A review of intestinal microbes in grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idellus (Valenciennes)

Grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, harbours complex intestinal bacterial communities, which are important in several physiological processes of their host. Intestinal microbiota of grass carp have been previously described in numerous studies. However, an overview on the bacterial community diversity, including their establishment, their functions in host's nutritional processes and immune‐related responses, and use as probiotics, is absent. This study aimed to summarize the current understanding of the grass carp intestinal microbiota. In this review, we provide general information on the establishment and composition of intestinal microbial communities and factors influencing the diversity of gut microbiota. Also, this review covers the dietary effects of probiotics, prebiotics and/or synbiotics on the grass carp intestinal microbial communities and physiological characteristics. Although our knowledge of the grass carp intestinal microbiota is expanding rapidly, further studies on the factors affecting the diversity of intestinal microbes, interactions between intestinal microbiota and their hosts and application of probiotics/prebiotics/synbiotics in aquaculture industry, are needed.     

Weaning methods using formulated feeds for snakehead (Channa striata and Channa micropeltes) larvae

The culture of snakehead fish (Channa striata and Channa micropeltes) in Vietnam is limited, and snakehead culture has been banned in Cambodia, because traditional practices include capture of fingerlings from the wild as seed, as well as capture of small‐size (also known as trash fish or low‐value) fish. As hatchery breeding technology has improved, we investigated the optimal weaning practices for these two species. Both laboratory experiments and farm trials were conducted. For C. striata, the optimal weaning procedure is to begin at 17 days after hatch (dah) and wean the fish at 10% replacement of live feed with formulated feed per day. However, for C. micropeltes, the optimal procedure is to wait until 40 dah to begin weaning and then to wean the fish with a 10% replacement of live feed with formulated feed every 3 days. These results should enable farmers to domesticate snakehead culture in Vietnam and Cambodia and eliminate reliance on fish captured from the wild as both seed and feed.     

Effects of natural dietary carotenoids on skin coloration of false Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris Cuvier, 1830)

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of dietary natural carotenoid sources on skin colour enhancement of false clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris. The juvenile fish (initial body wt. 0.30 g) were fed with four experimental diets including (a) commercial feed (reference diet), (b) moist feed, (c) sweet potato (potato diet) and (d) dried gut weed Enteromorpha sp. (gut weed diet). Sweet potato and gut weed were used to boost up β‐carotene levels in the diets. There was no significant difference in final weight (0.51 ± 0.02 – 0.61 ± 0.01 g) and length (2.80 ± 0.02 cm) of fishes among treatments (p > 0.05) after 8 weeks. The survival rate of the fish in all dietary treatment was greater than 89%. Principal component analysis results showed that fish fed potato and gut weed diets performed brighter colour in skin with more orangeness, body and accumulated β‐carotene levels were higher than those fish fed with reference diet. Indicator a* value for the redness of fish fed potato diet (16.18 ± 0.59) and gut weed (14.36 ± 2.14) was also higher than fish fed reference diet (10.92 ± 0.82). The result of this study provided key information for developing dietary colour enhancement of ornamental fish by using cost‐effective feed ingredients (potato and gut weed) as natural supplemental carotenoid sources.     

Using remote sensing to evaluate the spatial variability of evapotranspiration and crop coefficient in the lower Rio Grande Valley,New Mexico

Pecan is a major crop in the lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), New Mexico. Currently, about 11,000 ha of pecan orchards at various stages of growth are consuming about 40% of irrigation water in the area. Pecan evapotranspiration (ET) varies with age, canopy cover, soil type and method of water management. There is a need for better quantification of pecan ET for the purpose of water rights adjudication, watershed management and agronomical practices. This paper describes a process where remote sensing information from Landsat-5 and Landsat-7 were combined with ground level measurements to estimate pecan ET and field scale actual crop coefficient (K _c) for the LRGV. The results showed that annual pecan water use for 279 fields ranged from 498 to 1,259 mm with an average water use of 1,054 mm. For fields with NDVI > 0.6 (normalized difference vegetation index), which represented mature orchards (total of 232 fields), the annual water use ranged from 771 to 1,259 mm with an average water use of 1,077 mm. The results from remote sensing model compared reasonably well with ground level ET values determined by an eddy covariance system in a mature pecan orchard with an average error of 4% and the standard error of estimate (SEE) ranging from 0.91 to 1.06 mm/day. A small fraction (5%) of the pecan fields were within the range of maximum ET and K _c.     

Effects of species and shelterbelt structure on wind speed reduction in shelter

Live shelterbelts are common elements in coastal land areas and play an important role in reducing wind speed and sand drift. A simple measured index, that well represents relationship between shelterbelt structure and wind speed reduction, is required by landowners to enable them in establishing more effective shelterbelts. A three-dimensional crown (3D) density is proposed, which can be easily identified through shelterbelt parameters including maximum height, shelterbelt width, vertical crown/stem area ratio, and horizontal crown/stem area ratio. The utility of the index was tested in 10-year-old Casuarina equisetifolia and in 7-year-old Acacia auriculiformis shelterbelts in north central Coast of Vietnam. There was a significant negative linear relationship (R ² = 0.64, p < 0.001) between 3D density and wind speed reduction efficiency, while there was no relationship between a two-dimensional crown density and wind speed reduction efficiency. Reduction efficiency was found to increase at higher wind speeds in shelterbelts of A. auriculiformis, but not C. equisetifolia. The A. auriculiformis shelterbelt was more efficient in reducing wind speed compared to C. equisetifolia shelterbelt. The former recovered 70 % wind speed at 130 m (16.5H) leeward, while it recovered 70 % at 85 m (8H) leeward in C. equisetifolia shelterbelt.     

农用车柔性底盘姿态切换参数对切换精度与时间的影响及其优化

为了研究农用车柔性底盘的姿态切换运行特性,该文进行了柔性底盘姿态切换分析和基于二代样机在硬化路面上的姿态切换试验,建立了姿态切换状态模型,并通过层次分析法和遗传算法优化了切换参数,研究了不同平移角度、电机转速、切换角度、平移速度和回转速度条件下的切换精度和切换时间,得到各因素及其交互作用对农用车柔性底盘姿态切换的影响和不同切换参数的相互配合关系。结果表明:影响准备与恢复精度的主次因素为电机转速平移角度,影响准备与恢复时间的主次因素为平移角度电机转速;横行姿态的平移速度对其横行精度和时间都有极显著的影响,任意平移角度下,横行姿态的电机最优转速为5.4 r/min,最优平移速度为3.45 m/s;影响原地回转姿态的回转精度主次因素为:切换角度回转速度;影响原地回转姿态的回转时间主次因素为:切换角度回转速度交互作用;任意平移角度下,原地回转姿态的最优电机转速为5.4 r/min,当切换角度?r为0～85°时,最优回转速度为(0.003 3βr+0.506 8) rad/s,当切换角度大于等于85°时,最优回转速度为0.78rad/s。优化参数对比结果表明:横行姿态中,优化参数组的试验结果在综合精度方面与精度优先组持平并高出时间优先组4.16%,在综合时间方面与时间优先组持平并少于精度优先组17 110 ms;原地回转姿态中,优化参数组的试验结果在综合精度方面与精度优先组持平并高出时间优先组5.15%,在综合时间方面分别少于时间优先组和精度优先组646和996 ms。优化后的姿态切换参数能够保证柔性底盘在略微损失姿态切换精度的情况下,以较快的姿态切换效率完成其姿态切换过程。     

Milling of rice grains. The degradation on three structural levels of starch in rice flour can be independently controlled during grinding

Whole polished rice grains were ground using cryogenic and hammer milling to understand the mechanisms of degradation of starch granule structure, whole (branched) molecular structure, and individual branches of the molecules during particle size reduction (grinding). Hammer milling caused greater degradation to starch granules than cryogenic milling when the grains were ground to a similar volume-median diameter. Molecular degradation of starch was not evident in the cryogenically milled flours, but it was observed in the hammer-milled flours with preferential cleavage of longer (amylose) branches. This can be attributed to the increased grain brittleness and fracturability at cryogenic temperatures, reducing the mechanical energy required to diminish the grain size and thus reducing the probability of chain scission. The results indicate, for the first time, that branching, whole molecule, and granule structures of starch can be independently altered by varying grinding conditions, such as grinding force and temperature.     

Ordering the exemplary urban spaces: A critical analysis of Hanoi's embellishment projects

Vietnam has a long tradition of social engineering through which the ordering of urban space has effectively been used to enforce the state's vision of political and social order. With the country currently in transition from a centrally planned to a market‐oriented economy, the ordering of urban spaces is currently all the more important. This is prominently manifested in the numerous beautification projects that are being implemented in Vietnamese cities. This article explores recent ordering endeavours and considers the way they are legitimated and contested in Vietnam's new socio‐political context. Three beautification projects in Hanoi are examined using materials from policy documents, professional journals and media coverage. The article argues that state ordering actions and the ‘exemplary’ urban spaces they seek to create are embodiments of a complex system of orders of powers in transitional Vietnam, in which political visions of modernist socialism and the new market‐oriented agenda are sometimes in alignment and sometimes clash. Overall, the state's failure in sustaining these ‘exemplary’ urban spaces is emblematic of this hybrid system.     

From free to forced adaptation: A political ecology of the ‘state‐society‐flood’ nexus in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

This paper investigates the adaptation processes with reference to the narrative analysis of human–environment interactions in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. From the political ecology perspective, it focuses on the discourses of the power relationships embedded within the ‘state‐society‐flood’ nexus over the course of its ‘opening‐up and closing‐off’ processes (e.g. excavating large‐scale canals for human settlements and agricultural expansion (opening‐up) and human interventions into natural systems through water control structures (closing‐off)). Drawing on empirical data gathered from 33 interviews and nine focus group discussions in three study areas and relevant literature, the paper argues that human interactions with the flood environments are intertwined with adjustments of adaptation patterns as evidenced through three periods: free adaptation (pre‐1975), transitional adaptation (1976–2010) and forced adaptation (after 2010). These processes have witnessed a gradual power shift in the ‘state‐society’ relations in manipulating floods, which moves from the top‐down towards a more collaborative fashion. By unravelling the political ecology of the ‘state‐society‐flood’ nexus, this paper exhibits the skewed development in the delta, which is largely bound to short‐term development planning to prioritise local socio‐economic and political objectives. The paper contributes important policy implications for achieving socially just and environmentally sustainable development in the delta.