The impact of solid waste collection, pricing and recycling policies on residential solid waste

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A Probabilistic Risk Analysis for Taipei Seismic Hazards: An Application of HAZ-Taiwan with its Pre-processor and Post-processor

This paper employs probabilistic risk analysis to estimate exceedance probability curves, average annual loss (AAL) and probable maximum loss (PML) for seismic hazards. It utilizes and event-driven loss estimation model, HAZ-Taiwan, and develops its pre-processing and post-processing software modules. First, the pre-processingmodule establishes a set of hazard-consistent scenarios. Then, the HAZ-Taiwan modelextimates hazards, vulnerabilities and economic losses for each scenario. Finally, the aggregate and occurrence exceedance probability curves for losses and theirconfidence intervals are simulated using the Monte Carlo simulation in thepost-processing module. The methodology is then applied to analyze seismic risks in Taipei. It is found that the exceedance probability of an aggregate loss of NT$40.398 billion is 0.001. This amount of loss is approximately 2.78$37.41-43.12 billion. The average annual loss of buildings in Taipei is NT$1.06 billion r approximately 0.07% of the total stock.probabilistic risk analysis, Hazard analysis, vulnerability analysis, exceedance probability curve, HAZ-Taiwan

Girdling improved berry coloration in summer but suppressed return growth in the following spring in 'Kyoho' grapevines cultivated in the subtropical double cropping system

Improving berry skin coloration is one of the major challenges in the tropical and subtropical viticulture. In this paper we aimed to document the effects of girdling at veraison on berry coloration and quality in grapevines on different rootstocks and we assessed the seasonal variations of girdling effects in the subtropical double cropping system. In the first experiment, gird-ling at veraison was tested in 'Kyoho' on 5C rootstocks. In the second experiment, own-rooted 'Kyoho', 5C or 1202C rootstocks were compared. Vines were trained to a horizontal overhead trellis with a single trunk and two short arms. One arm of each vine was girdled at veraison and the other arm served as the control. Girdling at veraison significantly improved skin color of berries from own-rooted vines or 5C rootstocks in the summer cropping cycle but was less effective in the winter cropping cycle. Girdling improved total soluble solids in own-rooted vines in the summer cropping cycle and in vines on 1202C in the winter cropping cycle. Girdling made in the winter cropping cycle did not completely heal until post-bloom in the following spring and reduced length of the fruiting shoot, number of leaves per shoot, and length of inflorescences of the next summer cropping cycle. We concluded that girdling at veraison is a good practice to improve berry color and quality for the summer cropping cycle but is not recommended for the winter cropping cycle

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunctive treatment for sternal infection and osteomyelitis after sternotomy and cardiothoracic surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>A retrospective study to evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy on sternal infection and osteomyelitis following median sternotomy.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>A retrospective analysis of patients who received sternotomy and cardiothoracic surgery which developed sternal infection and osteomyelitis between 2002 and 2009. Twelve patients who received debridement and antibiotic treatment were selected, and six of them received additional HBO2 therapy. Demographic, clinical characteristics and outcome were compared between patients with and without HBO2 therapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HBO2 therapy did not cause any treatment-related complication in patients receiving this additional treatment. Comparisons of the data between two study groups revealed that the length of stay in ICU (8.7 ± 2.7 days vs. 48.8 ± 10.5 days, p < 0.05), duration of invasive (4 ± 1.5 days vs. 34.8 ± 8.3 days, p < 0.05) and non-invasive (4 ± 1.9 days vs. 22.3 ± 6.2 days, p < 0.05) positive pressure ventilation were all significantly lower in patients with additional HBO2 therapy, as compared to patients without HBO2 therapy. Hospital mortality was also significantly lower in patients who received HBO2 therapy (0 case vs. 3 cases, p < 0.05), as compared to patients without the HBO2 therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In addition to primary treatment with debridement and antibiotic use, HBO2 therapy may be used as an adjunctive and safe treatment to improve clinical outcomes in patients with sternal infection and osteomyelitis after sternotomy and cardiothoracic surgery.</p

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

[[alternative]]Using Brainstorm and Delphi to Assess Key Vulnerabilities of Natural Disasters Related to Climate Change in Taiwan

[[abstract]]過去氣候變遷衝擊研究多著重於量化現象或面向的衝擊評估，而未將影響衝擊的重要因素，即關鍵脆弱性，如環境與社經因子納入分析。目前氣候變遷僅有氣象情境模擬，若再加上環境與社經因素則有高度不確定性。本文由專家學者腦力激盪建立現象與衝擊之關聯架構，再利用專家問卷，確認各種關聯之程度，可呈現多因素與多災害面向之關係。結果可做為擬定調適策略之參考。本研究重要發現包括：1. 影響洪災與坡地災害最重要的氣候變遷現象為降雨強度增加，旱災則是平均氣溫上升，海岸災害為海平面上升。此外，侵台颱風強度增加及乾旱發生頻率增加與災害有強的關聯。目前全球氣候模型僅提供平均溫度與海平面模擬，故台灣需強化降雨強度與侵台颱風之變化監測及模擬、預測研究；2. 加重災害衝擊的環境、社經脆弱性均與土地利用及水資源管理相關，且坡地災害、洪災、旱災有相互加成的效果，整合管理這些面向應是可以考慮的調適策略。[[abstract]]Most climate change impact assessment researches focus on quantifying the impact of a sector and exclude non-climatic, particularly social, vulnerability. It becomes difficult for making national adaptation strategy. However, there are only temperature, precipitation and sea level rise simulations for climate change scenarios and no long-term forecasts for environmental and social vulnerabilities. The brain storming workshop and Delphi technique are used in this paper to find the relations between the climate change, environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities and disaster impacts under such uncertainty. The increase of rainfall intensity, the increase of average temperature and the sea level rise are the most important climate change vulnerabilities to flood and landslide, drought and coastal disasters,respectively. Further research and monitoring are required for the intensity of Taiwan invasion typhoons and the frequency of dry spell which are important vulnerabilities to disasters but tends in Taiwan are not clear. Since the key vulnerabilities are mainly related to water resource and land use management, and flood, drought and landslides disasters are correlated and reinforce to each other, the integrated management of flood, water, land and forest resources is necessary

Conceptual Framework for Disaster Management in Coastal Cities Using Climate Change Resilience and Coping Ability

Global warming and environmental changes have resulted in more frequent and extreme weather events, as well as larger-scale disasters around the world. This study presents a disaster risk analysis in Taiwan coastal area using the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) and examines the strategies adopted by the coastal residents of Taiwan, through a new concept of “copability” analysis. Based on the results, the majority of the coastal regions fall under the medium-to-low resilient category with the south-western and northern coast of Taiwan as the most high-risk regions posing a high risk to millions of people facing climatic disasters in the future. The coping mechanisms used by local residents are also influenced by the socioeconomic status of the decision-makers as well as the synchronization of disasters. Based on the findings, a 4R management package is developed in which the copability and resilience management strategy are squeezed into four main sectors of resource, reason, roadmap, and respond to work towards a more coordinated management and use of natural resources across sectors and scales. It is advised that all governmental, private, and community actors implement coherent climate risk management measures, accompanied by mitigation initiatives, in order to establish a sustainable level of climate resilience in cities

Latency-Optimal mmWave Radio Access for V2X Supporting Next Generation Driving Use Cases

International audienceWith the facilitation of the fifth generation new radio, vehicle-to-everything applications have entered a brand new era to sustain the next generation driving use cases of advanced driving, vehicle pla-tooning, extended sensors, and remote driving. To deploy these driving use cases, the service requirements, however, include low latency, high reliability, and high data rates, which thus render utilizing millimeter wave (mmWave) carriers (spectrum above 6 GHz) as a remedy to empower the next generation driving use cases. However, suffering from severe signal attenuation, the transmission range of mmWave carriers may be very limited, which is unfavorable in mobile network deployment to offer seamless services, and compel directional transmission/reception using beamforming mandatory. For this purpose, both a transmitter and a receiver should sweep their beams toward different directions over time, and a communication link can be established only if a transmitter and a receiver arrange their beam directions toward each other at the same time (known as beam alignment). Unfortunately, the latency of performing beam sweeping to achieve beam alignment turns out to be a dominating challenge to exploit mmWave, especially for the next generation driving use cases. In this paper, we consequently derive essential principles and designs for beam sweeping at the transmitter side and receiver side, which not only guarantee the occurrence of beam alignment but also optimize the latency to achieve beam alignment. Based on the availabilities of a common geographic reference and the knowledge of beam sweeping scheme at the transmitter side, we derive corresponding performance bounds in terms of latency to achieve beam alignment, and the device corresponding latency-optimal beam sweeping schemes. The provided engineering insights, therefore, pave inevitable foundations to practice the next generation driving use cases using mmWave carriers. INDEX TERMS NR V2X, next generation driving use cases, mmWave, low latency, beam sweeping

Residential Flood Loss Assessment and Risk Mapping from High-Resolution Simulation

Since the patterns of residential buildings in the urban area are small-sized and dispersed, this study proposes a high-resolution flood loss and risk assessment model to analyze the direct loss and risk impacts caused by floods. The flood inundation simulation with a fine digital elevation model (DEM) provides detailed estimations of flood-inundated areas and their corresponding inundation depths during the 2016 Typhoon Megi and 2017 Typhoon Haitang. The flood loss assessment identifies the impacts of both events on residential areas. The depth-damage table from surveys in the impacted area was applied. Results indicated that the flood simulation with the depth-damage table is an effective way to assess the direct loss of a flood disaster. The study also showed the effects of spatial resolution on the residential loss. The results indicated that the low-resolution model easily caused the estimated error of loss in dispersed residential areas when compared with the high-resolution model. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP), as a multi-criteria decision-making method, was used to identify the weight factor for each vulnerability factor. The flood-vulnerable area was mapped using natural and social vulnerability factors, such as high-resolution DEM, distance to river, distance to fire station, and population density. Eventually, the flood risk map was derived from the vulnerability and flood hazard maps to present the risk level of the flood disaster in the residential areas

Endoscopic Resection for Gastric Subepithelial Tumor with Backup Laparoscopic Surgery: Description of a Single-Center Experience

The aim of this study was to analyze patients who underwent endoscopic resection (ER) for gastric subepithelial tumors (SETs) with a high probability of surgical intervention. Between January 2013 and January 2021, 83 patients underwent ER at the operation theater and 27 patients (32.5%) required backup surgery mainly due to incidental perforation or uncontrolled bleeding despite endoscopic repairing. The tumor was predominantly located in the upper-third stomach (81%) with a size ≤ 2 cm (69.9%) and deep to the muscularis propria (MP) layer (92.8%) but there were no significant differences between two groups except tumor exophytic growth as a risk factor in the surgery group (37% vs. 0%, p &lt; 0.0001). Patients in the ER-only group had shorter durations of procedure times (60 min vs. 185 min, p &lt; 0.0001) and lengths of stay (5 days vs. 7 days, p &lt; 0.0001) but with a higher percentage of overall morbidity graded III (0% vs. 7.1%, p = 0.1571). After ER, five patients (6%) had delayed perforation and two (2.4%) required emergent laparoscopic surgery. Neither recurrence nor gastric stenosis was reported during long-term surveillance. Here, we provide a minimally invasive strategy of endoscopic resection with backup laparoscopic surgery for gastric SETs