Using Service Design Tool and Qualitative Research Method to Assist the E-Government Service Process Redesign: A Case Study of the Taxation Service Process in Taiwan

Previous studies have determined that information technology dominates numerous e-government projects; information and communications technology has been used mainly as a tool for enhancing the efficiency and service delivery of governments. Electronic government(e-government) should achieve public innovation goals, such as redesigning information relationships among stakeholders, enhancing citizen participation in the policymaking process, and reinforcing policy enforcement to create public value. These goals are more valuable, but also more complex, than the digitization of existing governmental processes. Therefore, this study focused on a crucial e-government service, the Taiwan taxation service, to determine whether, in the current era in which people depend highly on network tools to send and receive information, online services are suitable for taxpayers and how to improve the service process. In this study, service design tools were combined with a qualitative research method, and observation and individual interviews of participants were conducted to record their perceptions of the tax service process. The results of the study facilitate identifying gaps in the seemingly convenient and progressive tax service process of Taiwan, including insufficient information provision, complex website operation, inconsistent information classification with users’ logic, the lack of complete and consistent service for one-stop windows, and difficult document content. The taxation authority should integrate all online taxation services to achieve the expected public service (one-stop e-government window). This research facilitates relevant government agencies to provide effective e-government services, identify problems, and modify service delivery processes

Transient Global Amnesia After Ablation of the Left Lateral Accessory Pathway

Transient global amnesia (TGA) could be encountered in many situations even during invasive procedures. In ablation therapy for arrhythmia, there was only one reported case in the ablation of premature ventricular beats. We report a 31-year-old man having paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia who underwent TGA at the end of ablation and recovered quickly after 8-9 hours later. Long-term follow-up showed no neurologic deficits for 8 months

Investigation of scour mitigation methods for critical road structures

The flood events that occurred in 2011 and 2013 in Queensland are notable for their devastating outcomes and damages to critical road structures. Bridges are necessary for the local community to travel and provide disaster relief during times of need. Therefore, it is important to identify methods that prevent bridge scour. To identify these countermeasures, a literature review of critical infrastructure scour prevention method was conducted. Methods that are appropriate were then analysed using the hydraulics software HEC-RAS. The Tenthill Creek Bridge was chosen as the framework of the analysis. Bridge scour depths were modelled and each method was compared. Combined with the HEC-RAS analysis, the feasibility analysis shows that a combination of collaring, riprap and wing walls is the most cost effective in decreasing the scour depths at piers and abutments

Intrinsically stretchable and transparent thin-film transistors based on printable silver nanowires, carbon nanotubes and an elastomeric dielectric.

Thin-film field-effect transistor is a fundamental component behind various mordern electronics. The development of stretchable electronics poses fundamental challenges in developing new electronic materials for stretchable thin-film transistors that are mechanically compliant and solution processable. Here we report the fabrication of transparent thin-film transistors that behave like an elastomer film. The entire fabrication is carried out by solution-based techniques, and the resulting devices exhibit a mobility of ∼30 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), on/off ratio of 10(3)-10(4), switching current >100 μA, transconductance >50 μS and relative low operating voltages. The devices can be stretched by up to 50% strain and subjected to 500 cycles of repeated stretching to 20% strain without significant loss in electrical property. The thin-film transistors are also used to drive organic light-emitting diodes. The approach and results represent an important progress toward the development of stretchable active-matrix displays

Designing Public Innovations in Public Sector: The Process and Challenges in Taiwanese E-government

Researchers have found that a one-sided focus on technology dominates many e-government projects; ICT has been used mainly as a tool to enhance the efficiency and service delivery of the government. In fact, e-government should achieve public innovation goals, such as redesigning information relationships among stakeholders, enhancing citizen participation in the policymaking process, and reinforcing policy enforcement to create public value. These goals are more valuable, but also more complex than the digitization of existing governmental processes. Beside, only a few projects could achieve the public innovation diffusion goal among many e-government projects. Therefore, this case study focuses on a very important and successful e-government project in Taiwan – the e-invoicing project, by following the development timeline of this 12-year project to understand the reasons of loosing focus and the turning points to achieve the final success. With the results of this case study, this research address four main factors of success in public innovation diffusion: (a) cooperate with the right stakeholder: e-government projects requires intensive cooperation with both public and private organizations, otherwise the change agency has no complete control over its innovation offering; (b) the selection of the right diffusion mode: centralized innovation-diffusion is difficult to overcome the stereotyped perception that citizens hold toward the government, and thus, it is better to implement by a decentralized fashion; (c) the diversity of services: public innovations have an inherently higher complexity than commercial innovations because they intend to serve a diversity of citizens; and (d) assignment of the right change agent for the project: because the burden on the change agent is tremendous, only a few “policy entrepreneurs” can push through the innovation process, despite few material rewards

Screening and Identification of Yeasts Antagonistic to Pathogenic Fungi Show a Narrow Optimal pH Range for Antagonistic Activity

Microbes have evolved ways of interference competition to gain advantage over their ecological competitors. The use of secreted antagonistic compounds by yeast cells is one of the prominent examples. Although this killer behavior has been thoroughly studied in laboratory yeast strains, our knowledge of the antagonistic specificity of killer effects in nature remains limited. In this study, yeast strains were collected from various niches and screened for antagonistic activity against one toxin-sensitive strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and three pathogenic fungi. We demonstrate that some strains with antagonistic activity against these pathogenic fungi can be found in antagonist culture tests. These yeasts were identified as members of Trichosporon asahii, Candida stellimalicola, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Ustilago esculenta, Aureobasidium pullulans, and Pichia kluyveri. The results indicated that the antagonistic activity of these killer yeasts has a narrow optimal pH range. Furthermore, we found that the antagonistic activity of some species is strain-dependent

The epidemiology of patients with pterygium in southern Taiwanese adults: The Chiayi survey

AbstractPurposeTo investigate patients with pterygium in different geographic regions and the associated risk factors in southern Taiwan.MethodsA clinical observation survey was conducted in Chiayi County, a rural area in southern Taiwan. The subjects aged 40 years and above underwent complete ocular examinations. Associated risks factors were evaluated, including gender, age, occupations, smoking, and geographical living regions by univariant and multivariant logistic regression analysis.ResultsA total of 2197 participants (790 male, 36.0%) from 44 different villages were evaluated. In these, 554 participants (25.2%) have either unilateral or bilateral pterygium. Age is associated with the percentage of pterygium, and those aged between 60 and 69 had the highest percentage of 30.1% (p < 0.0001). The gender effect was higher among men than women (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.08–1.60, p = 0.006). The percentage of pterygium lived in plain, seaside, and mountainous areas were 22.6%, 32.6%, and 14.5% respectively. Geographical regions also showed that seaside area had the highest percentage of pterygium (seaside area OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.35-2.03, and mountainous area OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.35-0.95 compared with plain areas). Primary outdoor workers and residents with smoking history had relative higher risk for pterygium (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.17-1.86; OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.02-1.83).ConclusionsThe percentage of pterygium in southern Taiwan is about 25.2% among adults aged over 40 years in this survey. It is significantly higher in the age of 50 or more and in residents living in villages along the seaside than those living in the mountainous and the plain areas