The perceived effectiveness of the National Plumbing Competency Test in Taiwan, Republic of China

This study was designed to ascertain the perceptions of the plumbing incumbent workers, supervisors, and vocational educators regarding the current effectiveness of the National Occupational Competency Test in theory and practical aspects in Taiwan, Republic of China;The questionnaire method of data collection was used. A questionnaire was designed and structured into three parts that included the National Plumbing Competency Test critical competencies assessment, the perception assessment and personal information. A total of 112 plumbing incumbent workers, 110 supervisors, and 30 vocational educators responded to the questionnaires;Conclusions drawn from the findings were: (1) There was a high Spearman\u27s rank correlation coefficients between incumbent workers, supervisors, and vocational educators concerning agreement on assigned percentages to the importance of the critical competency factors in an entry level position, and moderate agreement with the National Plumbing Competency Test Committee. (2) Significant differences were found between the National Plumbing Competency Test Committee and the survey groups in terms of assigned percentages to importance of the critical competencies related to reading the blueprint and drawing the manufacture\u27s schematic factors, the accuracy of performance factor, appearance of the product factor, and hydrostatic test factor. (3) Comparison of the incumbent workers, supervisors, and vocational educators perceptions of the National Plumbing Competency Test, overall, the test was perceived more positively by vocational educators than by the incumbent workers and supervisors. (4) Significant differences were found among incumbent workers, supervisors, and vocational educators in terms of the perceptions on the plumbing competency test, the plumbing competency test administration, the test scoring and the interpretation of the plumbing competency test, and the plumbing licensure. (5) Demographic variables, educational level and plumbing working experience contribute significantly to perception toward the National Plumbing Competency Test

Development of the phase synchronization circuit for wirelessly distributed digital phased array

The Wirelessly Distributed Digital Phased Array (WDDPA) is an ongoing research program at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) which has numerous possible applications in radar and communication systems. The WDDPA incorporates many array elements randomly or nonuniformly in the environment or on a platform. Array elements are synchronized and controlled over a wireless channel. Compared to conventional phased array systems, its advantages are adaptability, survivability and flexibility. Phase synchronization is a critical component of the WDDPA development. The common phase reference is vital to steer the beam and control the radiation pattern for the phased array system. The objective of this paper is to improve the WDDPA synchronization operation. Previous hardware and software architectures were replaced or modified to improve the accuracy and speed of the phase synchronization. A series of experiments, first for hardwired channels, then for wireless channels, were conducted successfully to verify the synchronization operation for two elements. Several problems with the circuit were diagnosed and then addressed. The overall performance of the improved synchronization circuit for the demonstration array was satisfactory, allowing phases to be synchronized within 20° wirelessly. The architecture for the potential successor of the synchronization circuit is introduced. It is more flexible and robust than the current circuit and thus more desirable for future applications of the WDDPA.http://archive.org/details/developmentofpha109454611Republic of China Navy author.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

What Conflict Minerals Rules Tell Us about the Legal Transplantation of Corporate Social Responsibility Standards without the State: From the United Nations to the United States to Taiwan

To resolve global political and scholarly concerns over conflict minerals (“CM”) produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring regions, two kinds of CM-related disclosure rules (or “CM rules”) come into play in regulating their use: government-mandated laws such as Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States (hereinafter “Sec. 1502”) and transnational voluntary codes such as the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (“EICC”) Code of Conduct. The creation of both of these CM rules could be attributed to the promotion of such concerns by the United Nations. This article is the first attempt to unpack and closely consider the process of two distinct types of CM rules that are probably transplanted into Taiwan through global supply chains. This article joins a growing body of literature that deepens our understanding of the channels and objects of legal transplants. The findings of the Taiwanese case study are important for two reasons. First, in terms of the transplant process or channels, some Taiwanese companies have started to follow CM rules due to their supply contracts, demonstrating that applicable CM rules might have been transplanted into Taiwan through private channels such as supply contracts, rather than through the formal public channels of legal transplantation initiated by the government. Second, but just as importantly, with regard to transplanted objects, what further distinguishes this article from prior studies is that the Taiwanese case study could indicate that Taiwanese suppliers comply with CM rules established by the EICC more prevalently than those promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act. If so, this would imply that when it comes to adopting or implementing transnational corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) standards in suppliers’ countries or jurisdictions, private CSR standards written by non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”) or industries themselves in a bottom-up approach are more effective or more easily accepted than public standards such as state laws enacted by a foreign/national government in a top-down approach

AN ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC FlTNESS TESTING IN FEMALE JUNIOR TENNIS PLAYERS

The purpose of the present study was to determine the anthropometry, physical fitness parameters and compare with USTA normative data. Seven-teen female teenage tennis players who have the Taiwan national level were included in the study. The analysis focused on the examination of muscular strength, endurance, power flexibility, speed and agility. Results showed that (a) there were excellent performances in grip strength of the nondominant hand (7.8%) and hexagon test (8.1 %) scored well relative to USTA normative data. (b) there were needs improvement performance in sit and reach (0.5%) and spider test (6.7%) relative to USTA. In conclusion, this study indicated the identification of weaknesses in flexibility, speed and agility parameters and allows designing efficient physical training programs

Assessment of In-Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning System Performed in a Virtual Cluster

This paper introduces a high-performed high-availability in-cloud enterprise resources planning (in-cloud ERP) which has deployed in the virtual machine cluster. The proposed approach can resolve the crucial problems of ERP failure due to unexpected downtime and failover between physical hosts in enterprises, causing operation termination and hence data loss. Besides, the proposed one together with the access control authentication and network security is capable of preventing intrusion hacked and/or malicious attack via internet. Regarding system assessment, cost-performance (C-P) ratio, a remarkable cost effectiveness evaluation, has been applied to several remarkable ERP systems. As a result, C-P ratio evaluated from the experiments shows that the proposed approach outperforms two well-known benchmark ERP systems, namely, in-house ECC 6.0 and in-cloud ByDesign

Glycogen synthase kinase 3α and 3β have distinct functions during cardiogenesis of zebrafish embryo

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase, is known to play roles in many biological processes. Two closely related GSK3 isoforms encoded by distinct genes: GSK3α (51 kDa) and GSK3β (47 kDa). In previously studies, most GSK3 inhibitors are not only inhibiting GSK3, but are also affecting many other kinases. In addition, because of highly similarity in amino acid sequence between GSK3α and GSK3β, making it difficult to identify an inhibitor that can be selective against GSK3α or GSK3β. Thus, it is relatively difficult to address the functions of GSK3 isoforms during embryogenesis. At this study, we attempt to specifically inhibit either GSK3α or GSK3β and uncover the isoform-specific roles that GSK3 plays during cardiogenesis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We blocked <it>gsk3α </it>and <it>gsk3β </it>translations by injection of morpholino antisense oligonucleotides (MO). Both <it>gsk3α</it>- and <it>gsk3β</it>-MO-injected embryos displayed similar morphological defects, with a thin, string-like shaped heart and pericardial edema at 72 hours post-fertilization. However, when detailed analysis of the <it>gsk3α</it>- and <it>gsk3β</it>-MO-induced heart defects, we found that the reduced number of cardiomyocytes in <it>gsk3α </it>morphants during the heart-ring stage was due to apoptosis. On the contrary, <it>gsk3β </it>morphants did not exhibit significant apoptosis in the cardiomyocytes, and the heart developed normally during the heart-ring stage. Later, however, the heart positioning was severely disrupted in <it>gsk3β </it>morphants. <it>bmp4 </it>expression in <it>gsk3β </it>morphants was up-regulated and disrupted the asymmetry pattern in the heart. The cardiac valve defects in <it>gsk3β </it>morphants were similar to those observed in <it>axin1 </it>and <it>apc</it>^{<it>mcr </it>}mutants, suggesting that GSK3β might play a role in cardiac valve development through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Finally, the phenotypes of <it>gsk3α </it>mutant embryos cannot be rescued by <it>gsk3β </it>mRNA, and vice versa, demonstrating that GSK3α and GSK3β are not functionally redundant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that (1) GSK3α, but not GSK3β, is necessary in cardiomyocyte survival; (2) the GSK3β plays important roles in modulating the left-right asymmetry and affecting heart positioning; and (3) GSK3α and GSK3β play distinct roles during zebrafish cardiogenesis.</p