From Chinese tourists to Taiwanese campers: Impacts of tourism policies on campsite land use/cover change.

The rapid increase in camping activities and campsites has had negative environmental impacts in mountainous areas. Tourism policies may be an important factor in changing recreational behavior and increasing campsites. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of tourism policies on campsite-related landscape changes in Taiwan. The study area consisted of 276 campsites in the Jianshi and Wufeng Townships in Hsinchu County. The tourism policy periods were divided into 2001-2007 (Taiwan's agri-tourism policy), 2008-2015 (China and Taiwan's travel permit policy), and 2016-2019 (China's travel restriction policy), based on a reference review and relative theories. The 2000, 2008, 2016, and 2019 campsite landscapes were classified into forestland and non-forestland through object-based classification. This study established a general linear model to analyze the effect of tourism policy period on campsite forestland and non-forestland landscape change, according to the 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 m radii of 276 campsites. The results showed that tourism policies had a significant effect on campsite forestland and non-forestland landscape changes. The effect sizes ranged from medium to large. The Chinese tourist travel permit policy was significantly associated with increased non-forestland in campsites from 2008 to 2016. This policy likely affected recreational behavior indirectly, promoting camping and increasing non-forestland through the crowding-out effects of the many Chinese tourists, which was not the original purpose of the policy. Tourism policy decision-makers should consider the potential negative landscape change effects of changes in recreational behavior, and provide supporting measures to maintain recreational quality and avoid crowding-out effects. Campsite development should also be regulated to prevent forestland changes and achieve sustainable management.

An investigation of the factors affecting flatfoot in children with delayed motor development.

This study investigated the prevalence of flatfoot in children with delayed motor development and the relevant factors affecting it. In total, 121 preschool-aged children aged 3-6 with delayed motor development (male: 81; female: 40) were enrolled in the motor-developmentally delayed children group, and 4 times that number, a total of 484 children (male: 324; female: 160), of gender- and age-matched normal developmental children were used as a control group for further analyses. The age was from 3.0 to 6.9 years old for the participants. The judgment criterion of flatfoot was the Chippaux-Smirak index >62.70%, in footprint measurement. The results showed that the prevalence of flatfoot in children with motor developmental delay was higher than that in normal developmental children, approximately 58.7%, and that it decreased with age from 62.8% of 3-year-olds to 50.0% of 6-year-olds. The results also showed that motor-developmentally delayed children with flatfoot are at about 1.5 times the risk of normal developmental children (odds ratio=1.511, p=0.005). In addition, the prevalence of flatfoot is relatively higher in overweight children with delayed motor development, and that in obese children is even as high as 95.8% (23/24). Children with both excessive joint laxity and delayed development are more likely to suffer from flatfoot. The findings of this study can serve as a reference for clinical workers to deal with foot issues in children with delayed motor development.

Outdoor thermal comfort characteristics in the hot and humid region from a gender perspective.

Thermal comfort is a subjective psychological perception of people based also on physiological thermoregulation mechanisms when the human body is exposed to a combination of various environmental factors including air temperature, air humidity, wind speed, and radiation conditions. Due to the importance of gender in the issue of outdoor thermal comfort, this study compared and examined the thermal comfort-related differences between male and female subjects using previous data from Taiwanese questionnaire survey. Compared with males, the results indicated that females in Taiwan are less tolerant to hot conditions and intensely protect themselves from sun exposure. Our analytical results are inconsistent with the findings of previous physiological studies concerning thermal comfort indicating that females have superior thermal physiological tolerance than males. On the contrary, our findings can be interpreted on psychological level. Environmental behavioral learning theory was adopted in this study to elucidate this observed contradiction between the autonomic thermal physiological and psychological-behavioral aspects. Women might desire for a light skin tone through social learning processes, such as observation and education, which is subsequently reflected in their psychological perceptions (fears of heat and sun exposure) and behavioral adjustments (carrying umbrellas or searching for shade). Hence, these unique psychological and behavioral phenomena cannot be directly explained by autonomic physiological thermoregulation mechanisms. The findings of this study serve as a reference for designing spaces that accommodates gender-specific thermal comfort characteristics. Recommendations include providing additional suitable sheltered areas in open areas, such as city squares and parks, to satisfy the thermal comfort needs of females.