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"Manga" are graphic novels that are considered to have the potential to effectively convey concepts and engage readers. The efficacy of "manga" has been validated for chemical safety education to students in three universities in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Students were asked to examine a photo to identify hazards and hazardous behaviors that can potentially lead to accidents before and after reading a "manga" that explains the risk of fires and explosions. The identified hazards/hazardous behaviors were classified into seven categories, and the average number of hazards/hazardous behaviors was determined in each category. The differences before and after the lesson were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of "manga" as an educational tool. In the students' answers, in all three of the universities, some common features were observed: Subjects easily identified certain hazardous conditions in the photo, particularly noting deficient or unsuitable personal protective equipment. The hazards/hazardous behaviors that can potentially result in ignitions, fires, and explosions were more likely to be identified after the lesson. Many students found the "manga" a helpful tool for learning chemical safety.

To enable precise assessment of health impacts following a nuclear power plant accident, extensive and detailed data on environmental radiation levels are needed. This study was undertaken to investigate the air and the soil radiation levels using a car-borne survey on the main island of Taiwan where no extensive environmental radiation distribution survey had been conducted before. The mean air absorbed dose rate on this island was 57 ± 10 nGy h−1. The measured dose rate distribution varied depending on the geology of the soils, and ranged from 22 to 113 nGy h−1. The mean radiation level in soil was 539 ± 124 Bq kg−1 for 40K, 23 ± 8 Bq kg−1 for 238U and 41 ± 22 Bq kg−1 for 232Th. The air absorbed dose rate (58 nGy h−1) calculated from these data of mean radiation level in soil was comparable to that determined by the car-borne survey method. Thus, this study yielded detailed data on air absorbed dose rate depending primarily on the geology of the soils on the main island of Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new genus Erythropompilus Shimizu & Pitts, gen. nov. from the Oriental Region (Pompilidae, Pompilinae) is described, based on the new species E. malaysiensis Pitts & Shimizu, sp. nov. from Malaysia. Two other new species of this genus, E. thailandensis Pitts & Shimizu, sp. nov. from Thailand and E. taiwanensis Pitts & Shimizu, sp. nov. from Taiwan, are also described. A key to the species is provided, and the taxonomic position of the genus is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-municipal water governance, with fragmentation and asymmetry among boundaries and institutions caused by water sharing, can give rise to quarrels among governments. Many related cases worldwide suggest integration and bottom-up participation as solutions for fostering multi-municipal collaboration, although existing power imbalances and competing interests continue to motivate conflicts. The research attempts to provide insights on how territorial conflicts can create barriers to multi-municipal integration. The case study considers the headwater of Taipei Metropolis, located in a rural-urban nexus in Taiwan, which is characterised by disconnected territory and authority. Along with democratisation and urbanisation, conflicts in interests between the headwater municipality, New Taipei City, and the capital downstream, Taipei City, have become more significant. By content and discourse analysis using secondary data and semi-structured interviews, the study identifies critical changes leading to the curious status quo and possible reasons for unresolved conflicts. The configuration of a multi-municipal water-sharing region has mediated inner tensions of territorialisation, which have been stimulated by developmental pressures of a growing entity under changing scalar status in the municipal hierarchy. The research indicates that territorial discourses provide legitimacy for municipal interests, while marking a shift from upstream inequity to downstream water sharing. The case study identifies the role of territorial conflicts and stresses the impacts of municipal competition triggered by scale politics, thereby offering an alternative understanding of conflicts in multi-municipal water governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although advance care planning discussions are increasingly accepted worldwide, their ideal timing is uncertain and cultural factors may pertain. Aim: To evaluate timing and factors affecting initiation of advance care planning discussions for adult patients in Japan and Taiwan. Design: Mixed-methods questionnaire survey to quantitatively determine percentages of patients willing to initiate advance care planning discussions at four stages of illness trajectory ranging from healthy to undeniably ill, and to identify qualitative perceptions underlying preferred timing. Setting/participants: Patients aged 40–75 years visiting outpatient departments at four Japanese and two Taiwanese hospitals were randomly recruited. Results: Overall (of 700 respondents), 72% (of 365) in Japan and 84% (of 335) in Taiwan (p < 0.001) accepted discussion before illness. In Japan, factors associated with willingness before illness were younger age and rejection of life-sustaining treatments; in Taiwan, older age, stronger social support, and rejection of life-sustaining treatments. Four main categories of attitudes were extracted: the most common welcomed discussion as a wise precaution, responses in this first category outnumbered preference for postponement of discussion until imminent end of life, acceptance of the universal inevitability of death, and preference for discussion at healthcare providers' initiative. Conclusion: The majority of patients are willing to begin discussion before their health is severely compromised; about one out of five patients are unwilling to begin until clearly facing death. To promote advance care planning, healthcare providers must be mindful of patients' preferences and factors associated with acceptance and reluctance to initiate advance care planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1895 (Meiji 28), Taiwan was ceded from the Qing dynasty to become a Japanese territory, and it remained a Japanese colony for the next 51 years, until 1945. During this period, many "Japanese‐style houses" were built throughout Taiwan for Japanese immigrants. As senior civil servants, the faculty members of the Taipei Imperial University were provided with official residences. However, as the number of immigrants increased, the number of official residences did not increase proportionally, and a housing shortage ensued. As the demand for individual residences gradually increased, the residents themselves took the initiative, proposing and developing a residential area. The former Showa‐Cho area was selected as a suitable location for official university residences primarily intended for the faculty members of the Taipei Imperial University because it was within walking distance of the educational institutions. This study clarifies the background, process, and reasons for building official university residences in former Showa‐Cho, from the time when the faculty members of the Taipei Imperial University arrived in Taiwan until individual residences were built in 1929. Further, the features and composition of the plans and as the actual conditions of the official residences built by the Taipei Imperial University are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paliperidone pharmacokinetics after intramuscular administration of once‐monthly paliperidone palmitate in Japanese patients were studied in 3 phase 1 studies and in 2 phase 3 studies performed in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. These data (Japanese, n = 509; Korean, n = 31; Taiwanese, n = 47) were used to describe the paliperidone palmitate pharmacokinetics in Japanese, to compare with non‐Japanese, and to validate the historical population pharmacokinetic (Pop‐PK) model for paliperidone palmitate, developed using data from studies in patients with schizophrenia outside Japan. The final historical Pop‐PK model, including all significant patient covariates of Japanese studies, was used to simulate paliperidone plasma concentration–time data using nonlinear mixed effects, followed by comparison with actual data. Visual predictive checks displayed considerable overlap between predicted and actual plasma concentrations; the majority of observations were within the 90% prediction interval. Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese patients had comparable plasma concentrations. Covariate distributions demonstrated comparatively lower median body mass index in Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese patients versus rest‐of‐world population. Prediction errors for the data set used for external validation were within cutoff values, confirming accuracy/precision of the model. Paliperidone pharmacokinetics were adequately predicted for Japanese studies using the historical Pop‐PK model, confirming its robustness. Pharmacokinetics in Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese patients with schizophrenia were comparable with rest‐of‐world population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to construct a scheme that makes it possible to compare the relationship between water usage, satisfaction, and physical properties in three countries. The physical properties of the shower were measured using physical properties testing apparatus of water-saving standard or scheme for shower heads issued in several water-saving countries and data for users satisfaction evaluation was acquired through bathing experiments. In this paper, we analyzed the result from Taiwanese and Vietnamese individuals to compare them to of Japanese subjects analyzed in the previous study. We compared the physical properties of showers assessed low in satisfaction by Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Japanese subjects. It was assumed that spray pattern tends to decrease satisfaction when the water volume ratio within 100 mm and 150 mm of a measuring device is located a 450 mm distance from the showerhead is low, and that, because all three countries showed the same value, it was imagined that there were no differences in the water volume ratio of high-satisfaction showerheads among three countries. On the other hand, the values of Spray Force-per-Hole, Temperature Drop, and Spray Angle were different among three countries. We speculated that these differences are affected respectively by ethnic differences in pain tolerance, thermoregulatory response and bathing habit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin ( FLG) were identified to underlie ichthyosis vulgaris (IV) and also shown to predispose to atopic eczema. Until now, no FLG mutations have been described in the Taiwanese population. Objectives To elucidate filaggrin mutations in the Taiwanese population and further to clarify the population genetics of filaggrin gene mutations in the Asian populations. Methods In the present study, 12 individuals from four unrelated Taiwanese IV families were examined for FLG mutations. We carried out comprehensive sequencing of the entire FLG coding region using an overlapping polymerase chain reaction strategy. Results We identified three FLG mutations in the Taiwanese IV families. One mutation E1795X was a previously unidentified FLG mutation, which might be specific to the Taiwanese. Interestingly, another FLG mutation 3321delA is prevalent in the Japanese population and the other mutation Q2417X was found in the Singaporean Chinese population. No FLG mutation identified in the white European population was found in the Taiwanese population. Conclusions The present findings suggest that the Taiwanese population, as an East Asian group, share FLG mutations with both the Japanese and the Singaporean Chinese population. In addition, these results exemplify differences in the population genetics of filaggrin between Europe and Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What may teachers do in developing and carrying out exemplary or high-quality mathematics classroom instruction? What can we learn from teachers' instructional practices that are often culturally valued in different education systems? In this article, we aim to highlight relevant issues that have long been interests of mathematics educators worldwide in identifying and examining teachers' practices in high-quality mathematics classroom instruction, and outline what articles published herein can help further our understanding of such issues with cases of exemplary mathematics instruction valued in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographic variations in reproductive parameters of Mustelus manazo from five localities, four in Japan (Aomori, Tokyo Bay, Maizuru, and Shimonoseki) and one in Taiwan, were investigated from November 1994 to June 1996. Differences in age and length at sexual maturity from Aomori to Taiwan were approximately 3 years and 300 mm in TL, respectively, for both sexes. The sharks appeared to mature at a later age and to a larger size in the most northern population, Aomori, and to be faster and smaller in the southern population, Taiwan. Mating, ovulation and fertilization periods were generally during May and August in the four localities of Tokyo Bay, Maizuru, Shimonoseki, and Taiwan. In Aomori, males showed no clear monthly variation in gonad index, and females in Aomori had a protracted reproductive period. Females became pregnant every year in all localities, except Aomori. The Aomori population apparently has a different reproductive cycle. The Tokyo Bay population is distinctive regarding growth and sex ratios of embryos. In all localities, the number of embryos per litter increased relative to total length of mother. There was no geographic variation in reproductive parameters between Maizuru and Shimonoseki. The coast between these last two sampling areas is a continuous steep slope with similar environmental conditions, and mixing of the two populations may occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the presence of mutagens other than arsenic in the drinking well water in the southwest coast of Taiwan. It says that the water which was obtained from an artesian well in Tainan County was concentrated, and acidified with alcohol to obtain a crude extract of fluorescent humic substances about 300 milligrams per liter. Results show that mutagenicity to Salmonella typhimurium is showed in the ethylacetate extracted fraction (EA) of well water.

Abstract: This study uses anthocyanins in the red flowers of section Camellia as taxonomic markers to investigate the phenetic relationships among 33 wild species from China, Taiwan, and Japan. The 25 anthocyanins from section Camellia produced 38 pigment patterns that serve as phenetic markers. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated that the attachment of one or two glucoses to the cyanidin-core structure at the 3- or the 3- and 5-positions, respectively, was the most influential pattern against the first factor, Z 1. In addition, two alternative pigment patterns, acylated or non-acylated, and the structural isomerism (cis- or trans-) of the p-coumaroyl group were relatively significant patterns. Ward’s minimum-variance cluster analysis (WMVCA) produced a dendrogram that consisted of two sub-clusters. One sub-cluster (A) was constructed by species that have mainly two types of anthocyanins: 3,5-di-O-β-glucosides (Camellia saluenensis) and sambubioside of cyanidin (Camellia reticulata). The other sub-cluster (B) was made up of the 3-O-β-glucosides of cyanidin (Camellia japonica) and delphinidin (Camellia hongkongensis), with a higher proportion of the 3-O-β-galactosides (Camellia mairei and Camellia boreali-yunnanica). The former group showed a higher proportion of acylation, over 63%, but with the exception of Camellia azalea. The latter group showed less than 52% acylation, but with the exception of C. hongkongensis and C. boreali-yunnanica. PCA and WMVCA indicated that the greater the amount of di-O-glycosides and acylation, the more primitive anthocyanin traits the species possess. Based on these results, in conjunction with geographical and literary information, the data suggest that the Xinan district is the site/center of origin for the red-flowered Camellia species of which both C. saluenensis and C. reticulata have the most primitive anthocyanin traits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Since the unprecedented outbreak of the COVID-19, numerous meteorological-normalization techniques have been developed in lockdown-imposed regions to decouple the impacts of meteorology and emissions on the atmospheric environment. However, the application of normalization techniques in regions without lockdown is limited. In this study, we propose a novel research framework to investigate the observed and meteorological-normalized concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and ozone (O 3) across 62 cities in Taiwan. Four meteorological-normalization techniques, namely, the generalized additive model (GAM), generalized linear model (GLM), gradient boosting machine (GBM), and random forest (RF), were developed, optimized, and compared using meteorological and temporal variables. The models were optimized using a systematic trial-and-error approach for data distribution type in GAM and GLM and a grid-search approach for tree numbers in GBM and RF. Based on the findings, for GLM, the optimal data distribution for both NO 2 and O 3 modeling was Gaussian, whereas for GAM, the optimal data distribution for NO 2 and O 3 simulation was quasi- Gaussian and Poisson, respectively. In contrast, for RF and GBM, the optimized number of trees varied significantly by site, ranging from 10 to 6310. The simulation performance of RF and GBM was better than that of GAM and GLM across Taiwan and the best-performing optimized model was selected to identify changes in NO 2 and O 3 concentrations during COVID-19. Throughout 2020, even in the absence of a lockdown, the daily mean meteorological-normalized NO 2 and O 3 levels across Taiwan decreased by 14.9% and 5.8%, respectively, providing novel insights for sustainable air quality management. [Display omitted] • Business-as-usual meteorological-normalized NO 2 and O 3 framework was developed. • Tree-based (RF and GBM) models outperformed linear-based (GAM and GLM) models. • Systematic model type selection and hyperparameter optimization were crucial. • Reduced human activities outweighs meteorological impacts on Taiwan air quality. • Simulated NO 2 and O 3 mean concentrations reduced even in the absence of lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 significantly improved the atmospheric environment for lockdown-imposed regions; however, scant evidence exists on its impacts on regions without lockdown. A novel research framework is proposed to evaluate the long-term monthly spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan air quality through different statistical analyses, including geostatistical analysis, change detection analysis and identification of nonattainment pollutant occurrence between the average mean air pollutant concentrations from 2018–2019 and 2020, considering both meteorological and public transportation impacts. Contrary to lockdown-imposed regions, insignificant or worsened air quality conditions were observed at the beginning of COVID-19, but a delayed improvement occurred after April in Taiwan. The annual mean concentrations of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NO 2 , CO and O 3 in 2020 were reduced by 24%, 18%, 15%, 9.6%, 7.4% and 1.3%, respectively (relative to 2018–2019), and the overall occurrence frequency of nonattainment air pollutants declined by over 30%. Backward stepwise regression models for each air pollutant were successfully constructed utilizing 12 meteorological parameters (R2 > 0.8 except for SO 2) to simulate the meteorological normalized business-as-usual concentration. The hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory (HYSPLIT) model simulated the fate of air pollutants (e.g., local emissions or transboundary pollution) for anomalous months. The changes in different public transportation usage volumes (e.g., roadway, railway, air, and waterway) moderately reduced air pollution, particularly CO and NO 2. Reduced public transportation use had a more significant impact than meteorology on air quality improvement in Taiwan, highlighting the importance of proper public transportation management for air pollution control and paving a new path for sustainable air quality management even in the absence of a lockdown. [Display omitted] • A delayed COVID-19 improvement on the air quality in the absence of a lockdown was observed. • Overall occurrence frequency of nonattainment air pollutants fell by more than 30% in 2020. • Public urban transportation usage volume reduced by approximately 52%. • Meteorological-normalized air pollutant regression models achieved R2 > 0.8 except for SO 2. • Reduced transportation use had greater impact than meteorology for air quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teleosts comprise more than half of all vertebrate species and have adapted to a variety of marine and freshwater habitats. Their genome evolution and diversification are important subjects for the understanding of vertebrate evolution. Although draft genome sequences of two pufferfishes have been published, analysis of more fish genomes is desirable. Here we report a high-quality draft genome sequence of a small egg-laying freshwater teleost, medaka (Oryzias latipes). Medaka is native to East Asia and an excellent model system for a wide range of biology, including ecotoxicology, carcinogenesis, sex determination and developmental genetics. In the assembled medaka genome (700 megabases), which is less than half of the zebrafish genome, we predicted 20,141 genes, including approximately 2,900 new genes, using 5'-end serial analysis of gene expression tag information. We found single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at an average rate of 3.42% between the two inbred strains derived from two regional populations; this is the highest SNP rate seen in any vertebrate species. Analyses based on the dense SNP information show a strict genetic separation of 4 million years (Myr) between the two populations, and suggest that differential selective pressures acted on specific gene categories. Four-way comparisons with the human, pufferfish (Tetraodon), zebrafish and medaka genomes revealed that eight major interchromosomal rearrangements took place in a remarkably short period of approximately 50 Myr after the whole-genome duplication event in the teleost ancestor and afterwards, intriguingly, the medaka genome preserved its ancestral karyotype for more than 300 Myr.