City bike program in Taiwan

This design project was inspired by Danish city bike program. I studied furniture design in Denmark; during my stay I experienced the joy and the convenience of public city bike. Cycling is a life style and the expression of naturalism in Denmark. It is also considered as the main mode of transportation among the Danish people. The implementation of the city bike program is not only prosperous in Denmark but also in other Europe countries. This cycling spate (rush) is affecting countries where environment consciousness appear to be of much concern. On the contrary, Taiwan, which happens to own the largest market share for exporting bicycles is also a country where its people are less motivated to using bicycle as their main mode for commuting. From the above statement it is clear the implementation of the city bike program in Taiwan will be easy as long as there is some sort of government intervention. Taiwan is such a small country and can proudly boost of its numerous mass rapid transit system and high speed rail way system. These systems are considered the best supportive elements to run the public city bike program. The Taiwanese government has implemented several bike friendly programs for years and has recently started paying attentions to a bike right of way. Which means the future and potential practice of the city bike program in Taiwan is bright. Via observations and surveys, I am going to address various kinds of attractive designs which could draw people\u27s interests to frequent the use of public city bike in their daily life as well as improving overall city bike program to suit Taiwanese needs

The Determinants of Price in Online Auctions: More Evidence from Quantile Regression

This study explores how seller reputations affect auction prices, and concludes that earlier findings may be biased due to the misspecification of seller reputation. This paper contributes to the literature by offering significant empirical evidence using Taiwanese Internet auction data. Our study reveals that the influence of seller reputations on auction prices is significant, irrespective of the assumptions of linear and non-linear relationships with price. However, failure to consider the non-linear setting of seller reputation would have led us to overestimate the impact of reputations on prices because marginal returns to an incremental increase in reputation declines rapidly for sellers who have more than 15 scores. In addition, using quantile regression, this study finds evidence of considerable differences in their impact on auction prices dependent on the distribution of price levels.Internet auction, reputation, Taiwan, Yahoo! Kimo, quantile regression

Essays on venture capital and initial public offerings

This thesis consists of two empirical studies concerning the interaction between venture financing and the performance of publicly listed firms. Chapter I examines how venture capitalists impact the post-issue performance of firms in which they invest. Chapter II analyzes the competitive effects of large and new initial public offerings (IPOs) on their listed industry competitors, and finds that industry rivals supported by venture capitalists gain more competitive advantages. More specifically, Chapter I examines the strategic choice of venture capitalists (VCs) as “incubators” versus “short-term investors” and the impact of this choice on the performance of firms in which they invest. In particular, I study the determinants of the length of the venture capital incubation period and its impact on the IPO underpricing and on the post-IPO operating performance. I find that VCs play a dual role as “incubators” and as “short-term investors”. As short-term investors, VCs decrease the incubation period when the stock market valuations are high. As incubators, VCs increase the incubation period of firms perceived to be of high risk. With regard to the effect of the VC incubation period, I find that firms with a longer incubation period are less underpriced, more likely to survive, and exhibit better operating performance after they go public. The results are robust to controlling for the selection bias of firms obtaining venture financing. Chapter II analyzes the effect of large Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on publicly listed industry competitors. The chapter provides evidence that companies experience negative short term stock price reactions to IPOs in their industry. Furthermore incumbent firms show significant deterioration in their operating performance. These results are consistent with issuing firms having an IPO related competitive advantage over their competitors. The chapter identifies potential reasons for this gain in competitiveness: certification by venture capitalist and top-tier investment banks, the loosening of financial constraints, and the presence of knowledge capital. Results show that all of these aspects of competitiveness are significant in explaining the cross section of underperformance as well as survival probabilities for incumbent firms

Assessing the Integrity of Spillway Foundations

The erosion under a spillway can be a long-term issue that threatens the structural integrity of a water reservoir. The spillway under investigation was suspected to be defective after it had been commissioned in 1987 (Figure 1). Potholes and subsurface cavities were confirmed in the safety assessment using various NDT techniques including ground penetrating radar and impact echo. The GPR inspection was able to differentiate the intact region from the cavities under concrete slabs (Figure 2). The impact echo results and associated analyses provided further evidence of inferior condition in the soil under the concrete slabs. The engineering team designed and executed the repair project based on the conclusion of the integrity assessment. Subsequent GPR inspection has been performed so as to monitor the integrity of the spillway in a period of 18 months following the repair

The Evaluation And Using Intention For Digital Teaching Materials Of Penghu Basalt

The Bureau of Culture of Penghu County produced the Penghu Basalt Digital Teaching Materials, which are supplementary teaching materials for local curriculums in elementary and middle schools in Penghu County. But just what are the teachers’ and students’ opinions of the said teaching materials? Are they willing to use them? Are they suitable? These questions are, indeed, worth further research. The questionnaire survey was conducted to gather the opinions of 142 teachers and 151 students of elementary and middle schools in Penghu County. In addition, using the quasi-experimental and experimental teaching methods, after comparing the pre-test and post-test results to the control group, the learning effectiveness was determined. The results indicate that teachers and students have the highest evaluation for the interface design aspect of this teaching material. The teachers’ evaluation for the teaching materials is significantly higher than the students’. Furthermore, the teaching materials are evaluated highly in terms of attracting attention, generating interest and willingness to use, indicating that the digital teaching materials have potential for promotion in Penghu. After the experimental teaching, only the vocational high school students’ scores before and after the experiment showed significantly improvement, while the scores of the students in the other levels of schools did not. &nbsp

THE EFFECT OF INSULIN AND CARBOHYDRATE SUPPLEMENTATION ON GLYCOGEN REPLENISHMENT AMONG DIFFERENT HINDLIMB MUSCLES IN RATS FOLLOWING PROLONGED SWIMMING

In the present study we investigated the interactive effects of insulin and carbohydrate on glycogen replenishment in different rat hindlimb muscles. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to 5 groups, including 1) sedentary control with carbohydrate supplement (2 g glucose · kg body wt-1), 2) sedentary rats with 16 hours recovery, carbohydrate and insulin (0.5 U · kg body wt-1), 3) swimming without recovery, 4) swimming with 16 hours recovery and carbohydrate supplement, and 5) swimming with 16 hours recovery, carbohydrate and insulin. The swimming protocol consisted of two 3 h swimming sections, which were separated by a 45 min rest. The insulin and carbohydrate were administered to the rats immediately after exercise. At the end of the experiment, the soleus (S), plantaris (P), quadriceps (Q) and gastrocnemius (G) were surgically excised to evaluate glycogen utilization and replenishment. We observed that glycogen utilization was significantly lower in G and Q than S and P during swimming (p <0.05), and S showed the greatest capacity of glycogen resynthesis after post-exercise recovery (p <0.05). In the sedentary state, the glycogen synthesis did not differ among hindlimb muscles during insulin and carbohydrate treatments. Interestingly, with insulin and carbohydrate, the glycogen resynthesis in S and P were significantly greater than in Q and G following post-exercise recovery (p <0.05). We therefore concluded that the soleus and plantaris are the primary working muscles during swimming, and the greatest glycogen replenishment capacity of the soleus during post-exercise recovery is likely due to its highest insulin sensitivity