Microwave chemical sensing using overmoded T-line designs and impact of real-time digitizer in the system

Microwave spectrometers have unique advantages in the ability to determine high resolution features that are specific to a given chemical. Very sharp lines which correspond to quantum states of the chemical allow for unique identification of the chemical. Recent advances have shown the possibility of room temperature microwave spectroscopy analysis in which the data is collected in a short amount of time using broadband chirp pulse Fourier transform microwave (CP-FTMW) spectroscopy. In this report, we explore the design of reduced size spectrometers focusing on the reduction as well as expansion of operation frequency of the microwave analysis cell, where the chemical is analyzed at room temperature. In addition, a new real-time digitizer is used in our system to replace the digital storage oscilloscope and can achieve 1 million coherent averages in 20 seconds. Signal-to-noise ratio can be greatly improved, and we take the advantage of the increased SNR and explore chemical signal strength with low input power, and we also demonstrated simultaneous transmit and receive by implementing an absorptive bandstop filter to the system. This report demonstrates the possibility of a non-laboratory based implementation of a high resolution sensor

A Chinese perspective for internal marketing: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Future Research

Internal marketing is increasingly important for the development of new organisational strategy. Previous research has reviewed internal marketing studies published in the English-speaking world during last three decades. This current paper is an extension of those other review works. This study concerns the articles that were identified to be in the Simplified Chinese language. This research hence expends review work to focus on Mainland China. This paper provides a review of Chinese literature, placing emphasis on how Chinese scholars in mainland China engage in the area of internal marketing. The review of Chinese internal marketing research shows that the large percentage of theoretical articles, and the lack of empirical studies are limiting generalizability of findings. This research therefore suggests that more quantitative and qualitative approaches should be used in the future research

THE TAIWANESE VIOLIN SYSTEM: EDUCATING BEGINNERS TO PROFESSIONALS

The purpose of this study is to provide scholars information concerning of the Taiwanese violin educational system from the introduction of the violin in Taiwan to its current status as one of the most popular instruments to study. The first chapter of this dissertation will discuss the most influential violin educators in Taiwan, about which very little has been published. The key figures such as Fu-Xing Zhang and Shu-De Li capitalized on the opportunities provided them by the Japanese occupation, playing a crucial role in the development of the Taiwanese music education system. The accomplishments of these musicians continue to be instructive to educators both within and outside of Taiwan. This dissertation also explores one of the seminal Taiwanese textbooks and its use by the country’s pedagogues. The first major textbook to incorporate original material from a Taiwanese teacher was Wong’s Violin Teaching System, the final volume of which was completed by Fu-Tang Wong in 2006. In this textbook, Wong significantly contributed to Taiwanese pedagogy through his focus on the development of students’ basic posture and the visual learning of pitch, including progressive etudes with each new lesson. These books demonstrate how to teach successfully, how to provide a smooth progression of difficulty for advancing students, and the incorporation of local folk music into the curriculum. Influential Taiwanese pedagogues have consistently stressed the fundamental triangular relationship between teachers, students, and parents. Taiwanese scholars discuss a host of common questions about the role of parental influence on a developing violinist. Some of these include: what should parents do when their children decide to learn the violin; how to give your child an ideal practice space; how to help children practice; and how to help a child through emotional low points in the process. In the final chapter, I will provide an analysis of the Taiwanese professional music education system from 3rd grade through college, exploring the difficulties of the system and how it influenced my own development

Financial Determinants of Bank Performance in Taiwan

As the consolidation of financial institutions is one of the highlights in recent financial territory, we examine whether banks being subordinated under the financial holding company (FHCs) outperform to independent banks in Taiwan, covering 15 FHCs banks and 18 independent banks in our sample for the period from 2005 to 2010. Using the CAMEL approach, we also investigate empirically further the financial determinants of banks’ performance regarding FHCs banks and independent banks respectively, and examine whether the financial determinants of banks’ performance differ before and after the financial crisis. Results show that ROA is strongly related to certain CAMEL ratios, such as the total capital ratio, loan loss reserve/gross loans, the burden ratio, and net interest income divided by total assets. Moreover, the positive significant capital adequacy ratio in the post-crisis period in our sample is mainly driven by subordinated banks. Finally, asset quality factor has explaining power for the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods, meaning prevention safety net built predominantly in refraining from external shocks

PRISE2: software for designing sequence-selective PCR primers and probes.

BackgroundPRISE2 is a new software tool for designing sequence-selective PCR primers and probes. To achieve high level of selectivity, PRISE2 allows the user to specify a collection of target sequences that the primers are supposed to amplify, as well as non-target sequences that should not be amplified. The program emphasizes primer selectivity on the 3' end, which is crucial for selective amplification of conserved sequences such as rRNA genes. In PRISE2, users can specify desired properties of primers, including length, GC content, and others. They can interactively manipulate the list of candidate primers, to choose primer pairs that are best suited for their needs. A similar process is used to add probes to selected primer pairs. More advanced features include, for example, the capability to define a custom mismatch penalty function. PRISE2 is equipped with a graphical, user-friendly interface, and it runs on Windows, Macintosh or Linux machines.ResultsPRISE2 has been tested on two very similar strains of the fungus Dactylella oviparasitica, and it was able to create highly selective primers and probes for each of them, demonstrating the ability to create useful sequence-selective assays.ConclusionsPRISE2 is a user-friendly, interactive software package that can be used to design high-quality selective primers for PCR experiments. In addition to choosing primers, users have an option to add a probe to any selected primer pair, enabling design of Taqman and other primer-probe based assays. PRISE2 can also be used to design probes for FISH and other hybridization-based assays