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The balance between the burial of biospheric organic carbon (OC bio) in the ocean and the oxidation of rock-derived organic carbon across landscapes (OC petro) helps to regulate atmospheric CO 2 and O 2 over geological time. However, we lack reconstructions of these processes over the timescales necessary to properly understand the drivers and feedbacks operating. Here we use a sediment core from the Zhuoshui River delta in Taiwan, which receives sediments from a rapidly uplifting and eroding catchment, to reconstruct the variations in OC content and radiocarbon composition since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We find that the export of OC bio and the oxidation of OC petro are both modulated by climate-driven changes in physical erosion and temperature. During cold and dry periods, such as the LGM and the Younger Dryas (YD), shallow erosion and low temperature enhanced the preservation of OC bio in the biosphere in catchment, while deep erosion and high temperature during warm and wet periods, such as the Holocene, favored the dilution and degradation of OC bio. The weathering intensity of OC petro (ω) was inversely related to physical erosion, suggesting a lower intensity of oxidation during the Holocene period while the overall oxidation flux was enhanced. This suggests that the degree of weathering was primarily controlled by physical erosion. We propose a proxy to estimate the ratio of fluxes of OC bio export and OC petro oxidation, and show that the net balance between these two processes shifted from a carbon sink during the late deglacial period to a carbon source during the mid-late Holocene. Our study reveals that with CO 2 rise, a warmer and wetter climate would promote the exposure and oxidation of OC petro by erosion in this mountain range, leading the organic carbon balance towards a CO 2 source to the atmosphere. • Erosion and temperature control carbon dynamic in erosive setting. • Cold, dry periods boost carbon preservation. • Warm, wet climate shifts mountains to carbon sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now a global liver disease. The fatty liver index (FLI), which is calculated by the equation comprising waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride, and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), is frequently used for hepatic steatosis evaluation. This study aimed to evaluate the optimal cut-off point of FLI to select subjects for abdominal ultrasonography (US) screening for NAFLD in the community.Methods: From August 2013 to August 2016, a community-based study was performed in the northeastern region of Taiwan. All subjects participated in a demographic survey, blood testing, and abdominal US. The formula for FLI is: FLI = [e 0.953×loge (TG)+0.139×BMI+0.718×loge (GGT) +0.053×waist circumference-15.745]/[1 + e 0.953×loge (TG)+0.139×BMI+0.718×loge (GGT)+0.053×waist circumference-15.745] × 100.Results: A total of 1371 subjects were included (746 in NAFLD group and 625 in the control group). The mean ages were 57.1 years in the control group and 56.3 years in the NAFLD group. The optimal cut-off points of FLI to discriminate fatty liver by abdominal US were 20 in male and 10 in female (sensitivity 80.3% and 76.1%; specificity 66.9% and 65.5%, respectively). FLI was correlated with the severity of fatty liver by abdominal US, predict fat component percent and NAFLD fibrosis score, especially in the female subjects.Conclusion: FLI could be a tool to select subjects for abdominal US in a large community survey. The cut-off point of FLI might be set to 10 for female and 20 for male subjects, to increase the sensitivity for selecting subjects to receive abdominal US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: To explore the association of patient injury patterns and entrapped locations inside damaged buildings in the 2016 Taiwan earthquake.Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the Tainan incident registry system. Residents inside nine conjunctive, 16-story (49.3 m in height) reinforced concrete buildings were categorized as non-injured, injured, and dead. Residents were classified into different groups according to their entrapped locations in height and the severity of building damage. The field triage acuity and trauma severity among groups were compared. Statistical significance was set at the level of 0.05.Results: There were 309 enrollees with 76 (24.6%) non-injured, 118 (38.2%) injured, and 115 (37.2%) dead. Residents either in the high floors (odds ratio [OR] = 2.9, 95% CI: 1.5-5.8, p = 0.003) or in the collapsed buildings (OR = 18.2, 95% CI: 7.6-43.6, p < 0.001) were more likely to be dead. Injured patients who were located in the high floors were more likely to have severe field triage acuities (adjusted OR = 14.7, 95% CI: 1.8-118.0, p = 0.012); intracranial hemorrhage (12.5%), intrathoracic injury (18.8%), or intra-abdominal damage (12.5%) (All p < 0.05); the need for emergency surgical intervention (31.3%, p = 0.035); and major trauma (18.8%, p = 0.001). Residents in the collapsed buildings were more likely to have a crush injury (80.0%, p < 0.001) or crush syndrome (80.0%, p < 0.001).Conclusion: People entrapped at different heights of floors or in differently damaged buildings could have a distinct pattern of injury. Our findings may facilitate strategic approaches of patients entrapped in damaged buildings and may contribute to future training for field searches and rescues after earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the near-surface (<400 m) primary wave velocity ( V p ), shear wave velocity ( V s ), V p / V s ratio, Poisson's ratio and V s anisotropy of Taiwan by applying seismic coda interferometry to 34 borehole-surface station pairs. We find clear characteristic cos ⁡ 2 θ dependence of V s in all the determinations, and about half of the amplitudes of anisotropy are larger than 10%, with the largest amplitudes up to 34%. The patterns of anisotropy fall into two categories, OPA (Orogeny-Parallel Anisotropy) and SAA (Stress-Aligned Anisotropy). Both types of anisotropy fit well the local geological fabrics and/or the ambient stress, and show strong correlation with the Poisson's ratios at the borehole sites. With these new findings and reported tomographic results, we infer that the SAA are likely confined to the uppermost portion of the crust, in particular to the fluid-saturated late-Quaternary deposits. The strong near-surface anisotropy also implies that delay times contributed by the shallow crust might have been underestimated in studies of shear-wave splitting measurements using the direct arrivals of earthquake waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has added a layer of mental health problems and perceived stress. Home gardening is considered a good method to reduce perceived stress. The current research evidence is insufficient to understand the relationship and influencing factors between the intentions, behaviors, and benefits of home gardening during short-term COVID-19 events. Although the duration from the onset to stabilization of the outbreak lasted for only 1.5 months from May to June 2021 throughout Taiwan, the significant pandemic changes might have affected the perceived stress along with the intentions, behaviors, and benefits of home gardening. This study explored the relationship between pandemic stress and home gardening through online snowball sampling because of the strict social distancing regulations. A total of 1455 non-follow-up and internet questionnaires throughout Taiwan were collected during the wave onset, peak, easing, and stabilization stages. The questionnaire included questions on personal information, perceived pandemic stress, gardening intentions, gardening behaviors, and gardening benefits. This study showed that perceived stress increased from the pandemic onset to its peak, and decreased from the peak to stabilization stages. Home gardening intentions and behaviors also revealed similar trends. Higher pandemic-perceived stress directly increased home-gardening intentions and indirectly promoted home-gardening behaviors and benefits. Our findings indicated that home gardening is a positive element in reducing perceived stress. Lower gardening intentions and behaviors were observed when the high perceived stress was removed. This study suggests that home gardening was a valuable strategy for staying close to nature and obtaining multiple benefits during the peak pandemic period. Providing small-scale gardening activities and spaces is appropriate for obtaining gardening benefits and avoiding space abandonment after the pandemic. Providing seeds, seedlings, tools, knowledge, online home gardening programs, and small residential and food gardens is a valuable strategy for obtaining multiple benefits during the peak of the pandemic. • Pandemic morbidity peak caused the highest stress and home gardening intentions. • Pandemic perceived stress directly promoted gardening intentions. • Pandemic perceived stress indirectly promoted gardening behaviors and benefits. • Men had higher perceived stress than women did during the pandemic events. • All age groups had high perceived pandemic stress during the pandemic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data concerning the effects of prenatal exposures to nonylphenol (NP) and oxidative stress on neonatal birth outcomes from human studies are limited. A total of 146 pregnant women were studied (1) to investigate the association between prenatal NP exposure and maternal oxidative/nitrative stress biomarkers of DNA damage (8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 8-nitroguanine (8-NO 2 Gua)) and lipid peroxidation (8-iso-prostaglandin F 2α (8-isoPF 2α ), 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-mercapturic acid (HNE-MA)) and (2) to explore the associations among oxidative stress biomarkers, NP exposure, and neonatal birth outcomes, including gestational age, birth weight, length, Ponderal index, and head and chest circumferences. NP significantly increased the 8-OHdG and 8-NO 2 Gua levels. All infants born to mothers with urinary 8-OHdG levels above the median exhibited a significantly shorter gestational duration ( B adjusted = −4.72 days; 95% CI: −8.08 to −1.36 days). No clear association was found between NP levels and birth outcomes. Prenatal 8-OHdG levels might be a novel biomarker for monitoring fetal health related to NP exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the impacts of methane released from hydrate-bearing environments on global carbon cycling would require detailed insights into the distributions and capacities of microbial communities at different horizons of sediment column. In this study, we conducted geochemical, gene abundance and diversity analyses for a sediment core retrieved from a potential hydrate-bearing region off southwestern Taiwan. Geochemical profiles were characterized by a sulfate-to-methane transition with decreasing total organic carbon and nitrogen in sediments, and increasing dissolved inorganic carbon, ammonium and total sulfur in sediments. Bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA and amoA gene abundances decreased with depth. In contrast, ANME-1 and -2 16S rRNA gene abundances increased significantly across the sulfate-to-methane transition and peaked at different horizons below this interface. A total of 124,379 bacterial and 130,351 archaeal reads were recovered through tag-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes and categorized into 9014 bacterial and 6394 archaeal operational taxonomic units on the basis of 97% sequence similarity, respectively. Major bacterial phyla/divisions and archaeal groups (>5% of the total reads) detected included Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, OP9, Deltaproteobacteria, BHI80-139, MBG-B, Halobacteria, MCG, Thermoplasmata, ANME-1 and MG-I. The abundance variations of most major OTUs (>0.5% of the total reads) were statistically correlated with those of geochemical parameters. These lines of evidence suggest that the populations represented by the major OTUs or detected by group-specific primers were compartmentalized into different horizons and involved directly or indirectly in the cycling of methane, sulfate, organic carbon and nitrogen. Overall, this study demonstrates that the deep sequencing coverage combined with the quantification of gene abundance and geochemical characterization would enable to uncover the detailed distributions and potential metabolic capabilities of specific groups from complexly structured microbial communities in methane-rich marine sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current estimations of the burden of disease (BD) of PM 2.5 exposure is still potentially biased by two factors: ignorance of heterogeneous vulnerabilities at diverse urbanization levels and reliance on the risk estimates from existing literature, usually from different locations. Our objectives are (1) to build up a data fusion framework to estimate the burden of PM 2.5 exposure while evaluating local risks simultaneously and (2) to quantify their spatial heterogeneity, relationship to land-use characteristics, and derived uncertainties when calculating the disease burdens. The feature of this study is applying six local databases to extract PM 2.5 exposure risk and the BD information, including the risks of death, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and respiratory disease (RD), and their spatial heterogeneities through our data fusion framework. We applied the developed framework to Tainan City in Taiwan as a use case estimated the risks by using 2006–2016 emergency department visit data, air quality monitoring data, and land-use characteristics and further estimated the BD caused by daily PM 2.5 exposure in 2013. Our results found that the risks of CVD and RD in highly urbanized areas and death in rural areas could reach 1.20–1.57 times higher than average. Furthermore, we performed a sensitivity analysis to assess the uncertainty of BD estimations from utilizing different data sources, and the results showed that the uncertainty of the BD estimations could be contributed by different PM 2.5 exposure data (20–32%) and risk values (0–86%), especially for highly urbanized areas. In conclusion, our approach for estimating BD based on local databases has the potential to be generalized to the developing and overpopulated countries and to support local air quality and health management plans. [Display omitted] • The developed framework can estimate local PM 2.5 exposure risk and disease burden. • Risks for urban and rural areas were 1.20–1.57 times higher than average. • Spatial heterogeneity of risk can bias nationwide burden estimations and GBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An accurate simulation on rice growth stages enhances precision agriculture. • ANN and GEP showed better performance in simulating rice growth rate than REG. • The GEP-Tr all model was recommended due to the model applicability and reliability. • The developed Python-based GEP-Tr all rice growth rate modeling code was provided. Rice growth rate prediction is crucial to achieve precision agriculture. In this study, growth data from three different rice cultivars at two different climate regions in Taiwan were used to calculate the rice growth rate (Gr) in key growth stages. A total of 10,246 Gr data from 95 cultivations were used to assess the feasibility of simulating rice growth rate from ambient temperature by regression algorithm (REG), artificial neural networks (ANN) and gene-expression programming (GEP). Simulation was carried out for each algorithm using ambient temperature and growing season as input variables for the entire life cycle of rice (Tr all) either as one continuous growth period or as the sum of four distinctive growth stages (Tr 1~4). The results showed that the model output from Tr 1~4 are more accurate than Tr all. However, simulation errors in the transitional stages occurred when the growth rate at different stages was modelled separately. Artificial intelligence based nonlinear models were more accurate than the regression model and ANN generally exhibited better performance than other two models. Compared with REG, the root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of averaged error-in-days for the whole growth period decreased by 41.38% and 42.81% in ANN and 30.14%, and 31.21% in GEP. Considering the potential errors in the transition stages and the high hardware demand for ANN, the GEP-Tr all model is recommended for the rice growth rate modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the near-surface (< 500 m) seismic structure (Vp, Vs, and Vs anisotropy) of Taiwan using the empirical Green's functions of body waves between vertical station pairs at 60 borehole sites. The near-surface anisotropy in metamorphic rocks and Miocene or older sedimentary strata are mostly categorized as orogeny-parallel anisotropy (OPA), and sites exhibiting stress-aligned anisotropy (SAA) are located in areas with late Quaternary sedimentary deposits or in alluvial coastal plains. The results show that there is a significant variation of the anisotropy strength even within the same geological unit. Since all the major geological units of Taiwan are well sampled by borehole arrays, and drilling data for 52 sites are available, this provides a unique opportunity to investigate the geological implications of strong variations in near-surface anisotropy. The investigation indicates that (1) near-surface anisotropy caused by structural fabric is generally stronger than that resulting from the alignment of stress-induced open cracks, (2) SAA strength in sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks, and gravel sediments is generally higher than that in fine-grained sediments, and (3) the sites with the strongest OPA (> 30%) are located in mountain ranges and the mean OPA strength of these sites is significantly higher than that of foothills, suggesting that foliated metamorphic rocks lead to stronger OPA than do dipping sedimentary strata. The results also suggest that the fluid-saturation of micro-cracks is not a necessary condition for the occurrence of the SAA mechanism in the near-surface depth range. • Structure-related anisotropy is generally stronger than stress-induced anisotropy. • Consolidated rocks and gravels show higher anisotropy than fine-grained sediments. • Foliated metamorphic rocks show stronger OPA than dipping sedimentary strata. • Fluid-saturation is not necessary for SAA occurrence in near-surface depth range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An integrated physical and index-overlay method helps predict groundwater vulnerability. • The numerical model improves the accuracy of the index-overlay method. • Land use plays an essential role in regional variations of groundwater sustainability. • The groundwater system in the Pingtung plain is in a critical condition. This study presents a new concept that integrates the index-overlay method and a physical-based numerical model for predicting groundwater sustainability under various climate conditions and anthropogenic activities. The index-overlay DRASTIC method was modified with an analytical hierarchy process theory and employed to create groundwater vulnerability maps for the Pingtung plain groundwater basin in southern Taiwan. The physical-based MODFLOW model was used for predicting the dynamics of a basin-scale groundwater system. Solutions and calibrated hydrogeological parameters in the MODFLOW model provide feedback to the factors in the modified DRASTIC method which enables predicting groundwater vulnerability. In this study, different climate conditions were considered in the numerical model to obtain the changes in depth of water and net recharge for predicting future groundwater vulnerability and for evaluating the current state of the sustainability indicators. Results show that the depth of water and net recharge obtained from the groundwater model improve the accuracy of the groundwater vulnerability prediction. The variations of future climate conditions have less influence on the variations of groundwater vulnerability because of the dense river network that controls the shallow groundwater levels in the Pingtung plain groundwater basin. Therefore, the influence of climate conditions on the risk of groundwater contamination is also relatively low. Based on the analysis of the sustainability indicators, we found that the groundwater resource system in the Pingtung plain groundwater basin is in a critical condition of high vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study used open-hole and image logs in the slate belt of Taiwan to identify conductive fractures in tight rocks. • One major fault system with three conductive fault zones was identified in this study. • The borehole images show the conductive fault zones mainly consist of permeable fault cores and fractured damage zones. • The most conductive fluid conduits would be the faults penetrating metasandstone with small displacements. Permeable structures associated with faults are commonly treated as geothermal fluid conduits in most tight geothermal reservoirs. However, the properties of permeable structures within fault zones remain unclear due to the lack of subsurface geological data, e.g., the geothermal systems in the tight slate and metasandstone formations in Northeastern Taiwan. This study presented standard open-hole and Fullbore Formation MicroImager (FMI) logs acquired in the 8.5-inch-diameter section of the JT-3 well (800–1475 m measured depth) in the Jentse geothermal area, Taiwan, to identify the subsurface fracture structures and the possible pathway of fluid flow. Using open-hole log data, we generate a lithology interpretation for the borehole and model the associated effective porosity. Based on the FMI images, four types of natural open fractures, two types of natural sealed fractures, and drilling-induced tensile fractures were identified. Integration of the lithological model, the effective porosity, and the types of fractures reveals one major permeable fault system comprising three permeable fault zones. The fault system is composed of both permeable fault cores marked by porous fault breccia and damage zones characterized by a large number of open-fracture planes. The static borehole temperature log also shows deflections in these interpreted permeable fractures zone. Deflections in these fracture zones that, based on petrophysical and borehole image logs, are interpreted as permeable. According to the orientations of the bed boundaries and fault planes obtained from FMI images, the fault system may have an orientation of N50–70 °E and dips 70–90˚ to the NW with a width of around 116 m. This study illustrates how subsurface structures control geothermal conduits. The concept and workflow of this study may be useful for other fault-controlled geothermal areas in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Xisha Trough situated in the northwestern South China Sea (SCS), plays a pivotal role in transporting sediments from the Red River into the deep-sea basin of the SCS, and thus is a critical place to examine variations in source-to-sink process of the Red River-derived sediments associated with past climate and oceanography changes. In this study, we analyzed clay minerals, grain size composition, and specific XRF core scanning elements of sediment core XT-1, retrieved from the northern slope of the Xisha Trough, to assess changes in sediment provenance and their primary influencing factors in the studied area over the last ∼30 ka. The results show that clay minerals are primarily composed of illite+chrolite with a mean of 89%, followed by kaolinite with a mean of 9%; smectite occurs as a minor component. The mean grain size and XRF core scanning elements exhibit a three-phase change that corresponds well to variations in sediment source since the last glacial period. Over the last 29.8 ka, sea level fluctuations are the primary factor controlling changes in provenances and their contributions in the northern slope of the Xisha Trough. During the last glacial from 29.8 to 20.2 ka with lower sea levels, both the Red River and Taiwan were the primary contributors of fine-grained sediments in the lower continental slope of the Xisha Trough. However, with marine transgressions from the last deglaciation, Taiwan gradually became the dominant source of fine-grained sediments, followed by the Red River. Additionally, during the Last Glacial Maximum and the early to middle Holocene periods, the strengthened deep-water current (DWC) and East Asian summer monsoon, respectively, exerted strong impacts on the contribution of Taiwanese sediments to the Xisha Trough. The changing pattern of primary provenance in the studied core is roughly in line with those observed in the northern SCS, while differing from those in the southern regions of the western Xisha Trough. This discrepancy is likely caused by varying influences of the DWC on these regions. • Taiwan is the primary provenance for the Xisha Trough over the last ∼30 ka, followed by the Red River. • Sea level controls changes in the provenance of fine-grained sediment on the north slope of the Xisha Trough. • The DWC is responsible for consistent clay mineral records in lower slope regions of the Xisha Trough and the northern SCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study determined whether maternal bisphenol A (BPA) exposure influences birth outcomes through oxidative stress and estimated the daily intake of BPA through breast milk for infants. One hundred and eighty-six pregnant women without pregnancy complications were enrolled and maternal urine was collected in the third trimester. Postnatal breast milk was collected in the first and third months after delivery. Concentrations of BPA were determined through ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Generalized additive model-penalized regression splines and a multivariable regression model were employed to determine the effects of BPA exposure and oxidative stress levels on birth outcomes. A causal mediation analysis was conducted to clarify the mediation effects of oxidative stress due to maternal BPA exposure on birth outcomes. The daily intake of BPA in breast milk was calculated using probabilistic risk assessment methods. The geometric means (geometric standard deviation) of BPA levels for maternal urine and first- and third-month breast milk were 2.19 (2.88) μg/g creatinine., 1.35 (3.53) ng/g, and 3.17 (2.97) ng/g, respectively. No significant mediation existed among maternal BPA exposure, oxidative stress level, and neonatal head circumference. Three percent of 1-monthold babies and 1% of 3-month-old babies exceeded the BPA tolerable daily intake of 4 μg/kg-bw/day proposed by the European Food Safety Authority. This study revealed the BPA exposure profile for pregnant women and infants in northern Taiwan. The marginally significant correlation between maternal BPA exposure and neonatal head circumference should be considered. • A significant association existed between maternal BPA level and lipid peroxidation. • A downward curvature was observed between maternal BPA level and birth head circumference. • Daily BPA intake through breast milk among babies could exceed the temporary TDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies from Asia have suggested that the risk of ischemic stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with a "low-risk" congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥75, diabetes mellitus, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, vascular disease, age 65 to 74, female (CHA2DS2-VASc) score of 0 (for males) or 1 (for females) might be higher than that for non-Asians.Objectives: This study hypothesized that the age threshold (65 years) used in the CHA2DS2-VASc system for initiating oral anticoagulants (OACs) might be lower in Taiwanese AF patients than in non-Asians.Methods: We used the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan to study 186,570 nonanticoagulated AF patients. There were 9,416 males with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 and 6,390 females with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1. Their risk of ischemic stroke was analyzed with stratification on the basis of age.Results: The annual risks of ischemic stroke for males (score 0) and females (score 1) were 1.15% and 1.12%, respectively, and continuously increased from younger to older age groups, with an increment in stroke risk evident for patients >50 years of age. At a cutoff of 50 years, patients could be further stratified into 2 subgroups with different stroke risks (>50 years of age: 1.78%/year; vs. <50 years of age: 0.53%/year). This observation was consistent for males (1.95%/year vs. 0.46%/year, respectively) and females (1.58%/year vs. 0.64%/year, respectively) with AF. In a subgroup analysis, the annual risks of ischemic stroke for males and females with AF 50 to 54 years of age were 1.47% and 1.07%, respectively.Conclusions: For Taiwanese patients 50 to 64 years of age, the annual stroke risk was 1.78%, which may exceed the threshold for OAC use for stroke prevention. The annual risk of ischemic stroke for AF patients <50 years of age was 0.53%, which was truly low-risk, and OACs could be omitted. Whether resetting the age threshold to 50 years could refine current clinical risk stratification for Asian AF patients deserves further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The pandemic of COVID-19 has disrupted the clinical pathway for patients with suspected upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). This aims to investigate the optimal management of UTUC during the pandemic by determining 1) Whether a three-month delay of RNU leads to worsened overall survival, 2) Whether radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) can be performed without prior diagnostic ureteroscopy (URS).Methods: Consecutive patients with RNU performed for suspected UTUC in four hospitals in Hong Kong and Taiwan were included. Patients with histologically proven UTUC and with RNU performed within one year were dichotomized into early (≤3 months) and delayed (>3 months) RNU groups. Diagnostic performances of predictive models based on pre-URS factors (gross haematuria, suspicious or malignant urine cytology, and filling defect or contrast-enhancing mass on computed tomography), with or without URS, were analysed using receiver operating characteristics and area under curve (AUC). Overall survival was analysed using Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis.Results: Between 2000 and 2019, 665 patients underwent RNU, and 491 of them had prior diagnostic URS. The early RNU group had a better overall survival (P = 0.015). Early RNU was associated with a better overall survival upon multivariate analysis (HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.03-2.33, P = 0.035). Large tumour size, multi-focal tumour, T2 or above disease, and positive nodal status were associated with a poorer overall survival. A combination of any 2 out of the 3 pre-URS factors achieved a positive predictive value of 99.5 to 100%. Presence of all 3 pre-URS factors achieved an AUC of 0.851 with URS, and AUC of 0.809 without URS.Conclusions: A delay of RNU for over 3 months was associated with poorer overall survival and has to be avoided despite the current COVID-19. We can also consider direct RNU based on clinical factors alone. This also avoids URS hospitalization and expedites the clinical pathway of UTUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The larger well spacing of the doublet wells effectively delays thermal breakthrough. • A regression formula for required distance of doublets is provided for the study Site. • A distance of 300 m avoids thermal breaks for the hypothetical exploitation scenarios. The issue of thermal breakthrough is often encountered in the extraction of geothermal fluids with reinjection. This study analyzes the minimum safe distance between doublet wells that will maintain thermal productivity under various conditions at the Huangtsuishan geothermal site. A conceptual model is constructed and hypothetical exploitation scenarios are explored. The results show that a distance of 300 m is required to avoid a thermal break in 80 years with 120 tons/hour pumped and 90 % reinjected at the Huangtsuishan Geothermal site. A regression formula was provided as a guideline for the minimum required doublet distance for various pumping rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of this study is to discuss the electric vehicle policy's effects on air pollution reduction in Taiwan. Since PM 2.5 is one of Taiwan's major air-pollution issues, Environmental Protection Administration of Taiwan (TEPA) promoted a policy that the sale of cars powered by fossil fuels would be banned in 2040, which means all the pollutants emitted by petrol-engine vehicles will be reduced. But at the same time the electric vehicles require additional power consumption, therefore, it is important to investigate the effect of air quality and health benefit when mobile emission reduces but power plant emission increases. To evaluate this clean air policy, Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) - Community Multi-scale Air Quality model (CMAQ) and Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP) were applied in scenarios discussion. The location of power plants to generate additional electric power and the seasonal variation were adapted in scenarios for considering the atmospheric transportation effects. The results showed if additional power supply was generated in northern, central, or southern Taiwan, the average annual PM 2.5 concentration would be reduced by 2.88, 2.90, and 2.92 μg/m3, respectively. The associated health benefits would be 43.35 billion, 43.40 billion, and 43.54 billion USD. This evaluation presents adopting electric vehicles would improve the air quality of Taiwan significantly. The analysis of seasonal scenarios also indicates the location to generate additional electric power is important when adopting electric vehicles policy. The prevailing wind of different season will transport the air pollutant to diverse downwind area. The additional electricity demand generated by northern power plants in summer and autumn but switched to southern power plants in spring and winter would reduce 2.95 μg/m3 PM 2.5 and lead to the best air quality and health benefits across Taiwan among the considered options. Image 1 • Electric vehicles related air quality policy needs to examine additional power generation and pollution emissions. • WRF-CMAQ-BenMAP models are used to investigate air quality and health co-benefits. • Population distribution, seasonal wind, and emission locations are important in policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]