THE COGNITIONS AND AFFECTS OF MORAL ATTITUDE TOWARD SOFTWARE PIRACY INTENTION

Internet proliferation and ubiquity are easing the process for individuals to copy, download, share, sell and distribute copyrighted software without purchasing a legal license. The prevalent piracy issue has not only caused a tremendous loss of revenues for legal software makers, but also raised piracy ethicality. The current study shows that moral attitude is one of important predictors for piracy intention. The purpose of this study is to increase its predictive power by including two planned behaviour constructs from the perspective of cognitive and affective beliefs. Based on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, a conceptual framework is proposed to include perceived likelihood of punishment and perceived benefit as cognitive beliefs and perception of shame, happiness and excitement as affective beliefs

A Local Diagnosis Algorithm for Hypercube-like Networks under the BGM Diagnosis Model

System diagnosis is process of identifying faulty nodes in a system. An efficient diagnosis is crucial for a multiprocessor system. The BGM diagnosis model is a modification of the PMC diagnosis model, which is a test-based diagnosis. In this paper, we present a specific structure and propose an algorithm for diagnosing a node in a system under the BGM model. We also give a polynomial-time algorithm that a node in a hypercube-like network can be diagnosed correctly in three test rounds under the BGM diagnosis model

SEISMIC ANALYSIS OF WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS BY EARTHQUAKE SCENARIO SIMULATION

In the past decade, scenario simulation has played a more and more important role in urban earthquake hazard mitigation and emergency response. Both public and private sectors can be enhanced in terms of their seismic preparedness and operation if adequate implementation of seismic scenario simulation can be employed. Regarding water utilities, system-wide retrofit and emergency planning can be conducted to reduce the likely damage and losses prior to the occurrence of a devastating earthquake. Post-earthquake repair personnel and material dispatching, temporary water supply for affected people, emergency water supply for hospitals and fire fighting, strategies for restoration and recovery can all benefit from scenario-based analyses. In this research work, efforts were made to study and integrate pivotal technologies essential to the earthquake damage and serviceability analysis of water systems, such as seismic hazard analysis, empirical formulae for pipe repair rates, hydraulic analysis of water network system in terms of pressurized pipe flow simulation, hydraulic models for various types of pipe damages, and Monte Carlo method for the performance analysis of large and complicated systems. The water system in Yi-lan County, Taiwan was selected as a test bed for the demonstration of its seismic serviceability analysis under an M7.1 earthquake scenario

Biodiesel Produced from Catalyzed Transesterification of Triglycerides Using ion-Exchanged Zeolite Beta and MCM-22

AbstractIn this work, biodiesel production from catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides with excess methanol was studied by using ion-exchanged Zeolite Beta and MCM-22 as heterogeneous catalysts. Zeolite Beta and MCM-22 were synthesized with hydrothermal processes and, subsequently, modified by ion-exchanged with alkali ions. These as-obtained zeolite catalysts could yield a high conversion of triglycerides to biodiesel. The conversion efficiency was largely affected by crystallinity and frameworks of zeolite support, pH value of alkali ion-exchange solutions and alkali loadings onto the zeolite support. Furthermore, the effects of the duration of the sodium ion-exchange process on the final conversion efficiency of triolein to biodiesel, both the as-prepared Zeolite MCM-22 and Zeolite Beta catalysts were used. The effect of the duration of the sodium ion-exchange process is insignificant in transesterification using Na-ion-exchanged Zeolite MCM-22 catalysts from 0.5 to 4h. In contrast, the conversion efficiency of triolein to biodiesel reached ca. 95% in 0.5hours of transesterification using Zeolite Beta ion-exchanged with 3 mmol-eq. Na+/g cat for 0.5hours

Moho Depth Derived from Gravity Data in the Taiwan Strait Area

We have constructed are gional Bouguer gravity anomaly map using marine and land data from Tai wan and the Chinese province of Fuchien, as well as SEASAT altimetry-de rived gravity data for the Tai wan Strait and its surrounding area. The map shows isogals trending generally in a NE-SW direction, conforming with the over all shallower geo logical strike of the strait. Removing gravity effects generated by the water layer and seafloor to pography, the regional Bouguer gravity anomaly is obtained, reflecting the subsurface structure. Moho depth is then computed by the Parker-Oldenburg iterative method from the regional Bouguer gravity data set. Over the strait area, the geometry of the Moho relief is smooth with an average depth of about 30 km, except for the Penghu up lift. Moho depth is shallower in the Taiwan Strait and thickens to ward both sides of the strait. The relatively shallower Moho depth, reaching up to 28 km, is convex up ward underneath the Penghu uplift

FASTSNP: an always up-to-date and extendable service for SNP function analysis and prioritization

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) prioritization based on the phenotypic risk is essential for association studies. Assessment of the risk requires access to a variety of heterogeneous biological databases and analytical tools. FASTSNP (function analysis and selection tool for single nucleotide polymorphisms) is a web server that allows users to efficiently identify and prioritize high-risk SNPs according to their phenotypic risks and putative functional effects. A unique feature of FASTSNP is that the functional effect information used for SNP prioritization is always up-to-date, because FASTSNP extracts the information from 11 external web servers at query time using a team of web wrapper agents. Moreover, FASTSNP is extendable by simply deploying more Web wrapper agents. To validate the results of our prioritization, we analyzed 1569 SNPs from the SNP500Cancer database. The results show that SNPs with a high predicted risk exhibit low allele frequencies for the minor alleles, consistent with a well-known finding that a strong selective pressure exists for functional polymorphisms. We have been using FASTSNP for 2 years and FASTSNP enables us to discover a novel promoter polymorphism. FASTSNP is available at