Tamkang University

The five-decade public administrative performance management movement has coincided with declining public trust in government, public perception of greater government wastefulness, and considerable public dissatisfaction with administrative services. Drawing on a substantial literature on inclusiveness, this article contends that performance management could contribute more to positive public perceptions of government by reconceptualizing performance to include contributions to government as a whole. Specifically, inclusive performance management would incorporate greater attention to (1) cross governmental policy coordination, (2) mandated mission extrinsic activity, (3) more comprehensive measurement, and (4) managerial strategies that are forward looking in terms of balance and identification of opportunities and threats.

Solid‐state hydrogen storage materials with optimal binding energy are essential for hydrogen storage and transportation applications and pose long‐standing challenges. Current technologies, including molecular physisorption materials (e.g., metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), activated carbons (ACs)) and atomic chemisorption materials (e.g., MgH2, LiBH4, NH4BH4), fall short of meeting practical application requirements. Therefore, designing and constructing new solid‐state hydrogen storage materials at the atomic level is critically important. In this study, the use of defect engineering is explored to modulate hydrogen adsorption sites on TiO2 surfaces. The results demonstrate that low‐coordinated titanium (Ti) atoms on TiO2 can serve as effective hydrogen adsorption sites, storing hydrogen through molecular chemisorption with significantly enhanced adsorption energy compared to Ti atoms in high coordination states. Moreover, the adsorbed hydrogen remains in molecular form, facilitating easy desorption at room temperature, unlike titanium hydride, which requires high temperatures for desorption. This approach provides a promising pathway for developing efficient hydrogen storage materials by leveraging the unique properties of low‐coordinated Ti atoms on TiO2 surfaces.

Pressing problems regarding the environment, resource depletion, and waste treatment result from single-use (SU) packaging, thereby trapping us in a Sisyphean cycle. Package-free shopping (PFS) is one of the most fundamental solutions to dispel the curse since it directly prohibits SU packaging. This article sheds light on the factors associated with consumers’ PFS behavioral intentions. Four focus-group interviews of participants with PFS experience were first conducted. Insights stemming from their viewpoints informed the development of an extended Motivation–Opportunity–Ability (MOA) model, which was subsequently estimated using survey data from a broader consumer sample. The extended MOA model further divides motivation into three distinct components, namely avoidance, approach, and morality, and explores whether consumers’ past experiences and preparation enhance their ability to engage in PFS. The findings reveal that consumers’ ability to practice PFS represents the primary driver for consumers’ PFS intentions. Both preparation and past experiences bolster this ability. Opportunities like using circular bags/containers and offering economic incentives, commonly promoted by governments and enterprises, are found attractive. However, opportunities such as the availability of cleansing facilities and clear information emerge as even more important drivers for both experienced and general consumers. Interestingly, morality has a negative direct effect on the PFS intention while its indirect effect, when mediated by the motivation of approach, turns out to be positive.

The advancement of intelligent connected vehicles and aerial computing has garnered extensive attention from scholars worldwide. In particular, high altitude platforms (HAPs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as effective tools to extend vehicular network coverage and enhance real-time monitoring capabilities. This study, grounded in the data from the Yizhuang Intelligent Connected Autonomous Driving Demonstration Zone, introduces an air-ground integrated vehicular network model for abnormal driving behavior detection using D-S evidence theory. The model integrates aerial computing and vehicular networks in a cohesive manner, scrutinizes the data associated with routine driving behaviors and integrates the outcomes of various analyses through evidence theory at the decision-making level, culminating in the estimation of the probability of abnormal driving behaviors. Simulation experiments results demonstrate that this algorithm not only enhances the precision of abnormal behavior identification to a remarkable 97.1%, but also significantly accelerates the detection process and improves the robustness.

Anodic reactions involving non‐faradaic processes have significantly expanded the potential application of anodic oxidation half‐reactions. Metallic Cu materials can catalyze an unconventional anodic aldehyde oxidation reaction involving the non‐faradaic H2 production (AOR‐H2). AOR‐H2 has distinct advantages of ultra‐low thermodynamic potentials and high value‐added redox products, etc., but the question of exactly how reduction steps occur during AOR‐H2, is something which has long puzzled scientists. Here we illustrate the novel synergistic mechanism of nonelectrochemical/electrochemical redox steps in AOR‐H2. Aldehyde undergoes hydration, deprotonation, and spontaneous C–H homolytic cleavage to generate H2, and then is electrochemically oxidized to form carboxylate. Decorating Cu catalysts with metallic Pt species, supported by theoretical calculations, leads to a 12‐fold increase in the intrinsic activity of AOR‐H2. This work inspires researchers to develop novel cathodic and anodic reactions involving the non‐faradaic process for breaking through the limit of existing energy conversion systems.

Electrochemical reforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coupled with hydrogen production is of great significance to realize the sustainable development of clean energy technologies. Nevertheless, precisely controlling the reaction pathways and selectively converting key intermediates during glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) pose considerable challenges. Herein, theoretical calculations and experiments reveal that the key intermediate (*CHO‐CHO) and the role of P in promoting the reconstruction of transition metal phosphides surface during the EGOR process. Consequently, the bio‐template strategy is introduced to design bimetal phosphide@bio‐carbon pre‐catalyst toward efficient EGOR and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This design enables controlled *CHO‐CHO intermediate formation and transformation through the enhanced adsorption of OH* and *CHO‐CHO, leading to a highly selective EGOR. The C1 product of formic acid exhibits superior Faradaic efficiency (99.1%) at 1.35 V. In addition, this constructed catalyst only requires 1.76 V@500 mA cm⁻² and can stably perform for more than 240 h at 500 mA cm⁻² toward EGOR coupled with HER in the PET hydrolysate. This work proposes a novel strategy to construct superior catalyst for efficient PET upcycling coupled with HER, which is crucial to the sustainable development of multidisciplinary integration with biology and clean energy conversion technologies.

This article will focus on the measures taken by the EU through the Global Gateway (EUGG) initiative in the Indo-Pacific region. This strategy serves as a model for the EU’s long-term promotion of inter-regionalism, driven by a combination of economic and idealistic goals. It highlights two main forces at play: balancing strategic interests (might) and promoting positive development (right). The article will outline the significance of the EUGG and how it plays a role in forming a global consensus on values. Aside from the introduction, the second section analyzes the interrelation between inter-regionalism and the EU’s normative power. The third section focuses on what the EUGG entails and examines it within the context of the EU’s long-term operations in Asia and the Indo-Pacific. It analyzes the EUGG as an alternative or countermeasure to the BRI within the framework of global multilateral cooperation. The fourth section analyzes the normative power emphasized by the EUGG—democracy, good governance, transparency, equitable partnerships, green energy, and secure aspects—arising from trade or aid policies and assesses whether it can achieve the EU’s expected effects. The conclusion summarizes the interplay of the two forces of the EUGG: might and right.

Tetrastigma erubescens, a native herb of Vietnam, has been used in folk medicine to manage various diseases. However, little scientific evidence has been reported. As regards supporting more scientific information on this herb, the phytochemical profile and various medical effects such as antioxidant effects, anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-α-amylase and anti-α-glucosidase targeting anti-Alzheimer and anti-diabetes were reported in this work. The aerial part extracts of T. erubescens demonstrated moderate DPPH/ABTS radicals scavenging and anti-α-amylase effects, however, potential anti-α-glucosidase and anti-acetylcholinesterase, which are comparable activities to commercial compounds, while the Fe³⁺ reduction ability was relatively low compared to the control. Notable, the anti-enzymes targeting anti-Alzheimer and anti-diabetes were reported for the first time in this work. In phytochemical analysis, fifteen compounds (named 1–15) were detected and identified from the T. erubescens MeOH extract. Of these, two polyphenols (1 and 3) and seven flavonoids (2, 4–10) were identified using HPLC analysis, and five volatiles (11–15) were identified via GCMS analysis. Of these, various phytocompounds were newly found contacting in this genus for the first time. The molecular docking performance indicated that almost the major phytocompounds of T. erubescens displayed high efficacy of interaction with the targeting enzyme with low energy binding with acetylcholinesterase (DS values of − 10.7 to − 15.9 kcal/mol) and α-glucosidase (DS values of− 7.8 to − 14.9 kcal/mol) with accepted RMSD values (≤ 2 Å). All the major active molecules showed potential energy gap values in the range of 3.77–5.68 eV. In addition, ADMET prediction and Lipinski’s rule of five analyses indicated that almost all the bioactive compounds of T. erubescens had drug properties that were non-toxic for human use.Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). Author 1 Given name: [Tu Quy] Last name [Phan], Author 2 Given name: San-Lang] Last name [Wang], Author 3 Given name: [Thi Thu Le] Last name [Vu], Author 4 Given name: [Tien Lam] Last name [Do], Author 5 Given name: [Pham Thi] Last name [Thuy], Author 6 Given name: [Thi Kim Phung] Last name [Phan], Author 7 Given name: [Thi Kim Thu] Last name [Phan], Author 8 Given name: [Thi Huyen] Last name [Nguyen], Author9 Given name: [Anh Dzung] Last name [Nguyen], Author 10 Given name: [Van Bon] Last name [Nguyen]. Also, kindly confirm the details in the metadata are correct.Yes, I confirm the details in the metadata are correct. Kindly check and confirm corresponding author and their mail id are correctly identified.Yes, I confirm corresponding author and their mail id are correctly identified.Please check the edit made in the article title.Yes, I confirm it is fine.Please check and confirm the author names and initials are correct. Also, kindly confirm the details in the metadata are correct.Yes, I confirm these items are correct.

With the growing interest in sports events, the ability to capture highlights has become increasingly important. Traditionally, the process of editing these highlights required significant time and manpower. To address this challenge, this paper introduces an innovative multi-modal deep learning method for highlight detection (MMDL). The proposed MMDL integrates information from multiple modalities, including subtitles, static skeletal features, and video content, to gain a deep understanding of specific behaviors and identify sub-videos containing those highlights. Additionally, the proposed MMDL employed Siamese networks to accurately capture different aspects of behavior by comparing the similarity between input and training videos across different modalities. Experiments conducted on two datasets, MLB-YouTube and ELTA, demonstrate that the proposed MMDL significantly outperforms existing models, achieving at least a 5% improvement in F1-Score compared to the baseline models, such as I3D and NPL.

In this study, the potential anti‐tyrosinase, antioxidant, and UV absorption efficiency of the extracts of different parts of Castanea mollissima were evaluated. The leaf extract exhibited the most potential antioxidant effect with DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging abilities of > 90%. C. mollissima extracts showed high UV‐A and UV‐B absorption efficiency. In addition, screening of the leaf extract demonstrated C. mollissima leaves as a rich source of tyrosinase inhibitors with maximum inhibitory activity and IC50 values of 96% and 336.43 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first‐ever report of screening of leaf extract for its potential activieties. Eighteen phyto‐compounds were identified from the C. mollissima leaf extract using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry and high‐performance liquid chromatography techniques. Of these, the content of compounds 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 in the C. mollissima leaf extract was significantly high (14.35‐88.42 μg/g). The molecular docking, ADMET and Lipinski’s rule of five analyses indicated high interaction efficacy of all the major compounds (DS values of ‐6.75 to ‐8.89 kcal/mol) with the target enzyme tyrosinase, had drug properties, and were non‐toxic for human use.

The operating goals of family firms (FFs) typically include building both economic and socioemotional wealth. Innovation is increasingly recognized as a key source for the development and growth of family firms. From the multiple dimensions of socioemotional wealth (SEW), this research has focused on how family influences a particular type of innovation – green innovation – in family firms. Using 5,071 observations from among the listed firms in Taiwan over an eight-year period (2014–2021), we examined the relationships between FFs and green innovation. The results indicate that FFs are more likely to develop green innovation than their nonfamily counterparts. In particular, there are complicated effects within different types of FFs – control deviation family firms (CDFFs).

Engineering active sites to boost the catalytic performance of semiconducting materials is of current interest. Herein, the enhanced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production via oxygen (O2) reduction through a surface‐substituting strategy is reported, in which the surface Zn─O bonds are partially halogenated in the one‐step simple calcination process. The experimental data validated the presence of halogen on the surface modulated the band structures of the prepared materials, leading to enhanced catalytic performance with the optimal samples, ZnO‐Cl, generating up to 6.3 µmol h⁻¹ of H2O2 under piezo‐photocatalytic conditions from pure water. In addition, theoretical calculation demonstrates the binding energy for the halogen‐defecting surface would be more stable for the adsorption of O2 than pristine ZnO. Furthermore, the thermodynamic states of piezo‐catalytic, piezocatalytic, and photocatalytic conditions are also evaluated via the temperature‐dependent aerobic degradation of methylene blue (MB). The results show that piezo‐photocatalysis can help enhance catalytic performance by lowering the activation barrier, which would relate to the entropy‐enthalpy compensation effects. This study not only provides a simple approach to synthesizing highly active catalysts to produce H2O2 but also interprets the fundamental insights into how ultrasound can enhance photocatalytic outcomes, benefiting both material and catalytic communities.

Electrochemical green hydrogen production via water splitting is an attractive and sustainable pathway; however, the sluggish kinetics of anodic oxygen evolution reaction is still a critical challenge. In this study, an effective electrocatalyst engineering approach is demonstrated by preparing an innovative hybrid of ruthenium d‐orbitals‐regulated nanoclusters embedding within functionalized hollow Ti3C2 MXene networks (Ru0.91Ni0.09‐N/O‐Ti3C2) to promote the hydrazine‐assisted hydrogen production. A specific charge redistribution is revealed, locally concentrating at interfaces derived from stable Ru(Ni)‐N/O‐Ti coordination and d–p orbital hybridization. The charge transfer effect from Ni to Ru within Ru0.91Ni0.09 structure and Ru0.91Ni0.09 to N/O‐Ti3C2 tailors electronic features of Ru sites to enable reasonable adsorption/desorption toward reactant intermediates. The Ru0.91Ni0.09‐N/O‐Ti3C2 requires an overpotential of only 29.3 mV for cathodic hydrogen evolution and a low potential of −29.9 mV for anodic hydrazine oxidation to reach 10 mA cm⁻², showing excellent stability. The hydrazine‐assisted hydrogen production system based on Ru0.91Ni0.09‐N/O‐Ti3C2 electrodes delivers small cell voltages of 0.02 V at 10 mA cm⁻² and 0.92 V at industrial current level of 1.0 A cm⁻². This work may open a new electrocatalysis strategy from lab scale to industry for robust and efficient green hydrogen production.

Given the limited exposure of active sites and the retarded separation of photogenerated charge carriers in those developed photocatalysts, photocatalytic CO2 splitting into value-added chemicals has suffered from the poor activity and remained in great challenge for real application. Herein, hydrothermally synthesized BiOCl with layered structure (BOCNSs) was exfoliated into thickness reduced nanosheets (BOCNSs-w) and even atomic layers (BOCNSs-i) via ultrasonication in water and isopropanol, respectively. In comparison with the pristine BOCNSs, the exfoliated BiOCl, especially BOCNSs-i with atomically layered structure, exhibits much improved photocatalytic activity for CO2 overall splitting to produce CO and O2 at a stoichiometric ratio of 2:1, with CO evolution rate reaching 134.8 µmol g−1 h−1 under simulated solar light (1.7 suns). By surpassing the photocatalytic performances of the state-of-the-art BilOmXn (X: Cl, Br, I) based photocatalysts, the CO evolution rate is further increased by 99 times, reaching 13.3 mmol g−1 h−1 under concentrated solar irradiation (34 suns). This excellent photocatalytic performance achieved over BOCNSs-i should be benefited from the shortened transfer distance and the increased built-in electric field intensity, which accelerates the migration of photogenerated charge carriers to surface. Moreover, with oxygen vacancies (VO) introduced into the atomic layers, BOCNSs-i is exposed with the electrons enriched Bi active sites that could transfer electrons to activate CO2 molecules for highly efficient and selective CO production, by lowering the energy barrier of rate-determining step (RDS), *OH + *CO2− → HCO3−. It is also realized that the H2O vapor supplied during photocatalytic reaction would exchange oxygen atoms with CO2, which could alter the reaction pathways and further reduce the energy barrier of RDS, contributing to the dramatically improved photocatalytic performance for CO2 overall splitting to CO and O2.

Anodic reactions involving non‐faradaic process has significantly expanded the potential application of anodic oxidation half‐reactions. Metallic Cu materials can catalyze an unconventional anodic aldehyde oxidation reaction involving the non‐faradaic H2 production (AOR‐H2). AOR‐H2 has distinct advantages of ultra‐low thermodynamic potentials and high value‐added redox products, etc., but the question of exactly how reduction steps occur during AOR‐H2, is something which has long puzzled scientists. Here we illustrate the novel synergistic mechanism of non‐electrochemical/electrochemical redox steps in AOR‐H2. Aldehyde undergoes hydration, deprotonation, and spontaneous C‐H homolytic cleavage to generate H2, and then is electrochemically oxidized to form carboxylate. Decorating Cu catalysts with metallic Pt species, supported by theoretical calculations, leads to a twelvefold increase in the intrinsic activity of AOR‐H2. This work inspires researchers to develop novel cathodic and anodic reactions involving the non‐faradaic process for breaking through the limit of existing energy conversion systems.

This paper introduces hybrid inputs using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors for reconstructing microwave images of uniaxial objects. Specifically, scattered field data is obtained through IoT sensors, and artificial intelligence techniques are employed to enable real-time electromagnetic imaging. The presented method combines a U-Net architecture with an integrated input to reconstruct high-resolution images of dielectric targets for both Transverse Magnetic (TM) and Transverse Electric (TE) waves. The z-axial dielectric constants are reconstructed by the TM wave illumination, while the x- and y-axial dielectric constants are recovered by the TE wave illumination. First, a Direct Sampling Method (DSM) gives spatial details of the target. Second, a Back-propagation (BP) scheme provides basic information about the target’s properties. Lastly, we combine these two inputs by taking their product, which is further processed in the U-Net. Numerical results show that this integration can improve image quality with nearly no additional computing burden. Experiments also reveal that our proposed method is both accurate and efficient for uniaxial objects, making it a reliable solution to overcome the challenges in electromagnetic imaging.

Recently, water splitting has emerged as a promising technology for storing renewable energy, yet their development is limited by the lack of stable anode materials that can overcome the sluggishness...

The connection between fluoroquinolones and severe heart conditions, such as aortic aneurysm (AA) and aortic dissection (AD), has been acknowledged, but the full extent of long-term risks remains uncertain. Addressing this knowledge deficit, a retrospective cohort study was conducted in Taiwan, utilizing data from the National Health Insurance Research Database spanning from 2004 to 2010, with follow-up lasting until 2019. The study included 232,552 people who took fluoroquinolones and the same number of people who didn’t, matched for age, sex, and index year. The Cox regression model was enlisted to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) for AA/AD onset. Additionally, five machine learning algorithms assisted in pinpointing critical determinants for AA/AD among those with fluoroquinolones. Intriguingly, within the longest follow-up duration of 16 years, exposed patients presented with a markedly higher incidence of AA/AD unexposed patients (80 vs. 30 per 100,000 person-years). After adjusting for multiple factors, exposure to fluoroquinolones was linked to a higher risk of AA/AD (HR 1.62, 95%CI 1.45–1.78). Machine learning identified ten factors that significantly affected AA/AD risk in those exposed. The findings illustrate a 62% elevation in the long-term risk of adverse outcomes associated with AA/AD following the administration of fluoroquinolones and concurrently delineate the salient factors contributing to AA/AD, underscoring the imperative for healthcare practitioners to meticulously evaluate the implications of prescribing these antibiotics in light of the associated risks and determinants.