Metropolitan Areas In Taiwan Research Articles

Examining the Need Assessment Process by Identifying the Need Profiles of Elderly Care Recipients in the Ten-Year Long-Term Care Project (TLTCP) of Taiwan

ObjectiveTo deal with the increasing long-term care (LTC) needs of elderly people in Taiwan, the government launched the Ten-year Long-term Care Project (TLTCP) in 2007, and through the care management system, care plans for those in need were distributed and implemented by care managers according to the single assessment process. Based on the emphasis of linking the right need assessment to the care plan, this study aimed to explore the need profiles of LTC recipients with regard to their health indicators to serve as a validity check on the identified dependency levels and care plans in the current care management system. DesignA model based on latent class analysis (LCA) was used for dealing with the issue of health heterogeneity. LCA provides an empirical method that examines the interrelationships among health indicators and characterizes the underlying set of mutually exclusive latent classes that account for the observed indicators. The analysis included a total of 2901 elderly care recipients in the LTC dataset from a southern city, 1 of the 5 major metropolitan areas in Taiwan. The identified dependency levels of the samples and their care plans in need assessment were compared and discussed. ResultsFour need profiles were explored in the LTC dataset. Apart from the low (LD) (32.95%) and moderate dependent groups (MD) (17.48%), there were 2 groups identified among the high-dependency levels, including the severe physical and psychological dependency (SPP) (26.37%) and the comorbidities and severe dependency (CSD) groups (23.20%), which in sum were approximately identified as high dependency (HD) by care managers in the LTC dataset. In addition, the CSD group currently costs more for their care plans on average in LTC services (NT. 277,081.15, approximately 9200 USD) than the SPP group (NT. 244,084.21) and the other groups. ConclusionNeed assessment is a key to success in care management in LTC. The results of this study showed the importance of focusing on multifacet indicators, especially the mental and social health indicators in need assessments by improving the unified assessment process to sensitively detect those with various needs and then link them to the right care plan.

Predictors of Employment Outcomes for People with Visual Impairment in Taiwan: The Contribution of Disability Employment Services

Introduction We investigated the employment status and identified factors that may affect the employment outcomes of people with visual impairments in Taiwan. Methods A retrospective, ex post facto design study was conducted. The sample included 313 visually impaired clients who commenced and “closed” (completed) disability employment services between 2008 and 2010 in a metropolitan area in Taiwan. Results Two hundred and seventy-one out of 313 (87%) clients were gainfully employed after receiving services. Among those employed, 224 clients were employed as massage practitioners. Factors that increased the likelihood of successful employment outcomes after receiving services included more postemployment services, fewer pre-employment services, and having a vocational qualification. Discussion This study provides some empirical support documenting the association between the provision of employment services and employment outcomes among people with visual impairments in Taiwan. Implications for practitioners The importance of disability employment services programs, a major component of vocational rehabilitation services, within the overall operation of rehabilitation is their capacity to provide direction, focus, and meaning to other therapies or services. The results of this study may lead employment specialists to reexamine their case services practices. Knowledge of factors that may affect clients’ rehabilitation may help employment specialists to better estimate how much support and training are needed and better assess their clients’ employability.

Assessing the Quality of Asphalt Concrete Pavement at Special Location with Infrared Thermal Imager

Although there is a large population in the limited space of metropolitan areas in Taiwan, but many manholes are often set on the pavement, which impact the quality of the pavement service and lead to public complaints. In recent years, the manholes have been gradually buried under the pavement on policy, so as to improve administration performance of government. The construction quality at the location of manhole is not easy to control, and often leads to the pavement damaged. This study assesses the differences of the temperature changes at manhole location from the general asphalt concrete when paved with asphalt concrete using the infrared thermal imager. The study found that the use of infrared thermal imager can get the difference of temperature of asphalt concrete pavement between the manhole position and the non-manhole position, and also can determine the position and width of manhole, so as to help to the construction compaction and quality control. Furthermore, because the temperatures of pavement at manhole position and non-manhole position are different, when the pavement damaged and need to dig the pavement for maintaining, the infrared thermal imager can be used to find nonmetallic manhole for construction management reference.

Assessment of sewer flooding model based on ensemble quantitative precipitation forecast

► This study combines the TYQPFE and storm sewer design capacity to establish an inundation evaluation system. ► The probability of inundation is classified into four levels (high, medium, low, and no inundation). ► The inundation evaluation results basically match the observed data on flooding. ► The proposed system can be used for inundation forecast 24 h before the arrival of typhoons. Short duration rainfall intensity in Taiwan has increased in recent years, which results in street runoff exceeding the design capacity of storm sewer systems and causing inundation in urban areas. If potential inundation areas could be forecasted in advance and warnings message disseminated in time, additional reaction time for local disaster mitigation units and residents should be able to reduce inundation damage. In general, meteorological–hydrological ensemble forecast systems require moderately long lead times. The time-consuming modeling process is usually less amenable to the needs of real-time flood warnings. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to establish an inundation evaluation system suitable for all metropolitan areas in Taiwan in conjunction with the quantitative precipitation forecast technology developed by the Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute, which can be used for inundation forecast 24 h before the arrival of typhoons. In this study, information for the design capacity of storm sewer throughout Taiwan was collected. Two methods are proposed to evaluate the inundations: (a) evaluation based on the criterion of sewer capacity (CSC), and (b) evaluation based on the percentage of ensemble members (PEM). In addition, the probability of inundation is classified into four levels (high, medium, low, and no inundation). To verify the accuracy of the proposed system, Typhoon Megi and Typhoon Nanmadol were used as test cases. Four verification indices were adopted to evaluate the probability of inundation for metropolitan areas during typhoons. The inundation evaluation results basically match the observed data on flooding, which demonstrate that this flood evaluation system has an effective grasp on the probability of inundation for storm sewer systems.

Impact of intangibility on perceived risk associated with online games

Online computer gaming is growing at a rapid pace. However, this phenomenon is stigmatised by many negative connotations. This study investigated the influence of intangibility on perceived risks (social, time, financial, physical, performance and psychology) among online gamers. The self-completed market survey questionnaire employs the Intangibility and Perceived Risk scales. Data were gathered in Taipei city, the biggest metropolitan areain Taiwan. Both public (1018) and online (400) voluntary interviews were conducted. The collected data were analysed with a structural equation model. There is a significant positive relationship between intangibility and alldimensions of perceived risk. The findings have managerial implications and future research is suggested.

Factors affecting high-involvement product purchasing behavior

This study integrates the theory of planned behavior and theory of perceived value to discuss the effects of brand valuation, subjective norm, and promotion on perceived value. It also employs linear multivariate analysis integrated with fuzzy neural network techniques to validate the hypotheses. The population of this study is the consumers who have purchased luxury goods in three major metropolitan areas in Taiwan (Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung). Questionnaires are distributed in department stores and boutique stores in those metropolitan areas by convenience sampling. This study also explores the purchase of high-involvement products, including the luxury goods. The empirical results are as follows: brand valuation has a significant positive effect on perceived value; promotional method has a significant positive effect on purchasing behavior; high price promotion causes brand valuation to have negative effects on perceived value; the brand valuation and perceived value relationship is affected by non-price promotion; perceived value has a significant positive effect on purchasing behavior. Management implications and suggestions for the future study are also proposed.

Knowledge and Attitude toward Hospice Palliative Care among Community-Dwelling Aged Taiwanese—Analysis of Related Factors

This study was conducted to investigate the knowledge and attitude toward hospice palliative care (HPC) among the elderly, defined as 65 years of age and older, living in the metropolitan area of Taiwan. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among the elderly people who received a senior citizen health examination from March to November 2009. A total of 1332 valid questionnaires were returned. Among these individuals, 57.0% recognized the term HPC, of which only 11.7% had heard it from healthcare personnel; 15.2% would like to endorse “Do-Not-Resuscitate” (DNR) on the National Health Insurance Integrated Circuit Card (NHI IC card); and among the 477 participants considering themselves to understand HPC, 65.1% did not think that HPC meant “DNR.” The analysis of t -test and analysis of variance indicates that better knowledge of HPC is more likely present among the participants with higher education levels, those who adopt healthy behaviors, individuals who are aware of HPC, and those who believe that they understand the concept of HPC. The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that a high percentage of the participants who were younger and had higher education levels and who paid attention to news related to health and medicine chose to endorse DNR on the NHI IC card. Providing information to those who are less educated and do not adopt healthy behaviors can improve overall HPC-related knowledge and the endorsement rate of “DNR” on the NHI IC card. Meanwhile, healthcare personnel are encouraged to discuss end-of-life care with elderly people at the proper time.

Breast Cancers Detected by Breast MRI Screening and Ultrasound in Asymptomatic Asian Women: 8 Years of Experience in Taiwan

Background: This study investigated one-stop breast screening combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US) in asymptomatic Asian women. Methods: 3,586 asymptomatic women (mean age, 45.3 years) were retrospectively analyzed by breast MRI followed by US. US-guided biopsy was performed when the MRI-detected lesion was confirmed by US. When the lesion was not detected on the initial US, a second-look US guided by MRI findings was performed. Then biopsy was done. MRI-positive and US-negative patients were followed up according to MRI lesion size, MRI lesion morphology, and mammographic diagnosis. Results: In total, 115 subjects had suspicious malignant lesions and received US-guided biopsy, and 47 malignant lesions, including 35 invasive cancers and 12 carcinoma in situ (CIS) lesions, were diagnosed. More than half (22/35, 63%) of the women with invasive cancer were <50 years of age, and 27 (57.4%) of the 47 cancer cases had early breast cancers. Two invasive cancers (5.7%) and 7 CIS lesions (58.3%) were found at the second-look US. The overall cancer incidence was 1.31% (47/3,586) and increased to 2.2% (78/3,586) if precancerous lesions were included. Subjects aged 41-50 years had the highest incidence of cancer detection (1.97%). Five MRI and US-negative cases had cancers found 1 year after the screening. Conclusions: The results from the one-stop breast screening in this study showed that combining MRI and US is an efficient multimodality tool for screening asymptomatic Asian women in a metropolitan area of Taiwan who had concerns about the diagnosis and radiation of mammography.

Rapid Flood Evaluation Systems in Taiwan Metropolitan Areas

Hydrological issues in metropolises in Taiwan have become increasingly important because the storm water sewer systems of metropolises are frequently unable to meet the requirements of the existing and future metropolitan development. Typhoons or torrential rains that cause rainfall intensities that exceed the designed capacity of storm water sewers can result in serious flooding. The losses caused by flooding can be reduced if the areas at risk of flooding can be predicted and warnings can be issued to prompt disaster prevention and allow response units and residents to prepare before disasters occur. The primary purpose of this study is to integrate the quantitative precipitation forecasting technologies [1, 2] developed by the Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute to establish a rapid, stable, real-time, and automatic metropolitan area flood estimation system for predictive flooding analysis. The objects of this study are metropolitan areas in Taiwan with storm water sewer systems. The standard capacities of storm water sewer systems throughout Taiwan and the geographic information system (GIS) shape files are collected and compiled. Additionally, the potential flooding areas are divided into four levels (high, medium, low, and no flooding) and are compared with the rainfall warning values of the Water Resources Agency. The study combines the results of quantitative precipitation forecasts, establishes an information database (MySQL), processes Google Earth KML files, and designs a WEB GIS display interface to construct a system for estimating the flooding possibility (probability) in metropolitan areas during typhoons or torrential rains. This study subsequently employs the event of Typhoon Kalmaegi for flooding estimation and display; the estimation results are consistent with the flooding survey data, indicating that the estimations made by the flooding estimation system are correct.

Re‐examining the effect of service recovery: the moderating role of brand equity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the role of brand equity in handling service failure and examine the effects of brand equity on service recovery.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework is proposed which includes that satisfaction, as a mediator, accounts for the relationship between service recovery attributes (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) and post‐recovery behavior (repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth behavior). More importantly, brand equity is used to serve as the moderator in the hypothesized research model. Structural equation modeling techniques are applied to data collected from a field study in Taiwan to test the framework.FindingsResults from the current field study found that strong brand equity provides an overall advantage over weak brands in increasing service recovery satisfaction and behavior intentions (repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth behavior).Research limitations/implicationsThe data used in this study were collected in a single metropolitan area in Taiwan. Future research might be conducted in a variety of countries.Practical implicationsService recovery strategies in responding to service failures are part of the critical task for service managers. This paper suggests that building brand equity is a means by which post‐failure satisfaction and behavioral intentions may be enhanced.Originality/valueThis is the first study to completely compare the high brand equity with low brand equity in the effect of service recovery.

Factors affecting the effects of service recovery from an integrated point of view

This study discusses three aspects of service recovery: the corporate leadership style, employee self-efficacy, and manager-subordinate interaction. Employees of service-oriented industries were selected as the population, and stratified random sampling was adopted to collect samples in four major metropolitan areas in Taiwan: Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan. Empirical results showed that transformational leadership, compared with paternalistic leadership, has positive and significant effect on the service recovery performance; high self-efficacy employees, compared with low self-efficacy ones, have a positive and significant effect on the service recovery performance; and relationship commitment value has a positive and significant effect on the service recovery performance. The main feature of the study is the combination of linear multivariate analysis with a non-linear fuzzy neural network model in the analysis, an approach rarely found in previous studies. Management implications are also proposed.

Multi-layer multi-class dasymetric mapping to estimate population distribution

The spatial patterns of population distribution are very important information for most regional planning and management decisions. But the socioeconomic data are usually published in areal aggregated format due to privacy concerns. Although choropleth maps are used extensively to display spatial distributions of these areal aggregated data, patterns may be distorted due to assumptions of homogeneous distributions and the modifiable areal unit problem. Most human activity, including population distribution, is spatially heterogeneous due to variations in topography and regional development. A multi-layer multi-class dasymetric (MLMCD) framework was proposed in this study to better redistribute the regionally aggregated population statistics into smaller areal units and reveal more realistic spatial population distribution pattern. The Taipei metropolitan area in Taiwan was used as a case study area to demonstrate the disaggregation ability of the proposed framework and the improvements to the traditional binary or multi-class dasymetric method. Assorted data, including remote sensing images, land use zoning, topography, transportation and accessibility to facilities were introduced in different layers to improve the redistribution of aggregated regional population data. The concept of multi-layer multi-class dasymetric modeling is both useful and flexible. Different levels of accuracy in this population redistribution process can be achieved depending on data and budget availabilities and the needs for different data usage purposes.

Retrospective prediction of intraurban spatiotemporal distribution of PM2.5 in Taipei

Numerous studies have shown that fine airborne particulate matter particles (PM2.5) are more dangerous to human health than coarse particles, e.g. PM10. The assessment of the impacts to human health or ecological effects by long-term PM2.5 exposure is often limited by lack of PM2.5 measurements. In Taipei, PM2.5 was not systematically observed until August, 2005. Taipei is the largest metropolitan area in Taiwan, where a variety of industrial and traffic emissions are continuously generated and distributed across space and time. PM-related data, i.e., PM10 and Total Suspended Particles (TSP) are independently systematically collected by different central and local government institutes. In this study, the retrospective prediction of spatiotemporal distribution of monthly PM2.5 over Taipei will be performed by using Bayesian Maximum Entropy method (BME) to integrate (a) the spatiotemporal dependence among PM measurements (i.e. PM10, TSP, and PM2.5), (b) the site-specific information of PM measurements which can be certain or uncertain information, and (c) empirical evidence about the PM2.5/PM10 and PM10/TSP ratios. The performance assessment of the retrospective prediction for the spatiotemporal distribution of PM2.5 was performed over space and time during 2003–2004 by comparing the posterior pdf of PM2.5 with the observations. Results show that the incorporation of PM10 and TSP observations by BME method can effectively improve the spatiotemporal PM2.5 estimation in the sense of lower mean and standard deviation of estimation errors. Moreover, the spatiotemporal retrospective prediction with PM2.5/PM10 and PM2.5/TSP ratios can provide good estimations of the range of PM2.5 levels over space and time during 2003–2004 in Taipei.

Does high-speed rail accessibility influence residential property prices? Hedonic estimates from southern Taiwan

A new high-speed railway line (HSR) connects seven metropolitan areas in Taiwan. From Tainan, it is possible to reach Kaohsiung, Chiayi and Taichung in less than one hour, implying an enlarged spatial range of feasible commuting opportunities. The implicit price of HSR accessibility is estimated using hedonic price functions for the residential property market. The results of pre-specified and Box-Cox hedonic price functions are compared. The estimated functions show that HSR accessibility has at most a minor effect on house prices. High ticket prices and entrenched residential location patterns prevent otherwise feasible daily commuting opportunities between Tainan and other cities.

Consumer Knowledge and Risk Perceptions of Avian Influenza

This study examined consumer risk perceptions and knowledge of avian influenza and its linkage to behavioral changes in chicken consumption. A consumer survey was administered in 3 metropolitan areas in Taiwan in 2007. Multivariate analyses were utilized in this study to analyze data. Findings in this study indicated that respondents who were more knowledgeable of avian influenza with relatively high levels of risk perceptions would be likely to stay away from birds and the crowd. Respondents with relatively low levels of avian influenza knowledge were likely to prefer not eating chicken at all under a possible threat of avian influenza outbreaks. Respondents with low risk perception levels would be more likely to maintain usual chicken consumption than those with high risk perception levels if outbreaks of avian influenza occurred. Contributions of this study are to provide new insights into knowledge and risk perceptions of avian influenza and to reveal behavioral changes in chicken consumption in an area that a pandemic situation like avian influenza has not occurred but under a possible threat. Findings in this study would be beneficial to government administration and industry managers in designing effective information communication for educational purposes to ease possible effect on the industry as well as the consumer market if outbreaks had occurred in Taiwan.

Consumption and attribute perception of fluid milk in Taiwan

PurposeThis study aims to examine the consumption patterns of fresh milk, yogurt drinks, and flavoured milk along with the product attributes that consumers perceived.Design/methodology/approachOver 300 samples were collected from the three most populated metropolitan areas in Taiwan. The cluster analysis is applied in the study to segment respondents in order to reveal different consumption patterns.FindingsConsumers who purchase larger quantities of fluid milk are those who have relatively higher household incomes. The taste and flavour of fluid milk products are the attributes that consumers value. Consumers who purchase more fresh milk products pay more attention to the fat content, calcium content, and whether the products have the certified labels. Consumers who consume large quantities of yogurt drinks value overall beneficial bacterium attributes of the products.Originality/valueBased on the results of this study, appropriated marketing strategies are suggested and can be useful for firms to target customers.

A Further Study of High Air Pollution Episodes in Taiwan Using the Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP-5HE)

In the metropolitan areas of Taiwan with high population density, heavy traffic, and/or zones of heavy industries, serious air pollution episodes may occur during stable weather conditions. The information of mixing height is therefore essential to the air pollution control in this area. In this study, diurnal variation of the mixing height derived using the newly established EPA-Taiwan microwave temperature profiler (MTP-5HE) and that obtained through the CWB soundings are compared. The relationships between the air quality and the diurnal variation of the mixing height is discussed during different air pollution episodes.

A general model of starting point bias in double-bounded dichotomous contingent valuation surveys

This paper develops a general model that addresses the starting point bias in the dichotomous choice evaluation data by incorporating both the anchoring effect and yea-saying bias. The model is applied to a contingent valuation study that evaluated the health benefits of air quality improvement in three major metropolitan areas in Taiwan. The empirical evidence shows a strong anchoring effect but an insignificant yea-saying bias. The results show a serious understated willingness to pay if the biases in anchoring and yea-saying are not controlled.

Packed coffee drink consumption and product attribute preferences of young adults in Taiwan

The objective of this study was to examine consumption patterns and attribute preferences of packed coffee drinks among young adults in Taiwan. Approximately 300 students from six universities in three metropolitan areas in Taiwan were surveyed. Based on the results, 76% of respondents between 19 and 22 years consumed packed coffee drinks at least once a week. The usual time to drink coffee was between 2 and 4 pm in the afternoon and 8 and 12 pm in the evening. Convenient stores were the preferred location to purchase packed coffee drinks. The vast majority of respondents experienced coffee before entering college. Factor analysis results indicated that the dimensions of underlying factors that young adults considered when purchasing packed coffee drinks included variety, brand/promotion, and price/volume.

Compatibility Analysis of Material and Energy Recovery in a Regional Solid Waste Management System

The rising prices of raw materials and concerns about energy conservation have resulted in an increasing interest in the simultaneous recovery of materials and energy from waste streams. Compatibility exists for several economic, environmental, and managerial reasons. Installing an on-site or offsite presorting facility before an incinerator could be a feasible alternative to achieve both goals if household recycling programs cannot succeed in local communities. However, the regional impacts of presorting solid waste on a waste-to-energy facility remain unclear because of the inherent complexity of solid waste compositions and properties over different areas. This paper applies a system-based approach to assess the impact of installing a refusederived fuel (RDF) process before an incinerator. Such an RDF process, consisting of standard unit operations of shredding, magnetic separation, trommel screening, and air classification, might be useful for integrating the recycling and presorting efforts for a largescale municipal incinerator from a regional sense. An optimization modeling analysis is performed to characterize such integration potential so that the optimal size of the RDF process and associated shipping patterns for flow control can be foreseen. It aims at exploring how the waste inflows with different rates of generation, physical and chemical compositions, and heating values collected from differing administrative districts can be processed by either a centralized presorting facility or an incinerator to meet both the energy recovery and throughput requirements. A case study conducted in Taipei County, which is one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in Taiwan, further confirms the application potential of such a costbenefit analysis.