Suchergebnisse

Abstract. Rice is produced in more than 95 countries worldwide and is a staple food for over half of the world's population. Rice is also a major food crop of Taiwan. There are numerous rice crops planted on the western plains of Taiwan, and, after the harvest season, the left-over straw is often burned on-site. The air pollutants from the burning emissions include CO2, CO, CH4 and other suspended particles, most of these being the greenhouse gases which cause global climate change. In this study FORMOSAT-2 satellite images and ground-truth data from 2008 and 2009 are used to conduct supervised classification and calculate the extent of the straw burning areas. It was found that 10% of the paddies in the study area were burned after harvest during this 2-yr period. On this pro rata basis, we calculated the overall carbon emissions from the burning of the straw. The findings showed that these few farmers produced up to 34 000 tons of carbon emissions in 2008, and 40 000 tons in 2009. The study results indicate that remotely sensed images can be used to efficiently evaluate the important characteristics for carbon emission detection. It also provides quantitative results that are relevant to tracking sources of transport pollution, postharvest burning, and Asian dust in Taiwan.

In this paper, we test a conventional predictive model of the diffusion of rice blasticides, using data from Taiwan. The model has modest predictive power, accounting for one third of the variation in adoption (R2 = .334). The impact of farm size on the model is assessed under the assumption that it reflects the impact of social structural constraints on individual farmers. Except for the relationship between total production and adoption, farm size was found to have little effect on the model. This may have occurred because of the relatively homogeneous farm population in Taiwan. For homogeneous populations, predictive models, which incorporate individual and psychological variables, appear appropriate to the extent that they refer to the adoption of low cost, unsophisticated technologies.

Energy Transition towards a low-carbon emission energy system has been a long-term strategy for Germany and China. Both countries are expected to take the lead on the global effort to achieve clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Although Germany and China have different characteristics, international-level strategic cooperation is essential for meeting the goals of both local and global energy transition. However, until now, no comparable research for energy transition in Germany and China exists in a peer-reviewed journal. In order to close this knowledge gap, a critical review was conducted and then some recommendations were proposed. First of all, after reviewing the background, milestones, current situation and challenges, we found infrastructure, policy instruments and market reform played the key roles in the transition process in Germany and China. While nuclear power and coal are likely to be abandoned in Germany, China has more ambition beyond the power sector and to reach self-sufficiency. As the two countries chosen different concepts and pathways to achieve their transition targets, there is great opportunity for them to take the lessons from each other. Germany and China need cooperation at multi-levels varies from politic, economic, scientific to public. Then, recommendations are presented on how to further foster cooperation and enable an energy transition.

Abstract. To reveal the preparatory processes of large inland earthquakes, we systematically applied the pattern informatics (PI) method to earthquake data of Japan. We focused on 12 large earthquakes with magnitudes greater than M = 6.4 (based on the magnitude scale of the Japan Meteorological Agency) that occurred at depths shallower than 30 km between 2000 and 2010. We examined the relationship between the spatiotemporal locations of these large shallow earthquakes and the locations of PI hotspots, which correspond to grid cells of anomalous seismic activity during a designated time span. Based on a statistical test conducted using Molchan's error diagram, we investigated whether precursory anomalous seismic activity occurred in association with these large earthquakes and, if so, studied the characteristic time spans of such activity. Our results indicate that Japanese inland earthquakes with M ≥ 6.4 are typically preceded by anomalous seismic activity in timescales of 8–10 years.

BackgroundThis study was aimed at investigating the impact of assisted cycling therapy (ACT) on fine manual dexterity in adults with Down's syndrome (DS).MethodsNine persons with DS completed four different interventions: voluntary exercise (VE), voluntary with music (VEM), assisted exercise (AE) and no exercise (NE). Fine manual dexterity (e.g., Purdue Pegboard) was tested pre and post interventions.ResultsThe results showed dominant and bimanual hands were improved after AE but no evident in either subtest after VE. The assembly subtest, processed by spatial‐temporal ability, was only improved after VEM and NE.ConclusionsIt is speculated that AE stimulated more peripheral sensory input to the motor cortex and neurotransmitters than the other interventions. In addition, the involvement of music may enhance spatial intelligence during VEM. Even though the exact mechanisms are still unknown, the implication of our results showed that AE and VEM can improve fine manual dexterity in persons with DS.