Search results for: Le Ngoc Hung

Authors: Han-Qin Zheng, Yi-Fan Chiang-Hsieh, Chia-Hung Chien, Wen-Chi Chang

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As the most important non-vascular plants, algae have many research applications, including high species diversity, biofuel sources, adsorption of heavy metals and, following processing, health supplements. With the increasing availability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data for algae genomes and transcriptomes, an integrated resource for retrieving gene expression data and metabolic pathway is essential for functional analysis and systems biology in algae. However, gene expression profiles and biological pathways are displayed separately in current resources, and making it impossible to search current databases directly to identify the cellular response mechanisms. Therefore, this work develops a novel AlgaePath database to retrieve gene expression profiles efficiently under various conditions in numerous metabolic pathways. AlgaePath, a web-based database, integrates gene information, biological pathways, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) datasets in Chlamydomonasreinhardtii and Neodesmus sp. UTEX 2219-4. Users can identify gene expression profiles and pathway information by using five query pages (i.e. Gene Search, Pathway Search, Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) Search, Gene Group Analysis, and Co-Expression Analysis). The gene expression data of 45 and 4 samples can be obtained directly on pathway maps in C. reinhardtii and Neodesmus sp. UTEX 2219-4, respectively. Genes that are differentially expressed between two conditions can be identified in Folds Search. Furthermore, the Gene Group Analysis of AlgaePath includes pathway enrichment analysis, and can easily compare the gene expression profiles of functionally related genes in a map. Finally, Co-Expression Analysis provides co-expressed transcripts of a target gene. The analysis results provide a valuable reference for designing further experiments and elucidating critical mechanisms from high-throughput data. More than an effective interface to clarify the transcript response mechanisms in different metabolic pathways under various conditions, AlgaePath is also a data mining system to identify critical mechanisms based on high-throughput sequencing.

Keywords: next-generation sequencing (NGS), algae, transcriptome, metabolic pathway, co-expression

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Authors: Ayman Mutahar Alrassas, Shaoran Ren, Renyuan Ren, Hung Vo Thanh, Mohammed Hail Hakimi, Zhenliang Guan

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The significant effect of CO₂ on global climate and the environment has gained more concern worldwide. Enhance oil recovery (EOR) associated with sequestration of CO₂ particularly into the depleted oil reservoir is considered the viable approach under financial limitations since it improves the oil recovery from the existing oil reservoir and boosts the relation between global-scale of CO₂ capture and geological sequestration. Consequently, practical measurements are required to attain large-scale CO₂ emission reduction. This paper presents an integrated modeling workflow to construct an accurate 3D reservoir geological model to estimate the storage capacity of CO₂ under geological uncertainty in an unconventional oil reservoir of the Paleogene Shahejie Formation (Es1) in the block Nv32, Shenvsi oilfield, China. In this regard, geophysical data, including well logs of twenty-two well locations and seismic data, were combined with geological and engineering data and used to construct a 3D reservoir geological modeling. The geological modeling focused on four tight reservoir units of the Shahejie Formation (Es1-x1, Es1-x2, Es1-x3, and Es1-x4). The validated 3D reservoir models were subsequently used to calculate the theoretical CO₂ storage capacity in the block Nv32, Shenvsi oilfield. Well logs were utilized to predict petrophysical properties such as porosity and permeability, and lithofacies and indicate that the Es1 reservoir units are mainly sandstone, shale, and limestone with a proportion of 38.09%, 32.42%, and 29.49, respectively. Well log-based petrophysical results also show that the Es1 reservoir units generally exhibit 2–36% porosity, 0.017 mD to 974.8 mD permeability, and moderate to good net to gross ratios. These estimated values of porosity, permeability, lithofacies, and net to gross were up-scaled and distributed laterally using Sequential Gaussian Simulation (SGS) and Simulation Sequential Indicator (SIS) methods to generate 3D reservoir geological models. The reservoir geological models show there are lateral heterogeneities of the reservoir properties and lithofacies, and the best reservoir rocks exist in the Es1-x4, Es1-x3, and Es1-x2 units, respectively. In addition, the reservoir volumetric of the Es1 units in block Nv32 was also estimated based on the petrophysical property models and fund to be between 0.554368

Keywords: CO₂ storage capacity, 3D geological model, geological uncertainty, unconventional oil reservoir, block Nv32

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Authors: Shih Yu Pan, Pao Chen Hung, Chuan Yao Lin, Charles C.-K. Chou, Yu Chi Lin, Kai Hsien Chi

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This study analyzed 16 atmospheric PAHs species which were controlled by USEPA and IARC. To measure the concentration of PAHs, four rural sampling sites and two urban sampling sites were selected in Central Taiwan during spring and summer. In central Taiwan, the rural sampling stations were located in the downstream of Da-An River, Da-Jang River, Wu River and Chuo-shui River. On the other hand, the urban sampling sites were located in Taichung district and close to the roadside. Ambient air samples of both vapor phase and particle phase of PAHs compounds were collected using high volume sampling trains (Analitica). The sampling media were polyurethane foam (PUF) with XAD2 and quartz fiber filters. Diagnostic ratio, Principal component analysis (PCA), Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) models were used to evaluate the apportionment of PAHs in the atmosphere and speculate the relative contribution of various emission sources. Because of the high temperature and low wind speed, high PAHs concentration in the atmosphere was observed. The total PAHs concentration, especially in vapor phase, had significant change during summer. During the sampling periods the total PAHs concentration of atmospheric at four rural and two urban sampling sites in spring and summer were 3.70±0.40 ng/m3,3.40±0.63 ng/m3,5.22±1.24 ng/m3,7.23±0.37 ng/m3,7.46±2.36 ng/m3,6.21±0.55 ng/m3　; 15.0± 0.14 ng/m3,18.8±8.05 ng/m3,20.2±8.58 ng/m3,16.1±3.75 ng/m3,29.8±10.4 ng/m3,35.3±11.8 ng/m3, respectively. In order to identify PAHs sources, we used diagnostic ratio to classify the emission sources. The potential sources were diesel combustion and gasoline combustion in spring and summer, respectively. According to the principal component analysis (PCA), the PC1 and PC2 had 23.8%, 20.4% variance and 21.3%, 17.1% variance in spring and summer, respectively. Especially high molecular weight PAHs (BaP, IND, BghiP, Flu, Phe, Flt, Pyr) were dominated in spring when low molecular weight PAHs (AcPy, Ant, Acp, Flu) because of the dominating high temperatures were dominated in the summer. Analysis by using PMF model found the sources of PAHs in spring were stationary sources (34%), vehicle emissions (24%), coal combustion (23%) and petrochemical fuel gas (19%), while in summer the emission sources were petrochemical fuel gas (34%), the natural environment of volatile organic compounds (29%), coal combustion (19%) and stationary sources (18%).

Keywords: PAHs, source identification, diagnostic ratio, principal component analysis, positive matrix factorization

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Authors: Kai-Shiang Chang, Shiao-Shing Chen, Saikat Sinha Ray, Hung-Te Hsu

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In recent years, membrane bioreactors (MBR) have been widely utilized as it can effectively replace conventional activated sludge process (CAS). Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is found to be more effective technology compared to other conventional activated sludge process and advanced membrane separation technique. Additionally, as far as the MBR is concerned, it is having excellent control of sludge retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) and conducive to the retention of high concentration of sludge biomass. The membrane bioreactor (MBR) can effectively reduce footprint in terms of area and omit the secondary processing procedures in the conventional activated sludge process (CAS). Currently, as per the membrane technology, the ceramic membrane is found to have highly strong anti-acid-base properties, and it is more suitable than polymeric membrane while using for backwash and chemical cleaning. This study is based upon the treatment of Cutting Fluid wastewater, as the Cutting Fluid is widely used in the cutting equipment. However, the Cutting Fluid wastewater is very difficult to treat. In this study, the ceramic membrane was used and combine with of MBR system to treat the Cutting Fluid wastewater. In this present study, different kind of chemical coagulants have been utilized for pretreatment purpose in order to get the supernatant and simultaneously this wastewater (supernatant) was treated by MBR process. Nevertheless, ceramic membrane has three advantages such as high mechanical strength, drug resistance and reuse. During the experiment, the backwash technique was used for every interval of 10 minutes in order to avoid fouling of the membrane. In this study, during pretreatment the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiency was found to be 71-86% and oil removal efficiency was analyzed to be 83-92%. This pretreatment study suggests that it is quiet effective methodology to reduce COD and oil concentration. Finally, In the MBR system when the HRT is more than 7.5 hour, the COD removal efficiency was found to be 87-93% and could achieve 100% oil removal efficiency. Coagulation test series were seen in Refs coagulants for the treatment of wastewater containing cutting oil with better oil and COD removal efficiency. The results also showed that the oil removal efficiency in the MBR system could reduce the oil content to less than 1 mg / L when the oil quality was 126 mg / L. Therefore, in this paper, the performance of membrane bioreactor by utilizing ceramic membrane has been demonstrated for treatment of Cutting Fluid wastewater.

Keywords: membrane bioreactor, cutting fluid, oil, chemical oxygen demand

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Authors: Chuang-Hung Lin, Cheng-Yuan Hsu, Jia-Yan Lin

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It is an indispensible strategy to adopt greenery approach on architectural bases so as to improve ecological habitats, decrease heat-island effect, purify air quality, and relieve surface runoff as well as noise pollution, all of which are done in an attempt to achieve sustainable environment. How we can do with plant design to attain the best visual quality and ideal carbon dioxide fixation depends on whether or not we can appropriately make use of greenery according to the nature of architectural bases. To achieve the goal, it is a need that architects and landscape architects should be provided with sufficient local references. Current greenery studies focus mainly on the heat-island effect of urban with large scale. Most of the architects still rely on people with years of expertise regarding the adoption and disposition of plantation in connection with microclimate scale. Therefore, environmental design, which integrates science and aesthetics, requires fundamental research on landscape environment technology divided from building environment technology. By doing so, we can create mutual benefits between green building and the environment. This issue is extremely important for the greening design of the bases of green buildings in cities and various open spaces. The purpose of this study is to establish plant selection and allocation strategies under different building sunshade levels. Initially, with the shading of sunshine on the greening bases as the starting point, the effects of the shades produced by different building types on the greening strategies were analyzed. Then, by measuring the PAR( photosynthetic active radiation), the relative DLI( daily light integral) was calculated, while the DLI Map was established in order to evaluate the effects of the building shading on the established environmental greening, thereby serving as a reference for plant selection and allocation. The discussion results were to be applied in the evaluation of environment greening of greening buildings and establish the “right plant, right place” design strategy of multi-level ecological greening for application in urban design and landscape design development, as well as the greening criteria to feedback to the eco-city greening buildings.

Keywords: daily light integral, plant design, urban open space

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Authors: Yu-Min Chang, Kuo-Sheng Tsai, Hung-Te Tsai, Chia-Hsin Li

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This paper presents the early-warning lights classification management system for industrial parks promoted by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) since 2011, including the definition of each early-warning light, objectives, action program and accomplishments. All of the 151 industrial parks in Taiwan were classified into four early-warning lights, including red, orange, yellow and green, for carrying out respective pollution management according to the monitoring data of soil and groundwater quality, regulatory compliance, and regulatory listing of control site or remediation site. The Taiwan EPA set up a priority list for high potential polluted industrial parks and investigated their soil and groundwater qualities based on the results of the light classification and pollution potential assessment. In 2011-2013, there were 44 industrial parks selected and carried out different investigation, such as the early warning groundwater well networks establishment and pollution investigation/verification for the red and orange-light industrial parks and the environmental background survey for the yellow-light industrial parks. Among them, 22 industrial parks were newly or continuously confirmed that the concentrations of pollutants exceeded those in soil or groundwater pollution control standards. Thus, the further investigation, groundwater use restriction, listing of pollution control site or remediation site, and pollutant isolation measures were implemented by the local environmental protection and industry competent authorities; the early warning lights of those industrial parks were proposed to adjust up to orange or red-light. Up to the present, the preliminary positive effect of the soil and groundwater quality management system for industrial parks has been noticed in several aspects, such as environmental background information collection, early warning of pollution risk, pollution investigation and control, information integration and application, and inter-agency collaboration. Finally, the work and goal of self-initiated quality management of industrial parks will be carried out on the basis of the inter-agency collaboration by the classified lights system of early warning and management as well as the regular announcement of the status of each industrial park.

Keywords: industrial park, soil and groundwater quality management, early-warning lights classification, SOP for reporting and treatment of monitored abnormal events

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Authors: Hung Hing Chan, Tai-Shan Hu

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Kaohsiung has been an industrial city of Taiwan for over a hundred year. Consequently, there are several abandoned industrial lands left when the process of deindustrialization has started, resulting in the decay of the adjacent urban communities. These industrial lands, which are brownfields that are potentially or already contaminated by hazardous substances, have created social injustice to the surrounding communities. The redevelopments of industrial lands bring a sustainable development to the communities, while the redevelopments can be in different forms, depending on the natural conditions. This research studies the possible approaches to facilitate social sustainability of urban regeneration resulted from the industrial land redevelopment projects, which has always been ignored. The aim of the research is to find out the best western practices of brownfield redevelopment to facilitate social aspect of sustainable urban regeneration and make a contribution to the industrial land redevelopment of Taiwan. The research is conducted via literature review and case study. Industrial land redevelopment has been a social focus in the blighted communities to promote urban regeneration after the post-industrial age. The tendency of this kind of redevelopment is towards constructing the built environment, as a result the environmental and economic aspect of sustainability of the redeveloped industrial land will be boosted, while the social aspect will not be necessarily better since the local communities affected are rarely engaged in the decision-making process and inadequate resource allocation to the projects is not guaranteed. To ensure the improvement of social sustainability is reached, the recommendations of this research, such as civic engagement, a formation of dedicated brownfield regeneration agency and resource allocation to employ brownfield process manager and to strategic communication, should be incorporated into the real practices of industrial land-led urban regeneration. Besides, the case study also shows that the social sustainability of industrial land-led urban regeneration can be promoted by (1) upholding the local feature and public participation in the regeneration process, (2) allocating resources and enforcing responsibility system, and (3) assuring financial resource for the urban regeneration projects and residents. Subsequent research will involve in-depth interviews with the chiefs of the village of related communities in Kaohsiung and questionnaire with the community members to comprehend their opinions regarding social sustainability, aiming at evaluating the social sustainability and finding out which kind of redevelopment project tends to support the social dimension of sustainable development more.

Keywords: brownfield, industrial land, redevelopment, social sustainability, urban regeneration

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Authors: Jui Hsuan Hung, Jeng Yi Tzeng

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Engineering education in the higher education is always male dominated. Therefore, women learning in this environment is an important research topic for feminists, gender researchers and engineering education researchers, especially in the era of gender mainstreaming. The research topics are from the dialectical discussion of feminism and science development history, gender issues of science education, to the subject choice of female students. These researches enrich the field of gender study in engineering education but lack of describing the detailed images of women in engineering education, including their learning, obstacles, needs or feelings. Otherwise, in order to keep up with the industrial trends of emphasizing group collaboration, engineering education turns from traditional lecture to creative group inquiry pedagogy in recent years. Creative project based learning is one of the creative group inquiry pedagogy which the engineering education in higher education adopts often, and it is seen as a gender-inclusive pedagogy in engineering education. Therefore, in order to understand the real situation of women learning in engineering education, this study took place in a course (Introduction to Engineering) offered by the school of engineering of a university in Taiwan. This course is designed for freshman students to establish basic understanding engineering from four departments (Chemical Engineering, Power Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management). One section of this course is to build a Hydraulic Robot designed by the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering. 321 students in the school of engineering took this course and all had the reflection questionnaire. These students are divided into groups of 5 members to work on this project. The videos of process of discussion of five volunteered groups with different gender composition are analyzed, and six women of these five groups are interviewed. We are still on the process of coding and analyzing videos and the qualitative data, but several tentative findings have already emerged. (1) The activity models of groups of both genders are gender segregation, and not like women; men never be the ‘assistants’. (2) The culture of the group is developed by the major gender, but men always dominate the process of practice in all kinds of gender composition groups. (3) Project based learning is supposed to be a gender-inclusive learning model in creative engineering education, but communication obstacles between men and women make it less women friendly. (4) Gender identity, not professional identity, is adopted by these women while they interact with men in their groups. (5) Gender composition and project-based learning pedagogy are not the key factors for women learning in engineering education, but the gender conscience awareness is.

Keywords: engineering education, gender education, creative project based learning, women learning

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Authors: P. S. Hsi, Y. F. Wang, Y. F. Ho, P. C. Hung

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The aim of the present study was to explore the dermal exposure assessment model of chemicals that have been developed abroad and to evaluate the feasibility of chemical dermal exposure assessment model for manufacturing industry in Taiwan. We conducted and analyzed six semi-quantitative risk management tools, including UK - Control of substances hazardous to health ( COSHH ) Europe – Risk assessment of occupational dermal exposure ( RISKOFDERM ), Netherlands - Dose related effect assessment model ( DREAM ), Netherlands – Stoffenmanager ( STOFFEN ), Nicaragua-Dermal exposure ranking method ( DERM ) and USA / Canada - Public Health Engineering Department ( PHED ). Five types of manufacturing industry were selected to evaluate. The Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the sensitivity of each factor, and the correlation between the assessment results of each semi-quantitative model and the exposure factors used in the model was analyzed to understand the important evaluation indicators of the dermal exposure assessment model. To assess the effectiveness of the semi-quantitative assessment models, this study also conduct quantitative dermal exposure results using prediction model and verify the correlation via Pearson's test. Results show that COSHH was unable to determine the strength of its decision factor because the results evaluated at all industries belong to the same risk level. In the DERM model, it can be found that the transmission process, the exposed area, and the clothing protection factor are all positively correlated. In the STOFFEN model, the fugitive, operation, near-field concentrations, the far-field concentration, and the operating time and frequency have a positive correlation. There is a positive correlation between skin exposure, work relative time, and working environment in the DREAM model. In the RISKOFDERM model, the actual exposure situation and exposure time have a positive correlation. We also found high correlation with the DERM and RISKOFDERM models, with coefficient coefficients of 0.92 and 0.93 (p<0.05), respectively. The STOFFEN and DREAM models have poor correlation, the coefficients are 0.24 and 0.29 (p>0.05), respectively. According to the results, both the DERM and RISKOFDERM models are suitable for performance in these selected manufacturing industries. However, considering the small sample size evaluated in this study, more categories of industries should be evaluated to reduce its uncertainty and enhance its applicability in the future.

Keywords: dermal exposure, risk management, quantitative estimation, feasibility evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Marilou Cadatal-Raduban, Minh Hong Pham, Duong Van Pham, Tu Nguyen Xuan, Mui Viet Luong, Kohei Yamanoi, Toshihiko Shimizu, Nobuhiko Sarukura, Hung Dai Nguyen

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There is a great deal of interest in developing all-solid-state tunable ultrashort pulsed lasers emitting in the ultraviolet (UV) region for applications such as micromachining, investigation of charge carrier relaxation in conductors, and probing of ultrafast chemical processes. However, direct short-pulse generation is not as straight forward in solid-state gain media as it is for near-IR tunable solid-state lasers such as Ti:sapphire due to the difficulty of obtaining continuous wave laser operation, which is required for Kerr lens mode-locking schemes utilizing spatial or temporal Kerr type nonlinearity. In this work, the transient cavity method, which was reported to generate ultrashort laser pulses in dye lasers, is extended to a solid-state gain medium. Ce:LiCAF was chosen among the rare-earth-doped fluoride laser crystals emitting in the UV region because of its broad tunability (from 280 to 325 nm) and enough bandwidth to generate 3-fs pulses, sufficiently large effective gain cross section (6.0 x10⁻¹⁸ cm²) favorable for oscillators, and a high saturation fluence (115 mJ/cm²). Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the spectro-temporal evolution of the broadband UV laser emission from Ce:LiCAF, represented as a system of two homogeneous broadened singlet states, by solving the rate equations extended to multiple wavelengths. The goal is to find the appropriate cavity length and Q-factor to achieve the optimal photon cavity decay time and pumping energy for resonator transients that will lead to ps UV laser emission from a Ce:LiCAF crystal pumped by the fourth harmonics (266nm) of a Nd:YAG laser. Results show that a single ps pulse can be generated from a 1-mm, 1 mol% Ce³⁺-doped LiCAF crystal using an output coupler with 10% reflectivity (low-Q) and an oscillator cavity that is 2-mm long (short cavity). This technique can be extended to other fluoride-based solid-state laser gain media.

Keywords: rare-earth-doped fluoride gain medium, transient cavity, ultrashort laser, ultraviolet laser

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Authors: Oday A. Al-Juhaishi, Sa`ad M. Ismail, Hung-Hsun Yen, Christina M. Murray, Helen M. S. Davies

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The functional anatomy of the fascia in the greyhound is still poorly understood, and incompletely described. The basic knowledge of fascia stems mainly from anatomical, histological and ultrastructural analyses. In this study, twelve specimens of hindlimbs from six fresh greyhound cadavers (3 male, 3 female) were used to examine the topographical relationships of the superficial fascia with the skin and underlying tissue. The first incision was made along the dorsal midline from the level of the thoracolumbar junction caudally to the level of the mid sacrum. The second incision was begun at the level of the first incision and extended along the midline of the lateral aspect of the hindlimb distally, to just proximal to the tarsus, and, the skin margins carefully separated to observe connective tissue links between the skin and superficial fascia, attachment points of the fascia and the relationships of the fascia with blood vessels that supply the skin. A digital camera was used to record the anatomical features as they were revealed. The dissections identified fibrous septa connecting the skin with the superficial fascia and deep fascia in specific areas. The presence of the adipose tissue was found to be very rare within the superficial fascia in these specimens. On the extensor aspects of some joints, a fusion between the superficial fascia and deep fascia was observed. This fusion created a subcutaneous bursa in the following areas: a prepatellar bursa of the stifle, a tarsal bursa caudal to the calcaneus bone, and an ischiatic bursa caudal to the ischiatic tuberosity. The evaluation of blood vessels showed that the perforating vessels passed through fibrous septa in a perpendicular direction to supply the skin, with the largest branch noted in the gluteal area. The attachment points between the superficial fascia and skin were mainly found in the region of the flexor aspect of the joints, such as caudal to the stifle joint. The numerous fibrous septa between the superficial fascia and skin that have been identified in some areas, may create support for the blood vessels that penetrate fascia and into the skin, while allowing for movement between the tissue planes. The subcutaneous bursae between the skin and the superficial fascia where it is fused with the deep fascia may be useful to decrease friction between moving areas. The adhesion points may be related to the integrity and loading of the skin. The attachment points fix the skin and appear to divide the hindlimb into anatomical compartments.

Keywords: attachment points, fibrous septa, greyhound, subcutaneous bursa, superficial fascia

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Authors: Chyuan Haur Kao, Hsiang Chen, Yu Sheng Tsai, Chen Hao Hung, Yu Shan Lee

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Dielectric electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor sensing membranes-based biosensors have been intensively investigated because of their simple fabrication, low cost, and fast response. However, to enhance their sensing performance, it is worthwhile to explore alternative materials, distinct processes, and novel treatments. An ISFET can be viewed as a variation of MOSFET with the dielectric oxide layer as the sensing membrane. Then, modulation on the work function of the gate caused by electrolytes in various ion concentrations could be used to calculate the ion concentrations. Recently, owing to the advancement of CMOS technology, some high dielectric materials substrates as the sensing membranes of electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) structures. The EIS with a stacked-layer of SiO₂ layer between the sensing membrane and the silicon substrate exhibited a high pH sensitivity and good long-term stability. IGZO is a wide-bandgap (~3.15eV) semiconductor of the III-VI semiconductor group with several preferable properties, including good transparency, high electron mobility, wide band gap, and comparable with CMOS technology. IGZO was sputtered by reactive radio frequency (RF) on a p-type silicon wafer with various gas ratios of Ar:O₂ and was treated with rapid thermal annealing in O₂ ambient. The sensing performance, including sensitivity, hysteresis, and drift rate was measured and XRD, XPS, and AFM analyses were also used to study the material properties of the IGZO membrane. Moreover, IGZO was used as a sensing membrane in dielectric EIS bio-sensor structures. In addition to traditional pH sensing capability, detection for concentrations of Na+, K+, urea, glucose, and creatinine was performed. Moreover, post rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment was confirmed to improve the material properties and enhance the multi-analyte sensing capability for various ions or chemicals in solutions. In this study, the IGZO sensing membrane with annealing in O₂ ambient exhibited a higher sensitivity, higher linearity, higher H+ selectivity, lower hysteresis voltage and lower drift rate. Results indicate that the IGZO dielectric sensing membrane on the EIS structure is promising for future bio-medical device applications.

Keywords: dielectric sensing membrane, IGZO, hydrogen ion, plasma, rapid thermal annealing

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Authors: Yi-Chun Huang, Kuan-Yun Chen, Chuang-Hung Lin

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Urban Green Belt and Blue is a part of the city landscape, it is an important constituent element of the urban environment and appearance. The Hsinchu East Gate Moat is situated in the center of the city, which not only has a wealth of historical and cultural resources, but also combines the Green Belt and the Blue Belt qualities at the same time. The Moat runs more than a thousand meters through the vital Green Belt and the Blue Belt in downtown, and each section is presented in different qualities of moat from south to north. The water area and the green belt of surroundings are presented linear and banded spread. The water body and the rich diverse river banks form an urban green belt of rich layers. The watercourse with green belt design lets users have connections with blue belts in different ways; therefore, the integration of Hsinchu East Gate and moat have become one of the unique urban landscapes in Taiwan. The study is based on the fact-finding case of Hsinchu East Gate Moat where situated in northern Taiwan, to research the impact between the SVF variation of the city and spatial sequence of Urban Green Belt and Blue landscape and visual analysis by constituent cross-section, and then comparing the influence of different leaf area index – the variable ecological factors to the degree of enclosure. We proceed to survey the landscape design of open space, to measure existing structural features of the plant canopy which contain the height of plants and branches, the crown diameter, breast-height diameter through access to diagram of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and on-the-spot actual measurement. The north and south districts of blue green belt areas are divided 20 meters into a unit from East Gate Roundabout as the epicenter, and to set up a survey points to measure the SVF above the survey points; then we proceed to quantitative analysis from the data to calculate open landscape degree of enclosure. The results can be reference for the composition of future river landscape and the practical operation for dynamic space planning of blue and green belt landscape.

Keywords: sky view factor, degree of enclosure, spatial sequence, leaf area indices

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Authors: Alexander Street, Nina Wollersberger, Paul Fernie, Leonardo Muller, Ming Hung HSU, Helen Odell-Miller, Jorg Fachner, Patrizia Di Campli San Vito, Stephen Brewster, Hari Shaji, Satvik Venkatesh, Paolo Itaborai, Nicolas Farina, Alexis Kirke, Sube Banerjee, Eduardo Reck Miranda

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Escalating neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in people with dementia may lead to earlier care home admission. Music listening has been reported to stimulate cognitive function, potentially reducing agitation in this population. We present a scoping review, reporting on current developments and discussing the potential for music listening with related technology in managing agitation in dementia care. Of two searches for music listening studies, one focused on older people or people living with dementia where music listening interventions, including technology, were delivered in participants’ homes or in institutions to address neuropsychiatric symptoms, quality of life and independence. The second included any population focusing on the use of music technology for health and wellbeing. In search one 70/251 full texts were included. The majority reported either statistical significance (6, 8.5%), significance (17, 24.2%) or improvements (26, 37.1%). Agitation was specifically reported in 36 (51.4%). The second search included 51/99 full texts, reporting improvement (28, 54.9%), significance (11, 21.5%), statistical significance (1, 1.9%) and no difference compared to the control (6, 11.7%). The majority in the first focused on mood and agitation, and the second on mood and psychophysiological responses. Five studies used AI or machine learning systems to select music, all involving healthy controls and reporting benefits. Most studies in both reviews were not conducted in a home environment (review 1 = 12; 17.1%; review 2 = 11; 21.5%). Preferred music listening may help manage NPS in the care home settings. Based on these and other data extracted in the review, a reasonable progression would be to co-design and test music listening systems and protocols for NPS in all settings, including people’s homes. Machine learning and automated technology for music selection and arousal adjustment, driven by live biodata, have not been explored in dementia care. Such approaches may help deliver the right music at the appropriate time in the required dosage, reducing the use of medication and improving quality of life.

Keywords: music listening, dementia, agitation, scoping review, technology

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Authors: Wei-Ju Huang, Hung-Pin Hsu

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[Background] In congestive heart failure (CHF), it has always been the principle of clinical treatment to control the water retention mechanism in the body to prevent excessive fluid retention. Early control of sympathetic nerves, Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system (RAA system, RAAS), or strengthening of Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) was the point. In RAA system, related hormones, such as angiotensin, or enzymes in the pathway, such as ACE-I, can be used with corresponding inhibitors to reduce water content.[Aim] In recent years, clinical studies have pointed out that if different mechanisms are combined, the control effect seems to be better. For example, recent studies showed that ENTRESTO, a combination of Sacubitril and Valsartan, is a good new drug for CHF. Sacubitril is a prodrug. After activation, it can inhibit neprilysin and act as a neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) to reduce the breakdown of natriuretic peptides(ANP). Valsartan is a kind of angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), both of which are used to treat heart failure at the same time, have excellent curative effects.[Materials and Methods] Considering the side effects of this drug, coughing and a few cases of diarrhea were observed. However, the effect of this drug on the patient's intestinal tract has not been confirmed. On the other hand, studies have pointed out that ANP supplement can improve the CHF and increase the inhibitory effect on cancer cells. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use a special microbial detection method to prove that whether oral drugs have an effect on microorganisms.The experimental method uses Nissui Compact Dry to observe the situation in different types of microorganisms. After the drug is dissolved in water, it is implanted in a petri dish, and the presence of different microorganisms is detected through different antibody reactions to confirm whether the drug has some toxicology in the gut.[Results and Discussion]From the above experimental results, it can be known that among the effects of Sacubitril and Valsartan on the basic microbial flora of the human body, low doses had no significant effect on Escherichia coli or intestinal bacteria. If Sacubitril or Valsartan with a high concentration of 3mg/ml is used alone or under the stimulation of a high concentration of the two drugs, it has a significant inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli. However, in terms of the effect on intestinal bacteria, high concentration of Sacubitril has a more significant inhibitory effect on intestinal bacteria, while high concentration of Valsartan has a less significant inhibitory effect on intestinal bacteria. The inhibitory effect of the combination of the two drugs on intestinal bacteria is also less significant.[Conclusion]The results of this study can be used as a further reference for the possible side effects of the clinical use of Sacubitril and Valsartan on the intestinal tract of patients,

Keywords: sacubitril, valsartan, entresto, congestive heart failure (CHF)

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Yu-Ching Lin, Meei-Ling Gau, Ghi-Hwei Kao, Hung-Chang Lee

Abstract:

Objective: To compare the pushing experiences and birth outcomes of three different pushing positions during the second stage of labor. The three positions were: semi-recumbent, squatting, and squatting with the aid of ergonomically designed ankle supports. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a regional teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. Data were collected from 168 primiparous women in their 38th to 42nd gestational week. None of the participants received epidural analgesia during labor and all were free of pregnancy and labor-related complications. Intervention: During labor, after full cervical dilation and when the fetal head had descended to at least the +1 station and had turned to the occiput anterior position, the experimental group was asked to push in the squatting position while wearing the ergonomically designed ankle supports; comparison group A was asked to push in the squatting position without the use of these supports; and comparison group B was asked to push in a standard semi-recumbent position. Measures: The participants completed a demographic and obstetrics datasheet, the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ-SF), and the Labor Pushing Experience scale within 4-hours postpartum. Conclusion: In terms of delivery time, the duration between the start of pushing to crowning for the experimental group (squatting with ankle supports) averaged 25.52 minutes less (F =6.02, p< .05) than the time for comparison group B (semi-recumbent). Furthermore, the duration between the start of pushing to infant birth averaged 25.21 minutes less for the experimental group than for comparison group B (F =6.14, p< .05). Moreover, the experimental group had a lower average VAS pain score (5.05±3.22) than comparison group B and the average McGill pain score for the experimental group was lower than both comparison groups (F=18.12, p< .001). In summary, the participants in the group that delivered from a squatting position with ankle supports had better labor pushing experiences than their peers in the comparison groups. Results: In comparison to both unsupported squatting and semi-recumbent pushing, squatting with the aid of ergonomically designed ankle supports reduced pushing times, ameliorated labor pain, and improved the pushing experience. Clinical application and suggestion: The squatting with ankle-support intervention introduced in the present study may significantly reduce tiredness and difficulties in maintaining balance as well as increase pushing efficiency. Thus, this intervention may reduce the caring needs of women during the second stage of labor. This intervention may be introduced in midwifery education programs and in clinical practice as a method to improve the care of women during the second stage of labor.

Keywords: second stage of labor, pushing, squatting with ankle supports, squatting

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Hung-Chun Lin, Tzu-Yuan Chao

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As the population aging has become an inevitable trend globally, issues of improving the well-being of elderly people in urban areas have been a challenging task for urban planners. Recent studies of ageing trend have also expended to explore the relationship between the built environment and mental condition of elderly people. These studies have proved that even though the built environment may not necessarily play the decisive role in affecting mental health, it can have positive impacts on individual mental health by promoting social linkages and social networks among older adults. There has been a great amount of relevant research examined the impact of the built environment attributes on depression in the elderly; however, most were conducted in the Western countries. Little attention has been paid in Asian cities with contrarily high density and mix-use urban contexts such as Taiwan regarding how the built environment attributes related to depression in elderly people. Hence, more empirical cross-principle studies are needed to explore the possible impacts of Asia urban characteristics on older residents’ mental condition. This paper intends to focus on Tainan city, the fourth biggest metropolis in Taiwan. We first analyze with data from National Health Insurance Research Database to pinpoint the empirical study area where residing most elderly patients, aged over 65, with depressive disorders. Secondly, we explore the relationship between specific attributes of the built environment collected from previous studies and elderly individuals who suffer from depression, under different socio-cultural and networking circumstances. To achieve the results, the research methods adopted in this study include questionnaire and database analysis, and the results will be proceeded by correlation analysis. In addition, through literature review, by generalizing the built environment factors that have been used in Western research to evaluate the relationship between built environment and older individuals with depressive disorders, a set of local evaluative indicators of the built environment for future studies will be proposed as well. In order to move closer to develop age-friendly cities and improve the well-being for the elderly in Taiwan, the findings of this paper can provide empirical results to grab planners’ attention for how built environment makes the elderly feel and to reconsider the relationship between them. Furthermore, with an interdisciplinary topic, the research results are expected to make suggestions for amending the procedures of drawing up an urban plan or a city plan from a different point of view.

Keywords: built environment, depression, elderly, Tainan

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Hsin-Hung Lai, Wei Lo

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Whether it is in virtue or vice for a construction quality of public construction project, it is one of the important indicators for national economic development and overall construction, the impact on the quality of national life is very deep. In recent years, a number of scandal of public construction project occurred, the requirements of the government agencies and the public require the quality of construction of public construction project are getting stricter than ever, the three-level public construction project construction quality of quality control system implemented by the government has a profound impact. This study mainly aggregated the evolution of ISO 9000 quality control system, the difference between the practice of implementing management of construction quality by many countries and three-level quality control of our country, so we explored and found that almost all projects of enhancing construction quality are dominated by civil organizations in foreign countries, whereas, it is induced by the national power in our country and develop our three-level quality control system and audit mechanism based on IOS system and implement the works by legislation, we also explored its enhancement and relevance with construction quality of public construction project that are intervened by such system and national power, and it really presents the effectiveness of construction quality been enhanced by the audited result. The three-level quality control system of our country to promote the policy of public construction project is almost same with the quality control system of many developed countries; however our country mainly implements such system on public construction project only, we promote the three-level quality control system is for enhancing the quality of public construction project, for establishing effective quality management system, so as to urge, correct and prevent the defects of quality management by manufacturers, whereas, those developed countries is comprehensively promoting (both public construction project and civil construction) such system. Therefore, this study is to explore the scope for public construction project only; the most important is the quality recognition by the executor, either good quality or deterioration is not a single event, there is a certain procedure extends from the demand and feasibility analysis, design, tendering, contracting, construction performance, inspection, continuous improvement, completion and acceptance, transferring and meeting the needs of the users, all of mentioned above have a causal relationship and it is a systemic problems. So the best construction quality would be manufactured and managed by reasonable cost if it is by extensive thinking and be preventive. We aggregated the implemented results in the past 10 years (2005 to 2015), the audited results of both in central units and local ones were slightly increased in A-grade while those listed in B-grade were decreased, although the levels were not evidently upgraded, yet, such result presents that the construction quality of concept of manufacturers are improving, and the construction quality has been established in the design stage, thus it is relatively beneficial to the enhancement of construction quality of overall public construction project.

Keywords: ISO 9000, three-level quality control system, audit and review mechanism for construction implementation, quality of construction implementation

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Authors: Jyh Sheen, Yang-Hung Cheng

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This paper presents a design of a microstrip bandpass filter with a compact size and wide stopband by using 0.15-μm GaAs pHEMT process. The wide stop band is achieved by suppressing the first and second harmonic resonance frequencies. The slow-wave coupling stepped impedance resonator with cross coupled structure is adopted to design the bandpass filter. A two-resonator filter was fabricated with 13.5GHz center frequency and 11% bandwidth was achieved. The devices are simulated using the ADS design software. This device has shown a compact size and very low insertion loss of 2.6 dB. Microstrip planar bandpass filters have been widely adopted in various communication applications due to the attractive features of compact size and ease of fabricating. Various planar resonator structures have been suggested. In order to reach a wide stopband to reduce the interference outside the passing band, various designs of planar resonators have also been submitted to suppress the higher order harmonic frequencies of the designed center frequency. Various modifications to the traditional hairpin structure have been introduced to reduce large design area of hairpin designs. The stepped-impedance, slow-wave open-loop, and cross-coupled resonator structures have been studied to miniaturize the hairpin resonators. In this study, to suppress the spurious harmonic bands and further reduce the filter size, a modified hairpin-line bandpass filter with cross coupled structure is suggested by introducing the stepped impedance resonator design as well as the slow-wave open-loop resonator structure. In this way, very compact circuit size as well as very wide upper stopband can be achieved and realized in a Roger 4003C substrate. On the other hand, filters constructed with integrated circuit technology become more attractive for enabling the integration of the microwave system on a single chip (SOC). To examine the performance of this design structure at the integrated circuit, the filter is fabricated by the 0.15 μm pHEMT GaAs integrated circuit process. This pHEMT process can also provide a much better circuit performance for high frequency designs than those made on a PCB board. The design example was implemented in GaAs with center frequency at 13.5 GHz to examine the performance in higher frequency in detail. The occupied area is only about 1.09×0.97 mm2. The ADS software is used to design those modified filters to suppress the first and second harmonics.

Keywords: microstrip resonator, bandpass filter, harmonic suppression, GaAs

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: Yi-Hung Ho, Chih-Wei Wang, Chih-Hsien Chen, Chih-Han Chang

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Unilateral laminotomy and bilateral laminotomies were successful decompressions methods for managing spinal stenosis that numerous studies have reported. Thus, unilateral laminotomy was rated technically much more demanding than bilateral laminotomies, whereas the bilateral laminotomies were associated with a positive benefit to reduce more complications. There were including incidental durotomy, increased radicular deficit, and epidural hematoma. However, no relative biomechanical analysis for evaluating spinal instability treated with unilateral and bilateral laminotomies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of different decompressions methods by experimental and finite element analysis. Three porcine lumbar spines were biomechanically evaluated for their range of motion, and the results were compared following unilateral or bilateral laminotomies. The experimental protocol included flexion and extension in the following procedures: intact, unilateral, and bilateral laminotomies (L2–L5). The specimens in this study were tested in flexion (8 Nm) and extension (6 Nm) of pure moment. Spinal segment kinematic data was captured by using the motion tracking system. A 3D finite element lumbar spine model (L1-S1) containing vertebral body, discs, and ligaments were constructed. This model was used to simulate the situation of treating unilateral and bilateral laminotomies at L3-L4 and L4-L5. The bottom surface of S1 vertebral body was fully geometrically constrained in this study. A 10 Nm pure moment also applied on the top surface of L1 vertebral body to drive lumbar doing different motion, such as flexion and extension. The experimental results showed that in the flexion, the ROMs (±standard deviation) of L3–L4 were 1.35±0.23, 1.34±0.67, and 1.66±0.07 degrees of the intact, unilateral, and bilateral laminotomies, respectively. The ROMs of L4–L5 were 4.35±0.29, 4.06±0.87, and 4.2±0.32 degrees, respectively. No statistical significance was observed in these three groups (P>0.05). In the extension, the ROMs of L3–L4 were 0.89±0.16, 1.69±0.08, and 1.73±0.13 degrees, respectively. In the L4-L5, the ROMs were 1.4±0.12, 2.44±0.26, and 2.5±0.29 degrees, respectively. Significant differences were observed among all trials, except between the unilateral and bilateral laminotomy groups. At the simulation results portion, the similar results were discovered with the experiment. No significant differences were found at L4-L5 both flexion and extension in each group. Only 0.02 and 0.04 degrees variation were observed during flexion and extension between the unilateral and bilateral laminotomy groups. In conclusions, the present results by finite element analysis and experimental reveal that no significant differences were observed during flexion and extension between unilateral and bilateral laminotomies in short-term follow-up. From a biomechanical point of view, bilateral laminotomies seem to exhibit a similar stability as unilateral laminotomy. In clinical practice, the bilateral laminotomies are likely to reduce technical difficulties and prevent perioperative complications; this study proved this benefit through biomechanical analysis. The results may provide some recommendations for surgeons to make the final decision.

Keywords: unilateral laminotomy, bilateral laminotomies, spinal stenosis, finite element analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Quoc Hung Le Pham

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In the field of language study, classifier is an interesting research feature. In the world’s languages, some languages have classifier system, some do not. Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese languages are a rich classifier system, however, because of the language system, the cognitive, cultural differences, so that the syntactic structure of classifier of them also dissimilar. When using Mandarin Chinese classifiers must collocate with nouns or verbs, in the lexical category it is not like nouns or verbs, belong to the open class. But some scholars believe that Mandarin Chinese measure words are similar to English and other Indo European languages. The word hanging on the structure and word formation (suffix), is a closed class. Compared to other languages, such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and other Asian languages are still belonging to the classifier language’s second type, this type of language is classifier, it is in the majority of quantity must exist, and following deictic, anaphoric or quantity appearing together, not separation between its modified noun, also known as numeral classifier language. Main syntactic structure of Chinese classifiers are as follows: ‘quantity+measure+noun’, ‘pronoun+measure+noun’, ‘pronoun+quantity+measure+noun’, ‘prefix+quantity+measure +noun’, ‘quantity +adjective + measure +noun’, ‘ quantity (above 10 whole number), + duo (多)measure +noun’, ‘ quantity (around 10) + measure + duo (多) +noun’. Main syntactic structure of Vietnamese classifiers are: ‘quantity+measure+noun’, ‘ measure+noun+pronoun’, ‘quantity+measure+noun+pronoun’, ‘measure+noun+prefix+ quantity’, ‘quantity+measure+noun+adjective', ‘duo (多) +quanlity+measure+noun’, ‘quantity+measure+adjective+pronoun (quantity word could not be 1)’, ‘measure+adjective+pronoun’, ‘measure+pronoun’. In daily life, classifiers are commonly used, if Chinese learners failed to standardize this using catergory, because the negative impact might occur on their verbal communication. The richness of the Chinese classifier system contributes to the complexity in the study of the system by foreign learners, especially in the inter language of Vietnamese learners. As above mentioned, Vietnamese language also has a rich system of classifiers, however, the basic structure order of two languages are similar but both still have differences. These similarities and dissimilarities between Chinese and Vietnamese classifier systems contribute significantly to the common errors made by Vietnamese students while they acquire Chinese, which are distinct from the errors made by students from the other language background. This article from a comparative perspective of language, has an orientation towards Chinese and Vietnamese languages commonly used in classifiers semantics and structural form two aspects. This comparative study aims to identity Vietnamese students while learning Chinese classifiers may face some negative transference of mother language, beside that through the analysis of the classifiers questionnaire, find out the causes and patterns of the errors they made. As the preliminary analysis shows, Vietnamese students while learning Chinese classifiers made some errors such as: overuse classifier ‘ge’(个); misuse the other classifiers ‘*yi zhang ri ji’(yi pian ri ji), ‘*yi zuo fang zi’(yi jian fang zi), ‘*si zhang jin pai’(si mei jin pai); homonym words ‘dui, shuang, fu, tao’ (对、双、副、套), ‘ke, li’ (颗、粒).

Keywords: acquisition, classifiers, negative transfer, Vietnamse learners

Procedia PDF Downloads 420

Authors: Hung-Chih Hsu, Pey-Jium Chang, Ching-Hsein Chen, Jer-Liang Andrew Yeh

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disorder in rehabilitation clinic. The main characteristics include joint pain, localized tenderness and enlargement, joint effusion, cartilage destruction, loss of adhesion of perichondrium, synovium hyperplasia. Synoviocytes inflammation might be a cause of local tenderness and effusion. Inflammation cytokines might also play an important role in joint pain, cartilage destruction, decrease adhesion of perichondrium to the bone. Treatments of osteoarthritis include non-steroid anti-inflammation drugs (NSAID), glucosamine supplementation, hyaluronic acid, arthroscopic debridement, and total joint replacement. Total joint replacement is commonly used in patients with severe OA who failed respond to pharmacological treatment. However, some patients received surgery had serious adverse events, including instability of the implants due to insufficient adhesion to the adjacent bony tissue or synovial inflammation. We tried to develop ideal nano-topographic oxidized silicon nanosponges by using with various chemicals to produce thickness difference in nanometers in order to study more about the cell-environment interactions in vitro like the alterations of cell adhesion, morphology, extracellular matrix secretions in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. Cytokines studies like growth factor, reactive oxygen species, reactive inflammatory materials (Like nitrous oxide and prostaglandin E2), extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation enzymes, and synthesis of collagen will also be observed and discussed. Extracellular and intracellular expression transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) will be studied by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The degradation of ECM will be observed by the bioactivity ratio of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase by ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). When rabbit synoviocytes were cultured on these nano-topographic structures, they demonstrate better cell adhesion rate, decreased expression of MMP-2,9 and PGE2, and increased expression of TGF-β when cultured in nano-topographic oxidized silicon nanosponges than in the planar oxidized silicon ones. These results show cell behavior, cytokine production can be influenced by physical characteristics from different nano-topographic structures. Our study demonstrates the possibility of manipulating cell behavior in these nano-topographic biomaterials.

Keywords: osteoarthritis, synoviocyte, oxidized silicon surfaces, reactive oxygen species

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Ming-Yeh Lu, Shiao-Shing Chen, Saikat Sinha Ray, Hung-Te Hsu

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Recently, anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) has been widely utilized, which combines anaerobic biological treatment process and membrane filtration, that can be present an attractive option for wastewater treatment and water reuse. Conventional AnMBR is having several advantages, such as improving effluent quality, compact space usage, lower sludge yield, without aeration and production of energy. However, the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in the AnMBR permeate was negligible which become the biggest disadvantage. In recent years, forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging technology that utilizes osmotic pressure as driving force to extract clean water without additional external pressure. The pore size of FO membrane is kindly mentioned the pore size, so nitrogen or phosphorus could effectively improve removal of nitrogen or phosphorus. Anaerobic bioreactor with FO membrane (AnOMBR) can retain the concentrate organic matters and nutrients. However, phosphorus is a non-renewable resource. Due to the high rejection property of FO membrane, the high amount of phosphorus could be recovered from the combination of AnMBR and FO. In this study, development of novel submerged anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactor integrated with periodic microfiltration (MF) extraction for simultaneous phosphorus and clean water recovery from wastewater was evaluated. A laboratory-scale AnOMBR utilizes cellulose triacetate (CTA) membranes with effective membrane area of 130 cm² was fully submerged into a 5.5 L bioreactor at 30-35℃. Active layer-facing feed stream orientation was utilized, for minimizing fouling and scaling. Additionally, a peristaltic pump was used to circulate draw solution (DS) at a cross flow velocity of 0.7 cm/s. Magnesium sulphate (MgSO₄) solution was used as DS. Microfiltration membrane periodically extracted about 1 L solution when the TDS reaches to 5 g/L to recover phosphorus and simultaneous control the salt accumulation in the bioreactor. During experiment progressed, the average water flux was achieved around 1.6 LMH. The AnOMBR process show greater than 95% removal of soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD), nearly 100% of total phosphorous whereas only partial removal of ammonia, and finally average methane production of 0.22 L/g sCOD was obtained. Therefore, AnOMBR system periodically utilizes MF membrane extracted for phosphorus recovery with simultaneous pH adjustment. The overall performance demonstrates that a novel submerged AnOMBR system is having potential for simultaneous wastewater treatment and resource recovery from wastewater, and hence, the new concept of this system can be used to replace for conventional AnMBR in the future.

Keywords: anaerobic treatment, forward osmosis, phosphorus recovery, membrane bioreactor

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Su Hui Tsai, Weir Sen Lin, Rhay Hung Weng

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There are numerous outpatient departments at hospitals with enormous amounts of outpatients. Although the work of outpatient nursing staff does not include the ward, emergency and critical care units that involve patient life-threatening conditions, the work is cumbersome and requires facing and dealing with a large number of outpatients in a short period of time. Therefore, nursing staff often do not feel satisfied with their work and cannot identify with their professional role, leading to intentions to leave their job. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to explore the correlation between the job satisfaction and role identity of nursing staff with turnover intention. This research was conducted using a questionnaire, and the subjects were outpatient nursing staff in three regional hospitals in Southern Taiwan. A total of 175 questionnaires were distributed, and 166 valid questionnaires were returned. After collecting the data, the reliability and validity of the study variables were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The influence of role identity and job satisfaction on nursing staff’s turnover intention was analyzed by descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results showed that 'role identity' had significant differences in different types of marriages. Job satisfaction of 'grasp of environment' had significant differences in different levels of education. Job satisfaction of 'professional growth' and 'shifts and days off' showed significant differences in different types of marriages. 'Role identity' and 'job satisfaction' were negatively correlated with turnover intention respectively. Job satisfaction of 'salary and benefits' and 'grasp of environment' were significant predictors of role identity. The higher the job satisfaction of 'salary and benefits' and 'grasp of environment', the higher the role identity. Job satisfaction of 'patient and family interaction' were significant predictors of turnover intention. The lower the job satisfaction of 'patient and family interaction', the higher the turnover intention. This study found that outpatient nursing staff had the lowest satisfaction towards salary structure. It is recommended that bonuses, promotion opportunities and other incentives be established to increase the role identity of outpatient nursing staff. The results showed that the higher the job satisfaction of 'salary and benefits' and 'grasp of environment', the higher the role identity. It is recommended that regular evaluations be conducted to reward nursing staff with excellent service and invite nursing staff to share their work experiences and thoughts, to enhance nursing staff’s expectation and identification of their occupational role, as well as instilling the concept of organizational service and organizational expectations of emotional display. The results showed that the lower the job satisfaction of 'patient and family interaction', the higher the turnover intention. It is recommended that interpersonal communication and workplace violence prevention educational training courses be organized to enhance the communication and interaction of nursing staff with patients and their families.

Keywords: outpatient, job satisfaction, turnover, intention

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Hsin-Hung Lin, Janet Chang, Te-Yi Chang, You-Sheng Huang

Abstract:

The natural and men-made disasters have become huge challenges for tourism destinations as well as emphasizing the fragility of the industry. Hot springs, among all destinations, are prone to disasters due to their dependence on natural resources and locations. After the COVID-19 outbreak, hot spring destinations have experienced not only the loss of businesses but also the psychological trauma. However, evidence has also shown that the impacts may not necessarily reduce the resilience for people but may be converted into posttraumatic growth. In Taiwan, a large proportion of hot springs are located in rural or indigenous areas. As a result, hot spring resources are associated with community cohesion for local residents. Yet prior research on hot spring destinations has mainly focused on visitors, whereas residents have been overlooked. More specifically, the relationship between hot springs resources and resident resilience in the face of the COVID-19 impacts remains unclear. To fulfill this knowledge gap, this paper aims to explore the COVID-19 impacts on residents’ hot spring experiences as well as individual and community resilience from the perspective of posttraumatic growth. A total of 315 residents of 13 hot spring destinations that are most popular in Taiwan were recruited. Online questionnaires were distributed over travel forums and social networks after the COVID-19. This paper subsequently used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling for data analysis as the technique offers significant advantages in addressing nonnormal data and small sample sizes. A preliminary test was conducted, and the results showed acceptable internal consistency and no serious common method variance. The path analysis demonstrated that the COVID-19 impacts strengthened residents’ perceptions of hot spring resources and experiences, implying that the pandemic had propelled the residents to visit hot springs for the healing benefits. In addition, the COVID-19 impacts significantly enhanced residents’ individual and community resilience, which indicates that the residents at hot springs are more resilient thanks to their awareness of external risks. Thirdly, residents’ individual resilience was positively associated with hot spring experiences, while community resilience was not affected by hot spring experiences. Such findings may suggest that hot spring experiences are more related to individual-level experiences and, consequently, have insignificant influence on community resilience. Finally, individual resilience was proved to be the most relevant factor that help foster community resilience. To conclude, the authorities may consider exploiting the hot spring resources so as to increase individual resilience for local residents. Such implications can be used as a reference for other post-disaster tourist destinations as well. As for future research, longitudinal studies with qualitative methods are suggested to better understand how the hot spring experiences have changed individuals and communities over the long term. It should be noted that the main subjects of this paper were focused on the hot spring communities in Taiwan. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized for all types of tourism destinations. That is, more diverse tourism destinations may be investigated to provide a broader perspective of post-disaster recovery.

Keywords: community resilience, hot spring destinations, individual resilience, posttraumatic growth

Procedia PDF Downloads 49

Authors: Hsin-Hung Lin, Janet Chang, Te-Yi Chang, You-Sheng Huang

Abstract:

The natural and men-made disasters have become huge challenges for tourism destinations as well as emphasizing the fragility of the industry. Hot springs, among all destinations, are prone to disasters due to their dependence on natural resources and locations. After the COVID-19 outbreak, hot spring destinations have experienced not only the loss of businesses but also the psychological trauma. However, evidence has also shown that the impacts may not necessarily reduce the resilience for people but may be converted into posttraumatic growth. In Taiwan, a large proportion of hot springs are located in rural or indigenous areas. As a result, hot spring resources are associated with community cohesion for local residents. Yet prior research on hot spring destinations has mainly focused on visitors, whereas residents have been overlooked. More specifically, the relationship between hot springs resources and resident resilience in the face of the COVID-19 impacts remains unclear. To fulfill this knowledge gap, this paper aims to explore the COVID-19 impacts on residents’ hot spring experiences as well as individual and community resilience from the perspective of posttraumatic growth. A total of 315 residents of 13 hot spring destinations that are most popular in Taiwan were recruited. Online questionnaires were distributed over travel forums and social networks after the COVID-19. This paper subsequently used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling for data analysis as the technique offers significant advantages in addressing nonnormal data and small sample sizes. A preliminary test was conducted, and the results showed acceptable internal consistency and no serious common method variance. The path analysis demonstrated that the COVID-19 impacts strengthened residents’ perceptions of hot spring resources and experiences, implying that the pandemic had propelled the residents to visit hot springs for the healing benefits. In addition, the COVID-19 impacts significantly enhanced residents’ individual and community resilience, which indicates that the residents at hot springs are more resilient thanks to their awareness of external risks. Thirdly, residents’ individual resilience was positively associated with hot spring experiences, while community resilience was not affected by hot spring experiences. Such findings may suggest that hot spring experiences are more related to individual-level experiences and, consequently, have insignificant influence on community resilience. Finally, individual resilience was proved to be the most relevant factor that help foster community resilience. To conclude, the authorities may consider exploiting the hot spring resources so as to increase individual resilience for local residents. Such implications can be used as a reference for other post-disaster tourist destinations as well.As for future research, longitudinal studies with qualitative methods are suggested to better understand how the hot spring experiences have changed individuals and communities over the long term. It should be noted that the main subjects of this paper were focused on the hot spring communities in Taiwan. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized for all types of tourism destinations. That is, more diverse tourism destinations may be investigated to provide a broader perspective of post-disaster recovery.

Keywords: community resilience, hot spring destinations, individual resilience, posttraumatic growth (PTG)

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Huey-Yeu Yan, Ching-Ying Lee, Hung-Ru Lin

Abstract:

Background: Physical assessment is a vital clinical nursing competence. The gap between conventional teaching method and the way e-generation students’ preferred could be bridged owing to the support of Internet technology, i.e. interacting with online media to manage learning works. Nursing instructors in the wake of new learning pattern of the e-generation students are challenged to actively adjust and make teaching contents and methods more versatile. Objective: The objective of this research is to explore the effects on teaching and learning with live webcast-assisted on a specific topic, Physical Assessment technique, on a designated group of young nursing majors. It’s hoped that, with a way of nursing instructing, more versatile learning resources may be provided to facilitate self-directed learning. Design: This research adopts a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The instructor demonstrated physical assessment techniques and operation procedures via live webcast broadcasted online to all students. It increased both the off-time interaction between teacher and students concerning teaching materials. Methods: A convenient sampling was used to recruit a total of 52 nursing-majors at a certain university. The nursing majors took two-hour classes of Physical Assessment per week for 18 weeks (36 hrs. in total). The instruction covered four units with live webcasting and then conducted an online anonymous survey of learning outcomes by questionnaire. The research instrument was the online questionnaire, covering three major domains—online media used, learning outcome evaluation and evaluation result. The data analysis was conducted via IBM SPSS Statistics Version 2.0. The descriptive statistics was undertaken to describe the analysis of basic data and learning outcomes. Statistical methods such as descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation were employed in verification. Results: Results indicated the following five major findings. (1) learning motivation, about four fifth of the participants agreed the online instruction resources are very helpful in improving learning motivation and raising the learning interest. (2) learning needs, about four fifth of participants agreed it was helpful to plan self-directed practice after the instruction, and meet their needs of repetitive learning and/or practice at their leisure time. (3) learning effectiveness, about two third agreed it was helpful to reduce pre-exam anxiety, and improve their test scores. (4) course objects, about three fourth agreed that it was helpful to achieve the goal of ‘executing the complete Physical Assessment procedures with proper skills’. (5) finally, learning reflection, about all of participants agreed this experience of online instructing, learning, and practicing is beneficial to them, they recommend instructor to share with other nursing majors, and they will recommend it to fellow students too. Conclusions: Live webcasting is a low-cost, convenient, efficient and interactive resource to facilitate nursing majors’ motivation of learning, need of self-directed learning and practice, outcome of learning. When live webcasting is integrated into nursing teaching, it provides an opportunity of self-directed learning to promote learning effectiveness, as such to fulfill the teaching objective.

Keywords: innovative teaching, learning effectiveness, live webcasting, physical assessment technique

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Ching-Sung Lee, Wei-Chou Hsu, Han-Yin Liu, Hung-Hsi Huang, Si-Fu Chen, Yun-Jung Yang, Bo-Chun Chiang, Yu-Chuang Chen, Shen-Tin Yang

Abstract:

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been intensively studied due to their intrinsic advantages of high breakdown electric field, high electron saturation velocity, and excellent chemical stability. They are also suitable for ultra-violet (UV) photodetection due to the corresponding wavelengths of GaN bandgap. To improve the optical responsivity by decreasing the dark current due to gate leakage problems and limited Schottky barrier heights in GaN-based HEMT devices, various metal-oxide-semiconductor HEMTs (MOS-HEMTs) have been devised by using atomic layer deposition (ALD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), liquid phase deposition (LPD), and RF sputtering. The gate dielectrics include MgO, HfO2, Al2O3, La2O3, and TiO2. In order to provide complementary circuit operation, enhancement-mode (E-mode) devices have been lately studied using techniques of fluorine treatment, p-type capper, piezoneutralization layer, and MOS-gate structure. This work reports an Al2O3-dielectric Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN E-mode MOS-HEMT design by using a cost-effective ozone water oxidization technique. The present ozone oxidization method advantages of low cost processing facility, processing simplicity, compatibility to device fabrication, and room-temperature operation under atmospheric pressure. It can further reduce the gate-to-channel distance and improve the transocnductance (gm) gain for a specific oxide thickness, since the formation of the Al2O3 will consume part of the AlGaN barrier at the same time. The epitaxial structure of the studied devices was grown by using the MOCVD technique. On a Si substrate, the layer structures include a 3.9 m C-doped GaN buffer, a 300 nm GaN channel layer, and a 5 nm Al0.25Ga0.75N barrier layer. Mesa etching was performed to provide electrical isolation by using an inductively coupled-plasma reactive ion etcher (ICP-RIE). Ti/Al/Au were thermally evaporated and annealed to form the source and drain ohmic contacts. The device was immersed into the H2O2 solution pumped with ozone gas generated by using an OW-K2 ozone generator. Ni/Au were deposited as the gate electrode to complete device fabrication of MOS-HEMT. The formed Al2O3 oxide thickness 7 nm and the remained AlGaN barrier thickness is 2 nm. A reference HEMT device has also been fabricated in comparison on the same epitaxial structure. The gate dimensions are 1.2 × 100 µm 2 with a source-to-drain spacing of 5 μm for both devices. The dielectric constant (k) of Al2O3 was characterized to be 9.2 by using C-V measurement. Reduced interface state density after oxidization has been verified by the low-frequency noise spectra, Hooge coefficients, and pulse I-V measurement. Improved device characteristics at temperatures of 300 K-450 K have been achieved for the present MOS-HEMT design. Consequently, Al2O3-dielectric Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN E-mode MOS-HEMTs by using the ozone water oxidization method are reported. In comparison with a conventional Schottky-gate HEMT, the MOS-HEMT design has demonstrated excellent enhancements of 138% (176%) in gm, max, 118% (139%) in IDS, max, 53% (62%) in BVGD, 3 (2)-order reduction in IG leakage at VGD = -60 V at 300 (450) K. This work is promising for millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) and three-terminal active UV photodetector applications.

Keywords: MOS-HEMT, enhancement mode, AlGaN/GaN, passivation, ozone water oxidation, gate leakage

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Yi-Chu Liu, Hsiu-Huei Hung, Li-Hui Yang, Ming-Jyh Chen

Abstract:

introduction: To promote environmental sustainability, the hospital formed a corporate volunteer team in 2016 to build the Green Experiential Education Center. Our green creation center utilizes attic space to achieve sustainability objectives such as energy efficiency and carbon reduction. Other than executing sustainable plans, the center emphasizes experiential education. We invite our community to actively participate in building a sustainable, economically viable environment. Since 2020, the China Medical University Hospital has provided medical care to the Tgbin community in Taichung City's Heping District. The tribe, primarily composed of Atayal people, the elderly comprise 18% of the total population, and these families' per capita income is relatively low compared to Taiwanese citizens elsewhere. Purpose / Methods: With the experiences at the Green Experiential Education Center, CMUH team identifies the following objectives: Create an aquaponic system to supply vulnerable local households with food. Create a solar renewable energy system to meet the electricity needs of vulnerable local households. Promote the purchase of green electricity certificates to reduce the hospital's carbon emissions and generate additional revenue for the local community. Materials and Methods: In March 2020, we visited the community and installed The aquaponic system in January 2021. CMUH spent 150,000NT (approximately 5000US dollars) in March 2021 to build a 100-square-meter aquaponic system. The production of vegetables and fish caught determines the number of vulnerable families that can be supported. The aquaponics system is a kind of Low energy consumption and environmentally friendly production method, and can simultaneously achieve energy saving, water saving, and fertilizer saving .In September 2023, CMUH will complete a solar renewable energy system. The system will cover an area of 308 square meters and costs approximately NT$240,000 (approximately US$8,000). The installation of electricity meters will enable statistical analysis of power generation. And complete the Taiwan National Renewable Energy Certificate application process. The green electricity certificate will be obtained based on the monthly power generation from the solar renewable energy system. Results: I Food availability and access are crucial considering the remote location and aging population. By creating a fish and vegetable symbiosis system, the vegetables and catches produced will enable economically disadvantaged families to lower food costs. In 2021 and 2022, the aquaponic system produced 52 kilograms of vegetables and 75 kilograms of catch. The production ensures the daily needs of 8 disadvantaged families. Conclusions: The hospital serves as a fortress for public health and the ideal setting for corporate social responsibility. China Medical University Hospital and the Green Experiential Education Center work to strengthen ties with rural communities and offer top-notch specialty medical care. We are committed to assisting people in escaping poverty and hunger as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Keywords: environmental education, sustainability, energy conservation, carbon emissions, rural area development

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Marco F. Benaglia, Mei H. Chen, Kune M. Tsai, Chia H. Hung

Abstract:

As societal and family structures, consumer dietary habits, and awareness about food safety and quality continue to evolve in most developed countries, the demand for refrigerated and frozen foods has been growing, and the issues related to their preservation have gained increasing attention. A well-established cold chain logistics system is essential to avoid any temperature abuse; therefore, assessing potential disruptions in the operational processes of cold chain logistics centers becomes pivotal. This study preliminarily employs HACCP to find disruption factors in cold chain logistics centers that may cause temperature abuse. Then, concept mapping is applied: selected experts engage in brainstorming sessions to identify any further factors. The panel consists of ten experts, including four from logistics and home delivery, two from retail distribution, one from the food industry, two from low-temperature logistics centers, and one from the freight industry. Disruptions include equipment-related aspects, human factors, management aspects, and process-related considerations. The areas of observation encompass freezer rooms, refrigerated storage areas, loading docks, sorting areas, and vehicle parking zones. The experts also categorize the disruption factors based on perceived similarities and build a similarity matrix. Each factor is evaluated for its impact, frequency, and investment importance. Next, multiple scale analysis, cluster analysis, and other methods are used to analyze these factors. Simultaneously, key disruption factors are identified based on their impact and frequency, and, subsequently, the factors that companies prioritize and are willing to invest in are determined by assessing investors’ risk aversion behavior. Finally, Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT) is applied to verify the risk patterns. 66 disruption factors are found and categorized into six clusters: (1) "Inappropriate Use and Maintenance of Hardware and Software Facilities", (2) "Inadequate Management and Operational Negligence", (3) "Product Characteristics Affecting Quality and Inappropriate Packaging", (4) "Poor Control of Operation Timing and Missing Distribution Processing", (5) "Inadequate Planning for Peak Periods and Poor Process Planning", and (6) "Insufficient Cold Chain Awareness and Inadequate Training of Personnel". This study also identifies five critical factors in the operational processes of cold chain logistics centers: "Lack of Personnel’s Awareness Regarding Cold Chain Quality", "Personnel Not Following Standard Operating Procedures", "Personnel’s Operational Negligence", "Management’s Inadequacy", and "Lack of Personnel’s Knowledge About Cold Chain". The findings show that cold chain operators prioritize prevention and improvement efforts in the "Inappropriate Use and Maintenance of Hardware and Software Facilities" cluster, particularly focusing on the factors of "Temperature Setting Errors" and "Management’s Inadequacy". However, through the application of CPT theory, this study reveals that companies are not usually willing to invest in the improvement of factors related to the "Inappropriate Use and Maintenance of Hardware and Software Facilities" cluster due to its low occurrence likelihood, but they acknowledge the severity of the consequences if it does occur. Hence, the main implication is that the key disruption factors in cold chain logistics centers’ processes are associated with personnel issues; therefore, comprehensive training, periodic audits, and the establishment of reasonable incentives and penalties for both new employees and managers may significantly reduce disruption issues.

Keywords: concept mapping, cold chain, HACCP, cumulative prospect theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 26