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

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impact of gender diversity in the composition of engagement auditors on the disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs) in a dual-signature environment. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used the unique institutional setup of Taiwan, where the law requires that audit reports be signed by two audit partners. The authors examined the effect of gender diversity composition among engagement auditors on KAM disclosure, considering behavioral differences between female and male auditors. Findings: The empirical results indicate that gender diversity composition in the dual-signature environment is associated with the number of disclosed KAM items (KAMIT) and the length of the explanations for each KAMIT. Furthermore, the authors found that gender diversity composition, particularly when led by female audit partners, has a more pronounced impact on the explanation of each KAMIT rather than on the disclosure of KAMIT. The authors also noted that the moderating effect of audit firm specialization does not influence the gender diversity composition of audit partners in disclosing KAMs. Originality/value: This study's empirical findings demonstrate that the interaction between different gender compositions in a dual-signature environment influences KAM disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

Background: Sciaenidae is one of the most important coastal fisheries in Taiwan, both in production and economic value. It is also significant as the main targetted diet of Chinese white dolphins, Sousa chinensis, especially for the genus Johnius, such as J. taiwanensis, J. belangerii and J. distinctus, which is primarily found in central-western Taiwan coastal waters. Despite an abundance of Johnius species occurrences reported in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility (TaiBIF) data portals (Mozambique, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Pakistan, Vietnam and China), there are no specific datasets that properly document the regional distribution of this genus, especially in Taiwanese waters. Thus, this paper describes a dataset of genus Johnius occurrences in waters on the central-western coast of Taiwan. The data collection for the present study was conducted from 2009 until 2020 and comprised 62 sampling events and 133 occurrence records. All fish specimens were collected by trawling in Miaoli, Changhwa and Yunlin Counties, Taiwan and brought back to the lab for identification, individual number count and body weight measurement. These processing data have been integrated and established in the Taiwan Fish Database and published in GBIF. This dataset contains six Johnius species and 2,566 specimens, making it comprehensive Johnius fish fauna and spatial distributional data on the coastal habitat in central-western Taiwanese waters. New information: This dataset contains 133 occurrence records of Johnius species (Sciaenidae) with 2,566 specimens, making it the most extensive public dataset of Johnius distribution records in Taiwan. The publication of this dataset through the TaiBIF and GBIF dataset platforms demonstrated that the number of Johnius spatial and temporal records in Taiwan waters is influenced by the topographical structure of the Changyun Rise (CYR) in combination with the cold current of the China Coastal currents and bound with the warm currents of the Kuroshio and the South China Sea on the central-western coast of Taiwan. The data serve as the foundation for understanding the biogeography and Johnius species ecology in Taiwan's coastal waters, which present a 2°C water temperature difference split at the CYR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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Guided by entering the deep sea and achieving deep marine development in marine construction, the factors hindering marine construction cannot be ignored. Strong ocean winds have a devastating impact on tasks such as ship navigation, carrier aircraft take-off and landing, naval operations and military exercises, and affect the planning of sea routes and the development of the long-distance sea. This paper uses ERA5 wind field data and key climate indices to conduct a systematic analysis of catastrophic winds in the global ocean using methods such as climate statistical analysis, the Theil–Sen trend method, Pearson correlation and contribution rate calculation. It points out the spatiotemporal distribution, variation trend, climate index correlation and contribution rate characteristics of strong winds occurrence (SWO) and hopes that the results of this study can serve as a guide for maritime route planning and provide technical assistance and decision-making support for marine development and other needs. The results show the following: The high global SWO occurs in the Southern Ocean, the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, near Taiwan, China, the Arabian Sea and other locations, with the strongest SWO in summer. The growth trend of SWO in the Southern Ocean is strongest, with decreasing regions near the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and the growth trend is reflected in all four seasons. The climate indices with the strongest correlation and highest contribution to the global SWO are AAO (Antarctic Oscillation) and EP–NP (East Pacific–North Pacific pattern) with a correlation between −0.5 and 0.5 and a contribution rate of up to −50%~50%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the verification results of an experimental site that employed a particle tracking algorithm to assess the transport of tracers through the composite formation of gravel and Cholan in northwest Taiwan. A suitable hydrogeological conceptual model that describes the flow characteristics of the gravel formation and Cholan formation is essential to evaluate groundwater flow and management at this site. Continuous porous medium (CPM) can be easily applied in the gravel formation, while the Cholan formation, characterized by argillaceous sandstone, is commonly treated as a porous medium. However, this study obtains its fracture distribution through geological surveys, and the key fracture parameters are also collected, analyzed, and incorporated into the model. Four hydrogeological conceptual models, including CPM, discrete fracture network (DFN), equivalent continuous porous medium (ECPM), and hybrid DFN/ECPM, are generated for this complex formation. This study combines the conceptual models of the gravel and Cholan formation into four cases to describe the characteristics of the composite formation. The groundwater flow field of four cases is simulated, and the particle tracking method is employed to model the tracer transport. Simulation results from the four hybrid models all yielded a breakthrough curve (BTC) for the first 15 h, indicating that the tracer arrived at the designated outlet within this timeframe and primarily flowed through the gravel formation, while long-time particle tracking revealed a possible flow path through the Cholan formation after 15 h. The breakthrough curve of the four cases shows that the ECPM model is more suitable for representing the heterogeneity of the Cholan formation than the common CPM model. This study provides a suitable numerical algorithm of the conceptual model of the Cholan formation based on strong evidence by considering different models and comparing them with in situ tracer tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

This paper examines the making and remaking of Taiwan's banana export market in response to the devastation caused by an outbreak of a novel infectious plant disease, Fusarium wilt disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cubense). Taiwan was the world's fourth-largest exporter of bananas in the 1960s before the collapse of the market in the early 1970s. While scholars have drawn on actor-network theory-inspired performativity approach to understand the role of non-human actants in market-making, insufficient attention has been given to the distinct impacts of microbes on cases such as that of Taiwan's banana export market. Microbes' creative and ever-evolving qualities constantly present challenges related to the control and containment of such non-human entities, for which no pre-existing or universally applicable solutions exist. Consequently, there is a lack of research that provides useful frameworks to understand such disease-plagued markets. To bridge this gap in the literature, we examine the remaking of Taiwan's banana export market in the aftermath of the TR4 crisis using a case study approach and develop the notion of pathological markets. Inspired by recent scholarship on biosecurity and related care practices, we outline two characteristics that shape pathological markets: (a) speculative and probiotic care practices and (b) the rescaling of market organisations. The results of the fieldwork conducted as part of the present study in laboratories, government offices and on banana farms lead us to contend that the growth and development of particular microbes in multispecies environments such as Taiwan's banana farms constantly pose significant challenges for market farming. Moreover, to co-exist with the threats posed by the growth and development of microbes such as those which cause Fusarium wilt disease TR4, growers in Taiwan's banana export market rely heavily on probiotic and speculative care practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence is the unification of philosophy, cognitive science, mathematics, neurophysiology, psychology, computer science, information theory, cybernetics, and uncertainty theory. Therefore, it is feasible and necessary to utilize STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Mathematics) education to learn artificial intelligence courses. Computational thinking skills are of vital importance to high school students. This paper integrates artificial intelligence education with STEAM model with the aim of enhancing students' computational thinking skills. First, we investigate the feasibility of this model and set teaching objectives about artificial intelligence curricula. Second, artificial intelligence curricula with STEAM model is proposed to carry out interdisciplinary artificial intelligence knowledge acquisition. Finally, the effects of this model on students' computational thinking skills, learning motivation, and self-efficacy are evaluated. One hundred thirty-six participants are recruited from a high school in Beijing. The results reveal that the integration of artificial intelligence education with STEAM is able to promote computational thinking skills, learning motivation, and self-efficacy of the students in the experimental group. The main implication of this study is that artificial intelligence education in light of STEAM model can be used as a teaching guide for the combination of artificial intelligence curricula with multi-disciplinary knowledge at the primary and secondary levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Purpose: The demand for long-term home care services has been increasing in Taiwan due to the significant growth of the older population. In order to understand the crucial roles that language and communication play in providing better long-term home care services in Taiwan, this study aims to adopt a gerontological sociolinguistic perspective to investigate how professional care workers communicate with older people in this context. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews were conducted with 58 long-term home care workers to identify their communication accommodation strategies for older people, considering their health conditions (dementia), personalities (grumpiness), living status (loneliness) and general principles of long-term home care communication. Findings: The study's findings provide practical insights for long-term home care workers to enhance their communication skills while interacting with older people. Research limitations/implications: The results could contribute to improving the quality of care services provided to older people and address their specific communication needs. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to identify contextually specific communication accommodations to older people in existing literature of gerontological sociolinguistics that addresses language, communication and older age. The salience of the findings in this study can be further enhanced if they were applied in the development of training programs for future Taiwanese long-term home care workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

What is Taiwan's overseas community, and how does it connect with Taiwan's diplomacy? The ad hoc organization representing migrants from Taiwall, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, evolved from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) of the Republic of China (ROC), established in 1926. The jargon overseas Chinese is the English translation of the Chinese term huaqiao. The latter refers to migrants from China and their descendants who consider themselves sojourners from China, but not all ethnic Chinese residing abroad would accept the huaqiao identity. The ideas concerning huaqiao and Taiwan's diplomacy constitute the theme of this paper. It adapts Joseph Nye's thesis of soft power (cultural diplomacy) and Jacques deLisle's concept of sharp power (political warfare) to interpret the two views on the articulation between Taiwan and migrants from China. It points out the Chinese nationalist embeddedness of the huaqiao concept and the ways in which nationalists drew reference from the history of Chinese migration to Taiwan in the seventeenth century to construct the huaqiao discourses. It also traces the institutional foundation of the Kuomintang's (KMT) huaqiao policies transplanted to Taiwan after 1949. The debate over Taiwan's overseas community policies reflected the twofold question: the competition between Taiwan's cultural diplomacy and the People's Republic of China's political warfare over overseas Chinese mobilization and the construction of Taiwan's national identity after democratization. In conclusion, I highlight the importance of de-nationalizing the huaqiao ideas to ensure a democratic approach for Taiwan to connect with its migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an excerpt from China's national defense white paper published on July 28, 1998, which deals with China's strait relations with Taiwan.

The article presents a study on the accuracy, reliability and best practices of titanium-in-quartz thermobarometry (TitaniQ) in greenschist facies rocks in the Hsüehshan range, Taiwan. The study measured the Ti concentrations in rutile-bearing samples of recrystallized quartzite and vein quartz from Hsüehshan range. The results showed that TitaniQ has the potential to give accurate predicted temperature (PT) information for dynamic recrystallization of quartz and vein emlplacement.

Mu P-F. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; : 645-646 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic transition has already become a major issue in the recent decades. Lower fertility rate and higher expected life length result in population aging. Most developed countries face social problems due to demographic transitions, especially in the economic and financial field. To take a closer look at this phenomenon, this paper screened 99 stocks provided by Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) to explore the impact of population aging on the stock market in Taiwan. Population aging indirectly takes up a larger portion of elder investors in the stock market, compared to the past. This paper employed risk and return variables to analyze the investors' behaviors in Taiwan stock market. We divided our samples into whole industry, financial industry, technology industry, and traditional industry groups to find the impact of investors aging among different industries. The results showed that there is no significant evidence to prove that the elder investors pursue lower risk stocks in Taiwan stock market, which is inconsistent with the results of the past research. On the other hand, the findings from the whole industry, technology industry, and traditional industry groups are different from the past research results, showing that Taiwan's elderly investors prefer stocks with higher return in those industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital shearography is a technique that has recently been applied to material inspections that cannot be performed by the naked eyes, including the detection of air bubble defects in tires. Although digital shearography detects bubbles that are not visible to the naked eyes, the process of determining tire defects still relies on field operators, with inconsistent results depending on the experiences of the field operator personnel. New or different types of bubble defects that AI models have not previously recognized are often missed, resulting in an inadequate quality detection model. In this paper, we propose a bubble defect detection method based on an incremental YOLO architecture. The data for this research was provided by the largest tire manufacturer in Taiwan. In our research, we classify the defects into six distinct categories, pre-process the images to allow better detections of less-noticeable defects, increase the amount of training data used, and generate an initial training model with the YOLO framework. We also propose an incremental YOLO method using small-model training for previously unobserved defects to improve the model detection rate. We have observed detection accuracy and sensitivity of 98% and 90% in the experimental results, respectively. The methods proposed in this paper can assist tire manufacturers in achieving semi-automatic quality inspections and labor cost reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the increasingly volatile global political order, national economic structures and international relations, integrated as they are, are showing concerning signs of strain. Taiwan, whose world-leading semiconductor industry is indispensable in Global Supply Chains and whose economic prosperity and security are critical to a stable global economic system, has received much research interest since the late 1980s. Against the background of a slowing Taiwanese economy, starting in the 2000s, this paper seeks to investigate the causes of Taiwan's challenges and the linkages to the global economy vis-à-vis China. Based on previous research from different social science disciplines, this paper shows that Taiwan's economic performance has been undermined by the declining effectiveness of its industrial policy and the general state intervention in the country, which is in turn caused by deep socio-political divisions on issues of national identity and Taiwan-China relations. The paper reveals the dilemma, which results from this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dividend tax policy is one of the important tools of government taxation. Observing the dividend tax policy and the behavior of stock prices around ex-rights will not only shed light on investment strategies, but also give us a clearer understanding of the microstructure of the capital market. Taiwan went through dividend tax policy and National Health Insurance (NHI) supplementary premium changes from 2014 to 2016. Therefore, this paper adopts the event study method to conduct empirical research on this major event period. The research conclusion points out: (1) During the research period, the company studied had a positive cumulative abnormal return before and on the ex-right day, and there was a negative cumulative abnormal return after the ex-right day. (2) When the tax reduction effect is more favorable to investors, there will be only a positive relationship with positive abnormal returns. (3) There is no statistical significance between the dividend tax reform policy and the negative abnormal return after ex-rights. The empirical results of this paper can help to better understand the pricing process of stocks by market microstructure systems such as dividend tax policies and help build a more stable stock market transaction structure. On the other hand, investors and companies can also gain their own investment or dividend policy inspiration from this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Limited previous studies about Vietnamese returned migrant workers reviewed that a relatively high rate of migrants returned home before their contract ended. This paper aims to explore how the decisions to return were made under social lenses. Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses data obtained through in-depth interviews of contract workers who had worked in Taiwan with a focus on Phu Tho province in Vietnam. Findings: The authors followed O'Reilly's (2012) adaption of Practice theory in migration research to examine a group of Vietnamese labour migrants returning from Taiwan. Under this theory, external and internal structures are the two divisions of the social environment. The authors identified external structures that might enable or constraint migrant's mobility. When negotiating internal structures, Vietnamese women might end their contract early in response to family obligations. Originality/value: The findings provide insights into how women make their decisions when to return, which may contribute to a better understanding of how to assist women engaged in transnational labour migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globalisation of food and agricultural trade has brought issues of food safety and biosecurity to the centre of geopolitical research. This paper explores the relationship between food risks and sovereignty practices, a topic that has received relatively scant attention in the scholarship. Going beyond conventional conceptualisations of sovereignty as an external-legal notion that is delimited to the realm of 'high politics' in international relations, this paper points to how it is also expressed and negotiated in quotidian practices of food import and consumption, and how this has contributed to the politicisation of food safety. Focusing on the case of Taiwan, a de facto island state with contested sovereignty status, and comparing the food safety discourses that arose during the outbreaks of Mad Cow Disease and African Swine Fever, we argue that food risks provide opportunities for social and political actors to participate in the everyday construction of sovereignty. While the Taiwanese government's handling of the Mad Cow Disease shows it to be ultimately constrained by the geopolitical reality of fragile sovereignty, the outbreak of African Swine Fever enabled it to legitimise the securitisation of borders and bolster its legitimacy by staging collective defensive actions against perceived external risks. By drawing attention to how sovereignty is produced and performed through practice, this paper further advances recent discussions of sovereignty as a dynamic, social process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC) includes some of the highlights of the best papers presented at the 2020 Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference (A-SSCC), which was held on November 9–11, 2020. A-SSCC 2020 was originally planned to be held in Hiroshima, Japan. However, due to COVID-19, A-SSCC 2020 had to become a virtual conference. As one of the five conferences fully sponsored by the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, the A-SSCC was in its 16th appearance in 2020 since its inauguration in 2005 in Taiwan. Rotating among Asian countries, the A-SSCC is quickly becoming one of the leading global forums for the presentation of advances in solid-state circuits and system-on-a-chip (SoC). From 2018, this conference accepts field-programmable gate array (FPGA) papers for presentation and demo and allows two-page format papers for submission and publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN, including ammonium, nitrite and nitrate) export from land to ocean is becoming dominated by anthropogenic activities and severely altering the aquatic ecosystem. However, rare observational analyses have been conducted in the Oceania, the hotspot of global DIN export. In this study a whole watershed monitoring network (20 stations) was conducted in 2003 to investigate the controlling factors of DIN export in the Danshui River of Taiwan. The results showed that DIN concentration ranged from ~ 16 μM in the headwater and up to ~ 430 μM in the estuary. However, the dominating DIN species transformed gradually from NO3- in the headwater (~ 97%) to NH4+ in the estuary (~ 70%), which well followed the descending dissolved oxygen (DO) distribution (from ~ 8 mg L-1 to ~ 1 mg L-1). NO2- was observed in the transition zone from high to low DO. DIN yield was increasing downstream, ranging from ~ 160 to ~ 6000 kg N km-2 yr-1 as population density increases toward the estuary, from ~ 15 pop km-2 to ~ 2600 pop km-2. Although the individual DIN export, ~ 2.40 kg N person-1 yr-1, was comparable to the global average, the close-to-top DIN yield was observed owing to abundant rainfall, dense population, and the sensitive response to population increase. The Danshui River occupies 1.8 x 10-3 % of the land surface area of the Earth but discharges disproportionately high percentage, ~ 60 x 10-3 % (~ 14 000 t N yr-1) of the annual global DIN export to the ocean. Through this study, regulating factors and the significance of human population on DIN export were identified, and the regional databases were supplemented to promote the completeness of global models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the afterlives of the likulau (clouded leopard), through its spiritual presence and material traces among the indigenous Paiwan people of Taiwan. Despite having been locally extinct for over half a century, the clouded leopard still continues to inhabit the myths and imaginations of the local population. In traditional Paiwan culture, the clouded leopard held a special status, and its skin and teeth were used to make ritual clothes and adornments for the village chiefs. In this paper, I explore the significance of these likulau artefacts in contemporary Paiwan society. I also examine how the Paiwan's interactions with and the cultural significance of these objects have evolved in connection with environmental changes and social transformations of Paiwan society. As embodied in these material traces, the clouded leopard is both absent and present, extinct and alive. I explore this spectral presence via the concept of survivance (Didi-Huberman), examining how the ambiguous persistence of the clouded leopard relates to the resilience of traditional Paiwan culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the proportion of work on 'Muslim geographies', the majority has focused on Muslims as a minority discussed within societies of the West. Additionally, this work rarely discusses the positionality of the researcher despite significant overlap with work in feminist, social, and cultural geographies. This paper takes 'Muslim geographies' as a starting point to further problematise accounts of knowledge, subjectivity, and power with regard to the treatment of Islam in geography. I argue that geographical analysis from different standpoints is needed to yield other ways of knowing about Muslims and how they orient themselves across space and time. This theoretical intervention is informed by my fieldwork experience as a Muslim male conducting ethnographic research on migration and labour precarity with other Muslim migrants across Taiwan. As I transited through various Muslim spaces, being Muslim provided privileged access and shaped the direction in which the research progressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the spatial forms and cultural sustainability of the Damazhan and Xiaomazhan historical area, the only area that reflects the development of the assembled-clan hall culture in Guangzhou. In the face of modernization and reconstruction, traditional culture plays an increasingly crucial role in modern cities, determining the expression of architectural uniqueness and continuous development that adapts to social needs. Therefore, preserving cultural characteristics is more relevant than ever. This study combines historical literature research with typo-morphological analysis to establish analytical strategies that link cultural sustainability with spatial evolution from the perspective of sustainable development. The analytical framework consists of three parts: First of all, through historical literature research, a thorough analysis is conducted on the cultural and social influencing factors from the Dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and the Republic of China to the reform and opening up period. Secondly, feature elements of the location are extracted, and a typo-morphological approach is used to analyze the sustained changes in spatial forms. Finally, the relationship between changes in block form and building types and the inheritance and development of traditional culture are demonstrated. The analytical results indicate that the continuity of cultural characteristics is embodied in the continuity of the block and architectural spatial characteristics, while cultural transformation and man-made social factors affect the changes in spatial forms. This paper combines the perspective of cultural sustainability analysis with the traditional typo-morphological approaches of urban spatial analysis, supplementing the existing typo-morphological methodology. In addition, guiding the development of urban morphology from the perspective of cultural sustainability is of prominent practical significance. [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.)

Studies have shown the abundance of fisheries resources in the waters of the northern part of the Philippines bordering southern Taiwan. However, discrepancies in legal frameworks, enforcement mechanisms, and cultural practices, as well as maritime boundary issues, contribute to complexities in collaboration. This paper thus aims to provide an understanding into the intricacies and challenges faced by both countries in managing their shared fishing resources. By analyzing the relevant international laws and instruments on fisheries cooperation, the paper shows what coastal states and entities fishing in the high seas could do to manage and conserve fishery resources in disputed areas. Existing fisheries agreements in the region such as the Taiwan–Japan Fisheries Cooperation provide a template of the kind of cooperation that can be concluded within the overlapping waters of both nations. Results of the analysis show how important it is for both nations to acknowledge the significance of fisheries cooperation in the overlapping waters. By recognizing the mutual benefits of sustainable resource management through peaceful dialogue, establishing a fisheries cooperation under the legal framework of the WCPFC is the logical solution. The findings contribute to understanding the complexities of cross-border fisheries cooperation and provide valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Compilation & Translation Review is the property of National Academy for Educational Research 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 Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre & Folklore / Mínsú Qǔyì is the property of Shih Ho-Cheng Folk Culture Foundation 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.)

To strengthen brand identity, enrich tourist experiences, and promote heritage education, Taijiang National Park proposed to reconstruct Taiwan's Dutch Trading Post in a different location from where it was initially erected in the 17th century. This paper is a case study of the reconstruction proposal for a lost colonial architectural complex in the context of heritage tourism. It discusses the practical and academic issues of rebuilding long-lost colonial heritage sites. The author provided a first-hand account of the technical and practical reasoning for reconstructing a bygone complex erected by Dutch settlers. Historical development phases of the Dutch Trading Post of Taiwan were first introduced, and then a reconstruction strategy was proposed to resolve conflicts with legal constraints. Additionally, a site selection process using GIS, a conceptually driven plan for reconstruction, and a 3D simulation were provided. Three specific issues in heritage rebuilding were further discussed, including the decision to reconstruct a heritage building (complex), the authenticity of the reconstructed building if done in a different location from where it was initially situated, and the need to discover more archaeological facts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On September 18, 2022, an earthquake with a local magnitude (ML) 6.8 struck the southern part of Longitudinal Valley in southeastern Taiwan, resulting in the collapse and damage of many engineering structures. A field reconnaissance was conducted at the selected sites that experienced building and bridge damages and is presented in this paper. The focus is on geotechnical problems such as strong ground motion, ground rupture, soil liquefaction, and their influence on engineering structures. Strong motions of up to 0.6 g were induced, with similar intensity in the vertical and horizontal components near the epicenter. Widespread ground rupture traces were observed along the officially recognized active faults, inducing offsets up to tens of centimeters. Soil liquefaction was also noticed in this region, mainly on the river flood plain and characterized as gravel layer. The possible influence of these observed geotechnical characteristics on the damage pattern or failure mode of buildings, bridges, embankments, and levees was discussed and interpreted insightfully. The perspectives presented in this paper may serve as a reference to disaster prevention and mitigation in future events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 investigates the everyday lived realities of Southeast Asian migrant workers who left the formal sector of the labour market and entered the informal agricultural sector before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Taiwan. Drawing on observations of migrants' daily lives and farm work and 19 in‐depth interviews, it delves into migrants' subjective experiences of vulnerability, paternalism, exploitation, and control at work due to a lack of legal protection and the illegality of their employment. Although the literature has identified a link between 'running away' from formal employment and seeking freedom, this research suggests a continuum between experiences of work in the formal and informal economic sectors. The paper sheds new light on mobility, work, illegality, and informality and how these have constantly shaped 'runaway' workers' subjective experiences of freedom and unfreedom during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research involving international research communities has been advocated in the field of behavior analysis (Dymond et al., 2000; Martin et al., 2016). The purpose of the present study was to report the status of behavioral research in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, in terms of number of publications, types of research, and frequency of collaboration with international researchers. Fifteen behavioral journals were selected from the list by Cooper et al. (2020). These were searched by hand to find publications conducted in or authored by researchers from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan dating from each journal's inception to December 2021. The earliest publication we found appeared in 1980 in The Psychological Record. Over the following four decades (1980–1989; 1990–1999; 2000–2009; 2010–2021), the number of publications per decade increased dramatically and continues in recent years to rise. Publications include research reports, review papers, and conceptual articles, with the majority being basic research reports published in Behavioral Processes. Approximately half the publications involve collaboration with international researchers, mostly in North America. Implications for behavioral research, practice, and policy in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Proceedings of the Faculty of Economics in East Sarajevo / Zbornik Radova Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Istočnom Sarajevu is the property of University of East Sarajevo 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.)

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in open government data (OGD) around the world. The governments of various countries have encouraged firms to adopt OGD to develop innovative products and services to bring about social and economic benefits. This paper examines the factors influencing the adoption of OGD among firms in Taiwan to fill a gap that prior studies do not adequately address. Based on the sociotechnical perspective, we developed a research model that integrates the following factors that are central to adoption decisions of firms: top management support, government support, competitive pressure, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers. We examined this model through survey data from firms with experience in OGD adoption in Taiwan. The results show a significant positive relationship among top management support, competitive pressure, and the adoption of OGD by firms. This paper serves as a first attempt to contribute to advancing knowledge on OGD adoption at the firm level via empirically testing a research model that integrates factors within social and technical systems. This paper has significant implications for practitioners of enterprise information management and creates a valuable reference for other countries in the early stages of OGD initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive use of electronic devices has become a major global problem. However, little is known about the development and current landscape of research concerning this field. This study aimed at exploring the overall publication trend and topics of research on the overuse of electronic devices and the Internet from 1971 to 2017. We systematically searched the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases for published articles on the excessive use of electronic devices and the Internet. Data regarding the publication volume, international collaborations, and geographical locations were analyzed by bibliometrics analysis. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) was undertaken to categorize publications into different research topics. A total of 2,276 papers from the WOS and 600 papers from the Scopus were included. We found a dramatic increase in the number of scientific papers towards addiction to electronic devices and the Internet. The United State led in all publication parameters including the total number of papers and total citations. China, Korea and Taiwan were among the most prolific countries/regions. Smartphone addiction was the main concern, and the relationship between the overuse of electronic devices and the Internet and mental health issues have been highlighted. On the other hand, our study found a limited appearance of discussion on effective treatment and intervention. The findings of this study call for more national and international cooperation in evaluating and intervening addiction to electronic devices and the Internet to gather more knowledge about this phenomenon and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is vital to have an exclusive modification in semiconductor production process because of meeting differentiated customer demands in dynamic and competitive global minuscule semiconductor technology market and the highly complex fabrication process. In this paper, we propose a control system based on the dynamic mixed-effect least-square support vector regression (LS-SVR) control system for overlay error compensation with stochastic metrology delay to minimize the misalignment of the patterning process. Moreover, for the stability of the control system in the presence of metrology delay and to deal with nonlinearity among the overlay factors, the novel Lyapunov-based kernel function is merged with the LS-SVR controller. The proposed controller’s operation has been validated and implemented by a major semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan. The experiments are verified that mixed-effect LS-SVR controller has the higher validity and higher efficiency in comparison with the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) and threaded EWMA controllers which had been previously implemented at the company or applied in similar studies. Note to Practitioners—Due to high production complexity in semiconductor manufacturing process, a meticulous and intelligent process control is needed to achieve higher throughput and customer satisfaction. Monitoring a complex system is challenging because the process components and variables operate autonomously and interoperate with other manufacturing segments. This paper proposes a novel run-to-run (R2R) control system to compensate the overlay error during the photolithography process that efficiently deals with the high-mixed manufacturing environment and metrology delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information related to manipulation in the microbiology paper published by scientists at Taiwan-based National Chung Hsing University in the October 20, 2006 issue of the periodical "Cell." The paper, which questioned prevailing views of how transcription of a gene's DNA begins in bacteria, was challenged publicly on 16 November 2006 when an anonymous posting appeared on an electronic bulletin board run by Chinese students in the U.S. The posting alleged that many images in the paper had been manipulated. However, Ban-Yang Chang, the corresponding author of the paper has denied the allegation and stated that the conclusion made in paper is true on the basis of their data.

The present study aims to identify the most productive countries, journals, authors, institutions and the most used keywords in the field of special education during 2011-2020, based on the WoS database. The widespread effects of the papers and how they are related were analyzed with the bibliometric analysis method. The findings of the study showed that the USA is inarguably the most productive country, followed by England and Australia. On the other hand, there was a very strong positive correlation (r = 0.929) between the number of papers published by countries and their h-index, a similar finding was also found to be present between the countries' h-index and GDP per capita (r = 0.790). Moreover, it was found that the journals with the highest quartile (Q1 and Q2) in the field of special education published significantly more papers than the journals with the lowest quartile (Q3 and Q4). Matson, JL (USA), Sigafoos, J (New Zealand) and Lancioni, GE (Italy) were determined as the most prolific authors, respectively. Autism, intellectual disability, and Down syndrome were the phrases most frequently used as keywords. Our findings provide key information regarding the developments that the research direction of special education field has recently taken. This study also serves a potential roadmap for future studies.

This paper examines the trends and challenges of Taiwanese studies in Japan, focusing on political history. The first section reviews Taiwanese studies in Japan in recent years, with a focus on political research. The second section discusses the issues to be worked on for this discipline's future, especially pertaining to the discussion on "external" and "internal" legitimacy for the postwar Republic of China (ROC) government in Taiwan. The third section examines ways to comprehend the changes in the ROC's status in Taiwanese politics and society after the political transformation began in the 1970s. Taiwanese studies in Japan have long emphasized revealing the characteristics of Taiwanese society and history. Although such an attitude is still quite important, this paper highlights that knowing how to value the "Chineseness" of the ROC government in Taiwan is also an important subject. Further examination of the link between international and internal politics in Taiwan will be one of the most important subjects for future Taiwanese studies in Japan on politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Compilation & Translation Review is the property of National Academy for Educational Research 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.)