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Based on both the resource-based theory and knowledge-based theory, this research looks at the tacitness of resources influencing the international location choice of Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Under a multi-level setting this study includes multinational networks of parent companies and their foreign subsidiaries to examine the factors influencing location choice. We adopt the hierarchical linear model statistics method to simultaneously analyse multi-level data of parent companies' resources and their subsidiaries' locations. This approach fills a research gap in the literature by investigating subsidiaries and parent companies and clarifying that foreign direct investment is a multi-level phenomenon that cannot be scrutinised using a one-level analysis method. Empirical data from the Taiwan Economic Journaldatabase cover 855 Taiwanese MNCs and their 12,637 subsidiaries around the world. Results support that explicit and tacit resources do influence location choices. Moreover, parent companies act as a moderator to transfer capability, and subsidiaries' absorptive capacity successfully decreases the constraint of tacit resources when choosing international locations. Doing so raises the flexibility of MNCs to conduct their international investment activities.

The sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, is a major parasite of sugar beet which has been recognized and listed as a quarantine nematode in China and more than 20 countries and regions worldwide. A survey for important nematodes was undertaken in the sugar beet planting area of China during 2015–2018, and numerous cysts were collected from sugar beet fields in Xinyuan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The observations of morphological and morphometric characteristics revealed that cysts, vulval cones and second-stage juveniles of the Xinjiang population were in the same range of each other and within those of other reported H. schachtiipopulations. Molecular analysis of rDNA-ITS, 28S-D2/D3 and mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene sequences suggested that the Xinjiang population clustered in a branch with those foreign populations, and the sequence similarity was as high as 99.81–100%. Moreover, this result was confirmed by PCR assay with species-specific primer SHF6 and rDNA2 of H. schachtii, and the pathogenicity test confirmed successful Xinjiang population reproduction in both plant hosts. In conclusion, based on morphological and molecular characterization, this study confirmed that the cyst nematode population collected from sugar beet fields in Xinjiang is H. schachtii. As far as we know, this is the first report of H. schachtiion sugar beets in Xinjiang, China.

The details of the pilot study that compares knowledge management priorities, needs, tools and administrative structure components in Chinese and American Universities are discussed. The conclusions of the study and the suggestions for further research are also discussed.

Global tea consumption has risen significantly alongside rapid expansion of international trade in recent years. However, few studies have systematically examined the relationship among the major tea markets worldwide. Using weekly data from 2012–2019, this study empirically analyzed the price series of the world's major black tea auction markets. The estimation results showed that these markets are connected, even though heterogeneities vary. This finding holds not only for regional markets but also for international markets. The findings offer important implications for tea-producing countries with millions of smallholder farmers.

Stunt nematodes (Tylenchorhynchusspp.) are obligate migratory root ecto-parasitic nematodes found in the fields of many cultivated crops. These nematodes, with phyto-sanitary potential, are frequently ignored or misdiagnosed as pests, and this may pose a threat to food security. The accuracy of its identification based on a morphological approach has been challenged recently, due to the overlapping of the morphological and morphometric characters of the species. Consequently, the objective of this study is to identify and characterize stunt nematodes present in 54 fields cultivated with cereal crops (wheat, maize and rice) in the savannahs of northern Nigeria, using integrative taxonomy and molecular approaches. The molecular and morphological studies identified and confirmed the presence of T. annulatusas the occurring specie in the savannahs of northern Nigeria. The phylogenetic analysis was carried out using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 28S genes of ribosomal DNA further confirmed the presence of T. annulatus. The first molecular characterization and sequences of the ITS and 28S rDNA gene for T. annulatusfrom Nigeria were provided by this research. Also, according to our literature search, this is the first report on T. annulatusin wheat, maize and rice in the savannahs of northern Nigeria. Further study to test the pathogenicity of the parasitic nematode species found in this survey is recommended for the prioritization and development of efficient management strategies.

A novel, to the best of our knowledge, depth-sensing technology that enables a shallow depth of field was developed by adding a diffuser to the rear end of a mechanical control lens that can capture 2D images. The sensor in the optical depth-sensing system obtains the function curve between the motor step and the focus distance through calibration and imports the measured values into the control program’s database. The optical depth-sensing system scans the visible range of an interval, and the Laplacian equation can be applied to confirm whether the interval was in focus by judging the sharpness of the contour of the objects captured in the interval and to define the outline of the objects. Then, the depth information can be obtained by calculating the focus distance based on the motor step during scanning. Finally, the focus images of individual objects are used to calculate the image contours in the depth direction. The focus images of each object are combined to reconstruct a 2.5D model within the sensing range. The optical depth-sensing system is not affected by sunlight or the material of the measured object. Furthermore, the system can be used to obtain color images by using a modified lens. The optical path is simple and does not require complex calculations. Therefore, the proposed system is not easily affected by the environment and exhibits high resolution and calculation speed.

AbstractBig data analytics often refer to the breakdown of huge amounts of data into a more readable and useful format. This study utilises Google Trends big data as a proxy for an analysis of housing demand. We employ a qualitative method (fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis, fsQCA), instead of a quantitative method, for our estimate and forecast. The empirical results show that fsQCA successfully forecasts seasonal time series, even though the dataset is small in size. Our findings fill the gap in the qualitative and time series forecasting literature, and the forecasting procedure herein also offers a good standard for industry.

Ultra-low repetition rate nanosecond pulsed seed lasers are beneficial for scaling both the pulse energy and the peak power in rare-earth doped fibre amplifiers. We report the generation of nanosecond laser pulses at 1958 nm with low repetition rates of down to 100 Hz in an all-fibre gain-switched thulium-doped fibre laser. Temporal characteristics of the generated 1958 nm laser pulses with repetition rates in the range from 100 Hz to 10 kHz are investigated in detail. It is found that the needed threshold pump energy decreases with increasing repetition rate. The experimental results are shown to be in good agreement with the results of the theoretical discussion.

The article focuses on the quality management of the fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) crude oil pipelines. Topics discussed include the importance of crude oil pipelines safety management, the thermal insulation of FRP, and the thermal conductivity management. Also mentioned are the effects of soil temperature to oil pipelines and the heat transfer simulation.

Due to the lack of trust in the builder and indeterminate benefits, it is a struggle for people in Taiwan to make up their minds to participate in urban renewal. This leads to the completion rate of urban renewal of fewer than one ten-thousandth of the new construction needed. This study investigated the perspective on the research variables for people in Taiwan and how those influence their intention to participate in urban renewal. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, the research framework is designed with the trust of urban renewal project builders and the perceived benefits of public participation as the independent variables. Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are the mediating variables, and the general public's intention to participate in urban renewal is the dependent variable. A total of 545 valid questionnaires were collected through the survey. The results showed that the respondents’ trust in the builder of the urban renewal project positively and significantly influenced their perceived benefits of the project, and the respondents’ trust in the builder significantly influenced their subjective norms. The perceived benefits positively and significantly affected their attitudes and subjective norms, and people's attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control positively and significantly affected their intention to participate in urban renewal. People's perceived benefits in urban renewal projects affected their participation intention through attitudes and subjective norms. The variable perceived benefits most strongly influenced people's intention to participate in urban renewal in this study. This study provides practical suggestions for the government and builders to increase people's intention to participate in urban renewal. This study modeled two independent variables, trust in the builder and perceived benefits, under the urban renewal context in Taiwan. In future works, other factors could be included, such as tax incentives, floor area rewards, and fair appraisal.

Natural gas pipeline laying process will inevitably go through some of the earthquake-prone areas, these areas of soil subsidence, will cause the pipeline vacant, vacant section of the pipeline failure may cause pipeline rupture. Effects of suspended pipeline stress safety usually have two factors: suspended length and the buoyancy of water. In order to explore the sensitivity of these two factors on suspended pipeline stress, we do numerical simulation of XX suspended pipeline using the general stress analysis software CAESAR II. Research shows that suspended length of pipe is having a greater sensitivity on pipeline stress, and the buoyancy of water is relatively small. The results provide some reference for safety management and selection of pipeline.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, project management has been gradually implemented within China's petroleum drilling engineering. Recently, achievements have been made in the institutionalization, routinization and standardization of project management in petroleum industry. The sustainable development of petroleum enterprises has been ensured by process management, which based on the entire life-cycle of drilling project. In this paper, the life-cycle of large-scale petroleum engineering project has been analyzed. And relations between project life-cycle and project management process have been elaborated. Furthermore, the process management based on the entire life-cycle of drilling project has been established. The author believes that process management would be beneficial to the overall efficiency of oil and gas exploration and development.

Optical circulators are necessary passive devices applied in optical communication systems. In the design of optical circulators, the implementation of the function of spatial walk-off polarizers is a key technique that significantly influences the performance and cost of a device. This paper proposes a design of a multiport optical circulator by using polarizing beam splitter cubes as spatial walk-off polarizers. To show the feasibility of the design, a prototype of a six-port optical circulator was fabricated. The insertion losses are 0.94-1.49 dB, the isolations are 25-51 dB, and return losses are 27.72 dB.

This article proposes the use of a fuzzy time series model based on neural networks that are intended to calculate the complicated fuzzy relationships among observations. The Taiwan stock exchange capitalisation weighted stock index is used as the forecasting target. Various parameters such as the order of the time series the threshold for defuzzification, and the in-sample estimation results are used to determine the proper models for out-of-sample forecasting.

Based on the phenomena of Brewster's angle and the principles of common-path heterodyne interferometry, we present an optical method for measuring the optical rotation angle and the refractive index of a chiral solution simultaneously in one optical configuration. A heterodyne light beam and a circularly polarized heterodyne light beam are separately guided to project onto the interface of a semicircle glass and a chiral solution. One of the beams is transmitted through the solution, and the other is reflected near Brewster's angle at the interface. Then the two beams pass through polarization components respectively for interference. The phase differences of the two interference signals used to determine the rotation angle and the refractive index become very high with the proper azimuth angles of some polarization components, hence achieving an accurate rotational angle and a refractive index. The feasibility of the measuring method was demonstrated by our experimental results. This method should bear the merits of high accuracy, short sample medium length, and simpler operational endeavor.

The purpose of this study is to examine an integrated model of behavioural intentions containing six widely considered constructs (service quality, service value, customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and behavioural intentions) in relationship marketing and service literature and test the direct and indirect effects of service quality on behavioural intentions. Structural equation modelling was applied to the data collected by intercept interview from 301 participants selected by quasi-systematic sampling. The proposed model exhibits reasonable fit with the data and the results of the tests indicate that service quality indirectly and strongly affects customers' behavioural intentions in this model. In addition, the effects of service quality on behavioural intentions are significantly mediated by the paths formed by service value, customer satisfaction, trust and commitment.

A linearly polarized light beam is incident on the boundary surface between the thin metal film of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) apparatus and the tested solution. If the incident angle is very near to the resonant angle, then the phase difference between p- and s-polarizations of the reflected light is changed with the concentration of the solution. The phase difference can be measured accurately by heterodyne interferometry. Based on these effects, a method for measuring the concentration of a solution is presented. Because the reflected light is measured, only a small quantity of the solution is required. In addition, the method has the advantages of both common-path interferometry and heterodyne interferometry. © 2003 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

New progresses are introduced briefly about the water cycle study on atmosphere of China made in recent years. The introduction includes eight aspects as follows: 1) precipitation characteristics, 2) stability of climatic system, 3) precipitation sensitive region, 4) regional evaporation and evapotranspiration, 5) water surface evaporation, 6) vegetation transpiration, 7) cloud physics, and 8) vapor source.

The nature of minerals in the B horizons of alpine forest soils in subtropical and tropical areas remains to be identified. The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution of Fe-oxides and hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite (HIV) in typical alpine forest soils of Taiwan.

The iron-rich calcareous soil (Typic Rhodustalf) from the Penghu island group represents a volcanic area. The black soils (Typic Haplustert, Vertic Endoaquoll, Typic Hapludolls) are typical of eastern Taiwan. Four A horizons and a pedon from the iron-rich calcareous soil and four pedons from the black soils were studied to analyze soil properties and clay compositions. The objective was to compare the properties of smectites developed from different parent materials. The materials were studied by using conventional X-ray diffraction (XRD) of K- and Mg-saturated clays and involved the alkylam-monium (C = 12) method and the Greene-Kelly test. The mean-layer charge of smectites (0.48–0.52 cmol(c)/O10(OH)2) in the iron-rich calcareous soil was found to be higher than the black soils (0.43–0.48 cmol(c)/O10(OH)2). A smectite of higher charge developed from the basalts. This smectite is enriched in Fe and Mg, and lacks Si, thereby forming beidellite and/or nontronite. In contrast, under high precipitation, elevated temperature, base saturation (e.g., Na, K, Ca, Mg), and about equal wet and dry cycles per year in the black soil environments, smectites developed from the complicated geologic site of eastern Taiwan. These smectites transformed to smectite-kaolinite mixed-layer clay and thus, resulted in lower-charge smectites. The K fixation capacity of the iron-rich calcareous soil was higher than the black soils.

In the Langmuir adsorption equation, q= MbC/(1+ bC),the bparameter can be identified as the reciprocal of the concentration, C1/2, at which the adsorbent is half-saturated with the adsorbate. If the concentration, C,is scaled in the unit of C1/2, and replaced the C′, where C′ = C/C1/2, the universal dimensionless Langmuir equation, = C′/(1 + C′), is obtained. Arbitrary points chosen on segments of the normal Langmuir plot can be fitted to different Freundlich equations with statistical significance. This indicates that the Freundlich equation can be applied to represent a selected range of the adsorption data that also fit the Langmuir equation.

Analysis and interpretation of soil survey data are very important for effective management of agricultural fields. In this study, kriging and cokriging methods were applied to estimate the spatial distribution of soil properties from available large-scale survey data of Taiwan. The data were derived from soils in a 10-km2area divided into 250 m × 250 m node intervals. The soil properties examined included the extractable P, Ca, Mg, and Fe contents, the sum of exchangeable bases (SEB), %sand, %silt, and %clay. The sum of exchangeable bases and particle-size distribution were regarded as the primary and auxiliary variables, respectively, in the cokriging procedure. The ratio of nugget to total variation was about 57 to 80%, indicating that the spatial correlation of the tested soil properties at the large scale was moderately (cross-)dependent. The estimated spatial distributions of the soil properties by kriging, under decreasing sampling densities, all correlated significantly (P< 0.1%) with those obtained from original data. Furthermore, with the over-sampled particle-size distribution, the overall estimation of SEB quality by cokriging was superior to that by kriging. The results suggested that by kriging and cokriging, the existing sampling density could be decreased under the large-scale sampling interval by nearly half and that sufficient spatial information about the soil properties could still be retained. The information obtained could be used to improve the long-term sampling designs of soil surveys in Taiwan. It also may be useful for identifying the appropriate sampling densities for these scales of soil surveys.

A computer program for simulating cation‐exchange reactions in soil was developed and used for simulating the determination of exchangeable acidity with 1 MKCl and of hydrolytic acidity with 1 MNaOAc. The acidification process resulting from extraction of an initially base‐saturated soil with a dilute solution of an acid having various dissociation constant may also be simulated. From the calculated pH‐base saturation relationships for assumed K‐H exchange coefficent (KK‐H) varying from 1 × 101to 1 × 10−6, it is noted that for KK‐Hvalues of 1 × 10−n, the inflection point of the pH‐base saturation curve is at the pH value of n. Thus, the permanent charge sites of mineral soils appeared to have a KK‐Hvalue of 1 × 10−1and greater, while for the pH‐dependent charge sites the KK‐Hvalues are smaller than 1 × 10−2. The acidity extracted by 1 MKCl solution corresponded to the H+on the permanent charge sites, with KK‐Hvalues of 1 × 10−2and greater, but it may also include some portions of H+bound on exchange sites with KK‐Hvalues smaller than 1 × 10−2. Exchangeable H+from sites with KK‐Hsmaller than 1 × 10−5were practically not displaced by 1 MKCl solution. The use of 1 MNaOAc instead of Kcl could quantitatively displace the H+held on the sites with KNa‐Hvalues >1 × 10−3by a single extraction, while those of 1 × 10−6and greater may be displaced by repeated extractions. Calculations with KNa‐Hvalues of 1 × 10−7did not converge, but available soil data indicate that the pH‐dependent sites of soils have KNa‐Hvalues in the order of 1 × 10−7. Use of a dilute acid solution in place of KCl or NaOAc solution simulates the acidification process of acid precipitations.

In the investigation of multiphonon transitions, single-mode or single-frequency models are widely used. In view of the fact that such oversimplified models, can be seriously inadequate, the present work bridges the gap between the complexity of the general formal theory and the simplicity required for concrete applications by introducing the concept of multi-frequency models. That is, the theory is so formulated that a general system can be approximated by multi-frequency models of any degree of elaboration. A statistical thermodynamic formalism is developed for treating such multi-frequency models, which, on the one hand, greatly reduces the labour of calculation with such models and, on the other hand, leads directly to a simple statistical distribution law for numbers of phonons of each frequency participating in a multiphonon transition. Applications of the theory to concrete models lead to certain general conclusions on frequency dispersion effects in multiphonon transitions. The use of the theory is further demonstrated by fully accounting for the paradoxical experimental results reported by Jia and yen that the isotopic substitution of H by D in CsMn reduces the multiphonon nonradiative transition probability of excited Mn2+ion by more than ten-fold, and yet leaves the corresponding luminescence phonon sideband little changed. In the last section of the paper, the relation between the statistical thermodynamic formalism and existing multiphonon transition theory is elucidated, thereby the theoretical basis of the statistical formalism becomes clearly defined.

Tension‐moisture content relationships of the deferrated soils and control soil indicated that available moisture was reduced from 10.3% to 7.3% as the result of deferration. From the study of vapor adsorption isotherms, the constants of the BET equation were derived. Deferration increased the standard free energy of adsorption of water on the bare surface, ΔF°1, and decreased the specific surface, S, while oxidation decreased both ΔF°1and S. The deferrated clay was dispersed easier by humic acid, showed less buffering effect against Ba(OH)2, and a decrease in exchange capacity; whereas oxidized clay gave a stronger buffering effect against NaOH. The energy of replacement of Ca by K showed no difference between variously treated clays, indicating binding force of cations at exchange sites was little affected by presence of organic matter or iron oxide. It was concluded that the principal clay minerals and free iron oxide forming fine porous coating might be regarded as the dominant factors affecting moisture and surface characteristics of the Pinchen clay.

With a specially designed probe, the phase difference between s and p polarization of light reflected under surface-plasmon resonance is measured by use of a common-path heterodyne interferometer. For specific ratios of phase difference to glucose concentration, the glucose concentration can be estimated as a function of the measured phase data. A prototype was set up to demonstrate the feasibility of this sensor, which was experimentally tested in the range 40–500 mg/dl with a small quantity of solution and had a measurement resolution of 1.41 mg/dl at 25 °C.

Ultra-low repetition rate nanosecond pulsed seed lasers are beneficial for scaling both the pulse energy and the peak power in rare-earth doped fibre amplifiers. We report the generation of nanosecond laser pulses at 1958 nm with low repetition rates of down to 100 Hz in an all-fibre gain-switched thulium-doped fibre laser. Temporal characteristics of the generated 1958 nm laser pulses with repetition rates in the range from 100 Hz to 10 kHz are investigated in detail. It is found that the needed threshold pump energy decreases with increasing repetition rate. The experimental results are shown to be in good agreement with the results of the theoretical discussion.

We report the formation of GaAs quantum wires using giant step structure formed during molecular beam epitaxial growth of AlGaAs on vicinal (110) GaAs surfaces. Atomic force microscope observation indicates that the steps extend to over several µm and are coherently aligned. The growth of an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QWL) on the giant step structure forms quantum wires (QWRs) along the step edges. Carrier confinement into the QWRs is caused by the increase of well width (well-width modulation) and the decrease of Al composition in the AlGaAs barriers (barrier-compositional modulation), which are confirmed by transmission electron microscope observation. Redshift and strong polarization parallel to the wire direction in the photoluminescence spectra support carrier confinement into the GaAs QWRs.

Quantum wires are fabricated by the growth of the AlGaAs system on vicinal (110) GaAs substrates misoriented toward (111)A. It is concluded that during the growth of AlGaAs, composition modulation occurs on the large-step structure almost independently of the temperature, while the large-step structure is formed by the growth only below a transition temperature. The photoluminescence (PL) from a single quantum wire is observed with a much narrower spectral width as compared with the PL from multi-quantum wires.

Objective:To compare the ratio of hospital admissions for asthma to total hospital admissions and to admissions for non‐asthma respiratory conditions, over an 11‐year period, to see if there has been a true increase in admissions for asthma or merely a change in diagnostic labelling. A similar comparison was made for presentations with asthma and non‐asthma respiratory conditions to the accident and emergency department. Design and setting:A case review of all patients with a confirmed diagnosis of respiratory disease admitted to hospital or attending the accident and emergency department at the Camperdown Children's Hospital between 1979 and 1989. Results:There was a 98% increase in the number of patients admitted with a confirmed diagnosis of asthma. While the ratio of admissions for asthma to total admissions increased from 0.053 in 1979 to 0.09 in 1989, the ratio of admissions for non‐asthma respiratory conditions to total admissions remained relatively constant. The ratio of attendances for asthma to total accident and emergency attendances rose from 0.017 in 1979 to 0.072 in 1989, whereas the ratio of attendances for non‐asthma respiratory conditions to total accident and emergency attendances had a maximum variation of 0.065 to 0.09. Conclusions:These results suggest that there has been a major increase in the number of cases of asthma being treated at this hospital and that this is a true increase, perhaps representing increased severity, rather than a change in diagnostic labelling.

We derive the phase difference equation between the p- and s-polarizations of reflection light based on the Kretschmann-Raether configuration. This phase difference equation is used to examine the relationship of the incident angle and metal film thickness versus the phase differences under a small refractive index variation. For a fixed incident angle, the phase difference has a higher measurement sensitivity than the reflectivity change. At the critical angle, there is a higher sensitivity when the metal film thickness is smaller than the skin depth. The surface plasmon resonant (SPR) angle dominates when the metal film thickness is greater than the skin depth. The phase measuring sensitivity at the SPR angle is higher than that at the critical angle by 1 order.

First, the phase differences between s- and p-polarizations of a circularly polarized heterodyne light beam reflected from the emulsion layer, and that from its substrate, are measured, respectively. The measured data are substituted into specially derived equations, so the refractive indices of the emulsion layer and its substrate can be calculated. Second, the variations of phase differences between s- and p-polarizations due to the wavelength shifts and the extraction of the holographic plate in a modified Michelson interferometer are measured. Then, the thickness of the emulsion layer and its substrate can be estimated based on the measured values of refractive indices, the wavelength shifts, and the phase difference variations. This method has some advantages, such as high resolution and easy operation in only one optical configuration. © 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.