Taiwan’s Path to Innovative R&D and Applications: “Technology-Driven” and “Location-Driven” Pilot Programs

Understanding the Design of Mobile Social Networking

1. Chien-Ling Lo 1. is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Finance at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. (d98723006{at}ntu.edu.tw) 2. Kenneth J. Palmer 1. is a professor in the Department of Financial and Computational Mathematics at Providence University in Taichung, Taiwan. (palmer{at}pu.edu.tw) 3. Min-Teh Yu 1. is a professor at the Institute of Finance, National Chiao Tung University, and at RIRC, NCCU in Taiwan. (mtyu{at}nctu.edu.tw) <!-- --> 1. To order reprints of this article, please contact Dewey Palmieri at dpalmieri{at}iijournals.com or 212-224-3675. One of the most common kind of option with nonstandard exercise styles is the Asian option. There are several variants, but they all have payoffs based on the average price of the underlying asset over some portion of the option’s lifetime. This presents a problem for valuation because the distribution of the average of lognormal random variables is not lognormal. Many different ways have been proposed to approximate the distribution, often by finding another distribution with the same moments. The lognormal is a popular choice, but it is not necessarily accurate. In addition, for some types of Asian contracts, the moments are not easy to obtain. In this article, the authors develop a general procedure for obtaining the necessary moments for Asian contracts and fit them to a shifted reciprocal gamma distribution. Comparisons against standard and shifted versions of normal, lognormal, and (nonshifted) reciprocal gamma densities show that the approach is fast and, in general, much more accurate than the others. TOPICS: [Options][1], [statistical methods][2] [1]: https://www.pm-research.com/topic/options [2]: https://www.pm-research.com/topic/statistical-methods

This paper described a bibliometric study of the scientific collaboration between Taiwan and Japan during 2000-2009 as represented by their co-authored articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded. The findings suggested collaboration between Taiwan and Japan had intensified. The subject fields with the most intensive collaboration were medicine and physics. Institution types and combination of institution types participating in collaboration were rather diverse; each was strong in certain subject fields. Universities were the major type of institutions involved in international collaborative research. National Taiwan University and The University of Tokyo were the most productive institutions in the respective country, while the National Chiao Tung University and Osaka University formed the most productive pair in the cross-country collaboration. (Article content in Chinese with English extended abstract)

As an emerging short-distance mobility mode, the shared e-scooter system has been studied extensively; however, an unexplored question going forward is how equitably this system is accessible among different population groups. In this study, we utilize spatial analyses to identify disparities in accessing e-scooters during the Chicago 2019 pilot program. Moreover, previous studies assessing spatial accessibility of micromobility mainly use highly aggregated data overlooking the heterogeneity within spatial units. To address this issue, we employ a block group-level data set comprising location records of the e-scooters in the pilot program, socio-demographics, and built environment factors. Further, our approach constitutes both horizontal and vertical equity perspectives. To assess horizontal equity, we apply Lorenz curve analysis to characterize the spatial distribution of e-scooters. Subsequently, from a vertical equity perspective, we employ ordinary least square and geographically weighted regression models to investigate the underlying factors associated with e-scooter accessibility within the pilot area. The findings show a wide racial gap in e-scooter accessibility, where Asian areas have better accessibility than Hispanic areas with associated Gini indices of 0.467, and 0.752, respectively. Further, the GWR results revealed disparities in e-scooter accessibility for females, the elderly, and the Hispanic race. The findings of this study provide valuable lessons from Chicago's 2019 e-scooter pilot program and can contribute to improving equity in e-scooter accessibility for future pilot programs.

New gait research announced

Faced with the challenging task of balancing forest interests and wildlife, the Swiss Forest Agency initiated the pilot programme«Game and Forest», which is committed to a philosophy of goal-oriented management practice and a redesign of forestry subsidizing. Within this programme the diverse goals of forestry and hunting have been amalgamated to a superimposed goal and set out in a corresponding contract. The Game-Forest-Management-Tool (GFMT) has been divised to simulate the effect of various strategies to deal with the complex problems of forest-wildlife. Optimal contract-fulfilling procedures can be simulated on a PC using this technical tool. The efficiency of the measures suggested by simulations that were carried out are being tested in a study area within the pilot programme, «Game and Forest». Half way through this trial, after two years, we can say that there has been no significant increase of non-browsed areas. In 2004, after the collection of data for the entire study area, we will be able to tell whether applying this computer simulated strategy truly leads to an augmentation of non-browsed area and a decrease in bark-peeled forests in the pilot area.

The new rural social insurance system has been implemented in pilot areas across China since 2009. To verify the effects and potential risk of the pilot program, we selected seven indicators, used the survey data from twelve Chinese provinces and empirically assessed risk disparity between different regions. It also reflects the score status of three common factors: rural resident factor, system performance factor and external capital factor. The paper hereby holds that we need to link up rural social insurance policies, advance the program according to different regions, rationally plan the responsibility of the Central and local finance for subsidy expenditure in new rural old-age insurance and promote the full coverage of new rural old-age insurance in a step-by-step manner.

Exploring the new child protection system in Mainland China: How does it work?

Ferroelectricity exhibits two stable states with permanent polarizations, making it promising for nonvolatile memory applications. Compared to conventional perovskite ferroelectrics, hafnium-based ferroelectric materials, such as Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO), attracts much attention due to their compatibility with CMOS technology [1]. Furthermore, with the high demand in high-performance computing and the emerging quantum computing, cryogenic memory technologies become more important due to the required much lower operational temperatures. In this work, we investigate the properties of HZO-based ferroelectric capacitors and characterize ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) from 300 K to 4 K.A 10-nm HZO layer was deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) to serve as the ferroelectric layer in both capacitors and FeFETs (Fig. 1). For the ferroelectric capacitors, 75-nm TiN was deposited by sputtering for the bottom and top electrodes, which provides tensile stress to the HZO layer and facilitates the formation of the ferroelectric phase [2]. Similarly, in FeFETs, a 75-nm TiN is deposited as the gate metal. Subsequent rapid thermal annealing (RTA) steps were performed at 650 °C for 30 seconds in forming gas to form the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase. For the FeFETs, different gate stacks were deposited: a 10-nm HZO layer (MFS structure) or a combination of a 10-nm HZO layer and a 1-nm Al2O3 interlayer (IL) between the HZO and the Si substrate to improve the interface quality (MFIS structure).For ferroelectric capacitors, the polarization vs. voltage (P-V) results are measured at temperatures from 300 K to 4 K (Fig. 2(a)). The extracted remnant polarization (2Pr) and coercive voltage (2Vc) are shown in Fig. 2(b). 2Pr value decreases with a reducing temperature due to the reduced mobility of oxygen vacancies, leading to weaker polarizations in cryogenic environments [3]. 2Vc increases with a decreasing temperature, which means that a higher voltage is required to switch the polarization direction at lower temperatures [4]; that is, polarization switching becomes more challenging.MFS and MFIS FeFETs were also characterized at 300 K to 4 K. The Id-Vg results with various gate sweeping ranges of MFS and MFIS FeFETs at 300 K are shown in Fig. 3. We observed a competition between ferroelectric polarization switching (counter-clockwise Id-Vg hysteresis loops) and charge trapping effects (clockwise Id-Vg hysteresis loops). To further analysis, we define the required gate bias with zero hysteresis (Vsweep at ΔVth = 0) as the voltage where ferroelectricity starts to dominate. For MFIS FeFETs, the required sweep bias is larger than that of MFS FeFETs, which suggests that a higher applied voltage is needed to switch the dipoles in MFIS FeFETs. This is because a portion of the applied voltage drops across the IL, thereby decreasing the electric field in the ferroelectric layer. Furthermore, there’s an internal depolarization field induced by Al2O3 IL, which opposes the polarization in the ferroelectric layer and reduces its polarization [5]. As the scan range of gate bias becomes larger, MFS FeFETs exhibit stronger ferroelectricity (counter-clockwise hysteresis with a negative ΔVth) (Fig. 4(a)). As the temperature decreases, the required scan range of gate biases becomes much larger, which makes the HZO films more difficult to convert to ferroelectric phases. In contrast, MFIS FeFET shows counter-clockwise hysteresis only at 300 K (Fig. 4(b)), below which charge trapping effects dominate over polarization switching even under a sweep voltages up to 5 V. This trend is consistent with the results in ferroelectric capacitors, where higher voltages are required for polarization switching at lower temperatures. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) of Taiwan (grant No: 113H1004-C15), the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC 113-2119-M-002-022-), and the Center of Data Intelligence: Technologies, Applications, and Systems, National Taiwan University (grant No: 113L900903). References Müller et al., IEDM, 10.8 (2013).Si Joon Kim et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 242901 (2017).Starschich et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 032903 (2016).Stephen Ducharme et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 175 (2000).Patrick D. Lomenzo et al., Non-Volatile Memory Technol. Symp., 1 (2019). Figure 1

As the concept of corporate sustainability is being advocated, social innovation is also gradually gaining importance. Many startups encounter difficulties in their early stages of development, both in terms of operations and capabilities. Companies with business support can shorten the time to adapt to the market and increase the survival rate of startups. Meanwhile, incubators supporting entrepreneurship have evolved into different forms with the development of various industries. Incubators, which support entrepreneurship, have evolved alongside various industries, with some focusing specifically on social issues. Incubators focusing on social issues have also emerged, yet only a few studies have investigated social incubators. Therefore, this study conducts multiple case studies focusing on startups in the creative industry. weIt examines the processes of participating in both social incubators and university incubators, employing a comparative analysis framework based on the theory of Public-private partnership (PPPs). We selecting potential candidates from the list of supported companies listed on the incubator websites and choosing those within the creative industry domain, inviting them to participate in interviews. The study found that clustering similar types of enterprises helps deepen and enhance their growth. On the other hand, social incubators, due to their goals, resources, and activities, can provide more opportunities for collaboration with private enterprises and access to industry resources. Additionally, participation in university incubators not only provides comprehensive business support but also access to key resources for collaboration with the public sector. The experiential evidence from case studies of creative industry incubators in Asia fills the research gap related to social incubators. Through the comparison of different types of incubators, it enriches the knowledge base of stakeholders (private enterprises, government, universities, and business incubators) regarding PPPs. It aids researchers and practitioners in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the current status and future directions of incubator development, highlighting the distinct roles and contributions of social and university incubators in supporting startup growth and innovation.

Chemistry in Taiwan and Academia Sinica.

In order to reap the economic rewards from a new technology, it is necessary for it to be commercialized by private enterprise. A lot of research work and product development is being done in universities in the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) field. Unfortunately, much of these early stage MEMS developments can not be easily prototyped or produced due to the lack of required manufacturing facilities able to address the complex set of related manufacturing processes within a single institution. This paper describes a proposed methodology for a system capable of coordinating the interaction among different organizations and different facilities in order to optimize the commercialization of diverse MEMS ideas. A systematic commercialization model will be discussed. The model will ultimately be extended to nanotechnology which is at an even earlier stage of development than MEMS. This system will allow the researcher to take advantage of all the strengths and unique capabilities of various institutes and companies that may not be necessarily located geographically close to each other.

Estonia: Fiscal Management and the Budget Process

A good community‐based or hospital‐based program involving physicians and nurses is deemed useful for the management of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, as this program would reduce health‐care costs, admission rates and emergency room visits1. Therefore, establishment of a health‐care system for the management of diabetes in a highly cost‐effective way is important from the viewpoint of public health. In 1990, the first government‐subsidized diabetes center with educators in Taiwan was founded at the National Taiwan University Hospital, wherein an integrated clinic for screening diabetic complications (retinopathy, microalbuminuria, peripheral neuropathy and ankle‐brachial index) was set up to monitor the outcomes of individuals with diabetes. Because of the increasing rate of diabetes prevalence and its associated chronic complications, the Department of Health commissioned the Diabetes Association of the Republic of China to help set up more diabetes centers in 1991, and 2 years later, the name was changed to Center for Health Promotion of Persons with Diabetes. As smaller units were set up in the regional hospitals and clinics, they were called Classroom for Health Promotion of Persons with Diabetes, and Clinic for Health Promotion of Persons with Diabetes, respectively. To date, 167 small and large units of Health Promotion of Persons with Diabetes have been set up with aid from the Taiwanese Association of Diabetes Educators (TADE), which was established in 1996 to train health professionals. The Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) offers free Health Check‐Up for Adults every 3 years for persons aged over 40 years, and every year for persons aged over 65 years. To improve the quality of care for diabetic patients, a pilot program called Improvement Plan for Diabetes Medical Benefits was launched in November 2001. The pilot program was replaced by a formal program with introduction of a pay‐for‐performance (P4P)2 scheme in 2007. For the first time in the history of diabetes education in Taiwan, the program reimbursed the cost of patient education by a certified nurse and dietitian included in the case management fee, in addition to the usual physician’s fees and the medication fees. To be eligible for this program, the patients must undergo a baseline assessment, and an annual check‐up for a complete biochemical examination and screening for complications. The data of these assessments have to be uploaded to the BNHI website. To date, approximately 30% of diabetic patients in Taiwan have been covered by the improvement program.

Technical status and challenges of shale gas development in Sichuan Basin, China