Field performance of 15 rain gardens in different cities in Taiwan.

Rain gardens are widely used for low impact development (LID) or as a nature-based solution (NbS). They help to reduce runoff, mitigate hot temperatures, create habitats for plants and insects, and beautify landscapes. Rain gardens are increasingly being established in urban areas.

Field temperature performances of in-use permeable sidewalks and asphalt vehicle roads and the potential impacts on apparent temperature and land surface temperature.

Permeable pavements help reduce surface temperatures and have been widely implemented in urban areas. This study utilized an in-use permeable pavement sidewalk in front of a mass rapid transit station in the Taipei city center of Taiwan to determine the actual pavement surface temperature performance. A neighboring asphalt road and impervious pavement were also monitored.

Assessing wastewater pollution from outdoor night markets and its impacts on river quality.

Night markets are attractive tourist sites in Asian cities. However, the outdoor activities produce different types of pollutants. Air pollution and solid waste in night markets have received much attention, but wastewater pollution from night markets has rarely been examined.

Application of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate the fates of nitrogenous fertilizer in subtropical mountainous watershed tea farms.

Extensive nutrient loss is one of the most challenging issues faced by agricultural production regions worldwide. However, diffuse pollution in the subtropical mountainous watersheds is rarely simulated. A watershed model with regional parameter values is essential for watershed management.

A Thermopile Device with Sub-Wavelength Hole Arrays by CMOS-MEMS Technology.

A thermopile device with sub-wavelength hole array (SHA) is numerically and experimentally investigated. The infrared absorbance (IRA) effect of SHAs in active area of the thermopile device is clearly analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The prototypes are manufactured by the 0.

Enhanced Infrared Absorbance of the CMOS Compatible Thermopile by the Subwavelength Rectangular-Hole Arrays.

The enhanced infrared absorbance (IRA) of the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible thermopile with the subwavelength rectangular-hole arrays in active area is investigated. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method considered and analyzed the matrix arrangement (MA) and staggered arrangement (SA) of subwavelength rectangular-hole arrays (SRHA). For the better cases of MA-SRHA and SA-SRHA, the geometric parameters are the same and the infrared absorption efficiency (IAE) of the SA type is better than that of the MA type by about 19.

Design of a collimated UV-LED exposure unit based on light spread function method.

A collimated and uniform UV-LED exposure unit (EU) applied in a printed circuit board is investigated by the light spread function (LSF) method. To accurately calculate the source-to-source distance of collimated UV-LED sources and achieve uniform irradiance in the exposure area, we propose a regional maximally flat condition for the LSF. This regional maximally flat condition contains irradiance information from multiple positions in two dimensions.

Emergency room visits associated with particulate concentration and Asian dust storms in metropolitan Taipei.

This study evaluated risks of emergency room visits (ERV) for all causes, circulatory diseases, and respiratory diseases associated with concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and Asian dust storms (ADS) from 2000 to 2008 in metropolitan Taipei. Cumulative 4-day (lag 0-3) relative risks (RR) and confidence intervals (CI) of cause-specific ERV associated with daily concentrations of PM10 or PM2.

The measurement of dry deposition and surface runoff to quantify urban road pollution in Taipei, Taiwan.

Pollutants deposited on road surfaces and distributed in the environment are a source of nonpoint pollution. Field data are traditionally hard to collect from roads because of constant traffic. In this study, in cooperation with the traffic administration, the dry deposition on and road runoff from urban roads was measured in Taipei City and New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Formation of a tracheoesophageal common channel after alkaline injury.

We describe tracheoesophageal common channel formation in a 40-year-old woman who swallowed alkaline detergent. Necrosis and fistula formation between the posterior tracheal wall and the anterior esophageal wall were visualized by panendoscopy 15 days after the injury. Urgent tracheostomy, tube hypopharyngostomy, gastrostomy, and feeding jejunostomy were performed.

Performance evaluation of a full-scale natural treatment system for nonpoint source and point source pollution removal.

This study presents a full-scale performance of a natural treatment system (NTS) facility in Taiwan with nearly 2 years of observations. The study site, composed of several treatment ponds in series, was designed primarily to reduce polluted stormwater runoff from tea gardens and partially to untreated domestic wastewater from nearby villages. Thus, both nonpoint source and point source pollution are treated in this system.

The uncertainty effects of design flow on water quality management.

In water quality management, pollution control strategies have been sought to accord with the assimilative capacity of water bodies so as to preserve water quality. The waste load allocation (WLA) is a useful approach to determine the allowable loading of pollution sources in water quality management. For any WLA, a particular water body condition is needed as a basic scenario under which the relevant parameters are fixed.

Assessment of water quality management with a systematic qualitative uncertainty analysis.

Uncertainty is an inevitable source of noise in water quality management and will weaken the adequacy of decisions. Uncertainty is derived from imperfect information, natural variability, and knowledge-based inconsistency. To make better decisions, it is necessary to reduce uncertainty.