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The Little Bosses' Market, now in its second year and organized by the Hualien Parent-Child Center, challenges the perspective that young children cannot learn about economics. The children participating in this activity took on the responsibilities of planning and selling their goods and services. They interacted with customers by noting prices, explaining how to play a game, or demonstrating how to use a toy. They accepted payments of real currency and made change, while parents watched approvingly. Re-using is a goal for sustainability supported by the Hualien Parent-Child Center. The huge success of the Little Bosses' Market proved that young children and their parents could actively contribute to the achievement of that goal by re-using toys and games.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is now widespread, and the use of robots in education has demonstrated a positive influence on students' behavior and development. However, the use of emerging technologies usually results in cognitive load, especially for elementary school students whose learning capacity has not yet been established. In addition, students of different genders have different physical, psychological and learning characteristics, so gender differences affect cognitive load. Cognitive load can be divided into two types: positive cognitive load and negative cognitive load. Usually, positive cognitive load results in good learning performance while negative cognitive load results in bad learning performance. Therefore, we use the cognitive load theory to define learning efficiency as the co-impact of learning performance and cognitive load. We take game-based intelligent robots for Chinese idiom learning as an example, and explore the impacts of gender differences on elementary school students. To achieve these aims, this study combined games and Zenbo robots, and applied them to educate elementary school students in the use of Chinese idioms. Secondly, this study conducted an experiment and analyzed the experimental results. The participants were 24 fourth-grade elementary school students from the central region of Taiwan. Results showed that this system is more beneficial for boys as their cognitive load was significantly lower. Boys' learning performance was also better, although the difference did not reach significance. Furthermore, learning efficiency for boys was significantly higher. Reasons for these results are explained.

The present research examined cultural patterns of parental guidance for infants as they learned about a new physical rule with hands-on experience. Nine-month-olds participated in two sites: Taipei, Taiwan and Santa Cruz, California, United States (N = 96; 48 males, 48 females). They watched a single exemplar of covering events that demonstrated the to-be-learned rule, which was insufficient visual experience to learn the rule. As infants explored the objects while observing, their mothers provided culturally distinct guidance. The dyads in Taipei co-enacted directive guidance through parents' hand-holding infants, whereas the dyads in Santa Cruz focused on infants' free exploration. Despite different emphases of learning, both groups of infants benefited from hands-on experience and learned the rule with the single exemplar. The finding points to diverse pathways to support the early development of physical concepts for infants from different cultural backgrounds. Public Significance Statement: This study revealed distinct patterns of scaffolding strategies that parents in Taipei, Taiwan and Santa Cruz, California, United States engaged their 9-month-olds in during a challenging task. By looking beyond similar outcomes of learning, the study specifies culturally diverse ways to support early cognitive development and sheds light on diverse strengths for learning being fostered in young children from different backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a social semiotic perspective, image designs in science textbooks are inevitably influenced by the sociocultural context in which the books are produced. The learning environments of Australia and Taiwan vary greatly. Drawing on social semiotics and cognitive science, this study compares classificational images in Australian and Taiwanese junior high school science textbooks. Classificational images are important kinds of images, which can represent taxonomic relations among objects as reported by Kress and van Leeuwen ("Reading images: the grammar of visual design," 2006). An analysis of the images from sample chapters in Australian and Taiwanese high school science textbooks showed that the majority of the Taiwanese images are covert taxonomies, which represent hierarchical relations implicitly. In contrast, Australian classificational images included diversified designs, but particularly types with a tree structure which depicted overt taxonomies, explicitly representing hierarchical super-ordinate and subordinate relations. Many of the Taiwanese images are reminiscent of the specimen images in eighteenth century science texts representing "what truly is", while more Australian images emphasize structural objectivity. Moreover, Australian images support cognitive functions which facilitate reading comprehension. The relationships between image designs and learning environments are discussed and implications for textbook research and design are addressed.

Tropical cyclones are often accompanied by large amount of precipitation potentially impacting stream hydrochemistry. Global warming is altering typhoon disturbance regime. Little is known about how cyclone changes, especially cyclone‐frequency reduction may affect stream hydrochemistry. In this study, we compared water and nutrient input via precipitation and output via streamflow between a frequent‐typhoon period (2013–2017), with 1.2 typhoon yr−1, and a no‐typhoon period (2018–2022) at a long‐term monitoring site, the Fushan Experimental Forest of Taiwan. Precipitation and streamflow quantities were not different between the two periods because typhoons increased the fluctuation but not the mean of monthly precipitation in the major typhoon months (July–September). Inputs of Mg2+, NO3−, and SO42− via precipitation were greater in the frequent‐typhoon period than the no‐typhoon period while inputs of other ions were not different between the two periods. Only the output of Mg2+ was different between the two periods, greater in the frequent‐typhoon period. Output/input ratio of NO3− was greater in the no‐typhoon period than the frequent‐typhoon period despite the greater input in the frequent‐typhoon period, while no differences were found for others. Increases in mineralization rates due to warming is suggested to be the cause of the greater NO3− output/input ratio during the no‐typhoon period. Relationships between stream discharge and ion export were similar between the two periods both with and without removing typhoon events. The limited variation in hydrochemistry between periods of contrasting cyclone activities suggests high resilience of the undisturbed subtropical forests to changes in cyclone frequency at the decadal scale. Plain Language Summary: Tropical cyclones often bring large quantity of rainfall through which affect stream water quantity and quality. The frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones is changing because of climate change. We examined how reduction in typhoon frequency affects nutrient cycling in a forest watershed by comparing streamwater quality and quantity between a frequent (six) typhoon period (2013–2017) and a no‐typhoon period (2018–2022) in a forest watershed in Taiwan. Surprisingly, although the typhoons brought substantial rainfall, the annual and typhoon season rainfall and streamwater were similar between the two periods. Input and output of most ions were also similar between the two periods. However, NO3− export was higher in the no‐typhoon period, possibly resulting from greater mineralization associated with warmer temperatures. Patterns of ion export in relation to streamwater were also similar between the two periods. Thus, the hydrochemistry of the undisturbed forest was resilent to changes in typhoon frequency. Key Points: A no‐typhoon period (2018–2022) was observed in Taiwan despite an average of two typhoons per year in 1958–2017Relationships between stream discharge and ion export were similar between the two periodsOutput/input ratio of NO3− was greater in the no‐typhoon period despite the greater input in the frequent‐typhoon period [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explored how different models of Web-based dynamic assessment in remedial teaching improved junior high school student learning achievement and their misconceptions about the topic of "Weather and Climate." This research adopted a quasi-experimental design. A total of 58 7th graders participated in this research. Participants were divided into the experiment group (28 participants) and the control group (30 participants). The experiment group took the "personalized Web-based dynamic assessment" while the control group took the "non-personalized Web-based dynamic assessment." The two groups of students received the same lessons via conventional teaching prior to the experiment, and after the lessons were completed, they both took the pre-tests of the achievement test and the two-tier diagnostic test. After the tests, different models of Web-based dynamic assessment were administered to facilitate student learning. Once the Web-based dynamic assessments were accomplished, the two groups of students took the post-tests of the achievement test and the two-tier diagnostic test. Research findings reveal that students in the experiment group experience significantly better improvement in their learning achievement and misconceptions.

Drawing on cognitive theories, this study intends to investigate the effects of explicit visual cues which have been proposed as a critical factor in facilitating understanding of biological images. Three diagrams from Taiwanese textbooks with implicit visual cues, involving the concepts of biological classification systems, fish taxonomy, and energy pyramid, were selected as the reading materials for the control group and reformatted in tree structure or with additional arrows as the diagrams for the treatment group. A quasi-experiment with an online reading test was conducted to examine the effect of the different image conditions on reading comprehension of the two groups. In total, 192 Taiwanese participants from year 7 were assigned randomly into either control group or treatment group according to the pre-test of relevant prior knowledge. The results indicated that not all explicit visual cues were significantly efficient. Only the explicit tree-structured diagrams cued significantly the key concepts of qualitative class-inclusion, parallel relations, and fish taxonomy. Meanwhile the effect of indexical arrows was not significant. The inconsistent effect of tree structure and arrows might be related to the extent of image reformation in which the tree-structured diagrams had undergone radical change of knowledge representation; meanwhile, the arrows had not changed the diagram structure of energy pyramid. The factor of prior knowledge was essential in considering the influence of image design as the effect of diagrams was very different for low and high prior knowledge students. Implications are drawn for the importance of visual design in textbooks.

Background: Cadmium and nickel exposure can cause oxidative stress, induce inflammation, inhibit immune function, and therefore has significant impacts on the pathogenesis and severity of many diseases. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can also provoke oxidative stress and the dysregulation of inflammatory and immune responses. This study aimed to assess the potential associations of cadmium and nickel exposure with the severity and clinical outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational, bicenter cohort analysis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Taiwan between June 2022 and July 2023. Cadmium and nickel concentrations in blood and urine were measured within 3 days of the diagnosis of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the severity and clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 were analyzed. Results: A total of 574 patients were analyzed and divided into a severe COVID-19 group (hospitalized patients) (n = 252; 43.9%), and non-severe COVID-19 group (n = 322; 56.1%). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 11.8% (n = 68). The severe COVID-19 patients were older, had significantly more comorbidities, and significantly higher neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 than the non-severe COVID-19 patients (all p < 0.05). Blood and urine cadmium and urine nickel concentrations were significantly higher in the severe COVID-19 patients than in the non-severe COVID-19 patients. Among the severe COVID-19 patients, those in higher urine cadmium/creatinine quartiles had a significantly higher risk of organ failure (i.e., higher APACHE II and SOFA scores), higher neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, lower PaO2/FiO2 requiring higher invasive mechanical ventilation support, higher risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome, and higher 60-, 90-day, and all-cause hospital mortality (all p < 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression models revealed that urine cadmium/creatinine was independently associated with severe COVID-19 (adjusted OR 1.643 [95% CI 1.060–2.547], p = 0.026), and that a urine cadmium/creatinine value > 2.05 μg/g had the highest predictive value (adjusted OR 5.349, [95% CI 1.118–25.580], p = 0.036). Conclusions: Urine cadmium concentration in the early course of COVID-19 could predict the severity and clinical outcomes of patients and was independently associated with the risk of severe COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child developmental rate holds predictive value for early-stage developmental trajectories, yet few studies explored how sleep problems during different infancy stages impact this rate. This study aims to investigate the correlation between sleep problems and child developmental trajectories. This study utilized a prospective national cohort of 5006 children in Taiwan. The developmental inventories covering motor, cognitive, language, and socioemotional domains were collected through questionnaire-based in-person home interviews conducted at 3, 12, 24, and 36 months. Sleep problems data, encompassing bedtime regularity, sleep duration, and sleep quality, were collected at 3 and 12 months. Child developmental rate was assessed by analyzing the slope of developmental ability estimates over a period of time. Bedtime regularity and high-quality sleep at 3 and 12 months were found to be significantly associated with intercepts across all domains (estimate = −0.196∼0.233, p < 0.033). Children with high-quality sleep at 3 months showed enhanced developmental slopes in socioemotional domains (estimate = 0.032, p < 0.001). Atypical sleep duration at 3 and 12 months had differential detrimental association with child development in various domains (estimate = −0.108∼-0.016, p < 0.048). The relationship between sleep problems and child development exhibited variability based on the timing of exposure to these issues. Early exposure to low-quality sleep was significantly related to developmental functions and socioemotional developmental rate, potentially leading to increased developmental disparities as children age. Inadequate sleep duration in late infancy and excessive sleep duration in early infancy were both negatively associated with child development trajectories. Policymakers can use these findings to design targeted sleep programs for optimal child development. • The study revealed that sleep problems in different infancy stages can lead to diverse effects on child development. • Notably, exposing infants to low-quality sleep during early infancy could exacerbate developmental gaps in socioemotional domain. • Atypical sleep duration, especially insufficient sleep during late infancy and excessive sleep during early infancy, was negatively associated with child development. • Irregular bedtime and low-quality sleep during infancy were both linked to adverse child developmental functions. • The findings emphasize the importance of addressing sleep problems early on to mitigate potential developmental disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective of this study was to examine the effects of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) on asthma outcomes in EOA and LOA patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 675 asthma patients (LOA: 415) recruited from a major medical center in Taiwan. The land-use regression (LUR) model was used to estimate the level of exposure to PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and O3 on an individual level. We investigated the association between TRAP and asthma outcomes in EOA and LOA patients, stratified by allergic sensitization status, using a regression approach. Results: An increase in PM10 was associated with younger age of onset, increased asthma duration, and decreased lung function in EOA patients (p< 0.05). An increase in PM10 was associated with older age of onset, and decreased asthma duration, eosinophil count, and Asthma Control Test (ACT) score in LOA patients. An increase in PM2.5 was associated with younger age of onset, increased asthma duration, decreased eosinophil count, and lung function in EOA patients (p< 0.05). An increase in PM2.5 was associated with decreased lung function and ACT score in LOA patients. An increase in NO2 was associated with increased eosinophil count and decreased lung function in EOA patients (p< 0.05). An increase in O3 was associated with decreased lung function in LOA patients (p< 0.05). In addition, associations of TRAP with age of onset and eosinophil counts were mainly observed in both EOA and LOA patients with allergic sensitization, and an association with ACT was mainly observed in LOA patients without allergic sensitization. Conclusion: The impact of TRAP on age of onset, eosinophil count, and lung function in EOA patients, and ACT in LOA patients, was affected by the status of allergic sensitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the effectiveness of integrating Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) into the junior high school biology teaching. This research adopts a quasi-experimental design and divides the participating students into the conventional ICT-integrated learning environment and IWB-integrated learning environment. Before teaching, students took the pre-test of summative assessment. The entire teaching process was recorded as a teaching video for analysis of teacher-student verbal interactions. Finally, students took the post-test of summative assessment and Constructivist Multimedia Learning Environment Survey (Maro & Fraser, 2005). The findings show that students in the IWB group have significantly better learning effectiveness. They also tend to have more positive attitudes towards their learning environment. The verbal interactions in the IWB group tend to involve less lecturing and more active participation by students.

Background: Physical activity (PA) and functional fitness (FF) are crucial for promoting independent living and healthy aging in older adults. However, there is a lack of normative values for the Senior Fitness Test (SFT) among older adults (aged 55–90) living in southern rural Taiwan, particularly in the Chiayi region, which has been relatively underserved in terms of health-related resources compared to northern Taiwan. Purpose: This study aimed to determine the age- and gender-specific normative fitness scores for a large representative population of community-dwelling older adults in southern rural Taiwan. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to obtain normative FF scores for 3332 community-dwelling elderly people (1057 men and 2275 women) in Chiayi, through the implementation of functional fitness tests across 72 Chiayi communities. The developed normative data served as a reference for exercise prescription for the elderly in southern Taiwan. Results: The study showed that the average normative values of all functional fitness tests declined significantly with increasing age (p < 0.05). Sex differences were also found in all measures of FF tests, with elderly women scoring significantly better than men on flexibility (scratch back: −1.34 ± 9.03 vs. −6.54 ± 11.07; chair sit and reach: 6.56 ± 9.44 vs. 0.56 ± 10.40) (p < 0.05), while men scored significantly higher than women on strength (grip strength: 30.83 ± 8.06 vs. 21.82 ± 5.32; bicep curl: 19.25 ± 5.44 vs. 17.64 ± 4.98) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, four FF normative scores in southern rural Taiwan were found to be significantly higher than their counterparts living in northern Taiwan. Conclusion: These findings contribute positively to the evaluation of fitness levels among older adults in southern rural Taiwan and provide a concrete reference for developing sound PA programs for this population. The results suggest that strategies aimed at promoting increased participation in PA among older adults need to consider age-, sex-, and region-specific factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental models play an important role in science education research. To extend the effectiveness of conceptual change research and to improve mental model identi?cation and diagnosis, the authors developed and tested the Web-Based Mental Models Diagnosis (WMMD) system. In this article, they describe their WMMD system, which goes beyond the capabilities of the existing technology-based assessment tools to investigate whether learners develop and possess single or multiple mental models while learning science. (Contains 3 figures.)

This research aims to develop a multiple-choice Web-based quiz-game-like formative assessment system, named GAM-WATA. The unique design of "Ask-Hint Strategy" turns the Web-based formative assessment into an online quiz game. "Ask-Hint Strategy" is composed of "Prune Strategy" and "Call-in Strategy". "Prune Strategy" removes one incorrect option and turns the original 4-option item into a 3-option one. "Call-in Strategy" provides the rate at which other test takers choose each option when answering a question. This research also compares the effectiveness of three different types of formative assessment in an e-Learning environment: paper-and-pencil test (PPT), normal Web-based test (N-WBT) and GAM-WATA. In total, 165 fifth grade elementary students (from six classes) in central Taiwan participated in this research. The six classes of students were then divided into three groups and each group was randomly assigned one type of formative assessment. Overall results indicate that different types of formative assessment have significant impacts on e-Learning effectiveness and that the e-Learning effectiveness of the students in the GAM-WATA group appears to be better. Students in the GAM-WATA group more actively participate in Web-based formative assessment to do self-assessment than students in the N-WBT group. The effectiveness of formative assessment will not be significantly improved only by replacing the paper-and-pencil test with Web-based test. The strategies included in GAM-WATA are recommended to be taken into consideration when researchers design Web-based formative assessment systems in the future. (Contains 3 figures and 6 tables.)

Objective: The aims of this cross-sectional survey study were to examine the prevalence and correlates of childhood physical and sexual abuse in adolescents living in the rural areas of Taiwan. Method: A sample of indigenous (n = 756) and non-indigenous (n = 928) adolescents was randomly selected from junior high schools in the rural areas of southern Taiwan. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data anonymously. The prevalence of childhood physical and sexual abuse was examined and their correlates were examined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 374 (22.2%) adolescents reported experience of physical abuse and 42 (2.5%) reported sexual abuse in their childhood. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that the adolescents who perceived poor family function, frequent family conflicts and whose parents drank habitually were more likely to experience physical abuse. The adolescents who were indigenous and perceived frequent family conflicts were more likely to experience childhood sexual abuse. Further analyses indicated that indigenous boys had a higher risk of being the victims of sexual abuse than non-indigenous boys, while no difference was found between indigenous and non-indigenous girls. Conclusion: The results remind clinical workers of the importance of taking abuse histories from adolescents on a routine basis, and this is especially important in the case of dysfunctional families. Practice implications: Adolescents who live in rural areas have less social and medical resources for early detection and intervention of physical and sexual abuse. Correlates of physical and sexual abuse identified in this study may be helpful for the design and implementation of preventive intervention.

The web-based formative assessment developed in this research is named Formative Assessment Module of the Web-based Assessment and Test Analysis System (FAM-WATA). FAM-WATA is a multiple-choice web-based formative assessment module containing six effective strategies: 'repeat the test', 'correct answers are not given', 'query scores', 'ask questions', 'monitor answering history', and 'all pass and then reward'. This research explored the effectiveness of FAM-WATA, cognitive styles and e-learning, and student attitudes towards the six strategies of FAM-WATA. A total of 503 seventh-grade students in central Taiwan were valid in this research. Overall results indicated that students displayed a positive attitude towards the six strategies of FAM-WATA. In addition, results also showed that students in an e-learning environment equipped with FAM-WATA achieved better learning effectiveness, and that field independent students appeared to make better use of FAM-WATA strategies than field dependent students. This research concluded that FAM-WATA benefited student learning in an e-learning environment.

The study investigates European American and Taiwanese grandmothers' folk theories of childrearing and self-esteem, building on an earlier comparison of mothers from the same families. Adopting methods that privilege local meanings, we bring grandmothers' voices into the conversation about childrearing, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of intergenerational nuances in folk theories. In each cultural case, 16 grandmothers of 3-year-olds participated in in-depth interviews that were customized according to local communicative norms. Although self-esteem emerged as a central organizing concept in the folk theories of European American mothers, grandmothers spoke in two voices, either echoing their daughters or invoking a counter-discourse of wariness towards self-esteem. By contrast, Taiwanese mothers and grandmothers resembled one another--but differed from their American counterparts--in treating self-esteem as peripheral in childrearing. Results contribute to the growing consensus that self-esteem is a culture-specific childrearing goal and suggest that the European American tendency to valorize self-esteem varies by generation.

According to statistics, the number of patients with kidney dialysis is increasing every year, especially in Taiwan. The high content of antibiotics in kidney dialysis wastewater can create an environmental burden if not properly treated. Therefore, in this study, a new design for a flower-like ZnO catalyst that can effectively treat norfloxacin (NF) in dialysis wastewater is presented and its NF treatment efficiency is investigated under different operating parameters (including different dosages, pH, ambient temperatures, and pollutant concentrations). Scanning electron microscope results indicate that the ZnO sample consists of flower-like nanostructures with diameters of about 4.97 μm. The surface area, pore volume, and pore size of the flower-like ZnO were estimated to be 46.45 m2g−1, 0.132 cm3g−1, and 19.50 nm, respectively. The total removal efficiency increased with the increase in the initial pH value of NF, when the initial pH value of NF increased from 3.5 (38.1%) to 7.5 (82.5%). However, the total removal efficiency decreased with an increase in the initial pH value of NF, when the initial pH value of NF increased from 9.5 (79.5%) to 11.5 (32.9%). The second-order kinetic simulation results show that the linear relationship is better than that of the first-order kinetic, and the Rc2 values are all above 0.9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the development and validation of an instrument on Student Perceptions of Teachers' Knowledge (SPOTK) in relation to their pedagogy. Uses features of teachers' knowledge from the research literature related to instruction, representation, subject matter knowledge, and assessment of students' understanding to generate categories in the SPOTK. Studies Taiwanese (n=1879) and Australian (n=1081) junior high school students. (Contains 36 references.) (Author/YDS)

The rising incidence rate of prostate cancer (PCa) worldwide has become a public health concern. PCa has a multifactorial etiology, and the link between human papillomavirus (HPV) and PCa has been widely investigated by numerous case–control studies. This age-matched, case–control study included 143 PCa patients and 135 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients, with prostatic specimens testing negative for malignancy, as control. Study participants were recruited from four major hospitals in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, period 2018–2020, looking into HPV infection and other PCa risk factors, including dietary habits, family history, personal lifestyle, and sexual behavior. Multiple logistic regression analysis and forward stepwise selection analysis were conducted to identify potential risk factors for PCa. HPV DNA was found in 10 of the 143 PCa cases (7%) and 2 of the 135 BPH controls (1.5%) (OR = 6.02, 95% CI = 1.03–30.3, p = 0.046). This association was slightly significant, and furthermore, high risk HPV was not found to be associated with PCa. Higher body mass index (BMI) (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.05–1.27, p = 0.003), more total meat consumption (OR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.26–5.94, p = 0.011), exhibited association to PCa. However, PCa family history only presented a statistically significant difference by forward stepwise analysis (OR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.17–13.12, p = 0.027). While much focus has been on the association between HPV and PCa, the results of this study indicate that more efforts should be directed towards investigating dietary habits, personal lifestyle and family history as factors for PCa. These results could serve as a basis for designing PCa prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies indicate that learners' cognitive style (CS), self-regulated learning (SRL), and working memory (WM) are associated with their academic performance. These studies describe the relationship of academic achievement with SRL, CS, or WM individually or pairwise relationships between SRL, CS, and WM rather than the overall relationship between academic achievement and each factor. In this study, a structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was conducted to explore the overall theoretical relationship. We focused on academic achievements in mathematics and science (AAMS). A total of 191 sixth-grade students (male: 111, female: 80; mean age: 11.08 years, SD = 0.282) from two public elementary schools in Taiwan was selected as valid samples for this study. The findings indicated that CS, WM, and SRL individually had significant influences on AAMS, among which SRL had the largest effect, followed by WM and CS. Furthermore, we discovered that CS was significantly correlated with WM. The results of the analysis of the mediation effect demonstrated that CS both directly affected AAMS and indirectly affected AAMS through SRL. The implication of the findings and recommendations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research develops a web‐based model, entitled the "intuitive claim, peer‐assessment, discussion, and elaborate claim argumentation training" (IPadE) model, and embeds with a Web‐based Interactive Argumentation System to enhance undergraduate students' socioscientific argumentation abilities. This research adopts a quasi‐experimental research design; the sample comprised 131 undergraduate students from two classes (69 in the experimental group and 62 in the control group). The socioscientific issue discussed were related to global health. This study collected and analysed quantitative and qualitative data, including the pretest and posttest of students' knowledge test scores and argumentation abilities questionnaire. The results generally confirmed the effectiveness of the IPadE model. First, in a comparison of the content knowledge and argumentation skills, the experimental group have statistically significantly improved than the control group. Second, regarding the number of reasoning modes proposed, the experimental group could propose multiple reasoning modes and reasoning levels on rebuttals increased after training. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: In the traditional classroom setting, it is difficult to obtain a fair expression of opinions because dominant students lead the debate. With internet and communication technology (ICT) rapid development, that has been emerging as a useful supplement to traditional methods. Web‐based interactive learning environments have recently become a popular and effective tool in the education field worldwide.Argumentation skills are the critical reasoning abilities that a modern citizen should possess. Regrettably, the researchers have consistently demonstrated that adolescents' and young adults' insufficient competencies regarding argumentation, constructing weaknesses of two‐sided arguments, and difficulty justifying evidence in support of their claims (Brem & Rips, 2000; Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000; Kuhn, 1991, 2003; Naylor, Keogh, & Downing, 2007; Voss & Means, 1991). Students' inadequate knowledge of science and judgment capacity can cripple their competency to make satisfactory decisions and be responsible citizens in society (Fowler, Zeidler, & Sadler, 2009).The integration of argumentation activities into science‐related curriculum is currently upheld as a core factor for a successful science program. In addition, HIV/AIDS is a prominent global health problem in Taiwan. Research based on global health‐related content knowledge and argumentation is rarely.Most of the literature has focused on the learning of elementary and middle school students (Fowler et al., 2009; Jimènez‐Aleixandre, Rodriguez, & Duschl, 2000; Keselman, Kaufman, Kramer, & Patel, 2007; Lin & Mintzes, 2010; Wu & Tsai, 2007; Zohar & Nemet, 2002) and has rarely investigated pre‐service and in‐service teachers and undergraduate students. (Osborne, Erduran, & Simon, 2004; Chang & Chiu, 2008). What this paper adds: Research based on global health‐related content knowledge and argumentation is rarely. We develop the IPadE argumentation model with Web‐based Interactive Argumentation System to enhance argumentation abilities of undergraduate students toward globe health problem.We develop three research instruments, including HIV/AIDS knowledge test (HKT), Open‐ended SSI argumentation ability questionnaire (SAAQ), and Argumentation ability checklist (AAC).We added the metacognitive supports interface designs "context viewer" function of WIAS; on the left is the initial argumentation context of the user, in the middle is the Lakatos' argumentation model, and on the right is the peer assessment score. Students can view their own initial argumentation context and reflect upon it after interacting with their peers and group discussion to obtain a sounder argumentation in the argumentation stage (Figure 5). Implications for practice: Development of HIV/AIDS knowledge: The results confirm that experimental group students in the semester program using the IPadE model with WIAS performed better and significantly improved HIV/AIDS knowledge.Development of argumentation skills: The results confirm that undergraduate students using the IPadE model with WIAS performed significantly better than those in the control group.Changes in students' use of arguments modes: The majority of the reasons proposed by participants were science‐and‐technology‐oriented arguments, followed by law‐oriented and social‐oriented arguments in the PH. Additionally, the students' use of the major argument modes were proposed as law‐oriented in the NH and rebuttal; however, the number of students in the experimental group that could propose multiple argument modes in the PH, NH, and rebuttal increased after training.Design of online discussion boards: The students used the discussions to assess peer learning by looking at peers' viewpoints and ideas. Comparison of face‐to‐face classroom, the WIAS can provided students with opportunities at anytime and anywhere through asynchronous discussions board to record their thoughts then make peer learning. This study suggest that a well‐designed web‐based argumentation system is a critical part of the higher education experience when the goal is to improve students' argumentation ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops a new version of the problematic Internet use scale suitable for senior elementary school students. It includes six subscales: time management, compulsive Internet use, emotion adjustment influence, interpersonal and academic influence, preferred online social interaction, and daily life influence. This research utilized the survey method to understand the relationship between student backgrounds and their Internet use behaviors, and problematic Internet use. A total of 775 elementary school fifth and sixth graders from northern Taiwan were sampled based on the stratified random sampling method. There were 763 valid surveys. The results indicated that the factors of gender, parents' attitudes towards Internet use, the time when subjects first started to use the Internet, number of hours spent getting online each time on weekdays, number of types of devices used to go online, and Internet activity preferences are significant. Boys have more serious problematic Internet use than girls. Different Internet activities present different risks of triggering problematic Internet use for male and female students. Students whose parents allow them to use the Internet without intervention have more serious problematic Internet use. Students exhibit more serious problematic internet use if they start using the Internet before beginning elementary school. When students use the Internet more and can go online using more types of devices, they tend to have more serious problematic Internet use. This study finds that students preferring Internet activities for recreational entertainment and social interaction have more serious problematic Internet use than students preferring Internet activities as learning tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) associated with ambient air particulate matter (PM) poses significant health concerns. Increased acute exacerbation (AE) frequency in asthmatic patients has been associated with ambient PAHs, but which subgroup of patients are particularly susceptible to ambient PAHs is uncertain. We developed a new model to simulate grid-scale PM2.5-PAH levels in order to evaluate whether the severity of asthma as measured by the Global Initiative of Asthma (GINA) levels of treatment is related to cumulative exposure of ambient PAHs. Methods: Patients with asthma residing in the northern Taiwan were reviewed retrospectively from 2014 to 2017. PM2.5 were sampled and analysed for PAHs twice a month over a 72-hour period, in addition to collecting the routinely monitored air pollutant data from an established air quality monitoring network. In combination with correlation analysis and principal component analysis, multivariate linear regression models were performed to simulate hourly grid-scale PM2.5-PAH concentrations (ng/m3). A geographic information system mapping approach with ordinary kriging interpolation method was used to calculate the annual exposure of PAHs (ng/m). Results: Among the 387 patients with asthma aged 18 to 93 (median 62), 97 subjects were treated as GINA step 5 (24%). Asthmatics in GINA 5 subgroup with high annual PAHs exposure were likely to have a higher annual frequency of any AE (1 (0– 12), p< 0.0001). Annual PAHs exposure was correlated with the annual frequency of any exacerbation (r=0.11, p=0.02). This was more significant in the GINA 5 subgroup (r=0.29, p=0.005) and in the GINA 5 subgroup with severe acute exacerbations (r=0.51, p=0.002). Annual PAHs exposure, severe acute exacerbation and GINA steps were independent variables that predict annual frequency of any exacerbation. Conclusion: Asthmatic patients in the GINA 5 subgroup with acute exacerbations were more susceptible to the effect of environmental PAHs on their exacerbation frequency. Reducing environmental levels of PAHs will have the greatest impact on the more severe asthma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intradialytic cycling exercise on physical functional performance with gain in muscle strength and endurance in end-stage renal disease patients with haemodialysis. Design: Randomized controlled trial, with repeated measurements at baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of intradialytic cycling exercise. Setting: A 50-bed haemodialysis centre in a regional hospital in Taiwan. Subjects: Seventy-six regular haemodialysis patients, recruited and equally and randomly assigned to exercise and control groups. Intervention: The intradialytic cycling exercise was performed for 12 weeks and comprised warm-up, main, and cool-down exercise phases. A stationary cycling equipment was used, which involved aerobic and resistance modalities. The intensity was maintained at somewhat hard exertion. Each intradialytic cycling exercise was implemented for 30 minutes, starting at the second hour of treatment. Main measure: Measured outcomes were 6-minute walk distance, time taken to complete 10 sit-to-stand-to-sit cycles and number of sit-to-stand-to-sit cycles in 60 seconds. Results: Average (standard deviation) participant age was 55.47 (13.00) years. Therefore, the 6-minute walk distance was significantly different at weeks 8 (P = 0.01) and 12 (P < 0.001) in the exercise group compared with that in the control group at baseline. Notably, sit-to-stand-to-sit outcomes (P = 0.01) significantly influenced the 6-minute walk distance. Sit-to-stand-to-sit outcomes significantly improved in the exercise group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Twelve-week intradialytic exercise for patients on haemodialysis can improve physical functional performance with gain muscle strength and endurance. This is a safe and effective method for improving health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Quantifying tree species persistence through recurrent disturbances is of crucial importance for understanding forest dynamics in typhoon‐prone regions. We ask the following: (a) What are the major determinants of dominant tree survival in frequently typhoon‐disturbed forests? (b) Are survival determinants different between small and large trees? Location: A subtropical old‐growth forest located in Fushan, Taiwan (24°45′34″N, 121°33′58″E), with frequent typhoon disturbances. Methods: Data were from three consecutive censuses of a 25‐ha permanent forest plot that censused trees ≥1 cm in diameter every five years. The survival of three dominant tree species was modeled using generalized additive model and boosted trees with abiotic and biotic predictors. We evaluated model performance using validation data obtained from the two available census intervals. Results: Model validations showed that multi‐stemming and tree size enhanced the survival of large and small trees, respectively. For the most dominant species, multi‐stemming had a consistently positive effect on survival irrespective of diameter classes. Abiotic factors and conspecific density had little effect on tree survival. Furthermore, evaluating model performance based on the data used in the model construction (i.e., training data) overestimated the predictive ability of survival models. Conclusions: We showed that the survival determinants for the three most dominant species at Fushan changed from tree size for small trees to multi‐stemming for large trees. The results suggest that the dominant species in this frequently typhoon‐disturbed forest have the stature and architectural traits to persist, and thereby maintain their dominance and shape the forest physiognomy. Our approach illustrates how datasets from different census periods can be used in model validation to better assess model performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Bronchiectasis is a chronic infectious respiratory disease with diverse causes and ethnic or geographic differences. However, few large-scale studies of its etiology have been conducted in Asia. This study aimed to determine the etiology and clinical features of bronchiectasis in Taiwan.Methods: This longitudinal cohort study investigated the etiology and clinical features of newly diagnosed non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis patients from January 2002 to December 2016. The clinical, functional and microbiological data of patients were retrieved from the Chang Gung Research Database, which includes seven medical facilities throughout Taiwan. The index date was the date of the first bronchiectasis diagnosis. Known diseases that were diagnosed before the index date were regarded as etiologies of bronchiectasis.Results: The cohort comprised 15,729 adult patients with bronchiectasis. Idiopathic (32%) was the most common cause, followed by post-pneumonia (24%). Other causes included post-tuberculosis (12%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (14%), asthma (10%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (2%) and rheumatic diseases (2%). At diagnosis, 8487 patients had sputum culture. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.3%) was the most common bacteria, followed by non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (3.6%), Haemophilus influenzae (3.4%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (3.1%), but 6155 (72.1%) had negative sputum cultures. Patients with post-tuberculosis had a higher sputum isolation rate of non-tuberculosis mycobacteria than P. aeruginosa. Patients with post-tuberculosis and post-pneumonia bronchiectasis had a higher frequency of chronic lung infection than other groups (p < 0.05). Clinical characteristics, such as gender, lung function, comorbidities and microbiology, were significantly different between idiopathic and known etiologies.Conclusions: Idiopathic, post-infection and tuberculosis constitute major bronchiectasis etiologies in Taiwan. Clinical characteristics and sputum microbiology were distinct among separate etiology phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a web‐based multimedia assessment system (WMA system) and applied it to science laboratory instruction. The goal was to improve students' knowledge acquisition under science laboratory instruction. The developed system enabled learners to perform self‐assessments by responding to multimedia technology test items online. The system recorded each learner's complete answer history and provided the students with personalized learning resources. This study adopted a quasi‐experimental research design. The learning content was an "experiment on separating mixtures." Students participating in the research were divided into a typical science laboratory instruction group (TI group; n = 25) and a group that received instruction through the WMA system (WMA group; n = 26). Before instruction, all the students completed the conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge pretests. During instruction, the TI group watched the teacher's demonstration experiment, and the students then performed the experiment in a real laboratory. In the WMA group, after learning through the WMA system, the students also performed the experiment in a real laboratory. After instruction, all the students completed the conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge posttests. The findings indicated that the students in the WMA group showed significantly higher improvements in their scientific conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Although science laboratory instruction is important to science education, the role of science laboratory instruction in science education has been increasingly questioned.Many teachers still follow outmoded science laboratory instruction methods in their teaching, which makes students treat scientific experiments as "following recipes to cook."Multimedia technology is effective in assisting science laboratory instruction because proper scientific experiment course and computer‐simulated activities allow students to solve scientific problems dynamically.What this paper adds: This research proposed an effective approach to perform science laboratory instruction based on digital self‐assessment and combines it with the teaching activities in a real laboratory.The web‐based multimedia assessment system (WMA system) are developed to administer multimedia technology test items and assist students in performing self‐assessment in science laboratory instruction.Integrating WMA system into science laboratory instruction is effective in improving students' conceptual knowledge and experimental knowledge.Implications for practice: Conducting scientific experiments online using a self‐assessment approach allows students to examine their own understanding of scientific experimental procedure and receive personalized learning feedback.The online self‐assessment approach could be applied in "flipped learning" of science laboratory instruction to allow learners to do assessment‐centred personalized online learning about scientific concepts and knowledge related to scientific experiment before performing a real scientific experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial planning plays an increasingly significant role in climate change mitigation by providing energy efficient settlements and promoting the utilization of renewable energy resources. However, the effect of urban spatial planning on spatial pattern of carbon dioxide emissions in cities is rarely discussed. The relationships between the changes in urban zoning plans and carbon dioxide emissions of major economic sectors has yet to be investigated on a scale smaller than an entire city. Using the Taipei metropolitan area as a case study, this study hypothesizes that: (1) carbon dioxide emissions have a spatial dimension within the city due mainly to the heterogeneous nature of land use activities and urbanization, and (2) changes in spatial planning can influence the urban form, and consequentially affect carbon dioxide emissions through changes in traffic demand and energy consumption. A downscaling analysis approach was used to estimate carbon dioxide emissions of different sectors for each administrative district in the Taipei metropolitan area. The analytical results reveal that the total carbon dioxide emissions of the four sectors in the Taipei metropolitan area increased with the increases in the growth of urban planned zones during the period 1981–2011.The carbon dioxide emission increases were correlated with the distribution of land uses in each administrative district. A negative correlation was found between the population density and the per-capita carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector. The compact development and planning of urban transit systems are believed to be the source of decreasing per -capita carbon dioxide emissions. While many studies have emphasized that spatial planning is important addressing climate change, this work demonstrates understanding the historic links between spatial planning and carbon dioxide is equally valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the prevalence of both obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and asthma are both increasing, little is known about the impact of OSA on the natural history of lung function in asthmatic patients.Methods: A total of 466 patients from our sleep laboratory were retrospectively enrolled. Of them, 77 patients (16.5%) had asthma with regular follow-up for more than 5 years. Their clinical characteristics, pulmonary function, emergency room visits, and results of polysomnography results were analysed.Results: The patients were divided into three groups according to the severity of the apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI). The decline in FEV1 among asthma patients with severe OSA (AHI > 30/h) was 72.4 ± 61.7 ml/year (N = 34), as compared to 41.9 ± 45.3 ml/year (N = 33, P = 0.020) in those with mild to moderate OSA (5 < AHI ≤ 30) and 24.3 ± 27.5 ml/year (N = 10, P = 0.016) in those without OSA (AHI ≤ 5). For those patients with severe OSA, the decline of FEV1 significantly decreased after continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. After multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis, only AHI was remained independent factor for the decline of FEV1 decline.Conclusions: Asthmatic patients with OSA had substantially greater declines in FEV1 than those without OSA. Moreover, CPAP treatment alleviated the decline of FEV1 in asthma patients with severe OSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: I Scientific Reports i https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31434-w, published online 16 March 2023 In the original version of this Article, Heng-Jui Chang was incorrectly listed as corresponding author. The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31434-w. [Extracted from the article]

Aim: The aim of this study was to develop and assess the reliability and validity of the Nurse Job Rotation Stress Scale (NJRS). Methods: A convenience sampling method was utilized to recruit two groups of nurses (n = 150 and 253) from a 2751 bed medical center in southern Taiwan. The NJRS scale was developed and used to evaluate the NJRS. Results: Explorative factor analysis revealed that three factors accounted for 74.11% of the explained variance. Confirmatory factor analysis validity testing supported the three factor structure and the construct validity. Cronbach's alpha for the 10 item model was 0.87 and had high linearity. Conclusion: The NJRS can be considered a reliable and valid scale for the measurement of nurse job rotation stress for nursing management and research purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By considering literature review, the management mechanisms of Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Management System, and local regulations, the study proposes dimensions for the analysis of overall safety performance in the semiconductor industry, establishes three principal factors and 25 safety performance dimensions, and develops a questionnaire on safety performance. Three Taiwan semiconductor plants were selected as the subject for the quantitative analysis of the questionnaire and the current safety performance of the semiconductor industry was thoroughly investigated. The study extensively discusses a case study of three semiconductor plants showing highly significant differences in their 'technical factor,' 'organizational factor,' and 'human factor' through an analysis of variance of safety performance. From the analysis, it was determined that 22 safety performance dimensions, with the exceptions of 'self-inspection,' 'emergency response,' and 'safety audit,' demonstrate significant differences. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 166-171, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) is a new educational technology recently introduced in Taiwan. It revolutionizes not only the traditional classroom teaching environment but also the history of the whiteboard. This research tries to understand how IWB influences student learning effectiveness in health and physical education curriculum and student perceptions towards the learning environment. A quasi-experimental design was adopted. A total of 113 elementary school sixth graders participated in this research. All students were divided into two groups, IWB group (n = 59) and T group (n = 54). Students in the IWB group learned in the environment integrating IWB into teaching. However, students in the T group learned in the environment using traditional information communication technology (ICT) in teaching (Microsoft PowerPoint slides used with a projector and a projection screen, not having any of the interactive functions of the Interactive Whiteboard). The results indicate that students in the IWB group learn more effectively than those in the T group. Further, students of the IWB group also have significantly more positive perceptions towards the learning environment than those in the T group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: On the basis of literature relevant to safety culture and investigation of the Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Management System (TOSHMS), the Omnidirectional Safety Culture Model (OSCM) was proposed in which a questionnaire composed of 18 safety dimensions was developed and used in safety culture evaluation. This questionnaire was reviewed by a focus group of employees with various backgrounds and was revised accordingly. Questionnaire items were selected and amended by considering the suggestions of experts; the Taiwan railway industry was surveyed as the questionnaire subject; and the current safety culture of the railway industry was extensively investigated. It was determined the railway employees place a higher emphasis on safety awareness and attitude as well as safe behavior, leading to the conclusion that they recognize the importance of safety and value human life over other matters. However, railway employees also believe that procurement management; safety encouragement and punishment; and safety rule have more room for improvement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is a growing need to understand, and ultimately manage, carbon storage by forest ecosystems. Broad-leaved evergreen forests of Taiwan provide an outstanding opportunity to examine factors that regulate ecosystem carbon storage. We utilized data from three Taiwan Forest Dynamics Plots (FS, LHC, and PTY) in which every tree is identified, measured, tagged and mapped, to examine factors regulating carbon storage as estimated from aboveground biomass. Allometric equations were used to estimate the aboveground biomass of each tree, and a model building procedure was used to examine relationships between plot-level aboveground biomass (AGB; Mg/ha) and a suite of topographic and biotic factors. We found that our study sites have AGB values comparable to some of the most carbon dense forests in the world. Across all three sites, maximum biomass was contained in the taxonomic families Fagaceae, Lauraceae and Theaceae. In the FS site, we identified slope convexity (P =0.03) and elevation (P <0.001) as topographic predictors of AGB and found that maximum AGB was found in topographically flat areas. In FS, stem density (P <0.001) was a significant biotic predictor of AGB and the maxima occurred at intermediate densities. In LHC, we found that convexity (P <0.001) and slope (P <0.001) were significantly related to AGB which was maximized along a topographic ridge in the plot. Species richness (P <0.001) was a significant biotic predictor of AGB in LHC, and the relationship indicated slightly higher AGB at higher levels of species richness. The only significant factor related to AGB in PTY was species richness (P =0.02). Further work is needed to seek a mechanistic understanding of topographic factors and species richness as drivers of carbon storage in forests. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between physiological menopausal symptoms and depression during the pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal period among female Taiwanese aborigines. Methods: A total of 672 Taiwanese aboriginal women, aged 40–60 years, were recruited in the interviewing study and classified as pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal according to menstrual bleeding patterns in the previous 12 months. Then, the postmenopausal symptoms, depression, self-perceived health, family support, and associated demographic variables were assessed by questionnaire based on the results of interviewing by research assistants. Results: The results revealed that perimenopausal statuses are associated with depression and women with a perimenopausal status had a higher prevalence of depression than those with a premenopausal status. A higher score on physiological postmenopausal symptoms was found to be significantly associated with depression. Furthermore, somatic symptoms were associated with depression for pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal statuses. Moreover, sexual dysfunction and vasomotor symptoms were associated with depression only in the premenopausal status and postmenopausal status, respectively. Conclusion: Depression should be routinely evaluated for female Taiwanese aborigines consulting with physicians for menopause symptoms, especially for somatic symptoms. Furthermore, attention should be provided to premenopausal women with sexual dysfunction and postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms for depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the demands for international marine transportation increase rapidly, effective port management has become an important issue. Automatic ship recognition can facilitate the realization of smart ports, and improve the efficiency of port operation and management. In order to take into account the processing efficiency and detection accuracy at the same time, the study presented an improved deep-learning network based on You only look once version 3 (Yolov3) for all-day ship detection with visible and infrared images. Yolov3 network can simultaneously improve the recognition ability of large and small objects through multiscale feature-extraction architecture. Considering reducing computational time and network complexity with relatively competitive detection accuracy, the study modified the architecture of Yolov3 by choosing an appropriate input image size, fewer convolution filters, and detection scales. In addition, the reduced Yolov3 was further modified with the spatial pyramid pooling (SPP) module to improve the network performance in feature extraction. Therefore, the proposed modified network can achieve the purpose of multi-scale, multi-type, and multi-resolution ship detection. In the study, a common self-built data set was introduced, aiming to conduct all-day and real-time ship detection. The data set included a total of 5557 infrared and visible light images from six common ship types in northern Taiwan ports. The experimental results on the data set showed that the proposed modified network architecture achieved acceptable performance in ship detection, with the mean average precision (mAP) of 93.2%, processing 104 frames per second (FPS), and 29.2 billion floating point operations (BFLOPs). Compared with the original Yolov3, the proposed method can increase mAP and FPS by about 5.8% and 8%, respectively, while reducing BFLOPs by about 47.5%. Furthermore, the computational efficiency and detection performance of the proposed approach have been verified in the comparative experiments with some existing convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In conclusion, the proposed method can achieve high detection accuracy with lower computational costs compared to other networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Overexpression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 has been demonstrated in asthma, and MMP polymorphisms are known to enhance disease susceptibility. We investigated whether MMP-1 polymorphism is associated with persistent airway obstruction in asthma in the Taiwanese population. Methods: A total of 131 unrelated Taiwanese subjects were enrolled, age-matched, and divided as follows: (1) those who had asthma with persistent airway obstruction with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) values less than 75% predicted (n = 41); (2) those with asthma without airway obstruction with FEV1 and FEV1/FVC values ≥ 75% predicted (n = 47); and (3) normal control subjects (n = 43). All were genotyped for the 1G/2G polymorphism of MMP-1 promoter (-1607bp). Results: 1G genotypes of MMP-1 containing at least one 1G allele were found in asthmatic patients with persistent airway obstruction (OR = 3.696, 95% CI: 1.489-9.173, p = 0.027), but not in asthmatic patients without airway obstruction (OR = 2.065, 95% CI: 0.890-4.790, p = 0.091) when compared with homozygous 2G (2G/2G). The heterozygous 1G genotype (1G/2G) was more associated with persistent airway obstruction than homozygous 2G (2G/2G) (OR: 4.727, 95% CI: 1.759-12.703, p = 0.012). The adjusted risk estimate of 1G genotypes for asthmatics with persistent airway obstruction was 4.416 (95% CI: 1.651-11.812, p = 0.003). Conclusion: 1G genotypes of MMP-1 polymorphism are associated with asthma with persistent airway obstruction, and the heterozygous 1G genotype (1G/2G) poses the most susceptibility to persistent airway obstruction in asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper proposes a hybrid methodology that exploits the unique strength of the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model and the support vector machines (SVM) model in forecasting seasonal time series. The seasonal time series data of Taiwan’s machinery industry production values were used to examine the forecasting accuracy of the proposed hybrid model. The forecasting performance was compared among three models, i.e., the hybrid model, SARIMA models and the SVM models, respectively. Among these methods, the normalized mean square error (NMSE) and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the hybrid model were the lowest. The hybrid model was also able to forecast certain significant turning points of the test time series. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates Euro-American and Taiwanese grandmothers' folk theories of their roles, discipline, and advice giving. In each case, 16 grandmothers of 3-year-old grandchildren participated in in-depth interviews that were customized according to local communicative norms. While grandmothers in both contexts were engaged in similar tasks and perceived their roles as distinct from that of mothers, their interpretations of these tasks differed. Euro-American grandmothers saw their roles as companions to their grandchildren; they did not see themselves as disciplinarians and found advice giving problematic. Taiwanese grandmothers saw themselves primarily as temporary caregivers; they readily disciplined misbehaving grandchildren and advised their daughters-in-law. Results contribute to the finding that grandmothers' roles are culture specific, leading to different understandings of the family unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, we investigated the brain, gill, liver, and muscle transcriptomic responses of Taiwan tilapia towards cold stress. Some key genes and molecular markers involved in cold biological pathways were screened through differential expression. Among them, energy-related metabolic pathways and nucleotide genotypes were highly correlated with cold tolerance traits. This suggested that single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genetic variation can be used as a molecular marker to assist the selection and verification of cold-tolerant populations. Our study results will accelerate the understanding of different farmed tilapia tolerance mechanisms to environmental temperature changes and provide insights for the molecular breeding of cold-tolerant Taiwan tilapia species. Taiwan tilapia is one of the primary species used in aquaculture practices in Taiwan. However, as a tropical fish, it is sensitive to cold temperatures that can lead to high mortality rates during winter months. Genetic and broodstock management strategies using marker-assisted selection and breeding are the best tools currently available to improve seed varieties for tilapia species. The purpose of this study was to develop molecular markers for cold stress-related genes using digital gene expression analysis of next-generation transcriptome sequencing in Taiwan tilapia (Oreochromis spp.). We constructed and sequenced cDNA libraries from the brain, gill, liver, and muscle tissues of cold-tolerance (CT) and cold-sensitivity (CS) strains. Approximately 35,214,833,100 nucleotides of raw sequencing reads were generated, and these were assembled into 128,147 unigenes possessing a total length of 185,382,926 bp and an average length of 1446 bp. A total of 25,844 unigenes were annotated using five protein databases and Venny analysis, and 38,377 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 65,527 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. Furthermore, from the 38-cold tolerance-related genes that were identified using differential gene expression analysis in the four tissues, 13 microsatellites and 37 single nucleotide polymorphism markers were identified. The results of the genotype analysis revealed that the selected markers could be used for population genetics. In addition to the diversity assessment, one of the SNP markers was determined to be significantly related to cold-tolerance traits and could be used as a molecular marker to assist in the selection and verification of cold-tolerant populations. The specific genetic markers explored in this study can be used for the identification of genetic polymorphisms and cold tolerance traits in Taiwan tilapia, and they can also be used to further explore the physiological and biochemical molecular regulation pathways of fish that are involved in their tolerance to environmental temperature stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a mobile learning system (MLS) was developed and adopted to facilitate elementary second-grade students to learn mathematics. A quasi-experimental design was adopted. There were two learning models, including the typical instruction group (TI group) and MLS group. The learning content is the topic of multiplication. A total of 93 s-grade students from four classes in a public elementary school in Northern Taiwan participated in this research. Participants were randomly divided into the MLS group (47 participants: 22 boys and 25 girls) and the TI group (46 participants: 26 boys and 20 girls). Participants in the MLS group received mathematics instruction in the MLS, whereas those in the TI group received direct instruction in typical classrooms. All students took the pretest and posttest of mathematics learning achievement test and mathematics learning interest scale assess their improvement of learning achievement and learning interest after the learning activities. The findings revealed that students in the MLS group had significantly better improvement in their mathematics learning interest and mathematics learning achievement than those in the TI group. In addition, students in the MLS group had significantly better performance in answering items of comprehension and application levels in the mathematics learning achievement test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Typhoons are key to explain LAI fluctuation but their impacts varied greatly. • LAI may take > a decade to return to a reference state, longer than typhoon recurrence. • Once returned, LAI stayed at the reference state for only a few months to a few years. • LAI stayed longer at the transition phase than the reference state. • The disturbance-resilience relationship of LAI fits with non-equilibrium dynamics. Quantifying ecosystem resilience is critical for predicting how shifts in disturbance regime affect ecosystem structure and function as a result of recent climate change. Studies of disturbance-ecosystem interactions often focus on one or a few disturbance events but the interactions may vary considerably among disturbance events. We used a 25-year LAI (leaf area index) record of the Fushan Experimental Forest (FEF) of northeastern Taiwan to explore forest LAI resilience to annual typhoon disturbance. The four typhoons of 1994 caused the most dramatic change of LAI in both the magnitude and the rate, as well as the longest time for a full recovery. However, typhoons varied in their effects, and not all intense typhoons caused major impact suggesting that result derived from one or a few disturbance events is unlikely to capture the full spectrum of disturbance effect. Using LAI of 4.26 measured following a non-typical year of no typhoon occurrence as a reference, it took 11─16 years before the predicted LAI to return to the reference level, which represents the resilience (time to return) of the forest LAI under minimal typhoon effects. Using the event-based analyses, the average degree of return was 0.86, with values as low as 0.45, suggesting that the LAI of the FEF is not always able to fully recover within the inter-typhoon time period (<1 year). Once returned to the reference state, the LAI of the FEF stayed at the reference state for several months to several years. With annual typhoon disturbance and a return time longer than one year and may be up to more than one decade, the LAI of the FEF is constantly undergoing the disturbance-recovery process and rarely reaches an equilibrium state. Therefore, a system experiencing frequent disturbance such as FEF might be better characterized by non-equilibrium temporal dynamics of its key functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: To develop and validate the prediction equations for lean body mass (LBM) and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) using body circumference measurements of community-dwelling adults older than 50 years old.Methods and Study Design: Four hundred and ninety-eight community-dwelling adults older than 50 years old were recruited for this study. Participants were randomly assigned to a development group (DG, n=332) and validation group (VG, n=166). Lean body mass and ASM were assessed using dualenergy x-ray absorptiometry along with the anthropometric parameters. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the associations between ASM, LBM and anthropometric parameters in the DG. Prediction equations for LBM and ASM were established from DG data using multiple regression analyses. Paired t-test and Bland-Altman test were used to validate the equations in the VG.Results: Forearm circumference had the highest correlation with LBM and ASM. The developed prediction models were: LBM (kg) = 27.479 + 0.726 * weight (kg) - 3.383 * gender (male = 1, female = 2) - 0.672 * BMI + 0.514 * forearm circumference (cm) - 0.245 * hip circumference (cm)(r2=0.90); ASM (kg) = -4.287 + 0.202 * weight (kg) - 0.166 * hip circumference (cm) - 1.484 * gender (male = 1, female = 2) + 0.173 * calf circumference (cm) + 0.096 * height + 0.243 * forearm circumference (cm)(r2=0.85).Conclusions: Prediction equations using only a measuring tape provide accurate, inexpensive, practical methods to assess LBM and ASM in Asians older than 50 years old. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress and pore pressure changes both play important roles in development of fractures andsuccessively generate different seismicity patterns during seismogenic processes. Based onhydromechanics theory, seismicity may propagate in space with the square root of time if theearthquakes were triggered by pore pressure changes. On the other hand, we may see agathered or dispersed ruptures at the same time if the earthquakes were triggered by stresschanges. We observed both seismicity patterns in Central Range of northern Taiwan, which isan area characterized by orogeny-parallel syn-collisional extension in the upper crust. It is a7-month-long foreshock-mainshock-aftershock earthquake sequence, with a 2013 M 5.87Nanshan mainshock. We relocated earthquakes recorded by Central Weather Bureau (CWB)using waveform cross-correlation relocation, and analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution ofthe earthquake sequence. The spatiotemporal distribution of relocated earthquakespresents several NNW trending normal fault segments dipping to southwest with afocal depth of 4-12 km. One foreshock sequence propagated away from an M 4.56earthquake with the square root of time, which can be considered to be triggered by porepressure changes. 74 days later, the main shock occurred. The migration of themainshock-aftershock sequence can be subscribed as the hydromechanics equationwhich relates to the square root of time and diffusivity. The earthquakes migratebilaterally to the north and south respectively, with a northward diffusivity of 0.42m2/s and the southward diffusivity of 0.6 m2/s. We divided the foreshock sequenceinto three clusters, and analyze their migration behavior. Two of them appear tobe stress-driven, causing 1.5*2 km2and 2*2km2 fractures, respectively. The thirdone is likely to be fluid-driven, with a linear seismicity pattern propagating with 3m2/s diffusivity toward northwest. We also divided mainshock-aftershock sequenceinto four clusters. Three of them indicated stress-driven, causing 3*4 km2, 1*1km2, and 4*4 km2 fracture respectively. Only one of them showed migration withabout 6 m2/s diffusivity. The factors of stress and fluid-driven pore pressure changesmay act together on the activations of the 2013 Nanshan earthquake sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]