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This study extends the idea of subsidiary ambidexterity as a subsidiary’s attempt to obtain a fit between its dual embeddedness (i.e. ambidextrous contexts) and its learning strategy (i.e. ambidextrous behaviors). We design a dyadic survey to collect data from Taiwanese MNEs and their Chinese subsidiaries to test our arguments. First, we redefine subsidiary ambidexterity as a three-step mechanism in which three different types of dual embeddedness will cause different legitimacy effects (resource or conformity effect), which will then result in a subsidiary’s different learning strategies. Second, we propose three different subsidiary ambidexterity patterns: (1) a subsidiary will prefer in maintaining higher external than internal political embeddedness, which leads to their focusing on exploitation (an adaptability case of ambidexterity); (2) a subsidiary will intend to develop both high external and high internal cultural embeddedness and that will cause them to explore and exploit simultaneously (an alignment case of ambidexterity); and (3) in sometimes a subsidiary will prefer to maintain higher external than internal cognitive embeddedness and that will lead the subsidiary to emphasize exploration, whereas in other times a subsidiary will prefer to have higher internal cognitive than external cognitive embeddedness and that will lead the subsidiary to emphasize exploitation (a balancing case of ambidexterity). Our view can largely contribute to the subsidiary learning literature.

(1) Background: Due to rapidly increasing average age of Taiwan’s population, it is very important to analyze the factors affecting the survival of older adults. (2) Methods: In this study, the 1989 Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging, which lasted 22 years and consisted of seven surveys, was used. Furthermore, Cox and Aalen’s time-dependent frailty models were used to analyze factors that affect the survival of older adults. (3) Results: Based on past literature, we selected 15 important factors that were closely associated with the survival of older adults and constructed six models based on these factors. The study results showed that, in addition to background characteristics, physical and mental conditions, activities of daily living (ADL), physical performance, and self-rated health had a huge association with the survival of older adults. (4) Conclusions: We selected ten variables (age, gender, population, education level, ADL status, physical performance, self-rated health, smoking, chewing betel nut, and the presence of a spouse), and their combinations were used to generate reduced models, which could be considered as important markers that affect and predict the survival of older adults.

Interpolated twitch technique (ITT) is a non-invasive method for assessing the completeness of muscle activation in clinical settings. Voluntary activation level (VA), measured by ITT and estimated by a conventional linear model, was reported to have a non-linear relationship with true voluntary contraction force at higher activation levels. The relationship needs to be further clarified for the correct use by clinicians and researchers. This study was to established a modified voluntary activation (modified VA) and define a valid range by fitting a non-linear logistic growth model. Eight healthy male adults participated in this study. Each subject performed three sets of voluntary isometric ankle plantar flexions at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) with real-time feedback on a computer screen. A supramaximal electrical stimulation was applied on tibia nerve at rest and during contractions. The estimated VA was calculated for each contraction. The relationship between the estimated VA and the actual voluntary contraction force was fitted by a logistic growth model. The result showed that according to the upper and lower limit points of the logistic curve, the valid range was between the 95.16% and 10.55% MVC. The modified VA estimated by this logistic growth model demonstrated less error than the conventional model. This study provided a transfer function for the voluntary activation level and defined the valid range which would provide useful information in clinical applications.

Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is a clinically convenient indicator for monitoring exercise intensity in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. It might not be sensitive enough for clinicians to determine the patients’ physiological status because its association with the cardiovascular system and local muscle factors is unknown. This study used the electromyographic sensor to detect the local muscle fatigue and stabilization of patella, and analyzed the relationship between various local muscle and cardiovascular factors and the increase of RPE during stepping exercise, a common exercise program provided in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. Ten healthy adults (4 males and 6 females) participated in this study. Each subject used their right bare foot to step up onto a 23-cm-high step at a constant speed until the RPE score reached 20. The RPE, heart rate (HR), and surface EMG of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis were recorded at 1-minute intervals during the stepping exercise. The generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis indicated that the increase in RPE significantly correlated with the increase in HR, and decrease in median frequency (MF) of the EMG power spectrum of the RF. Experimental results suggest that the increase in RPE during stepping exercise was influenced by the cardiovascular status, localized muscle fatigue in the lower extremities. The weighting of the local muscle factors was more than half of the weighting of the cardiovascular factor.

This study examines the \"intra-organisational dynamics\" of the adoption of internal practices by subsidiaries of internationalised small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the perspective of institutional theory. Based on a survey of 149 foreign subsidiaries of Taiwanese SMEs, the findings show that parent-firm executives of SMEs who are deeply involved in subsidiary operations will assess strong pressure from their home-country institution to adopt internal standard practices within a subsidiary. However, subsidiary executives of SMEs who assess heavy pressure from the host-country institution will resist this adoption. When executives of SME parent firms and subsidiaries concurrently assess high pressure but from opposing sources, creating a case of \"institutional interaction\" within SMEs, the subsidiary will either partially adopt a limited but sufficient level of all internal practices or only adopt internal managerial practices while forgoing internal production practices.

Study Objective: to investigate the factors related to diabetes mellitus in the middle-aged and over in Taiwan. Method: data from seven surveys (in 1989–2011) from the “Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging” (TLSA), among cohort B (above the age 60 in 1989), cohort A (aged 50–66 in 1996), and cohort C (aged 50–66 in 2003), were analyzed by the interval-censored Cox model. Results: in the early aging stage (aged 60–64), diabetes mellitus prevalence among the same age appeared the lowest in cohort B, followed by cohort A; cohort C reveals the highest than the young generation. Moreover, suffering from hypertension and kidney diseases are closely related to diabetes mellitus, with the diabetes mellitus suffering hazard ratio of 2.53 (95%: 2.35, 2.73) and 1.26 (95%: 1.11, 1.44) times, respectively. For people with fair and poor self-rated health, the risk of suffering from diabetes mellitus is 1.16 (95%: 1.07, 1.27) and 1.50 (95%: 1.35, 1.67) times compared to people with good self-rated health, respectively. Conclusions: in this study, it is considered that an advanced interval censoring model analysis could more accurately grasp the characteristics of factors in people who are middle-aged and over suffering from diabetes mellitus in Taiwan.

Effective treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS)-associated central fatigue have not been established. Surface functional electrical stimulation (FES), which can challenge the peripheral neuromuscular system without overloading the central nervous system, is a relatively safe therapeutic strategy. We investigated the effect of 8 weeks of surface FES training on the levels of general, central, and peripheral fatigue in MS patients. Seven of nine individuals with MS (average age: 42.86 +/- 13.47 years) completed 8 weeks of quadriceps muscle surface FES training. Maximal voluntary contraction, voluntary activation level, twitch force, General Fatigue Index (FI), Central Fatigue Index (CFI), Peripheral Fatigue Index, and Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) scores were determined before and after training. The results showed that FI (p = 0.01), CFI (p = 0.02), and MFIS (p = 0.02) scores improved significantly after training. Improvements in central fatigue contributed significantly to improvements in general fatigue (p < 0.01). The results of the current study showed that central fatigue was a primary limitation in patients with MS during voluntary exercise and that 8 weeks of surface FES training for individuals with MS led to significantly reduced fatigue, particularly central fatigue.

This paper explores the benefits and negative elements of the relationship between firms and their primary banking partners. The benefits of this relationship often lead firms to develop a closer relationship with their primary banking partners, while the negative elements often result in firms changing their banking partners. Our results show that larger, older firms in Taiwan are more likely to build close relationships with their banks. In addition, the duration of the relationship between firms and banks is related to the positive likelihood that firms will look for alternative banking partners.

The elderly population has been increasing rapidly in recent years because of improvements in medical care and the progress in economics in Taiwan. Now, the population of old people age above 65 has approached 10%, and problems of the elderly have become a major concern for public health. In this study, we use five waves of Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan held from 1989 to 2003 to explore 15 variables related to demographic characteristic, health status, health behavior and home condition etc. affect the survival status of the elderly by employing Cox proportional hazard model. The results show that there are nine variables, e.g. age, gender, ethnic group, ADL, self-rated health, physical function, smoking, chewing betel nuts and marital status, were strongly related to the survival status of the elderly. In addition, Aalen’s nonparametric additive model is not only used as an alternative to a proportional hazards to describe the effects of covariates on survival time but assist in detecting and describing the nature of time-dependent effects of covariates used for Cox proportional model. We find there are some time-dependent covariates (e.g. self-rate health, ADL function, and physical function), and Aalen’s nonparametric additive model provides a flexible and nonparametric method for investigating the time-dependent variables through plots of the estimated cumulative regression coefficients, with confidence intervals.

This article investigates the use of femtosecond laser induced surface morphology on silicon wafer surface in water confinement. Unlike irradiation of silicon surfaces in the air, there are no laser induced periodic structures, but irregular roughness is formed when the silicon wafer is ablated under water. The unique discovery of a smoothly processed silicon surface in water confinement under certain laser parameter combinations may help improve laser direct micromachining surface quality in industrial applications.