In order to better understand the flow dynamics in the Taiwan Strait (TS) and the adjacent seas, a series of field experiments were conducted to monitor the currents by deploying 30 SVP drifters, using shipboard ADCP measurements and analyzing historical drifter data in the TS. Examinations of historical drifter data reveal that the surface waters in the TS originate from the shelf of the South China Sea (SCS) in the summer. In wintertime, the mean surface current flows toward the south in the northern TS with a mean speed of approximately 0.3~0.4 m/s. The surface current in the eastern TS mainly flows northward, and it flows southward in the western TS in the fall. The surface waters of the Kuroshio do not intrude into the SCS in summer. Instead, a northeastward current of 0.5~0.7 m/s west of Luzon Island impinges on the Kuroshio across the Luzon Strait. Drifter tracks in the TS are classified according to the wind condition. The first type of drifter tracks is that the drifters move northward in the TS with an intensified flows in the Peng-hu Channel when the southwest monsoon prevails. The second and third types of drifter tracks are under the influence of strong northeast monsoon. The drifters are carried onto the shelf of East China Sea from the Kuroshio or the East China Sea, and then move southward along the TS. Some drifters are grounded at the west coast of Taiwan, and the others drift through the TS. The third type of drifter tracks show that drifters start from the Luzon Strait and move northward into the TS. However, they can only reach the neighboring area of Peng-Hu archipelagoes, then they change the direction of drifting to the south or southwest and toward the SCS. The fourth type is that drifters are carried northward from the SCS into the northern TS under the weak northeast wind, and then veer to the south when the northeast monsoon intensifies. The fifth type of drifter tracks demonstrates the flow pattern of the northern TS when the northeast monsoon diminishes. This flow pattern belongs to the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) in wintertime. The surface speed of TWC is about 0.2~0.4 m/s northward. The second, fourth and fifth flow patterns in the TS have not been quite discovered in previous studies. In-situ marine observations right beneath typhoons are very scanty and valuable. In this study we have found several events with some drifters happened to get caught by typhoons. The maximum speed of drifters near the typhoon center is found to be about 2 m/s. The SST, which is observed by the drifter, reduces 2~4¢J after the typhoon passes. Our results indicate that for the case of the Typhoon Haitang the Matsu weather station measured a sudden increase of wind speed of about 3 m/s every hour, and the corresponding drifter speed increases 0.52 m/s. There were two events in summer of 2006 when the Typhoon Billis and Saomai passed the northern region of Taiwan, and some drifters located at the Kuroshio to the north of typhoon were carried rapidly onto the ECS shelf with a maximum speed of about 1.1 m/s. This result indicates that the Kuroshio waters can penetrate into the ECS shelf by means of the passage of typhoon in this region during summertime. Three cruises with the shipboard ADCP were performed by three research vessels concurrently along two transects during 2002-2004. Various phase averaging methods were employed to eliminate tidal effects. The calculated volume transport of the TS for the period of August 2002, September 2003 and March 2004 is 3.4, 3.6 and 2.8 Sv, respectively. These transport values are compatible with the output of EASCNFS model. The estimated uncertainty of the residual flow through the Peng-hu Channel derived from the 5-phase-averaging, 4-phase-averaging, 3-phase-averaging and 2-phase-averaging methods is 0.3, 0.3, 1.3 and 4.6 cm/s, respectively. Procedures for choosing a best phase average method to remove tidal currents in any particular region are also suggested.

Background and Purpose¡XStroke has been a leading cause of death for decades in Taiwan. The mortality and morbidity may be reduced if people have the correct knowledge about stroke. This pilot study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an educational program aiming to increase college students¡¦ knowledge of cause of stroke, risk factors, stroke warning signs, and action needed (call 119) when a stroke is suspected. Methods¡XTwo classes (A and B) of college students was used as convenience sample. The program evaluation consisted of a pretest, a 50-minute educational intervention, immediate posttest, and a 12-week follow-up. Class A was tested via close-ended questionnaire while class B open-ended one. Repeated measure one-way ANOVA was used to compare mean score of three tests. Comparisons of mean score between male and female participants of each evaluation point were assessed by t-tests. Stata 7.0 for Windows was used for the analysis at significance level of 0.05. Results¡XA total of 138 college students participated the educational program. Response rate was 90% and 91% in class A and B respectively with mean age of 22 years. In pretest, all students in class A were able to recognize ≥1 risk factors (RF), ≥1 warning signs (WS). In class B, 5% were not able answer one RS and 24% couldn¡¦t name one WS. Of the students, 18-20% in both classes did not recognize the brain as the affected organ in stroke. Mean score improved significantly after the intervention (p<0.001), and dropped after 12 weeks (p<0.001). The effects of gender toward knowledge level were non-significant except posttest in class B (p<0.05). Conclusions¡XOur study showed that college students¡¦ knowledge of stroke could be improved by educational program. However, learning effects faded away with time. Our data showed that gender was irrelevant to learning effects. Policy makers may consider improving public knowledge of stroke through properly designated educational program.

The genus Athyrium composed by 220 species in the world, mainly distributed in the Asia temperate regions. According to the observations of the morphological characters, this study revised the taxonomy and recognized 24 species and 2 varieties in Taiwan. The infrageneric scheme also due to morphology, these Taiwanese species were placed into 5 sections: Sect. Polystichoides, Sect. Echinoathyrium, Sect. Strigoathyrium, Sect. Atkinsonii and Sect. Niponica. Basing on the public DNA sequences data (trnL-F and rbcL), including to this study providing, the molecular phylogeny analysis was state in this study. The Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian inference were used in each fragment: trnL-F region length 846 bp, 72 OTUs in 41 species 8 varieties; rbcL 1188 bp, 70 OTUs in 42 species 6 varieties, and combined data: 42 OTUs in 38 species 4 varieties. The phylograms contributed by each datasets are support the infrageneric scheme provided in this study, 5 sections occuring in Taiwan and 2 other sections (Sect. Athyrium and Sect. Yokoscentia) are monophyletic. Herein, the key to the species of the Taiwanese Athyrium, science names, descriptions, voucher specimens and notes of each taxa are provided.

Abstract The genus Machilus comprises about 100 species. They are distributing over the tropics and the subtropical zone, mainly in Easten Asia. Eight species and one variety are native plants of Taiwan, including M.konishiiHayata, M. kusanoi Hayata, M. mushaensis Lu, M. obovatifolia (Hayata) Kaneh. et. Sasaki, M. obovatifolia var. taiwuensis Lu & Chen, M. philippinensis Merr., M. pseudolongifolia Hayata., M. thunbergii Siebold & Zucc. and M. zuhoensis Hayata. Machilus japonica Siebold & Zucc. is regarded to be native in Japan, Ryukyu and Korea, but not native to Taiwan. Due to the morphological similarities among several taxa, species identification was a difficult task in the past. Although many scholars have worked on this topic, there are still many unresolved issues left, especially the relationships among M. japonica, M. pseudolongifolia, M. kusanoi, M. zuihonensis and M. mushaensis. This study aims to study Taiwan Machilus taxonomy with an emphasis on a detailed morphological study. In addition, essential oils, DNA sequences and isozymes were also studied. The results are list as follows: 1. Morphological taxonomy: Machilus japonica, M. pseudolongifolia., M. kusanoi, M. zuihonensis and M. mushaensis can be firmily classified into 5 taxa by morphologic characters. 2. Essential oils of leaves: The data of essential oils ca differentiate the closely related species, M. japonica, M. pseudolongifolia, M. kusanoi, M. zuihnensis and M. mushaensis from one another. The data also indicated that M. konishii is better placed in the genus Machilus than in the genus Nothophoebe. 3. DNA sequences: The sequences of the AG1 introns data clearly indicate that M. japonica is distinct from M. pseudolongifolia and M. kusanoi. 4. Isozymes: The data of isozyme analyses can distinctly distinguish the closely related species, M. japonica, M. pseudolongifolia and M. kusanoi. The data also can separate the closely related species, M. zuihonensis and M. mushaensis from each other. With the above data, the author believes that there is no naturally distributed M. japonica in Taiwan and the name M. pseudolongifolia should be used. Machilus pseudolongifolia, M. kusanoi, M. zuihoensis and M. mushaensis are all endemic to Taiwan and are morphologically diistinct. However, the DNA sequences of tested marker genes analyzed indicated that genetically they are not well differentiated. The differences among the DNA sequences of these species were not significant could be due to the possibly relatively short divergent time. Totally, eight indigenous species and one variety of the genus Machilus of Taiwan are recognized. For each species, a morphological description and classification treatment are provided; also included are geographical distribution, ecology, citation of exsiccatae, illustrations and images of type specimens etc.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Adviser: Garth Massy. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 143 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-174).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2001. / "Spring 2001." Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-76). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Zheng zhi da xue. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-125).

Thesis (M.A.)--Taiwan da xue. / Reproduced from typescript. Includes bibliographical references (2d group).