The effect of taurine supplementation to a plant‐based diet for barramundi (Lates calcarifer) with varying methionine content

The effect of variable taurine inclusion (Tau) (1 g/kg DM to 15 g/kg DM) in the diet of juvenile barramundi (Lates calcarifer) on growth and nutrient utilization was investigated at three levels of dietary methionine (Met) supplementation. Diets were fed to juvenile barramundi (starting weight: 26.8 g) twice daily under a restricted pair‐fed regime for a period of 42 days. No significant effect of dietary Tau supply on growth or nutrient utilization was observed at any level of Met inclusion. Numerical variations suggested a positive effect of Tau provision at the mid‐level of supplementation (6–8 g/kg DM). The best‐fit response model (5‐SKM), fitted to the percentage body weight gain data of fish fed diets with an adequate level of Met, suggested a relatively weak pattern of response (R² = 0.183) and predicted a Tau requirement of 5.47 g/kg DM (9.64 g/kg CP) similar to that reported for several other species. It was concluded that taurine appears to be conditionally essential to barramundi, whereby provision in the diet when sulphur amino acid supply is insufficient to meet biosynthetic demands may be beneficial, but that the predicted requirement is likely reasonably accurate for use as a minimum level of inclusion.     

Comparative study on dietary protein requirements for juvenile and pre‐adult gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio var. CAS III)

Two 8‐week growth trials were conducted in indoor recirculation system to evaluate the protein requirements for juvenile (3.70 ± 0.20 g) and pre‐adult (85.2 ± 0.70 g) gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio var. CAS III. Six isoenergetic diets were formulated for each trial using fish meal and casein as protein sources, and protein level was 250–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 1 and 200–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 2. With the increasing dietary protein, feeding rate (FR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Weight gain (WG) increased first and then reached a plateau in 330–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 1 (P > 0.05), while decreased after the maximum value in 350 g kg^?1 in Trial 2 (P < 0.05). Productive protein values (PPVs) were lower in 370–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 1 and 400–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 2 (P < 0.05). Increasing dietary protein level increased protein content and decreased lipid content in whole fish body and white muscle (P < 0.05). Apparent digestibility coefficient of dry matters (ADC_d) decreased, while apparent digestibility coefficient of protein (ADC_p) increased in 370–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 1 and 250–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 2 (P < 0.05). Trypsin activity significantly increased in 370–450 g kg^?1 in Trial 1 (P < 0.05) and was not affected in Trial 2 (P > 0.05). Hepatic alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities in both trials increased when dietary protein was above 400 g kg^?1 (P < 0.05). Based on quadratic regression of WG, it was estimated that dietary protein requirement for maximum growth was 414 g kg^?1 (digestible protein of 376 g kg^?1) and 365 g kg^?1 (digestible protein of 324 g kg^?1) for juvenile (3.70 g) and pre‐adult gibel carp (85.2 g).     

Dietary lysine requirement of juvenile Protonibea diacanthus

An 8‐week experiment was conducted to determine the optimal dietary lysine requirement for juvenile Protonibea diacanthus. Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated to contain levels of 10.8 (L10.8), 18.2 (L18.2), 26.1 (L26.1), 33.9 (L33.9), 40.7 (L40.7) and 48.6 g/kg (L48.6) of diets and were fed to the juvenile Protonibea diacanthus, respectively. The results indicated that weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and final weight (FW) increased as the dietary lysine level increased from 10.8 to 26.1 g/kg and then decreased as the dietary lysine levels further increased (p < .05). The lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was found when dietary lysine level was 26.1 g/kg. Analysis of specific growth rate by two slope broken‐line model indicated that the estimated optimal dietary levels of lysine for juvenile Protonibea diacanthus was 23.06 g/kg (51.24 g/kg dietary protein).     

Effect of dietary supplemental l‐carnitine on growth performance,body composition and antioxidant status in juvenile black sea bream,Sparus macrocephalus

Effects of dietary l ‐carnitine were studied in juvenile black sea bream (Sparus macrocephalus). The semipurified basal diet [crude protein 450 g kg^?1 dry matter (DM); crude lipid 126 g kg^?1 DM] was formulated to choose white fishmeal as the protein source and fish oil plus corn oil (1 : 1) as the lipid source. Six diets (control + diets 1–5) containing 0.1, 0.12, 0.16, 0.24, 0.39 and 1.1 g of l ‐carnitine kg^?1 diet were fed to triplicate groups of black sea bream (initial weight 13.10 ± 0.05 g) for 8 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, growth performance, body composition and antioxidant status were determined. The results showed that relative growth rate (RGR) was significantly improved by the elevation of dietary l ‐carnitine level from 0.1 to 0.24 g kg^?1, but decreased with further increment (P < 0.05). Lipid content decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the dorsal muscle whereas increased (P < 0.05) in the liver with the addition of dietary l ‐carnitine. Dietary l ‐carnitine supplements elevated enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT; glutathione‐S‐transferase, GST) activities (P < 0.05) yet decreased the content of non‐enzymatic factor, total sulphydryl groups (TSH) (P < 0.05). In summary, the optimum dietary l ‐carnitine level was 0.284 g kg^?1 diet by second‐polynomial regression analysis based on RGR (y = ?647.4x² +367.97x + 234.55; R² = 0.977, x = dietary l ‐carnitine levels, y = RGR), and dietary l ‐carnitine addition within the levels adopted in our study could depress lipid peroxidation in tissues of juvenile black sea bream.     

Dietary threonine requirement of fingerling Indian major carp,Labeo rohita (Hamilton)

An 8‐week feeding experiment was conducted in a water flow‐through system (26–28 °C) to determine the dietary threonine requirement of fingerling Labeo rohita (3.90±0.03 cm; 0.58±0.02 g). Growth, feed utilization and body composition of fish fed test diets (40% crude protein; 17.9 kJ g^?1 gross energy) with graded levels of l ‐threonine (0.75%, 1.0%, 1.25%, 1.50%, 1.75% and 2.0% dry diet) to apparent satiation were response variables used to assess threonine adequacy. Diets were made isonitrogenous and isoenergetic by adjusting the levels of glycine and dextrin. The amino acid profiles of the test diets were formulated to that of 40% whole chicken egg protein except for threonine. The performance of fish fed experimental diets was evaluated using calculated values for weight gain (g fish^?1), feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and protein productive value (PPV) data. Maximum weight gain (g fish^?1) (1.79), lowest FCR (1.39), highest PER (1.76) and PPV (0.33) were recorded at 1.50 g per 100 g dietary threonine. Statistical analysis of weight gain, FCR, PER and PPV data reflected significant differences (P<0.05) among treatments. Except for reduced growth performance in fish fed threonine‐deficient diets, no deficiency signs were noted. Weight gain, FCR, PER and PPV data were also analysed using second‐degree polynomial regression analysis to obtain a more accurate threonine requirement estimate, which was found, using each response variable, to be at 1.70, 1.63, 1.65 and 1.51 g per 100 g of dry diet, corresponding to 4.2, 4.07, 4.12 and 3.77 g per 100 g of dietary protein respectively. Based on the second‐degree polynomial regression analysis of the live weight gain, FCR, PER and PPV data, the optimum dietary level of threonine for fingerling L. rohita was found to be in the range of 1.51–1.70 g per 100 g of the dry diet, corresponding to 3.77–4.2 g per 100 g of dietary protein.     

Application of crop growth simulation and mathematical modeling to supply chain management in the Thai sugar industry

The poorly integrated cane supply planning between mills and cane growers in the Northeast of Thailand generates an excess of cane supplies that exceeds the mills’ capacity during the peak of harvest season. Each grower individually determines his/her cultivation plan by selecting planting dates and cultivars based on one’s own preference without taking into account the individual mill’s capacity and other growers’ plans. This situation causes most sugarcane grown in this area to reach its mature stage at the same period. In this study, we propose a framework of cultivation planning to cope with the problem. The focus of the cultivation plan is a long-term plan to determine the cultivation time, the cultivar selection and the corresponding prospective harvesting time window for each field such that overall sugar production is optimized.The crop growth model and a mathematical model are employed for yield simulation and optimization task. The crop growth model enables decision-makers to visualize cane production of each individual field at different dates with different cultivars and allow decision-makers to apply the mathematical programming to cultivation planning. The suggested framework has the potential to increase sugar production by 23% when compared to the traditional method.     

农业装备物流体系的数学建模

在分析了农业装备物流体系特点的基础上,指出了目前存在的数学模型不能完全体现和描述农业装备物流体系的特点;建立了基于面向环境时延着色Petri网(EOCTPN)的农业装备物流体系数学模型;研究了不同类型农业装备物流体系对库存总成本和长鞭效应的影响程度;解决了目前存在的无法将正向物流和逆向物流有机结合在一起的问题;有效克服了基础Petri网描述此类问题出现的"节点爆炸"现象.在仿真实验的基础上,提出了应如何构建农业装备物流体系的方法.     

弧形流道结构参数对灌水器水力性能影响的数值模拟

应用计算流体动力学CFD数值软件FLUENT6.3,模拟了滴灌灌水器弧形及弧齿形二种结构形式流道的流场水力性能。结果表明,弧形流道的消能方式主要为沿程水头损失,弧形流道灌水器的流态指数在0.7左右,而弧齿形流道中存在许多流动漩涡区,因此,其消能方式主要为局部水头损失,弧齿形灌水器的流态指数在0.5左右。通过对比分析认为:弧齿形流道水力性能优于弧形流道,可以通过结构参数优化设计,减小0流速区域,强化旋涡区,提高弧齿形灌水器的水力性能与抗堵塞能力,灌水器设计中推荐采用弧齿形流道结构形式。     

基于SVM的CFRW导电性建模预测研究

针对碳纤维增强木质复合材料（CFRW）导电性具有非线性的特点,采用基于支持向量回归机（SVM）的机器学习方法建立碳纤维增强木质复合材料导电性预测模型。结果表明,所建模型的预测精度高、泛化能力强.     

基于对象建模的农机产品CAPP系统设计与应用

利用对象建模技术,通过抽象与重组形成CAPP系统的一般对象模型,并把对象、关联及操作等映射成数据库表和程序实体,结合农机产品CAPP实例论述了工艺过程卡对象模型的实现流程,分析了选单等的设计重用方法。实践证明,CAPP系统开发过程中,只需开发一个编辑窗口,而非对应每一个数据表开发相应的编辑窗口。当数据表发生结构改变时可通过修改数据窗口来实现。采用这种方法,同一个选单就可以被不同的窗口所共用,使系统的开发效率大大提高,同时系统的结构也非常合理,根据作业机的主体结构相似性,可应用于各类农机制造的工艺设计过程。