Greater Taipei Area Research Articles

Using benthic macroinvertebrate and fish communities as bioindicators of the Tanshui River basin around the greater Taipei area - multivariate analysis of spatial variation related to levels of water pollution.

After decades of strict pollution control and municipal sewage treatment, the water quality of the Tanshui River increased significantly after pollution mitigation as indicated by the River Pollution Index (RPI). The pollution level of the estuarine region decreased from severe pollution to mostly moderately impaired. The most polluted waters are presently restricted to a flow track length between 15–35 km relative to the river mouth. From July 2011 to September 2012, four surveys of fish and benthic macroinvertebrates were conducted at 45 sampling sites around the Tanshui River basin. The pollution level of all the study area indicated by the RPI could also be explained by the Family Biotic Index (FBI) and Biotic Index (BI) from the benthic macroinvertebrate community, and the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) of the fish community. The result of canonical correlation analysis between aquatic environmental factors and community structure indicated that the community structure was closely related to the level of water pollution. Fish species richness in the estuarine area has increased significantly in recent years. Some catadromous fish and crustaceans could cross the moderate polluted water into the upstream freshwater, and have re-colonized their populations. The benthic macroinvertebrate community relying on the benthic substrate of the estuarine region is still very poor, and the water layer was still moderately polluted.

Characteristics and Health Impacts of Ambient Bioparticles in Northern Taiwan

Background: Bioparticles are ubiquitous in our daily environments, including fungal spores, pollens, microorganisms, etc. Ambient bioparticles may induce respiratory tract inflammation or exacerbate allergic symptoms/diseases. Aims: We conducted a longitudinal study from 2005 to 2009 in northern Taiwan to examine the characteristics and health impacts of ambient bioparticles. Methods: The environmental samplings were conducted in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City and Xin-Yi District, Taipei City. We monitored ambient fungal spores 7 days per month using Burkard seven-day volumetric traps. Ambient fine and coarse particulates were collected 2 weeks per season using high volume air samplers, and analyzed for endotoxin and fungal allergen (Cla h 1). Health data included numbers of daily outpatient visits for allergic diseases in the study areas. Results: The average level of fungal spores during the study period was 1686 spores/m3. The most prevalent fungal spores were ascospores, basidiospores and Aspergillus/Penicillium. Cla h 1 and endotoxin levels were higher in coarse particulates than in fine particulates in both sampling sites. The levels of ambient fungi and endotoxin had significant relationships with various air pollutants (e.g., fine and coarse particulates) and meteorological factors (e.g., temperature, relative humidity and rainfall). In multiple regressions, we found that hospital visits for allergic diseases were related to several bioparticles (e.g., Cladosporium, Stemphylium and endotoxin in fine particles) and environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, wind speed, rainfall and fine particles). Conclusions: This study provides important information on the characteristics and health risks of ambient bioparticles in the Greater Taipei Area. With increasing prevalence of allergic diseases in the world, our findings can provide essential information for the public to avoid allergen exposure and to improve their quality of lives.

The influence of public facilities and environmental quality on residential satisfaction in Taiwan: Differences in neighborhood environment

With reference to the residential survey data provided by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics of the Executive Yuan, this study investigates the influence of public facilities and environmental quality on residential satisfaction in the Greater Taipei area. First, in-house environment, convenience, sports and leisure, security, environmental quality and house defects are extracted through factor analysis. Second, factors affecting residential satisfaction are used to create two regression models. The results show that in-house environment, security, sports and leisure, and environmental quality have a significant effect on residential satisfaction. Finally, analysis models of random variance and covariance of single factors indicate that the average residential satisfaction levels of the various villages and towns are significantly different. However, after controlling for satisfaction with the individual variables including in-house environment, convenience, sports and leisure, security, and environment quality, the average residential satisfaction of villages and towns is not significantly different. This finding proves that the above variables indeed represent the important factors that influence overall residential satisfaction. Key words: Public facilities, environmental quality, residential satisfaction.

A Numerical Study on Operation Modes of Mechanical Ventilation in Underground Tunnels and Comparisons with Full-Scale Experiments and Existing Fire Codes in Taiwan

Due to land scarcity in greater Taipei area, continuously conversion from existing railroad to underground are performed to increase the land utility at different phases and span many years. In addition, integration issues between several transportation systems such as mass transit and high speed rail are also of great concerns. Fourth phase of Nangkang North Tunnel was completed and in full operation in September, 2008. During the construction period, fire codes in Taiwan for special constructions (e.g. ubnderground stations) are also going through various revisions while internationally, new regulations such as AS 4391 in Australia and NFPA130 in USA have been validated and updated. In order to verify the compliance of fire codes nationally and internationally, full scale experiments have been performed before opening to public service with emphasis on various operation modes of mechanical ventilation. This paper aims to numerically investigate and compare the effectiveness of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) with experimental results. As a matter of fact, full scale experiments are implemented in fire codes in Taiwan for the structures which cannot fully comply with normal installation of fire equipments. While computational power and resources are improving tremendously in the past few years, we focus on the potentials to gain insightful information through numerical simulation and provide a repeatable reference for the engineers, designers and fire fighters as well as managerial levels in government before undertaking any full-scale experiment.

Emergy-based evaluation of peri-urban ecosystem services

Peri-urban areas are often characterized by valuable natural environments that provide essential life-support functions and ecosystem services for urban residents. Global environmental change has raised concerns over how urbanization and land use and land cover change affect ecosystem services. This study applied systems ecology theory and ecological energetic analysis to value the worth of natural environment and ecosystem services to a socioeconomic system. We begin with a general discussion of peri-urban areas and their ecosystem services. An emergy approach is applied to establish a framework for evaluating the ecosystem services by identifying systemic roles of each system components. The two-part framework includes: (1) an emergy evaluation of energetic flows of ecosystem services; and (2) an impact matrix to analyze systemic roles of services in the analyzed system. On the basis of the proposed valuation framework and land cover types in the greater Taipei area, this study analyzed ten ecosystems to determine how they interact, via energy flows, to contribute services to human society. By converting all stocks and flows into common emergy units, an impact matrix is constructed to analyze the systemic role of ecosystem components by classifying their status of being active, reactive, critical or indifferent. The analytical results indicate that the soil component of forest ecosystems, upstream rivers and agricultural productivity play critical role of ecosystem services in the study region. The effect of land cover change during 1971–2006 in the study region on ecosystem services is also analyzed. Finally, the implications of biophysical valuation of ecosystem service for spatial planning as related to adapting to global environmental change are discussed.

Development of the Chinese language paediatric daily occupation scale in Taiwan

The aim of this study was to describe the development of the paediatric daily occupation scale (PDOS) that was validated with Taiwanese children aged from birth to 72 months. Item-scale correlation coefficient was also used to select items. The psychometric properties of PDOS were examined based on the results of 957 children who participated in the study. The Chinese child development inventory (CCDI) was used as a standard to examine the concurrent validity of PDOS on two different samples. The PDOS, completed by parents, contains 340 items with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.99), test-retest reliability (r = 0.99) and concurrent validity (r = 0.88 between PDOS and CCDI). The sensitivity of PDOS (83%) in detecting children with developmental problems was much higher than CCDI (33%). Because the PDOS is developed and examined on children from greater Taipei area, when using the PDOS with children from different socio-cultural environments, the results need to be interpreted cautiously. Further research of the PDOS to justify its use as a screening tool for early detecting of children with developmental problems is suggested.

The effects of synoptical weather pattern and complex terrain on the formation of aerosol events in the Greater Taipei area

The aerosol in the Taipei basin is difficult to transport outward under specific weather patterns owing to complex terrain blocking. In this study, seven weather patterns are identified from synoptic weather maps for aerosol events, which occurred from March 2002 to February 2005. Among the identified weather patterns, High Pressure Peripheral Circulation (HPPC), Warm area Ahead of a cold Front (WAF), TYPhoon (TYP), Pacific High Pressure system stretching westerly (PHP), Weak High Pressure system (WHP), and Weak Southern Wind (WSW) are related to terrain blocking. The remaining pattern is High Pressure system Pushing (HPP). The classification of the pollution origin of the air masses shows that 15% of event days were contributed by long-range transport (LRT), 20% by local pollution (LP), and 65% by LRT/LP mix. Terrain blocking causes aerosol accumulation from high atmospheric stability and weak winds occurring under HPPC, TYP, and PHP weather patterns when the Taipei basin is situated on the lee side of the Snow Mountains Chain (SMC). Terrain blocking also occurs when the Taipei basin is situated on the upwind of SMC and Mt. Da-Twen under WAF and WSW patterns. To study the variation of aerosol properties under the mixed influence of terrain and pollution origin, we conducted a field observation simultaneously at the urban, suburban, and background sites in the Greater Taipei area from April 14 to 23, 2004. Terrain blocking plays an important role in aerosol accumulation in the stagnant environment when the Taipei basin is on the lee side of SMC. On the other hand, the PM 2.5 sulfate level is stable with a fraction of 30% in PM 2.5 during the observation period at the urban (25%−33%) and background (25%−41%) sites. It indicates that background PM 2.5 sulfate is high on the West Pacific in winter.

Impact of Migraine on the Employed Labor Force in Taiwan

To estimate the economic impact of migraine on the employed labor force in Taiwan. The age- and sex-specific migraine prevalence rates, self-reported missed workdays due to migraine, and monthly income were obtained from 3,377 subjects of a community-based headache questionnaire survey in the greater Taipei area. The migraine-related loss was projected to the whole Taiwanese population based on statistics from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics of the Executive Yuan, Taiwan. People suffering from migraines had a median of 2 missed workdays due to migraine in the year prior to the survey. It is estimated that there are about 1.7 million people who have migraines over the course of 1 year in Taiwan. Migraine resulted in 3.7 million estimated missed workdays and an estimated cost of NT$4.6 billion due to loss of workdays in 2005. Employed migrainous women aged 35-54 years accounted for 56% of the cost. Migraine is related to high work absence rates and causes significant economic loss to the society in Taiwan.

Operation of an on-site fuel cell power plant using natural gas with excess carbon dioxide

In this study, carbon dioxide content of pipeline gas supplied to an on-site fuel cell power plant in the Greater Taipei area is higher than that specified by the manufacturer. This lowers the heating value of the fuel input and thus affects the start-up operation, the energy-conversion efficiency of the power plant, and the transient response to a stepped increase in output power. This paper reports the operation characteristics of the fuel cell power plant under these conditions. It is found that the local gas can be used to operate the fuel cell, but at a reduced net output power.