Search results for: Feng Cheng

Authors: David W.S. Tai, Ren-Cheng Zhang, Sheng-Hung Chang, Chin-Pin Chen, Jia-Ling Chen

Abstract:

This study reports results of a meta-analytic path analysis e-learning Acceptance Model with k = 27 studies, Databases searched included Information Sciences Institute (ISI) website. Variables recorded included perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward behavior, and behavioral intention to use e-learning. A correlation matrix of these variables was derived from meta-analytic data and then analyzed by using structural path analysis to test the fitness of the e-learning acceptance model to the observed aggregated data. Results showed the revised hypothesized model to be a reasonable, good fit to aggregated data. Furthermore, discussions and implications are given in this article.

Keywords: E-learning, Meta Analytic Path Analysis, Technology Acceptance Model

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Authors: Shyh-Ming Chern, H. Y. Cheng

Abstract:

Biomass is renewable and sustainable. As an energy source, it will not release extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Hence, tremendous efforts have been made to develop technologies capable of transforming biomass into suitable forms of bio-fuel. One of the viable technologies is gasifying biomass in supercritical water (SCW), a green medium for reactions. While previous studies overwhelmingly selected glucose as a model compound for biomass, the present study adopted fructose for the sake of comparison. The gasification of fructose in SCW was investigated experimentally to evaluate the applicability of supercritical water processes to biomass gasification. Experiments were conducted with an autoclave reactor. Gaseous product mainly consists of H₂, CO, CO₂, CH₄ and C₂H₆. The effect of two major operating parameters, the reaction temperature (673-873 K) and the dosage of oxidizing agent (0-0.5 stoichiometric oxygen), on the product gas composition, yield and heating value was also examined, with the reaction pressure fixed at 25 MPa.

Keywords: Biomass, Fructose, Gasification, Supercritical water.

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Authors: Kuen-Ming Shu, Cheng-Yu Chen

Abstract:

A vibrating-fork sensor can measure the level height of solids and liquids and operates according to the principle that vibrations created by piezoelectric ceramics are transmitted to the vibrating fork, which produces resonance. When the vibrating fork touches an object, its resonance frequency changes and produces a signal that returns to a controller for immediate adjustment, so as to effectively monitor raw material loading. The design of the vibrating fork in a vibrating-fork material sensor is crucial. In this paper, ANSYS finite element analysis software is used to perform modal analysis on the vibrations of the vibrating fork. In addition, to design and produce a superior vibrating fork, the dimensions and welding shape of the vibrating fork are compared in a simulation performed using the Taguchi method.

Keywords: Vibrating fork, piezoelectric ceramics, sound wave, ANSYS, Taguchi method, modal analysis.

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Authors: Yufang Cheng, Hsiu-Hua Yang

Abstract:

This work develops a novel intelligent “model of dynamic decision-making" usingcell assemblies network architecture in robot's movement. The “model of dynamic decision-making" simulates human decision-making, and follows commands to make the correct decisions. The cell assemblies approach consisting of fLIF neurons was used to implement tasks for finding targets and avoiding obstacles. Experimental results show that the cell assemblies approach of can be employed to efficiently complete finding targets and avoiding obstacles tasks and can simulate the human thinking and the mode of information transactions.

Keywords: Cell assemblies, fLIF, Hebbian learning rule.

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Authors: Kee-Leong Tan, Cheng-Suan Lee, Hui-Na Chua

Abstract:

This paper presents three models which enable the customisation of Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) query results, based on some pre-defined and/or real-time changing parameters. These proposed models detail the requirements, design and techniques which make ranking of Web service discovery results from a service registry possible. Our contribution is two fold: First, we present an extension to the UDDI inquiry capabilities. This enables a private UDDI registry owner to customise or rank the query results, based on its business requirements. Second, our proposal utilises existing technologies and standards which require minimal changes to existing UDDI interfaces or its data structures. We believe these models will serve as valuable reference for enhancing the service discovery methods within a private UDDI registry environment.

Keywords: Web service, discovery, semantic, SOA, registry, UDDI.

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Authors: Chen Faxin, Feng Jinghua, Yang Jianlun, Li Linbo, Zhou Lin

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In order to obtaining the dynamic evolution image of Tungsten array for foam padding, and to research the form of interaction between Tungsten plasma and foam column, a shadow imaging system of four-frame ultraviolet probe laser (266nm)has been designed on 1MA pulse power device. The time resolution of the system is 2.5ns, and static space resolution is superior to 70μm. The radial shadowgraphy image reveals the whole process from the melting and expansion of solid wire to the interaction of the precursor plasma and the foam, from the pinch to rebound inflation. The image shows the continuous interaction of Tungsten plasma and foam in a form of “Raining" within a time of about 50ns, the plasma shell structure has not been found in the whole period of pinch. The quantitative analysis indicates the minimum pinching speed of the foam column is 1.0×106cm/s, and maximum pinching speed is 6.0×106cm/s, and the axial stagnation diameter is approx 1mm.

Keywords: Dynamic hohlraum, Shadowgraphy image, Foam evolution.

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Authors: Xiao-Li Dong, Quan-Gui Gao, Sa-Sa Gu, Hao-Tian Feng, Man-Sau Wong, Liya Denney

Abstract:

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a disorder characterized by the progressive bone loss induced by estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal women. This imbalance affects calcium–phosphate metabolism and results in secondary hyperparathyroidism. Purariae Radix (PR), the root of P. lobata (Wild.) Ohwi, is one of the earliest medicinal herbs employed in ancient China. PR contains a high quantity of isoflavones and their glycosides, which are regarded as phytoestrogen. Few investigations of PR are related to its osteoprotective effects. The present study is designed to administer PR water extract to ovariectomized (OVX) female rats, for the investigation of its possibly protective actions on bone and to delineate the potential mechanisms involved. Our results demonstrated that long-term treatment of PR could not significantly improve bone properties, whereas it greatly ameliorated the condition of secondary hyperparathyroidism induced by ovariectomy in those animals. PR might be useful as alternative regimen for protecting against postmenopausal bone loss.

Keywords: Hyperparathyroidism, Ovariectomy, Postmenopausal Osteoporosis, Purariae Radix

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Authors: To-Yuan Chen, Tzu-Ching Shih, Hao-Li Liu, Kuen-Cheng Ju

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The focal spot of a high intensity focused ultrasound transducer is small. To heat a large target volume, multiple treatment spots are required. If the power of each treatment spot is fixed, it could results in insufficient heating of initial spots and over-heating of later ones, which is caused by the thermal diffusion. Hence, to produce a uniform heated volume, the delivered energy of each treatment spot should be properly adjusted. In this study, we proposed an iterative, extrapolation technique to adjust the required ultrasound energy of each treatment spot. Three different scanning pathways were used to evaluate the performance of this technique. Results indicate that by using the proposed technique, uniform heating volume could be obtained.

Keywords: focused ultrasound, thermal therapy, uniform heating, iteration, extrapolation, scan

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Authors: Yu-Sheng Lu, Chung-Hsin Cheng, Shuen-Shing Jan

Abstract:

This paper presents the design and implementation of a sliding-mod controller for tracking servo of optical disk drives. The tracking servo is majorly subject to two disturbance sources: radial run-out and shock. The lateral run-out disturbance is mostly repeatable, and a model of such disturbance is incorporated into the controller design to effectively compensate for it. Meanwhile, as a shock disturbance is usually non-repeatable and unpredictable, the sliding-mode controller is employed for its robustness to abrupt perturbations. As a result, a sliding-mode controller design based on the internal model principle is tailored for tracking servo of optical disk drives in order to deal with these two major disturbances. Experimental comparative studies are conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the specially designed controller.

Keywords: Mechatronics, optical disk drive, sliding-mode control, servo systems.

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Authors: Liang-Ta Cheng, Ching-Yu Yang

Abstract:

Based on fast discrete cosine transform (FDCT), the authors present a high capacity and high perceived quality method for electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. By using a simple adjusting policy to the 1-dimentional (1-D) DCT coefficients, a large volume of secret message can be effectively embedded in an ECG host signal and be successfully extracted at the intended receiver. Simulations confirmed that the resulting perceived quality is good, while the hiding capability of the proposed method significantly outperforms that of existing techniques. In addition, our proposed method has a certain degree of robustness. Since the computational complexity is low, it is feasible for our method being employed in real-time applications.

Keywords: Data hiding, ECG steganography, fast discrete cosine transform, 1-D DCT bundle, real-time applications.

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Authors: Li Zong-Cheng

Abstract:

The deviation between the target state variable and the practical state variable should be used to form the state tending factor of complex systems, which can reflect the process for the complex system to tend rationalization. Relating to the system of basic equations of complete factor synergetics consisting of twenty nonlinear stochastic differential equations, the two new models are considered to set, which should be called respectively the rationalizing tendency model and the non- rationalizing tendency model. Therefore we can extend the theory of programming with the objective function & constraint condition suitable only for the realm of man-s activities into the new analysis with the tendency function & constraint condition suitable for all the field of complex system.

Keywords: complex system, complete factor synergetics, basicequation, rationalizing tendency model, non-rationalizing tendencymodel.

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Authors: Yang Li, Xiaorong Guan, Cheng Xu

Abstract:

In order to design a suitable control scheme for human extremity exoskeleton, the interaction force control scheme with traditional PI controller was presented, and the simulation study of the electromechanical system of the human extremity exoskeleton was carried out by using a MATLAB/Simulink module. By analyzing the simulation calculation results, it was shown that the traditional PI controller is not very suitable for every movement speed of human body. So, at last the fuzzy self-adaptive PI controller was presented to solve this problem. Eventually, the superiority and feasibility of the fuzzy self-adaptive PI controller was proved by the simulation results and experimental results.

Keywords: Human extremity exoskeleton, interaction force control scheme, simulation study, fuzzy self-adaptive pi controller, man-machine coordinated walking, bear payload.

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Authors: Chien-Hua Lee, Cheng-Yi Chen

Abstract:

The stability test problem for homogeneous large-scale perturbed bilinear time-delay systems subjected to constrained inputs is considered in this paper. Both nonlinear uncertainties and interval systems are discussed. By utilizing the Lyapunove equation approach associated with linear algebraic techniques, several delay-independent criteria are presented to guarantee the robust stability of the overall systems. The main feature of the presented results is that although the Lyapunov stability theorem is used, they do not involve any Lyapunov equation which may be unsolvable. Furthermore, it is seen the proposed schemes can be applied to solve the stability analysis problem of large-scale time-delay systems.

Keywords: homogeneous bilinear system, constrained input, time-delay, uncertainty, transient response, decay rate.

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Authors: Chang-Hsing Lee, Cheng-Chang Lien, Chin-Chuan Han

Abstract:

In this paper, an edge-strength guided multiscale retinex (EGMSR) approach will be proposed for color image contrast enhancement. In EGMSR, the pixel-dependent weight associated with each pixel in the single scale retinex output image is computed according to the edge strength around this pixel in order to prevent from over-enhancing the noises contained in the smooth dark/bright regions. Further, by fusing together the enhanced results of EGMSR and adaptive multiscale retinex (AMSR), we can get a natural fused image having high contrast and proper tonal rendition. Experimental results on several low-contrast images have shown that our proposed approach can produce natural and appealing enhanced images.

Keywords: Image Enhancement, Multiscale Retinex, Image Fusion.

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Authors: Yi-Ting Mai, Chun-Chuan Yang, Cheng-Jung Wen

Abstract:

IEEE 802.16 is a new wireless technology standard, it has some advantages, including wider coverage, higher bandwidth, and QoS support. As the new wireless technology for last mile solution, there are designed two models in IEEE 802.16 standard. One is PMP (point to multipoint) and the other is Mesh. In this paper we only focus on IEEE 802.16 Mesh model. According to the IEEE 802.16 standard description, Mesh model has two scheduling modes, centralized and distributed. Considering the pros and cons of the two scheduling, we present the combined scheduling QoS framework that the BS (Base Station) controls time frame scheduling and selects the shortest path from source to destination directly. On the other hand, we propose the Expedited Queue mechanism to cut down the transmission time. The EQ mechanism can reduce a lot of end-to-end delay in our QoS framework. Simulation study has shown that the average delay is smaller than contrasts. Furthermore, our proposed scheme can also achieve higher performance.

Keywords: IEEE 802.16 Mesh, Scheduling, Expedited Queue, QoS.

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Authors: Cheng-En Tsai, Chung-Chun Hsiao, Fu-Yuan Chang, Liang-Lun Lan, Jia-Ying Tu

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New design of three dimensional (3D) flywheel system based on gimbal and gyro mechanics is proposed. The 3D flywheel device utilizes the rotational motion of three spherical shells and the conservation of angular momentum to achieve planar locomotion. Actuators mounted to the ring-shape frames are installed within the system to drive the spherical shells to rotate, for the purpose of steering and stabilization. Similar to the design of 2D flywheel system, it is expected that the spherical shells may function like a “flyball” to store and supply mechanical energy; additionally, in comparison with typical single-wheel and spherical robots, the 3D flywheel can be used for developing omnidirectional robotic systems with better mobility. The Lagrangian method is applied to derive the equation of motion of the 3D flywheel system, and simulation studies are presented to verify the proposed design.

Keywords: Gimbal, spherical robot, gyroscope, Lagrangian formulation, flyball.

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Authors: Cheng-En Tsai, Chung-Chun Hsiao, Fu-Yuan Chang, Liang-Lun Lan, Jia-Ying Tu

Abstract:

New design of three dimensional (3D) flywheel system based on gimbal and gyro mechanics is proposed. The 3D flywheel device utilizes the rotational motion of three spherical shells and the conservation of angular momentum to achieve planar locomotion. Actuators mounted to the ring-shape frames are installed within the system to drive the spherical shells to rotate, for the purpose of steering and stabilization. Similar to the design of 2D flywheel system, it is expected that the spherical shells may function like a “flyball” to store and supply mechanical energy; additionally, in comparison with typical single-wheel and spherical robots, the 3D flywheel can be used for developing omnidirectional robotic systems with better mobility. The Lagrangian method is applied to derive the equation of motion of the 3D flywheel system, and simulation studies are presented to verify the proposed design.

Keywords: Gimbal, spherical robot, gyroscope, Lagrangian formulation, flyball.

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Authors: Xin Luo, Jin Huang, Pan Cheng

Abstract:

By means of Sidi-Israeli’s quadrature rules, mechanical quadrature methods (MQMs) for solving the first kind boundary integral equations (BIEs) of steady state Stokes problem are presented. The convergence of numerical solutions by MQMs is proved based on Anselone’s collective compact and asymptotical compact theory, and the asymptotic expansions with the odd powers of the errors are provided, which implies that the accuracy of the approximations by MQMs possesses high accuracy order O (h3). Finally, the numerical examples show the efficiency of our methods.

Keywords: Stokes problem, boundary integral equation, mechanical quadrature methods, asymptotic expansions.

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Authors: I-En Lin, Feng-Jung Yang

Abstract:

In addition to kidney transplant, renal replacement therapy involves hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD). PD possesses advantages such as maintaining stable physiological blood status and blood pressure, alleviating anemia, and improving mobility, which make it an ideal method for at-home dialysis treatment. However, potential danger still exists despite the numerous advantages of PD, particularly when patients require dialysis exchange four to five times a day, during which improper operation can easily lead to peritonitis. The process of draining and filling is called an exchange and takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Connecting the transfer set requires sterile technique. Transfer set may require a new cap each time that it disconnects from the bag after an exchange. There are many chances to get infection due to unsafe behavior (ex: hand tremor, poor eyesight and weakness, cap fall-down). The proposed semi-automatic connection mechanism used in the PD can greatly reduce infection chances. This light-weight connection device is portable. The device also does not require using throughout the entire process. It is capable of significantly improving quality of life. Therefore, it is very promising to adopt in home care application.

Keywords: Automatic connection, catheter, glomerulonephritis, peritoneal dialysis.

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Authors: Hu-Hsiao Hsu, Po-Ren Chung, Ming-Chin Ho, Chieh-Feng Tsai, Che-Ming Chiang, Shin-Ku Lee

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Lighting upgrades involve relatively lower costs which allow the benefits to be spread more widely than is possible with any other energy efficiency measure. In order to popularize the adoption of CFL in Taiwan, the authority proposes to implement a new energy efficient lamp comparative label system. The current study was accordingly undertaken to investigate the factors affecting the performance and the deviation of actual and labeled performance of commercially available integrated CFLs. In this paper, standard test methods to determine the electrical and photometric performances of CFL were developed based on CIE 84-1989 and CIE 60901-1987, then 55 selected CFLs from market were tested. The results show that with higher color temperature of CFLs lower efficacy are achieved. It was noticed that the most packaging of CFL often lack the information of Color Rendering Index. Also, there was no correlation between price and performance of the CFLs was indicated in this work. The results of this paper might help consumers to make more informed CFL-purchasing decisions.

Keywords: Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), Efficacy, Color Rendering Index (CRI), Energy saving.

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Authors: Bian Cheng Xiang, Wang Qian

Abstract:

With the deepening of the research on the connotation of cultural heritage and human geography, cultural landscape takes landscape as a cultural product, integrates and blends cultural and natural heritage to explore the cultural value behind its material landscape. Qikou ancient town is a typical traditional settlement with homomorphism of mountain and water veins. Its cultural accumulation and natural landscape play an important role in its development. Therefore, this paper will combine the material and cultural elements of Qikou ancient town to analyze the composition of the cultural landscape of the ancient town, and explore the protection and utilization of the cultural landscape of Qikou ancient town from the four aspects of ecology, form, cultural form and business form, so as to provide effective strategies for the development of the ancient town.

Keywords: Four states, cultural landscape, ancient town, sustainable development.

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Authors: Shih-Chieh Liao, Cheng-Yan Shuai

Abstract:

The feature of a side-scrolling shooting game is facing the surrounding enemy and barraging in an entire screen. The player will be in trouble when they are trying to do complicated operations because of the physical and system limitations of the joystick in the games. This study designed the prototype of a type of arcade stick by focus group and assessed by the expert. We selected the most representative joystick prototype and built the control system for the joystick. We conducted two experimental tests using time and bullet consumption as objective indicators, aiming to demonstrate its efficiency in the game. Finally, the prototype of L-1 solves the dilemma of scroll shooting games when the player uses the arcade stick and improves the function of the arcade stick.

Keywords: Joystick, user interface, side-scrolling shooting game, improved user experience.

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Authors: Pengdi Diao, Zhuo Wang, Zundong Zhang, Hua Cheng

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In the urban traffic network, the intersections are the “bottleneck point" of road network capacity. And the arterials are the main body in road network and the key factor which guarantees the normal operation of the city-s social and economic activities. The rapid increase in vehicles leads to seriously traffic jam and cause the increment of vehicles- delay. Most cities of our country are traditional single control system, which cannot meet the need for the city traffic any longer. In this paper, Synchro6.0 as a platform to minimize the intersection delay, optimizesingle signal cycle and split for Zhonghua Street in Handan City. Meanwhile, linear control system uses to optimize the phase for the t arterial road in this system. Comparing before and after use the control, capacities and service levels of this road and the adjacent road have improved significantly.

Keywords: linear control system; delay mode; signal optimization; synchro6.0 simulation

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Authors: Shan-Jen Cheng, Te-Jen Chang, Kuang-Hsiung Tan, Shou-Ling Kuo

Abstract:

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is such a time-vary nonlinear dynamic system. The traditional linear modeling approach is hard to estimate structure correctly of PEMFC system. From this reason, this paper presents a nonlinear modeling of the PEMFC using Neural Network Auto-regressive model with eXogenous inputs (NNARX) approach. The multilayer perception (MLP) network is applied to evaluate the structure of the NNARX model of PEMFC. The validity and accuracy of NNARX model are tested by one step ahead relating output voltage to input current from measured experimental of PEMFC. The results show that the obtained nonlinear NNARX model can efficiently approximate the dynamic mode of the PEMFC and model output and system measured output consistently.

Keywords: PEMFC, neural network, nonlinear identification, NNARX.

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Authors: Feng Chia Hsieh, Sheng Kuo Hsieh, Tzyy Rong Jinn

Abstract:

Characterization and evaluation of the activity of Vespa basalis DPP-IV, which expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda 21 cells. The expression of rDPP-IV was confirmed by SDS–PAGE, Western blot analyses, LC-MS/MS and measurement of its peptidase specificity. One-step purification by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and the total amount of rDPP-IV recovered was approximately 6.4mg per liter from infected culture medium; an equivalent amount would be produced by 1x109 infected Sf21 insect cells. Through the affinity purification led to highly stable rDPP-IV enzyme was recovered and with significant peptidase activity. The rDPP-IV exhibited classical Michaelis–Menten kinetics, with kcat/Km in the range of 10-500 mM-1×S-1 for the five synthetic substrates and optimum substrate is Ala-Pro-pNA. As expected in inhibition assay, the enzymatic activity of rDPP-IV was significantly reduced by 80 or 60% in the presence of sitagliptin (a DPP-IV inhibitor) or PMSF (a serine protease inhibitor), but was not apparently affected by iodoacetamide (a cysteine protease inhibitor).

Keywords: Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV, Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride; Serine protease, Sitagliptin, Vespa basalis

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Authors: Jih-Rue Pan, Feng-Chuan Pan

Abstract:

Today-s healthcare industries had become more patient-centric than profession-centric, from which the issues of quality of healthcare and the patient safety are the major concerns in the modern healthcare facilities. An unplanned extubation (UE) may be detrimental to the patient-s life, and thus is one of the major indexes of patient safety and healthcare quality. A high UE rate not only defeated the healthcare quality as well as the patient safety policy but also the nurses- morality, and job satisfaction. The UE problem in a psychiatric hospital is unique and may be a tough challenge for the healthcare professionals for the patients were mostly lacking communication capabilities. We reported with this essay a particular project that was organized to reduce the UE rate from the current 2.3% to a lower and satisfactory level in the long-term care units of a psychiatric hospital. The project was conducted between March 1st, 2011 and August 31st, 2011. Based on the error information gathered from varied units of the hospital, the team analyzed the root causes with possible solutions proposed to the meetings. Four solutions were then concluded with consensus and launched to the units in question. The UE rate was now reduced to a level of 0.17%. Experience from this project, the procedure and the tools adopted would be good reference to other hospitals.

Keywords: Unplanned extubation, patient safety, error information

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Authors: Chih-Cheng Chen, Meng-Lung Lin, Yung-Tan Lee, Tien-Tze Chen

Abstract:

The rotation of starting pitchers is a strategic issue which has a significant impact on the performance of a professional team. Choosing an optimal starting pitcher from among many alternatives is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In this study, a model using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is proposed with which to arrange the starting pitcher rotation for teams of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. The AHP is used to analyze the structure of the starting pitcher selection problem and to determine the weights of the criteria, while the TOPSIS method is used to make the final ranking. An empirical analysis is conducted to illustrate the utilization of the model for the starting pitcher rotation problem. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed model.

Keywords: AHP, TOPSIS, starting pitcher rotation, CPBL

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Authors: Mei L. Lin, Pi-Yueh Cheng

Abstract:

Classes on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship are becoming quite popular at universities throughout the world. However, it is not easy for business students to get involved to innovative activities, especially patent application. The present study investigated how to enhance business students- intention to participate in innovative activities and which incentives universities should consider. A 22-item research scale was used, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to verify its reliability and validity. Multiple regression and discriminant analyses were also conducted. The results demonstrate the effect of growth-need strength on innovative behavior and indicate that the theory of planned behavior can explain and predict business students- intention to participate in innovative activities. Additionally, the results suggest that applying our proposed model in practice would effectively strengthen business students- intentions to engage in innovative activities.

Keywords: discriminant analysis, growth need strength, innovative behavior, TPB model

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Authors: Mu-Jen Young, Cheng-Yen Wu, Wen-Yuan Hsieh

Abstract:

Iron oxide nanoparticle was synthesized by reactive-precipitation method followed by high speed centrifuge and phase transfer in order to stabilized nanoparticles in the solvent. Particle size of SPIO was 8.2 nm by SEM, and the hydraulic radius was 17.5 nm by dynamic light scattering method. Coercivity and saturated magnetism were determined by VSM (vibrating sample magnetometer), coercivity of nanoparticle was lower than 10 Hc, and the saturated magnetism was higher than 65 emu/g. Stabilized SPIO was then transferred to aqueous phase by reacted with excess amount of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) silane. After filtration and dialysis, the SPIO T2 contrast agent was ready to use. The hydraulic radius of final product was about 70~100 nm, the relaxation rates R2 (1/T2) measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was larger than 200(sec-1).

Keywords: Contrast Agent, Iron Oxide Nanoparticle, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nanoparticle Stabilization

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Authors: Fuh-Hsin Hwang, Tsui-Tsai Lin, Chih-Wen Chan, Cheng-Yuan Chang

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This paper studies the design of a simple constellation precoding for a multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) system over Rayleigh fading channels where OFDM is used to keep the diversity replicas orthogonal and reduce ISI effects. A multi-user environment with K synchronous co-channel users is considered. The proposed scheme provides a bandwidth efficient transmission for individual users by increasing the system throughput. In comparison with the existing coded MIMO-OFDM schemes, the precoding technique is designed under the consideration of its low implementation complexity while providing a comparable error performance to the existing schemes. Analytic and simulation results have been presented to show the distinguished error performance.

Keywords: coded modulation, diversity technique, OFDM, MIMO, constellation precoding

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