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A typical photovoltaic grid-connection power system usually consists of multi-stage converters to perform multiple functions simultaneously. To simplify system configuration, reduce cost and improve conversion efficiency, this paper aims to develop a buck–boost-type inverter. The proposed inverter has both step-up and step-down functions, so that it is suitable for applications with wide voltage variation. As only one power switch operates with high frequency at one time, switching losses can significantly be reduced.

A step-up/down inverter is developed by adopting a buck-interleaved buck–boost (BuIBB) DC-DC converter and connecting with an H-bridge unfolding circuit with line-commutated operation.

The proposed circuit can work functionally as either a buck-type or boost-type inverter, so that partial energy can be directly delivered to output to improve efficiency. The input current is shared by two inductors, leading to the reduction of current stresses.

To apply the proposed inverter to micro-inverter applications in the future, developing a step-up/down inverter with a higher conversion ratio will be considered.

A laboratory prototype is built accordingly to verify the feasibility of the proposed inverter. The experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness.

This paper proposes a step-up/down inverter by using the BuIBB converter, which is innovatively studied.

This study aims to investigate the effect of virtual reality (VR) as a communication tool for advertising on tourism destination image and the changes in destination attitude, clarifying how flow experience affects destination image, and examining how destination image mediates the effect of flow experience on attitude changes.

A survey was administered to collect data from 342 study participants who watched a tourism destination marketing video through HTC VR vive gear. A research model tested data collected from participants using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling by using partial least squares structural equation modeling software.

The results found that two factors (friendliness and telepresence) of flow experience in VR can positively affect destination image. Destination image has a significant indirect effect on how flow experience influences attitude change.

As tourism destinations are faced with strategic decisions about investment in different VR platforms or some other technologies, understanding how individuals respond to various VR stimuli is of practical importance. Therefore, this study’s findings provide valuable information for tourism industry practitioners.

虚拟现实是否能成为目的地营销的有效工具？一项基于沉浸理论视角的研究

本研究旨在探索虚拟现实（VR）作为一项营销沟通工具来研究对目的地形象, 目的地态度改变, 诠释心流体验如何对目的地形象的影响, 以及目的地形象在心流体验对态度改变的中介作用的影响。

本研究从342位观看了由HTC 提供的VR虚拟现实 VIVE 装备对旅游景区营销视频的参与者采集调研数据。调研数据由验证性因子分析和结构方程（PLS-SEM软件）来测试研究模型。

研究结果显示由VR产生的基于心流体验的两个因子（友好程度和远程呈现）可以对目的地形象产生正面影响。研究显示目的地形象是心流体验影响态度变化的中介因素。

由于旅游目的地面临着关于投资于不同VR 平台或者其他科技工具的战略性决策, 了解个体如何对各种VR刺激因素进行反应变得尤其重要。因此本研究结论为旅游业内人士提供了有价值信息。

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the development of competences for use by professional teppanyaki chefs in food and beverage education in Taiwan.

The research methodology includes the Delphi technique and incorporates interviews with three types of experts: instructors from culinary departments at a university, seasoned teppanyaki professionals and owners of teppanyaki establishments. An analysis of the responses provided by these industry experts led to identification of four dimensions of competences needed by teppanyaki chefs: knowledge, technique, affect and attitude. The K-S test involves using a z-test on ordinal variables for single samples to determine whether the sample distribution diverges from the frequency distribution. The z-score is greater than 1.96 which implies significance and consistency.

This study analyzed the responses provided by the interviewed experts to identify and extract competences for teppanyaki chefs. The extracted competences comprise four dimensions (knowledge, technique, affect and attitude), 16 work-related tasks and 74 skills items.

This study includes 16 work-related tasks, and 74 competences. The study recommends the establishment of an organization for competence certification to act as the authority for teppanyaki skill certification. Such an organization could utilize the results from this study as a reference, as could culinary departments at vocational institutes as well as other teppanyaki training courses offered in Taiwan.

The material-jetting-type (MJ) 3-D printing technology has advantages in resolution and color printing. During the printing process, a leveling technique is needed to precisely control the thickness and flatness of each layer. Roller-type leveling mechanism has been adopted in commercial MJ 3-D printers, but it is lack of research on roller leveling process parameters and establishing experimental procedures. Therefore, in this study, a roller-type leveling mechanism for a MJ color 3 D printer was developed, and experimental approaches were utilized to determine process parameters.

The roller-type leveling mechanism was chosen to provide functions of flattening and removal of excess material. The parameters studied were roller speed and rotational direction. Surface roughness, Ra, of printed single-layered specimens was measured at 15 locations for plane roughness and along five lines for line roughness to evaluate the leveling results. Adopting suitable parameters, color samples with and without leveling were printed for comparison and verification.

According to plane roughness results, forward rotation achieved better leveling. Plane roughness was the major criteria to determine roller speed with the assistance of standard deviation of line roughness. The best parameters of the self-developed MJ color 3-D printer were found to be rolling forward at 1,100 rpm. In addition, printed color samples showed great improvement in surface roughness with leveling and no obvious color mixing after leveling.

Leveling is important to achieve desired layer thickness, smooth surface and good color quality in color 3-D printing. For MJ 3-D printing, only patents were revealed regarding roller design, but paper publications have not been presented. This research practically proposed to use experimental approach to understand the effects of roller operating parameters and to find the suitable ones based on surface roughness results.

This research established the experimental procedures and also suggested guidelines of experimentally obtaining suitable roller leveling process parameters. Developers can refer to this study results to design and adjust leveling mechanism in a new MJ 3-D printer.

The experimental approach can be applied to similar MJ 3-D printing systems if different materials are introduced or the platform speed is changed. The observed trends suggested several guidelines to plan limited experiments only to obtain suitable roller process parameters.

This paper describes the characteristics of the document supply industry and its products, and the factors underlying supply and demand. In order to cope with possible supply and demand shifts, appropriate adjustments that profit‐seeking suppliers and non‐profit‐seeking suppliers may adopt are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to extend an integrated model of the antecedents that help explain and predict team performance in relation to empowering leadership behaviors. To this end, the authors examine the intervening roles of knowledge sharing and team cohesion in the relationship between empowering leadership and performance in teams.

Data were obtained from 261 team members from 79 management teams in a major international fast‐food chain restaurant operating in Taiwan. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regressions were used for data analysis.

It was found that two indirect effects supplemented the direct effect of empowering leadership on team performance, the mechanisms of knowledge sharing and team cohesion. In other words, knowledge sharing and team cohesion, respectively, mediated the relationship between empowering leadership and performance in management teams.

This study extended existing research to the links between team characteristics, team cohesion, and knowledge sharing. Particularly, it explored the effect of team cohesion and knowledge sharing on team performance. The authors further investigated the mediating effect of team cohesion and knowledge sharing on the relationship between empowering leadership and team performance.

This is one of the first studies in empowering leadership applying different intervention and its process of a management team to the study of knowledge sharing as a team process and team cohesion as an emergent state.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new integrated approach for the strategic logistics outsourcing process through identifying the logistics independent success factors (ISFs) and linking them with the firm’s strategic objectives and logistics requirements. Then, the new integrated approach will be used to compare the outsourcing processes for the upstream and downstream supply chain members. Studies of logistics outsourcing reveal the strategic importance of this process and the increasing need for new strategic approach.

The design is based on mixed methodology and integrated approach. The fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory technique has contributed to the construction of interdependent relationships, development of impact-relationship maps (IRMs) and identifying ISFs. The fuzzy quality function deployment technique was used to link the strategic objectives, logistics requirements and the ISFs to evaluate and select logistics service providers (LSPs) strategically. Finally, two case studies (upstream and downstream supply chains) are used to demonstrate the new approach effectiveness and to highlight the differences/similarities between the two streams.

In addition to the new strategic logistics outsourcing approach, this study analysed the impact relationships of the LSPs’ framework factors and constructed their maps. In all, 21 ISFs have been identified: 8 logistics key performance indicators, 7 logistics services and activities and 6 logistics resources and capabilities. The two streams’ comparison relived several differences in terms of strategic objectives, logistics requirements and ISFs.

The new approach for strategic logistics outsourcing can help firms to perform a better multi-stakeholder multi-criteria strategic outsourcing process. In addition, the upstream–downstream supply chain comparison increases our understanding how different supply chain members perform different outsourcing processes.

This is one of the pioneering studies that compares the supply chain upstream–downstream perspectives to highlight logistics outsourcing similarities and differences. To the best of author’s knowledge, this is one of the first logistics outsourcing studies that identifies ISFs for strategic logistics outsourcing, provides the first IRMs for the strategic logistics factors and develops a new integrated approach for strategic logistics outsourcing

Product color names related to a consumption setting are commonly used in advertising to persuade. This study aims to use consumption imagery fluency as an underlying mechanism for assessing how such a naming tactic impacts product evaluation.

Three between-subjects experiments examine how product evaluation, in response to the use of color names containing consumption situation information, varies as a function of their accessibility (Study 1), and also test the role of a naming explanation (Study 2). How readily a consumer takes in consumption imagery is evaluated as a mediator. The studies further check if color attribute serves as a moderator of such color naming effect and that the naming factor contributes to consumption imagery fluency directly or indirectly alters such through their impact on comprehension fluency (Study 3).

Marketing products with color names related to the consumption setting is more effective than using generic names. Consumption imagery fluency mediates the results. This positive outcome is reduced when color names are less accessible. Fortunately, including an explanation to facilitate reasoning for product color names is helpful to reverse this disadvantage. The same patterns are not evident for highly accessible names. In addition, the effectiveness of consumption situation-related color names is restricted to the circumstance of color attribute as secondary, as opposed to primary. Furthermore, naming factors influence the ease of consumption of imagery whether or not facilitated by comprehension fluency.

This research provides evidence of consumers’ responses to product color naming that involves consumption situations and identifies consumption imagery fluency as a potential means for mediating the studied effect.

Naming a product color in consumption situation-related terms triggers consumption imagery, driving evaluation when color is the secondary attribute of a product.

This research contributes to understanding the influence of naming a product’s color in promotional communication and correlates to productive tactics for advertising messages.

Individuals concerned about safety comprise a significant share of the consumer market today. This paper aims to provide the results of a study on when a front-of-package (FOP) claim about “no added negatives” can serve as a quality cue.

Four between-subjects experiments examine consumers’ quality perceptions in responses to the absence-focused claims and also identifies brand parity (Studies 1a and 1b) and the associated launch of inconsistent alternatives as moderators (Study 2) and investigate the extent to which the quality signaling value of absence-focused claims varies as a function of message regulatory focus (Study 3).

Research shows that a unique absence-focused claim indicates product quality (Studies 1a and 1b). However, there could be a cost in terms of reduced perceived quality when adding an inconsistent alternative to a brand (Study 2). Furthermore, consumers associate greater product quality with absence-focused FOP claims if an appeal is framed as prevention-focused rather than promotion-focused benefits (Study 3).

This study advances knowledge on the effects of front-of-package claims on consumer behavior and benefits marketers in determining effective front-of-package messages for product promotion.