A Safer Sky: An Examination of Factors Affecting Flight Safety in Taiwan

On April 26, 1994, China Airlines (CAL) Flight 140, service from Taipei, Taiwan to Nagoya, Japan, crashed near Nagoya International Airport while attempting an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to Runway 34. The fully loaded Airbus 300-622R stalled at an altitude of approximately 1,500 feet which resulted in a fiery crash that killed all 264 onboard (Sogame, Ladkin). This tragedy was not the first fatal crash to the Taiwanese carrier. In fact, CAL has suffered numerous fatal crashes since its establishment, and it has been rated as one of the most dangerous airlines in the world (Schultz). Many argued that the carrier\u27s infamous safety record was a direct result of the culture barriers experienced by its flight crews. Most people agree that Chinese culture is dramatically different from most other cultures. Many researchers also believe that these cultural differences are the fundamental cause of the poor safety records in most Asian nations. The purpose of this research paper is to examine the characteristics of Chinese culture and its relationship with aviation human factors (AHF). This paper will also examine the possibility of adapting the concept of Crew Resource Management (CRM) to improve flight safety

Electronic structure of warm dense copper studied by ultrafast x-ray absorption spectroscopy

We use time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy to investigate the unoccupied electronic density of states of warm dense copper that is produced isochorically through the absorption of an ultrafast optical pulse. The temperature of the superheated electron-hole plasma, which ranges from 4000 to 10 000 K, was determined by comparing the measured x-ray absorption spectrum with a simulation. The electronic structure of warm dense copper is adequately described with the high temperature electronic density of state calculated by the density functional theory. The dynamics of the electron temperature is consistent with a two-temperature model, while a temperature-dependent electron-phonon coupling parameter is necessary

Extracting Expert Knowledge and Building Strategic Decision in International Logistics and Kaohsiung Area

Evaluating the development and investment direction of complex transportation system for Kaohsiung international logistics is very important to Taiwan. According to the effect of internal and external variables factors, it is necessary to inspect the Kaohsiung metropolitan area epistemic development plan and trend of domestic industry develop international logistics. In order to achieve the benefits of developing logistics integration; we set the Kaohsiung harbour and airport as the core of this study. Exploring that how to strengthen the international logistics function and develop the strategy to improve the economic environment of Kaohsiung area. Consequently, this study is to extract critical expert knowledge and to build strategic decision to improve the economic environment of Kaohsiung area and international logistics

Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated Leukocytes Contribute to Platelet Aggregative Dysfunction, Which is Attenuated by Catalase in Rats

Endotoxemia causes several hematological dysfunctions, including platelet degranulation or disseminated intravascular coagulation, which lead to thrombotic and hemorrhagic events. Here, we tested the hypothesis that bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated leukocytes contribute to platelet aggregative dysfunction, and this function is attenuated by antioxidants. Plateletrich plasma (PRP) was prepared from whole blood of normal and endotoxemic rats. The ability of platelet aggregation was measured by an aggregometer. LPS (50–100 μg/mL) was incubated with PRP, whole blood and PRP with polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) for 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes, and platelet aggregation was detected. LPS-induced platelet aggregative dysfunction was undetectable in intact PRP which was isolated from normal whole blood, whereas it was detected in PRP isolated from endotoxemic rats and LPS-treated whole blood. Moreover, the effect of LPS-induced platelet aggregative dysfunction on intact PRP was observed when the PMNs were added. LPS-induced platelet aggregative dysfunction was significantly attenuated by catalase alone and in combination with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, but not by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester alone. These results indicate that LPS-stimulated PMNs modulate platelet aggregation during LPS treatment and the effects are reversed by antioxidants. PMNs serve as an approach to understand LPS-induced platelet aggregative dysfunction during endotoxemia. During this process, the generation of reactive oxygen species, hydrogen peroxide especially, from LPS-stimulated PMNs could be an important potential factor in LPS-induced platelet aggregative dysfunction. Catalase contributes to the prevention of platelet dysfunction during LPS-induced sepsis

Logic-based Temporal Inferences in Natural Language

This paper concerns temporal inferences in natural language. The concept of time is crucially important because of its highly frequent use in utterances. However, time can appear in numerous forms, for example, tense or time adverbials. It also may be implicitly specified by other events associating with some temporal conjunctions, such as when, before, after, etc. A logic-based approach is adopted to represent temporal information. Situations and time adverbials can be formally represented. Lexical knowledge about time and implications of situations also expressed in terms of logical clauses. Then we propose a temporal reasoning model. Various basic types of questions such as "When did event X happen?", "How long did event X last for?", "Did event X happen at time expression T?", etc. can be interpreted into temporal queries. Finally, we also use the same framework of logic to evaluate temporal queries, carry out computation and do the further deduction