ABSTRACT:The objectives of this study were to identify the chlorinated volatile organic compounds near the water surface of two heavily polluted rivers in the south of Taiwan and compare their concentration distributions. Air samples were collected seasonally at the upstream, midstream and downstream water surfaces of each river and the chlorinated volatile organic compounds were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by gas chromatography and electron capture detector. Totally, twelve kinds of chlorinated volatile organic compounds were found at the water surfaces of both rivers and many of them were reported to be carcinogenic or probably carcinogenic to human. The results showed that each chlorinated volatile organic compound had its own distribution pattern and no good correlation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds between both rivers was obtained. The chlorinated volatile organic compounds identified at the river water surface of Fong Shan Stream showed much higher concentration than those of Chuen-Tsen River. Several chlorinated volatile organic compounds, including chlorodibromomethane, hexachlorobutadiene, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethene and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane were found with much higher concentration (mean concentrations of 124.5 µg/m 3 , 334.5 µg/ m 3 , 92.2 µg/m 3 , 268.4 µg/m 3 , respectively) at the water surface of Fong Shan Stream in some seasons (especially spring and summer, summer and winter, spring and winter, spring and summer, respectively) and they were reported to be possibly carcinogenic to human. Therefore, it may be concluded that the people living close to Fong Shan Stream possibly had higher health risks due to the release of volatile organic compounds from the heavily polluted river.

A Pd/Ge metallization to InGaAsP/InP semiconductors, formed with solid-phase epitaxy (SPE) technique, has been investigated in this study. With this method, ohmic contacts with low specific contact resistance ( p , -2.3 x n.cm2) have been achieved on p-type Ino,,3G@,4,As (p -1.8 X 1019/cm3). The same contact scheme also gives low specific contact resistance ( p , = 6 X lo-' Q.cm2) on n-type Ino.53Gao.47As (n = 1.0 X 1019/cm3). Excellent surface morphology is observed in all the samples, and the contacts do not deteriorate for at least 4 h at temperatures between 300 and 500°C.

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among hemodialysis patients and factors associated with quality of dialysis.Methods:Data were collected from 377 long-term hemodialysis patients who received hemodialysis treatment from clinics in Tainan and Kaohsiung between November 2009 and February 2010. MetS was defined using criteria set by the adult treatment panel III (ATP-III). But, the cutpoint of waist circumference has been modified to adjust for Asian populations.The measurement of Kt/V was used as an indicator of the quality of dialysis. A below 1.4 Kt/V was considered poor dialysis quality.Results:Results showed that the prevalence of MetS among the chronic hemodialysis patients in this sample was 61.0%. Logistic regression results identified that the quality of dialysis in females was better than that in males (odds ratio (OR)=7.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.52-25.31). Better quality dialysis was associated with older age, longer treatment time, and increased blood flow rate (OR=1.49, 13.63, and 1.35, respectively). However, for every one kilogram increase in weight, the quality of dialysis decreased by 13 percents (OR=0.87, 95% CI: 0.83-0.92).Conclusions:MetS is common among hemodialysis patients. The prevalence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycaemia were significantly higher among hemodialysis patients. Quality of dialysis related to gender, age, weight, and the dialysis prescription (treatment time and blood flow rate).

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