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Air pollution, particularly ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) pollution, poses a significant risk to public health, underscoring the importance of comprehending the long-term impact on health burden and expenditure at national and subnational levels. Therefore, this study aims to quantify the disease burden and healthcare expenditure associated with PM 2.5 exposure in Taiwan and assess the potential benefits of reducing pollution levels. Using a comparative risk assessment framework that integrates an auto-aggressive integrated moving average model, we evaluated the avoidable burden of cardiopulmonary diseases (including ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and diabetes mellitus) and related healthcare expenditure under different air quality target scenarios, including status quo and target scenarios of 15, 10, and 5 μg/m3 reduction in PM 2.5 concentration. Our findings indicate that reducing PM 2.5 exposure has the potential to significantly alleviate the burden of multiple diseases. Comparing the estimated attributable disease burden and healthcare expenditure between reference and target scenarios from 2022 to 2050, the avoidable disability-adjusted life years were 0.61, 1.83, and 3.19 million for the 15, 10, and 5 μg/m3 target scenarios, respectively. Correspondingly, avoidable healthcare expenditure ranged from US$ 0.63 to 3.67 billion. We also highlighted the unequal allocation of resources and the need for policy interventions to address health disparities due to air pollution. Notably, in the 5 μg/m3 target scenario, Kaohsiung City stands to benefit the most, with 527,368 disability-adjusted life years avoided and US$ 0.53 billion saved from 2022 to 2050. Our findings suggest that adopting stricter emission targets can effectively reduce the health burden and associated healthcare expenditure in Taiwan. Overall, this study provides policymakers in Taiwan with valuable insights for mitigating the negative effects of air pollution by establishing a comprehensive framework for evaluating the co-benefits of air pollution reduction on healthcare expenditure and disease burden. [Display omitted] • By 2050, a total of 11.1 million DALYs and $13.2 billion health costs due to PM 2.5 • Achieving the air quality Target 5 scenario could potentially avoid 3.2 million DALYs • Health cost savings range from $0.6 to $3.7 billion in different target scenarios • Kaohsiung City would experience the greatest health benefits in the Target 5 scenario [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan usually suffers severe inundation disasters during typhoons and strong rainstorms, and therefore flood mitigation is considered an important issue. To assess the effect of the Yuansantze flood diversion tunnel (YFDT) on flood mitigation at the upstream reaches of the Keelung River, a three-dimensional, unstructured grid, Finite-Volume, primitive equation Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) was used. The model was validated with observed data for water levels and inundation extent during different typhoon events. The simulated results show a good agreement with field measurements of water level with three historical typhoon events but underestimated the measured inundation extent with Typhoon Nari. The validated model was then applied to assess the flood mitigation and economic loss with the YFDT. The results demonstrated that the river level decreases approximately 3 m with the YFDT and that the inundation extent decreases by more than 50% in the Ruifang District with YFDT. The YDFT aims to not only mitigate hazards but also reduce economic losses. The average annual expected benefit after construction of the YFDT is approximately 184 million NTD in the Ruifang District. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model was created to study the Danshuei River estuarine system and adjacent coastal ocean in Taiwan. The model was verified using measurements of the time-series water surface elevation, tidal current, and salinity from 1999. We conclude that our model is consistent with these observations. Our particle-tracking model was also used to explore the transport of particles released from the Hsin-Hai Bridge, an area that is heavily polluted. The results suggest that it takes a much longer time for the estuary to be flushed out under low freshwater discharge conditions than with high freshwater discharge. We conclude that the northeast and southwest winds minimally impact particle dispersion in the estuary. The particles fail to settle to the bottom in the absence of density-induced circulation. Our model was also used to simulate the ocean outfall at the Bali. Our experimental results suggest that the tidal current dominates the particle trajectories and influences the transport properties in the absence of a wind stress condition. The particles tend to move northeast or southwest along the coast when northeast or southwest winds prevail. Our data suggest that wind-driven currents and tidal currents play important roles in water movement as linked with ocean outfall in the context of the Danshuei River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ε chain of membrane-bound IgE (mIgE) is expressed predominantly as a “long” isoform, containing an extra segment of 52 amino acid (a.a.) residues, referred to as CεmX, between the CH4 domain and the C-terminal membrane-anchoring transmembrane peptide. CεmX results from an alternative splicing of the ε RNA transcript at 156-bp upstream of the splicing acceptor site used by the “short” isoform. Here, based on an analysis of the CεmX genomic DNA sequences of 320 subjects residing in Taiwan, we report that single-nucleotide polymorphisms have been found at two positions, namely, G/T at #46 and A/G at #93 (along the 156 bp of CεmX), with the former creating an amino acid change from Val to Leu at #16 (along the 52 a.a. of CεmX) and the latter resulting in no change (Gly). Among the 640 CεmX sequences identified, the previously known 46G93A allelic form appeared 293 times, the newly discovered 46T93A allelic form (GeneBank accession no. GU208817) 26 times, and the 46G93G allelic form (GU208818) 321 times. No 46T93G allelic form was found. Serum IgE measurements showed that the polymorphisms did not correlate with the levels of serum IgE. The anti-CεmX monoclonal antibody, 4B12, could bind equally well to mIgE.FcL(16V) and mIgE.FcL(16L). While genetic variation of CεmX of broader populations should also be investigated, these newly discovered genetic variants of CεmX in the Taiwanese population do not seem to affect the feasibility of using an anti-CεmX mAb, such as 4B12, to target mIgE-expressing B cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focused on developing an approach for laboratory sediment oxygen demand (SOD) experiments conducted with undisturbed sediment core samples, where the measured results were incorporated into a water quality model to simulate the dissolved oxygen (DO) distribution in the main Danshuei River estuary of northern Taiwan. Measured results reveal that a higher freshwater discharge results in a lower SOD and that the SOD during the spring tide is lower than that during the neap tide. Throughout a 1-year observation, the measured SOD ranged from 0.63 to 1.81 g/m2/day at the temperature of 20°C, which is within the usual range compared with other systems. Mean values of the measured SOD at each station were adopted in a vertical (laterally averaged) two-dimensional water quality model to simulate the DO distribution along the main stream of the Danshuei River estuary. Modeling results accurately reflect the field-measured DO distribution during the dry and wet seasons. Model sensitivity analyses were also conducted with increasing and decreasing SODs for the dry and wet seasons. The present work with field measurements and numerical modeling will assist in estuarine water quality management in tidal estuaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring data collected from the Mingder Reservoir in Taiwan indicate that the water quality is between mesotrophic and eutrophic. Chlorophyll a concentration is higher in the summer and anoxic conditions occur in the bottom. The data also reveal that a pronounced vertical thermal gradient in summer and vertical mixing the end of fall. A vertical two-dimensional, laterally averaged hydrodynamic and water quality model (CE-QUAL-W2) was adopted to simulate the water surface elevation, water temperature, and water quality conditions in the water column. The modeling effort was supported with monitoring data collected in the field for a 2-year period in the reservoir. The hydrodynamic model reproduced the time series water surface elevation. Spatial and temporal distributions of temperature in the water column of the reservoir were also well reproduced by the hydrodynamic model. Model-calculated concentrations of key water quality constituents such as nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and algal biomass matched the measured values closely in the reservoir. The calibrated model was then applied to simulate water quality response to various nutrient reduction scenarios. Results of the model scenario runs reveal that a 20% and 80% reduction of the phosphorus loads will improve the water quality from eutrophic to mesotrophic and oligotrophic conditions, respectively. The modeling effort has yielded valuable information that can be used by decision makers for the evaluation of different management strategies of reducing watershed nutrient loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]