No abstract

This study aims to assess the relationship between risk perception, attitude, and avoidance among residents toward an urban incinerator in Taichung, Taiwan. A cross-sectional study was conducted and three schools were enrolled. The case group was composed of 514 residents who live near an incinerator. The control group was composed of 264 people nearly the same age and who have lived in that area basically the same period of time. All participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Results of this study showed that there was no significant difference between the exposure group and the control group in risk perception and attitude regarding the incinerator. However, the exposure group showed a significantly higher desire to move within one year or move sometime in the future than the control group. Therefore, these people should encourage the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to do everything it can to make sure that the incinerator operates safely.

The objective of this research is to study the efficiency of acclimating the Tapumei Series red clay collected from Ming-Tou, Na-Tou in central Taiwan by using the calcium-rich by-product recovered from the CFB (Circulation Fluidized-Bed Boiler) de-sulfur operation. At the end of the testing period, the samples were dried, sieved and analyzed for pH, exchangeable calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, and aluminum. The plant growth was observed for 7 weeks in order to investigate the influence of soil improvement on the growth and production of corn. The results reveal that all samples show an initial sharp increase from 3 to 7.5, 8.1, 8.4 and 8.6 for samples added with 18, 27, 36 and 45 tons/hectare of lime, respectively, and the final pH values after 6 months were 6.5, 7.2, 7.6 and 7.9, respectively. The lime treatment increases the soil exchangeable anion concentrations and reduces the aluminum ion concentration. This is because that the recovered CBF by-product is rich in CaO that neutralizes the soil H+ and raises the soil pH. Additionally, the anions contained in the by-product will also enhance the soil nutrients and lower the solubility of aluminum.

Human feet are designed by nature to walk on soft soil and grass, but more and more modernization road becomes smooth and hard, leading to only some part of foot arches to bear all the weight of the body. This continues a long-term will lead to physical disease. The paper combines optical design, 3D image processing technology, mechanical design, mold design, and computer network technology to build system from the foot pressure test to the medical diagnosis and disease degree determination, and then to customer tailored insoles, tracking service, curative effect evaluation.