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Copyright of Journal of Taiwan Agricultural Research is the property of Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Taiwan Agricultural Research is the property of Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background and Aim: Peritoneal metastasis is an uncommon manifestation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the present paper was to investigate the characteristics and survival of HCC patients with peritoneal metastases. Methods: From January 1985 to December 2004, we retrospectively reviewed the records of 53 Taiwanese HCC patients with peritoneal metastases. Results: Peritoneal metastases were detected at the time of HCC diagnosis (synchronously) in 10 patients and after the initial therapy for the primary tumors (metachronously) in 43 patients. The mean time for development of the metachronous peritoneal metastases was similar whether the primary cancer was treated with surgery (24 months) or transarterial chemoembolization (22.2 months). The single patient whose primary cancer was treated with supportive care alone developed peritoneal metastasis only 7.5 months after detection of the primary cancer. Surgical resection of the peritoneal metastases was possible in two-thirds of the 43 metachronous patients. The median survival for those who received surgery for these metastases was 12.5 months vs. 2.1 months for those without surgery ( P = 0.0013). However, there was no difference in survival if patients were stratified to Child-Pugh grade. Conclusions: Peritoneal metastases of HCC are rare and can occur synchronously or metachronously. Though increased long-term survival was found in patients who had surgical removal of peritoneal metastases, the main determinant of better survival is Child-Pugh grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the delineation of spatial redox zones using discriminant analysis and geochemical modeling in arsenic-affected alluvial aquifers of the Lanyang plain, Taiwan. The study adopts a discriminant analysis to define three redox zones in different aquifers and yielded 92.3% correctness on groundwater quality data. The study cites that the Arsenic released to groundwater in the found zone is due to the oxidations of arsenic-rich pyrite minerals, in which arsenate is the predominant form. Moreover, the study suggests that the dissolution of arsenic-rich Fe-oxides due to the onset of reducing conditions in zones are responsible for the quality of arsenic and likely to be the primary cause of arsenic release to groundwater in the Lanyang plain.

Asparagus is a high economic value crop sensitive to environmental factors and pest outbreaks, so asparagus cultivation in Taiwan is usually grown in greenhouses. This study established an AIoT system specifically for asparagus growth and monitoring of pests and diseases, providing planting guidelines for farmers to grow asparagus and preventing outbreaks of pests and diseases. We have installed many IoT and AI sensors to track environmental changes and pest populations. In the summer, the fans are automatically turned on and off according to the temperature measured by the sensor. The cooling effect is observed on the temperature distribution interpolated with kriging. By correlation analysis, the relationship between environmental factors and asparagus yield and the relationship between environmental changes and pests were obtained, which can help to optimize the planting environment in terms of sunlight and temperature regulation, drip fertigation, irrigation, and pest control strategies. The deep learning model we developed can detect pests and count pest numbers with high accuracy. The model detection results show that with an IOU threshold of 0.5, precision, recall, mAP, and pest count accuracy reach 93.8%, 91.9%, 95.3%, and 95.8%, respectively. Finally, our research and development results can provide farmers with automated and optimized asparagus planting methods, reduce insect pests, optimize the growing environment, and provide good irrigation and soil management to improve yield and quality. • AIoT technology can optimize asparagus cultivation with intelligent systems. • Various environmental data can be used to predict the trend of crop yields and pest populations. • AI models can track pest populations and predict the outbreaks of pests. • AIoT system can automate crop management for safety, quality, and consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial distributions of groundwater quality are commonly heterogeneous, varying with depths and locations, which is important in assessing the health and ecological risks. Owing to time and cost constraints, it is not practical or economical to measure arsenic everywhere. A predictive model is necessary to estimate the distribution of a specific pollutant in groundwater. This study developed a logistic regression (LR) model to predict the residential well water quality in the Lanyang plain. Six hydrochemical parameters, pH, NO3- -N, NO2- -N, NH4+ -N, Fe, and Mn, and a regional variable (binary type) were used to evaluate the probability of arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 μg/L in groundwater. The developed parsimonious LR model indicates that four parameters in the Lanyang plain aquifer, (pH, NH4+, Fe(aq), and a component to account for regional heterogeneity) can accurately predict probability of arsenic concentration ≥ 10 μg/L in groundwater. These parameters provide an explanation for release of arsenic by reductive dissolution of As-rich Fe00H in NH4+ containing groundwater. A comparison of LR and indicator kriging (IK) show similar results in modeling the distributions of arsenic. LR can be applied to assess the probability of groundwater arsenic at sampled sites without arsenic concentration data apriori. However, arsenic sampling is still needed and required in arsenic-assessment stages in other areas, and the need for long-term monitoring and maintenance is not precluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]