An evaluation of the dynamics of the plan to develop first-class universities and top-level research centers in Taiwan

Dian-fu Chang,Cheng-ta Wu,Gregory S. Ching,Chia-wei Tang 서울대학교 교육연구소 2009 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.10 No.1

The recent rise in globalization has brought forth a global wave of academic competitiveness, which has taken its strongest hold in East Asia. In order to attain world class status, Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MoE) initiated a project called Plan to Develop First-class Universities and Top-level Research Centers. The project is often coined the "Five-Years-50-Billion Project," due to the fact that the MoE will invest 50 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$1.64 billion) in the plan over a five year span. First, the authors will attempt to investigate and analyze the difference in funding rationale and policy between the periods before and after implementation. Second, this study seeks to evaluate the plan's efficiency on an institutional level by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Findings suggest that the current funding policy has indeed increased Taiwanese universities' levels of internationalization and global academic competitiveness. However, comparisons among those universities suggest that despite the relative degree of efficiency, more investment did not ensure better university performance. Guidelines for allocating funding should be regularly revised in order to reflect any changes in relevant conditions and in universities' overall performance and efficiency.

College students' perceptions of studying abroad and their readiness

Dian-Fu Chang 서울대학교 교육연구소 2012 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.13 No.4

This study aims to determine what college students believe is essential on studying abroad and investigates which programs they prefer for outbound study. The trend of globalization and expansion of higher education have resulted in changes for studying abroad programs in numerous Asian countries. In particular, the overprovided undergraduate and graduate education system in Taiwan raises questions on how college students perceive such outbound study. This paper collected survey data from 219 college students at 2 universities in Taiwan to analyze their opinions and levels of readiness on studying abroad programs. This study applied fuzzy methods to transform the data and interpret the results, and the findings showed that gender and college major influence student perceptions on the importance of studying abroad, as well as their readiness to study abroad. Typically, women exhibit more preparedness for studying abroad than their male counterparts. Following the expansion of higher education in Taiwan, more students are considering studying abroad programs for short-term stay in foreign countries. According to the patterns of perception, this study built fuzzy models to explain the consistency of importance and levels of readiness on studying abroad. The results reveal that fuzzy statistics can be used for proper interpretation of the factors influencing students to study abroad and their readiness.

Implementing internationalization policy in higher education explained by regulatory control in neoliberal times

Dian-Fu Chang 서울대학교 교육연구소 2015 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.16 No.4

This research investigated the internationalization policy and involved evaluating the effects of policy-driven reform on universities in the context of neoliberal theory. In this study, 293 professors from various universities were invited to express their opinions on the selected indicators reflected the implementation of internationalization in institutional level. Fuzzy mean and defuzzification were applied to transform the fuzzy interval data. The concept of fuzzy distance was used to interpret the gap between importance and feasibility of implementation of internationalization in specific indicators. According to the data analysis, the policy-driven reform led to changes in academic culture. The result reveals most respondents in this research assessed internationalization-related indicators positively and assigned them a high value. However, there is a gap between the importance and feasibility of the internationalization in terms of specific indicators which reviewed at the university level. In particular, this study found that implementing the internationalization policy has substantially increased the gap related to the input dimension. The finding will provide suggestions for policy makers and university authorities to improve the current situation.

First Principles Study of Structural and Electronic Properties of Pentagonal and Hexagonal Noble Metal Nanowires

Zhijian Fu,Li-Jun Jia,JIHONG XIA,Hai-Bo Ruan,Ke Tang,Yong Pu,Zhao-Yi Zeng,Dian-Yong Tang,Bo Kong,Qi-Feng Chen 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2016 NANO Vol.11 No.6

The equilibrium structure and electronic properties of four ultrathin free-standing pentagonal and hexagonal noble metal nanowires, that is, copper nanowires (CuNWs), silver nanowires (AgNWs), gold nanowires (AuNWs) and platinum nanowires (PtNWs), have been studied comprehensively by adopting a first-principles simulation based on the density-functional theory. The staggered topologies are more stable than the eclipsed ones by analyzing the bonding energy. The staggered ones with a linear atom chain in the center of the pentagonal or hexagons topologies are the preferred structures for CuNWs and AgNWs, but the staggered ones without a linear atom chain in the center of the pentagon or hexagon are the preferred structures for AuNWs and PtNWs due to the increasing core–core repulsions. The calculated electronic band structures and density of states present that all the noble metal nanowires are metallic. The projected densities of states (PDOS) of dominant d-states and the charge density show that the narrower d-state moved to the Fermi energy and metallic bonding character for all the noble metal nanowires.

Efficient Analysis of the Deformation and Fracture Properties of Nano-SiO2 Reinforced ABS/PMMA Composites

Jin Ding,Dian Chen Li,Ya Hui Huang,Zhen Shan Fu 한국고분자학회 2022 폴리머 Vol.46 No.4

This study investigated the damage mechanism of acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene (ABS)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/nano-SiO2 composites. The distortion and fracture behavior of ABS/PMMA/nano-SiO2 compositeswere predicted by developing the homogenization theory and the surface-based cohesive method. This model simulatedthe elementary action of elastoplastic damage in the matrix, the fracture for the nano-SiO2 reinforcement, and traction separation for interfaces. The experiment and morphology of the fracture section were validated by the modeling results. Thedamage mechanisms of ABS/PMMA/nano-SiO2 composites were researched with the numerical results, and the roles ofnano-SiO2 strength in the mechanical properties of ABS/PMMA blends were discussed in detail

Psilocybin for End-of-Life Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Chia-Ling Yu,Fu-Chi Yang,Szu-Nian Yang,Ping-Tao Tseng,Brendon Stubbs,Ta-Chuan Yeh,Chih-Wei Hsu,Dian-Jeng Li,Chih-Sung Liang 대한신경정신의학회 2021 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.18 No.10

Objective To systematically examine the effectiveness and tolerability of psilocybin for treating end-of-life anxiety symptoms. Methods The Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, and PsycINFO databases were searched up to November 25, 2020. We enrolled clinical trials investigating psilocybin for treating end-of-life anxiety symptoms. Meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects model. Results Overall, five studies were included, revealing that psilocybin was superior to the placebo in treating state anxiety at 1 day (Hedges’ g, -0.70; 95% confidence interval, -1.01 to -0.39) and 2 weeks (-1.03; -1.47 to -0.60) after treatment. Psilocybin was more effective than placebo in treating trait anxiety at 1 day (-0.71; -1.15 to -0.26), 2 weeks (-1.08; -1.80 to -0.36), and 6 months (-0.84; -1.37 to -0.30) after treatment. Psilocybin was associated with transient elevation in systolic (19.00; 13.58-24.41 mm Hg) and diastolic (8.66; 5.18-12.15 mm Hg) blood pressure compared with placebo. The differences between psilocybin and placebo groups with regard to allcause discontinuation, serious adverse events, and heart rates were nonsignificant. Conclusion Psilocybin-assisted therapy could ameliorate end-of-life anxiety symptoms without serious adverse events. Because of the small sample sizes of the included studies and high heterogeneity on long-term outcomes, future randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes are needed.

Determining the influence of heterogeneity in graduate institutions on university–industry collaboration policy in Taiwan

Hung-Jen Weng,Dian-Fu Chang 서울대학교 교육연구소 2016 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.17 No.3

In this study, we assumed that organizational heterogeneity is a key factor influencing the effects of university–industry cooperation policy in higher education institutes. Gender difference, faculty position, faculty member nationality, and diversity in academic expertise were considered as the indicators of heterogeneity. One-hundred graduate institutes with doctoral programs were selected from 881 departments offering doctoral programs in Taiwan as our target group. Correlation analysis, regression analysis, and curve estimation according to the concept of Blau’s index were conducted to determine the effects of graduate institute heterogeneity. Gender difference in graduate institutes played a crucial role on the effect of university–industry collaboration. The results reveal that excessive or insufficient differentiation among faculty positions has an adverse effect on university–industry collaboration, presenting both advantages and disadvantages in this case. A Blau’s index value of 0.56 for faculty position differentiation indicated optimal performance in university–industry collaboration. To enhance university–industry collaboration, this study suggests that the optimal fit proportion of faculty numbers in graduate institutes is seven professors to two associate professors to one assistant professor. Diversity in expertise in graduate institutes also indicated improved performance in university–industry collaboration. Determining how to diversify the expertise in graduate institutes is critical for improving performance and must be considered at specific institute level. The findings provide specific strategies for graduate institutes to reallocate their human resources to optimize their performance in this field.

The infection status of anisakid larvae in marine fish and cephalopods from the Bohai Sea, China and their taxonomical consideration

Hong-Wei MA,Tai-Jing JIANG,Fu-Shi QUAN,Xiao-Guang CHEN,Hui-dong WANG,Yun-Shu ZHANG,Ming-Shan CUI,Wen-Yan ZHI,Dian-Chen JIANG 대한기생충학열대의학회 1997 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.35 No.1