Evaluation of non-linear growth curve models in the Vietnamese indigenous Mia chicken

Understanding of animal growth is important for the improvement of management and feeding practices; however, little is known about the growth curve in Vietnamese indigenous chicken. This study was performed to determine the most appropriate models for describing the growth curve of Vietnamese Mia chicken. The study evaluated the performances of the Logistic, Gompertz, Richards, and Bridges models of body weights in 224 Mia chickens. Models were fitted using minpack.lm package in R software and Akaike’s information criterion and Bayesian information criterion were used for model comparison. Based on these criteria, the Gompertz and Bridges were the best models for males and females, respectively. Estimated asymmetric weights (α) were ranged from 2,241.91 ± 14.74 (g) (Logistic) to 2,623.86 ± 30.23 (g) (Gompertz) for males and from 1,537.36 ± 10.97 (g) (Logistic) and 1,958.36 ± 72.92 (g) (Bridges) for females, respectively. The age at the inflection point was estimated from 9.32 to 10.5 weeks and from 8.51 to 9.86 weeks for males and females, respectively. In conclusion, the Gompertz model is the most suitable model for describing the growth curve of Mia chicken. The parameters obtained from growth models could help define feeding programs to meet nutritional needs from hatching to the age of maximum growth, reproduction programs, and marketing strategies.     

Piglet Diarrhea and Technology Transfers to Prevent E. coli Infection at Small-Holder Pig Farms in Binh Dinh,Vietnam

The study aims at finding alternative interventions for the prevention ofE. coli infection in piglets so as to boost farmers＇ benefits and improve environment in the area. Data were collected from one experimental group consisting of 210 small pig holder farms and one control group of 70 farms. All of 280 litters and sows were analyzed and the techniques of early vaccination at 60-80 d of pregnant （time 1） were applied and repeated after 10 d with E. coli vaccine to produce antibodies through milk. The percentage of piglets with diarrhea caused by E. coli significantly decreased from 75.7% to 18.9%. Injection of E. coli vaccine for the pregnant sows created antibodies for young piglets through colostrums. The treatment of E. coli cost 45,420 Vietnam Dong （VND） per litter in the experimental group and that was 156,000 VND/litter in the control group. Use of betel-bokashi （bio-product as plant antibiotics and Lactobacillus） to treat piglet diarrhea was proved safe and effective. Litter size and average weight at birth and weaning were improved significantly （P 〈 0.05）. The average weaned weight of piglets and sows were 11.2 kg and 118.6 kg in the experimental group, compared to 9.4 kg and 89.9 kg in the control group, respectively. Piglets in the experimental group had good health, no diarrhea and a shorter weaning time （2 d） and mating interval 2.22 days earlier than those in the control group. The average profit of 210 households was significantly higher in the experiment group： feed-cost was much lower than that in the control group. Small-holder farms implementing the experiments of applying the techniques received more financial profit, which was 1,502,000 VND per year per sow, while those who did not apply the techniques gained only 223,000 VND per year per sow.     

Lipopeptide Antibiotics Produced by the Engineered Strain Bacillus subtilis GEB3 and Detection of Its Bioactivity

MALDI-TOF-MS technology was used for identification of lipopeptide antibiotics produced by GEB3 strain,a derivative of Bacillus subtilis 168 which was transformed by lpaB3gene.The result showed GEB3 only produced lipopeptide antibiotic surfactin.The analysis by LC-MS demonstrated that GEB3 produced standard surfactin isoforms with side chain lengths of 13,14 and 15 carbon atoms.The bioactivity detection of surfactin indicated that the surfactin produced by GEB3 had inhibition effect on plant pathogens Rhizoctonia solani and Pyricularia oryzae.     

Quaternary raised coral-reef terraces on sumba island, indonesia

A spectacular sequence of coral-reef terraces (six steps broader than 500 meters and many minor substeps) is developed near Cape Laundi, Sumba Island, between an ancient patch reef 475 meters high and sea level. Several raised reefs have been dated with the electron spin resonance and the uranium-series dating methods. The uplift trend deduced from these reefs is 0.5 millimeter per year; most terraces, although polycyclic in origin, appear to correspond to specific interglacial stages, with the oldest terrace formed 1 million years ago. This puts them among the longest and most complete mid-Quaternary terrace sequences.     

True potato seed research and development in Vietnam

Quality tuber planting material is unavailable in the Red River Delta (RRD). The use of True Potato Seed (TPS) was considered as an alternative planting material. During the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons, 21 and 40 kilos of open pollinated TPS, respectively, were collected in the southern highlands and distributed to over 40 cooperative groups of farmers in the RRD. Fifty-two hectares (1985-86) and 120 hectares (1986-87) of potatoes were produced from transplants in the two years of on-farm production. Approximately 50% of the farmers were successful in both years. Lack of experience and too wet or too dry growing conditions caused most of the failures. Yields from transplants ranged from 5 to 13 t/ha with 150 to 300 seedling tubers/m². Seedling tubers can be stored for eight months with low storage losses and when replanted give substantially higher yields than those obtained from locally grown, degenerated seed tubers.     

Screening of quinalphos,trifluralin and dichlorvos residues in fresh water of aquaculture systems in Mekong Delta,Vietnam

To develop an easy and reliable method for detecting pesticides and their residues in the Mekong Delta, a GC‐MS analytical method was developed and validated according to European guidelines (SANTE/11945/2015) for the determination of residues of three pesticides (quinalphos, trifluralin and dichlorvos) in water. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.002 and 0.007 μg/L, respectively, for quinalphos and trifluralin, and 0.016 and 0.053 μg/L, respectively, for dichlorvos and quinalphos. The repeatability, the within‐laboratory reproducibility as well as the trueness met the European criteria. The recovery rate ranged between 72% (for dichlorvos and quinalphos) and 82% (for trifluralin). The developed method was then applied for the analysis of 33 water samples, collected in April 2013, at the beginning of the rainy season in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Thirteen samples were from rice field, 10 were collected from cat fish ponds and from red tilapia cages. Results showed that only 9% of total water samples analysed contained residues of pesticides, but only in water from rice fish systems. From the 13 samples taken in these systems, quinalphos was detected in three samples. The other two pesticides were not detected. A comparison between analytical results obtained from GC‐MS and an alternative method, that is GC‐ECD indicated that GC‐ECD is less sensitive than GC‐MS, with LOQ ranging from 0.37 to 1.18 (depending on the pesticide). However, for samples with concentrations above these LOQ, no significant difference was observed between the results obtained from the two analytical methodologies.