A field assessment of floor slipperiness in a fish market in Taiwan

A field assessment of floor slipperiness in 10 fish stands in a fish market in Taiwan was conducted using both friction measurements and subjective ratings. The friction measurements were conducted using the Portable Skid Resistance Tester (PSRT). The subjective ratings of floor slipperiness of both the workers and the customers were collected. The friction measurement results showed that the sink areas had both the lowest friction values and subjective ratings. The overall friction measurement results and the subjective ratings were in fair agreement (r = 0.46 and ρ = 0.49). The customers perceived the walkways as somewhere between “very slippery” to “somewhat slippery” and the picking-up areas as “very slippery.” These were different from the perceptions of the workers where they perceived both areas as “somewhat slippery.”     

Partitioning of arsenic in soil-crop systems irrigated using groundwater: a case study of rice paddy soils in southwestern Taiwan

The accumulation of As in rice due to groundwater irrigation in paddy fields represents a serious health hazard in South and Southeast Asia. In Taiwan, the fate of As in long-term irrigated paddy fields is poorly understood. Groundwater, surface soil, and rice samples were collected from a paddy field that was irrigated with As-containing groundwater in southwestern Taiwan. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the source and sink of As in the paddy field by comparing the As fractions in the soils that were obtained by a sequential extraction procedure (SEP) with the As uptake of rice. The risks associated with eating rice from the field can thus be better understood. The concentration of As in groundwater varied with time throughout the growing seasons of rice, but always exceeded the permitted maximum (10 μg L⁻¹) for drinking water by the WHO. The As concentration increased with the concentration of Fe in the groundwater, supporting the claim that a large amount of As was concentrated in the Fe flocs collected from the internal wall of the groundwater pump. The results of the SEP revealed that As bound with amorphous and crystalline hydrous oxides exhibited high availability in the soils. The root of rice accumulated the largest amount of As, followed by the straw, husk, and grain. Although the As concentration in the rice grain was less than 1.0 mg kg⁻¹, the estimated intake level was close to the maximum tolerable daily intake of As, as specified by the WHO.     

Idealized study on cohesive sediment flux by tidal asymmetry

The flux of cohesive sediment in an estuary is determined by many factors, including tidal asymmetry, wave effect, fluvial influence, phase difference between tidal velocity and tidal level fluctuations, sediment properties, flocculation, bed erodibility, bathymetry effect and other nonlocal effects. Our capability in predicting sediment fluxes in tide-dominant environments is critical to the morphodynamics and water quality of estuaries. Due to the difficulties in carrying out detailed measurement of sediment flux with high spatial and temporal resolutions, an one-dimensional-vertical (1DV) numerical model for cohesive sediment transport, previously verified and calibrated with field measured cohesive sediment concentration data, is utilized here to study some of the aforementioned factors in affecting tidal-driven sediment fluxes in idealized condition. Tidal-averaged sediment flux is shown to be correlated with tidal velocity skewness with a linear relationship. This linear relationship is different from that of non-cohesive sediment and it is demonstrated here to be mainly due to variable critical shear stress implemented for the mud bed in order to parameterize consolidation. The reason that tidal velocity skewness causes tidal-averaged residual sediment transport is shown to be due to nonlinear intra-tidal interactions between flow velocity and sediment concentration. Moreover, the effects of nonlinear intra-tidal interaction between tidal velocity and tidal level fluctuations is shown to mainly cause seaward transport, which is the most significant under progressive wave system (phase difference 90°) and almost negligible for standing wave system (phase difference 0°).     

Absorption and reaction kinetics of amines and ammonia solutions with carbon dioxide in flue gas

The removal system for the absorption of CO2 with amines and NH3 is an advanced air pollution control device to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Absorption of CO2 by amines and NH3 solutions was performed in this study to derive the reaction kinetics. The absorption of CO2 as encountered in flue gases into aqueous solutions of monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), and NH3 was carried out using a stirred vessel with a plane gas-liquid interface at 50 degrees C. Various operating parameters were tested to determine the effect of these variables on the absorption kinetics of the reactants in both gas and liquid phases and the effect of competitions between various reactants on the mass-transfer rate. The observed absorption rate increases with increasing gas-liquid concentration, solvent concentration, temperature, and gas flow rate, but changes with the O2 concentration and pH value. The absorption efficiency of MEA is better than that of NH3 and DEA, but the absorption capacity of NH3 is the best. The active energies of the MEA and NH3 with CO2 are 33.19 and 40.09 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Human PCDD/PCDF levels near a pentachlorophenol contamination site in Tainan, Taiwan

A pentachlorophenol (PCP) manufacturing plant in southern Taiwan discontinued production in 1989. The site of the abandoned plant was heavily contaminated by PCDD/PCDFs, impurities formed in the PCP production process. Serum samples collected from 27 residents living near the deserted plant were evaluated to determine whether this contamination had associated serum levels of PCDD/PCDFs in local residents. The average level of 17 tested congeners ranged from 556 to 5240 pg/g lipid (mean, 1670 pg/g lipid). The corresponding 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxicity equivalent quotient values calculated by international toxicity equivalent factors (I-TEFs) and those recommended by WHO (WHO-TEFs) were 47.2 pg I-TEQ/g lipid and 53.4 pg WHO-TEQ/g lipid, respectively. Levels in other parts of Taiwan typically range from 15 to 20 pg WHO-TEQ/g lipid; therefore, it is likely that the heavily contaminated plant site caused these unusually high serum levels. The average PCDD/PCDF levels of 29 fish-tissue and nine soil samples collected from the sea reservoir surrounding the abandoned PCP plant were also abnormally high: 8630 pg/g lipid (985 pg WHO-TEQ/g lipid) and 606000 pg/g-sample (922 pg WHO-TEQ/g-sample), respectively. Factor analysis indicated that the congener pattern of human serum samples collected from residents living near the abandoned PCP plant different from samples collected from other areas in Taiwan without known PCDD/PCDF pollution. Similar results were observed for the fish tissue and soil samples. The current study may have discovered a "hot spot" for elevated dioxin human exposure in Taiwan. The preliminary finding has raised a public health concern in the inspected area and requires further investigations to clarify the nature of the contamination and potential impact on the local environment and human health.     

Stream discharge characteristics through urbanization gradient in Danshui River, Taiwan: perspectives from observation and simulation

Urbanization and the subsequent changes in land use/cover inevitably influence the quality and even the quantity of stream water. This issue is widely studied through evaluations on land-use change scenarios or comparisons among historical patterns at the same watershed. However, observational stream discharge changes through urbanization gradient have rarely been discussed. In this study, we analyzed 5-year discharge data from 13 gauges in the Danshui River network with a wide range of urbanization gradient to explore the impacts on observational hydrological characteristics in individual catchments. The results reveal that stream discharge in pristine watersheds is characterized by a larger proportion of baseflow and is less fluctuating. When the forest coverage is <90%, the discharge fluctuation almost doubles. Meanwhile, the baseflow fraction decreases gradually with the increase of paddy area, which may concomitantly result from the increasing irrigation. Such a drop in baseflow may threaten the maintenance of the minimum flow required for the stream aquatic ecosystem. Furthermore, we simulated the stream discharges by TOPMODEL with blind land-use-independent parameters. The results show that the simulated discharges are satisfactory, particularly for the pristine catchments, but not as fitting for the paddy-intensive watersheds perhaps due to the unexpected irrigation. On the whole, the calibrated parameters are dependent with the landscape characteristics. The landscape-based parameter estimations can be applied to simulate discharge well, meaning the potential to assess the ungauged watersheds.     

Differential Legionella spp. survival between intracellular and extracellular forms in thermal spring environments

Legionella are commonly found in natural and man-made aquatic environments and are able to inhabit various species of protozoa. The relationship between the occurrence of Legionella spp. within protozoa and human legionellosis has been demonstrated; however, the proportions of intracellular and extracellular Legionella spp. in the aquatic environment were rarely reported. In this study, we developed a new method to differentiate intracellular and extracellular Legionella spp. in the aquatic environment. Water samples from three thermal spring recreational areas in southeastern Taiwan were collected and analyzed. For each water sample, concurrent measurements were performed for Legionella spp. and their free-living amoebae hosts. The overall detection rate was 32 % (16/50) for intracellular Legionella spp. and 12 % (6/50) for extracellular Legionella spp. The most prevalent host of Legionella spp. was Hartmannella vermiformis. The identified Legionella spp. differed substantially between intracellular and extracellular forms. The results showed that it may be necessary to differentiate intracellular and extracellular forms of Legionella spp.     

Impact of selected solution factors on arsenate and arsenite removal by nanoiron particles

Introduction  

The nano-scale zero-valent iron (NZVI) was used for the removal of arsenite (As(III)) and arsenate (As(V)) in aqueous solution. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of initial pH, initial arsenic concentration, dissolved oxygen (DO), and ratio of As(III)/As(V) on arsenic removal.     

Prenatal sonographic appearance of Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome: two- and three-dimensional ultrasonographic findings

Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome is characterized by craniofacial anomalies, particularly craniosynostosis, ear defects, cutis gyrata, acanthosis nigricans, anogenit anomalies, skin tags, and prominent umbilical stump. The prenatal two- and three-dimensional ultrasonographic findings of this rare condition is reported. The detection was made at 32 weeks of gestation in a woman with polyhydramnios and fetal head anomaly. The ultrasound appearance and postnatal follow‒up are presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.