such as worldwide energy crises and developmental policy changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to analyze and provide an in-depth improvement priority for medication adverse events. Thus, the Human Factor Analysis and Classification System with subfactors was used in this study to analyze the adverse events. Subsequently, the improvement priority for the subfactors was determined using the hybrid approach in terms of the Analytical Hierarchy Process and the fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution. In Of the 157 medical adverse events selected from the Taiwan Patient-safety Reporting system, 25 cases were identified as medication adverse events. The Human Factor Analysis and Classification System and root cause analysis were used to analyze the error factors and subfactors that existed in the medication adverse events. Following the analysis, the Analytical Hierarchy Process and the fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution were used to determine the improvement priority for subfactors. The results showed that the decision errors, crew resource management, inadequate supervision, and organizational climate contained more types of subfactors than other error factors in each category. In the current study, 16 improvement priorities were identified. According to the results, the improvement priorities can assist medical staff, researchers, and decisionmakers in improving medication process deficiencies efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With limited indigenous conventional energy resources, Taiwan imports over 99% of its energy supply from foreign countries, mostly from the Middle East. Developing independent renewable energy resources is thus of priority concern for the Taiwanese government. A medium subtropical island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Taiwan has enormous potential to develop various renewable energies, such as solar energy, biomass energy, wind power, geothermal energy, hydropower, etc. However, owing to the importance of conventional fossil energy in generating exceptionally cheap electricity, renewable energy has not yet fully developed in Taiwan, resulting from a lack of market competition. Consequently, numerous promotional and subsidy programs have recently been proclaimed by the Taiwanese government, focused on the development of various renewables. This study reviews the achievements, polices and future plans in this area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since Taiwan imports more than 99% of energy supply from foreign countries, energy security has always been the first priority for government to formulate energy policy. The development of renewable energy not only contributes to the independence of energy supply, but also achieves benefits of economic development and environmental protection. Based upon information available to public, the present paper reassesses reserves of various renewable energies in Taiwan. The assessment includes seven kinds of renewable energies, namely, solar energy, wind power, biomass energy, wave energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy and hydropower, which are all commercialized and matured in terms of current technologies. Other renewable energies, which have not proven as matured as the aforementioned ones, are only assessed preliminarily in this paper, such as second generation of biomass, deep geothermal energy, the Kuroshio power generation and ocean thermal energy conversion. According to the estimation of this paper, the reserve of wind energy, up to 29.9kWh/d/p (i.e., kWh per day per person), is the largest one among seven kinds of renewable energies in Taiwan, followed by 24.27kWh/d/p of solar energy, 4.55kWh/d/p of biomass, 4.58kWh/d/p of ocean energy, 0.67kWh/d/p of geothermal energy and 16.79kWh/d/p of hydropower. If regarding biomass as a primary energy, and assuming 40% being the average efficiency to convert primary energy into electricity, the total power of the seven kinds of renewable energy reserves is about 78.03kWh/d/p, which is equal to 2.75 times of 28.35kWh/d/p of national power generation in 2008. If the reserves of 54.93kWh/d/p estimated from other four kinds of renewable energies that have not technically matured yet are also taken into account, it will result that the reserves of renewable energy in Taiwan can be quite abundant. Although the results of the assessment point out that Taiwan has abundant renewable energy resources, the four inherent shortcomings – low energy density, high cost of power generation, instability of power supply, and current cost of renewable energy being still higher than that of fossil energy – have to be overcome first, before renewable energy is actually formed as a main component in national energy mix. The measures executed by government to break through these barriers further include the upgrade of the technological level, the formulation of the necessary policies, and the work together from all levels for the overall promotion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction: Situation awareness (SA) is considered an essential prerequisite for safe flying. If the impact of visual scanning patterns on a pilot's situation awareness could be identified in flight operations, then eye-tracking tools could be integrated with flight simulators to improve training efficiency., Method: Participating in this research were 18 qualified, mission-ready fighter pilots. The equipment included high-fidelity and fixed-base type flight simulators and mobile head-mounted eye-tracking devices to record a subject's eye movements and SA while performing air-to-surface tasks., Results: There were significant differences in pilots' percentage of fixation in three operating phases: preparation (M = 46.09, SD = 14.79), aiming (M = 24.24, SD = 11.03), and release and break-away (M = 33.98, SD = 14.46). Also, there were significant differences in pilots' pupil sizes, which were largest in the aiming phase (M = 27,621, SD = 6390.8), followed by release and break-away (M = 27,173, SD = 5830.46), then preparation (M = 25,710, SD = 6078.79), which was the smallest. Furthermore, pilots with better SA performance showed lower perceived workload (M = 30.60, SD = 17.86), and pilots with poor SA performance showed higher perceived workload (M = 60.77, SD = 12.72). Pilots' percentage of fixation and average fixation duration among five different areas of interest showed significant differences as well., Discussion: Eye-tracking devices can aid in capturing pilots' visual scan patterns and SA performance, unlike traditional flight simulators. Therefore, integrating eye-tracking devices into the simulator may be a useful method for promoting SA training in flight operations, and can provide in-depth understanding of the mechanism of visual scan patterns and information processing to improve training effectiveness in aviation.