Middle East Studies in Taiwan since 1957

Taipei and Beijing has been carried out fierce competition since 1949, which involves who can represent China, as well as Taiwan’s international space. The Middle East, a vast region with numerous countries, is an important area for both sides across the Taiwan Straits’ diplomatic competition. Nowadays, Beijing vigorously promotes the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and the Islamic world is a crucial target. There will be both opportunities and challenges for Taipei. Taiwan’s Middle East studies has played an important role in intellectually supporting Taipei’s Middle East diplomacy. Taiwan’s Middle East Studies discipline was founded by Taipei’s Republic of China (ROC) government in National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Arabic Department, Turkish Department and Diplomacy Department. NCCU has created “Middle East Language and Culture Intramural Courses” in College of Foreign Language and Literature, “Islamic Civilization and Thought Research Center” in Arabic Department, “Summer Camp for Middle East Studies” and the planning “Center for Middle East Studies” in College of International Affairs. “Islamic Research Institute” was established in 2009 by NCCU. In short, the Middle East Studies related discipline in Taiwan is unique to NCCU, and there are also students launch research related to the Middle East rely on their own backgrounds in other universities. There are two significant features in Taiwan’s Middle East Studies discipline: 1) from government-led development path to university-led academic freedom development path; 2) prosperity in Middle Eastern humanistic studies versus weakness in Middle Eastern social science studies. Key words: Taiwan; Middle East Studies; NCCU; Arabic and Turkish; Department of Diplomac

Study on QoS support in 802.11e-based multi-hop vehicular wireless ad hoc networks

Multimedia communications over vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) will play an important role in the future intelligent transport system (ITS). QoS support for VANET therefore becomes an essential problem. In this paper, we first study the QoS performance in multi-hop VANET by using the standard IEEE 802.11e EDCA MAC and our proposed triple-constraint QoS routing protocol, Delay-Reliability-Hop (DeReHQ). In particular, we evaluate the DeReHQ protocol together with EDCA in highway and urban areas. Simulation results show that end-to-end delay performance can sometimes be achieved when both 802.11e EDCA and DeReHQ extended AODV are used. However, further studies on cross-layer optimization for QoS support in multi-hop environment are required

Arbitrary phase rotation of the marked state can not be used for Grover's quantum search algorithm

A misunderstanding that an arbitrary phase rotation of the marked state together with the inversion about average operation in Grover's search algorithm can be used to construct a (less efficient) quantum search algorithm is cleared. The $\pi$ rotation of the phase of the marked state is not only the choice for efficiency, but also vital in Grover's quantum search algorithm. The results also show that Grover's quantum search algorithm is robust.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Permanence for continuous-time competitive Kolmogorov systems via the carrying simplex

In this paper we study the permanence and impermanence for continuous-time competitive Kolmogorov systems via the carrying simplex. We first give an extension to attractors of V. Hutson's results on the existence of repellors in continuous-time dynamical systems that have found wide use in the study of permanence via average Liapunov functions. We then give a general criterion for the stability of the boundary of carrying simplex for competitive Kolmogorov systems of differential equations, which determines the permanence and impermanence of such systems. Based on the criterion, we present a complete classification of the permanence and impermanence in terms of inequalities on parameters for all three-dimensional competitive systems which have linearly determined nullclines. The results are applied to many classical models in population dynamics including the Lotka-Volterrra system, Gompertz system, Leslie-Gower system and Ricker system.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1905.0038

End-to-End Quantum-like Language Models with Application to Question Answering

Language Modeling (LM) is a fundamental research topic ina range of areas. Recently, inspired by quantum theory, a novel Quantum Language Model (QLM) has been proposed for Information Retrieval (IR). In this paper, we aim to broaden the theoretical and practical basis of QLM. We develop a Neural Network based Quantum-like Language Model (NNQLM) and apply it to Question Answering. Specifically, based on word embeddings, we design a new density matrix, which represents a sentence (e.g., a question or an answer) and encodes a mixture of semantic subspaces. Such a density matrix, together with a joint representation of the question and the answer, can be integrated into neural network architectures (e.g., 2-dimensional convolutional neural networks). Experiments on the TREC-QA and WIKIQA datasets have verified the effectiveness of our proposed models

Episodic transport of discrete magma batches beneath Aso volcano

Magma ascent, storage, and discharge in the trans-crustal magmatic system are keys to long-term volcanic output and short-term eruption dynamics. How a distinct magma batch transports from a deep reservoir(s) to a pre-eruptive storage pool with eruptible magma remains elusive. Here we show that repetitive very-long-period signals (VLPs) beneath the Aso volcano are preceded by a short-lived (~50–100 s), synchronous deformation event ~3 km apart from the VLP source. Source mechanism of a major volumetric component (~50–440 m3 per event) and a minor low-angle normal-fault component, together with petrological evidence, suggests episodic transport of discrete magma batches from an over-pressured chamber roof to a pre-eruptive storage pool near the brittle-ductile transition regime. Magma ascent velocity, decompression rate, and cumulative magma output deduced from recurrent deformation events before recent 2014 and 2016 eruptions reconcile retrospective observations of the eruption style, tephra fallouts, and plume heights, promising real-time evaluation of upcoming eruptions

Design of Second-Order Sliding Mode Guidance Law Based on the Nonhomogeneous Disturbance Observer

Considering the guidance problem of relative motion of missile target without the dynamic characteristics of missile autopilot in the interception planar, non-homogeneous disturbance observer is applied for finite-time estimation with respect to the target maneuvering affecting the guidance performance. Two guidance laws with finite-time convergence are designed by using a fast power rate reaching law and the prescribed sliding variable dynamics. The nonsingular terminal sliding mode surface is selected to improve dynamic characteristics of missile autopilot. Furthermore, the finite-time guidance law with dynamic delay characteristics is designed for the target maneuvering through adopting variable structure dynamic compensation. The simulation results demonstrate that, for different target maneuvering, the proposed guidance laws can restrain the sliding mode chattering problem effectively and make the missile hit the maneuvering target quickly and accurately with condition of corresponding assumptions

Validation of Repetitive Volcanoseismic Signals in Aso Volcano, Japan With Distant Stations: Implications of Source Characterization and Remote Sensing in Uninstrumented Volcanoes

Repetitive volcano-seismic signals, including very long-period signals (VLP) and long-period signals (LP), provide a unique probe of fluid transport processes inside magmatic plumbing system. While syn-eruptive signals are often detected and analyzed with regional or/and global seismic networks to retrieve eruption location and mechanism, repetitive non-eruptive volcano-seismic signals are generally small, and they are typically detected with in-situ stations near the volcanic edifices. Here, we show that repetitive VLP and synchronous deformation events in Aso volcano, Japan, can be detected in the high (15-30 s) and low (50-100 s) VLP bands, respectively, at seismic stations located ∼30-1000 km away from their sources. Changes in the polarities, phases, and amplitudes of VLP and synchronous deformation events observed at the in-situ stations can be verified by the seismic waves in the two VLP bands, respectively, at distant stations up to 150 km. Forward modeling of the amplitude decay in the two VLP bands against epicentral distance corroborates the source locations previously determined by the in-situ data, whereas the joint data analysis of in-situ and distant stations at high VLP band suggests the presence of single-force component (i.e., force/moment ratio of 10-4 m-1) in the source of VLPs. We advocate that not only can systematic data mining against established global and regional seismic networks potentially expand the detection capability of repetitive volcano-seismic signals backward in time when in-situ observations were unavailable, but it could also substantially improve the detection and monitoring capacity in otherwise un-instrumented volcanoes, complementary to remote sensing of ground deformation

Real-time and in-situ assessment of conduit permeability through diverse long-period tremors beneath Aso volcano, Japan

Long-period signal (LPs, 0.2–2 s) and very long-period signal (VLP, 2–100 s) observed in the shallow volcanic plumbing system are typically repetitive and time-invariant in their location and source mechanism, offering in-situ probes of hot fluid transport over the eruption cycles. While the amplitude and activity of volcanic-tectonic earthquakes and LP events have been commonly used to infer overpressure within their source region, one missing link is an observable that may permit inference on the change in the permeability of the conduit plug/wall, which can regulate the degree of pressurization, affect the mechanical strength of the surrounding rock, and consequently the likelihood of an upcoming eruption. Here we show that during the 2011–2016 eruption cycle at Aso volcano in Japan, long-period tremor events, a VLP of ~15 s period, with opposite waveform polarity can be systematically detected and categorized as pressurization and depressurization events in the same crack-like conduit. We suggest that, depending on the strength of the surrounding rock and the permeability of the crack-like conduit wall/plug, pressurization due to magmatic heat and vaporization is more likely to occur when a less permeable conduit plug/wall can effectively keep the gas inside the crack-like conduit. On the other hand, depressurization is prone to occur if the conduit wall/plug permeability is sufficiently high to allow gas to escape from the conduit. Considering the amplitude of LPT proportional to the conduit overpressure, contrasting energetics of these diverse LPT events allows us to define whether the conduit is prone to pressurization or depressurization, providing a framework to infer how the permeability of the conduit wall/plug may evolve over an eruption cycle