Mobile genetic elements facilitate the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes in multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae from duck farms

Multidrug-resistant(MDR)Enterobacteriaceae critically threaten duck farming and public health.The phenotypes,genotypes,and associated mobile genetic elements(MGEs)of MDR Enterobacteriaceae isolated from 6 duck farms in Zhejiang Province,China,were investigated.A total of 215 isolates were identified as Escherichia coli(64.65%),Klebsiella pneumoniae(12.09%),Proteus mirabilis(10.23%),Salmonella(8.84%),and Enterobacter cloacae(4.19%).Meanwhile,all isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics.Most isolates carried tet(A)(85.12%),blaTEM(78.60%)and sul1(67.44%)resistance genes.Gene co-occurrence analysis showed that the resistance genes were associated with IS26 and integrons.A conjugative IncFII plasmid pSDM004 containing all the above MGEs was detected in Proteus mirabilis isolate SDM004.This isolate was resistant to 18 antibiotics and carried the blaNDM-5 gene.MGEs,especially plasmids,are the primary antibiotic resistance gene transmission route in duck farms.These findings provide a theoretical basis for the rational use of antibiotics in farms which are substantial for evaluating public health and food safety.

Technical efficiency of cocoa farms at varying elevation levels in Davao City, Philippines: implications to sustainable upland farming systems

Elevation is one of many components that influence agriculture, and this in turn affects the level of both inputs and outputs of farmers. This article focuses on the productivity and technical efficiency of 100 cocoa farms using cross-sectional data from areas ranging from 190 to 1021 m above sea level which were classified as low, medium, and high elevation in Davao City, considered as the chocolate capital of the Philippines. Using stochastic frontier analysis, the results showed that the cost of inputs per ha and the number of cocoa trees per ha significantly increase yield. Farms at high elevations were less technically efficient, as this entails lower temperatures and increased rainfall, and cocoa farming in those areas and conditions can be more challenging, especially with changes in farming practices, terrain, and distance to markets. Other significant variables were age of cocoa farms, married farmers, and age of the farmers. Older farms may be more developed, farmers who are married benefit from their spouses being able to readily contribute as farm labor, and lastly, older farmers' inefficiency may likely stem from nonadaptation of newer farming practices. With an average technical efficiency of 0.61, 0.63, and 0.26 in low, medium, and high elevation areas, respectively, farmers therefore have an incentive to improve farm practices and consider topographical variations found in high elevation areas. Recommendations for the improvement of technical efficiency of cocoa farms are better connectivity to markets, enhancing farm practices, and continuation and improvement of government programs on cocoa with an added emphasis on research. For farmers in high elevation areas, mitigating solutions such as sustainable agriculture practices and ecolabelling are key to improving efficiency and minimizing the potential negative impact on upland farming systems. Moreover, such adaptation measures may also contribute to sustainability of cocoa farming in high elevation areas.

Identification of Microorganisms in Poultry Farms in N’djamena and the Border Areas of Hadjer-Lamis and Chari-Baguirmi Chad

Introduction: On the outskirts of Ndjamena, semi-industrial poultry farming and traditional poultry farming are practised informally on almost all poultry farms in Chad. This type of poultry farming is faced with real health problems attributable to a lack of monitoring of the vaccination schedule, inadequate compliance with biosecurity measures and poor application of the Ichikawa rule based on the 5 M’s. Objective: The aim of this article is to identify the microorganisms responsible for contamination of poultry farms in the study area. Method: The study was carried out from 28/04/2022 to 31/01/2023 on the basis of 300 samples taken from feed, drinking water, droppings and scrapings from poultry housing surfaces in the 30 farms that served as a framework for our research. Sampling was of the simple random type, and farms were selected on the basis of the farmers’ consent. The data were recorded on pre-established survey forms. Our study was cross-sectional, descriptive and prospective. Bacteria were isolated using the reference method NF EN ISO 6579 for Salmonella spp. and cultured on the specific medium eosin methylene blue (EMB) for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas and Citrobacter freundii. Results: The following results emerged from this study: Escherichia coli (5.33%), Pseudomonas (1.33%), Citrobacter freundii (12%) and Salmonella paratyphi (21.68%). Conclusion: Of the 300 samples analysed, 121 (40.33%) were contaminated with pathogens. This high level of contamination is a health problem. The study shows that biosecurity is less satisfactory on the farms visited. Nevertheless, farms with a very satisfactory level of biosafety ensure food safety and variety for the population.

Analysis and Innovative Strategies of Tax Preferential Policies to Promote the Sustainable Development of Small-Scale Individual Businesses

This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the current tax preferential policies for small-scale individual businesses and compared them with similar policies both domestically and internationally,aiming to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of the current system.After examining the impact of these tax preferential policies on the economic status of individual business owners and the broader social economy,this article proposes a set of innovative tax preferential strategies based on theoretical foundations.By developing these innovative strategies and clarifying their implementation paths,the aim is to promote the sustainable and healthy development of small-scale individual businesses,thereby fostering comprehensive socio-economic progress.The conclusion of this study not only summarizes policy recommendations with practical significance but also provides theoretical support for the optimization and innovation of future related systems.

Case Study:Promoting Sustainable Energy Greenhouse Heating Systems to Small-Scale Local Farms

Biomass energy generated from livestock manure,other agricultural by-products and food waste can be an affordable greenhouse-heating energy source for those seeking lower energy costs.Appalachian State University,North Carolina(NC),USA,has built a 6.1 m×9.1 m greenhouse,called the“Nexus”to test the integrated sustainable energy heating system for growing season extension with less energy cost.This is done by using on-farm biomass resources/wastes such as agricultural waste and wood chips to produce energy coupled with solar water heating to store and supplement required thermal inputs.Growing season extension with heated greenhouses increases the availability of local food throughout the year,expands available markets and increases farmers’profits.Nexus includes an above ground 5,680-L water storage tank and an aquaculture pond.It is supported by a small-scale pyrolysis system,an anaerobic digestion system,solar thermal and compost heating.The preliminary result showed that compared to a conventional space heating system,about 30%of energy was saved to keep the greenhouse temperature available for growing by radiation from the water storage tank.The main purpose of this study was to test the proposed greenhouse heating systems developed at Nexus by implementing pilot systems on two local farms.Pyrolysis and solar thermal system in conjunction with heat storage and delivery system for each farm were built and tested in order to demonstrate how to reduce greenhouse energy use.This paper describes the results of the case study,which showed significant energy savings that can promote the resource-limited farmers’interest.

Multiple Antimicrobial Resistance of Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli from Small-Scaled Poultry Farms and Retail Chicken

为农业目的使用的抗菌素贡献了抗菌素抵抗的细菌的增加的流行。这研究的目标是调查流行和生产 ESBL E 的抗菌剂抵抗。在 small-scaled 家禽农场和零卖鸡肉的 coli。有教养的 E。coli 孤立为 bla CTX-M , bla SHV , 和 bla TEM 基因。从 120 取样排汇物，零卖的鸡，土壤和鸡喂的鸡肉的各个，生产 ESBL E。coli 孤立分别地在 75.9% ， 63.6% ， 39.2% ，和 13.3% 样品被检测。最小的禁止的集中(MIC ) 价值显示了那生产 ESBL E。coli 是抵抗到氨比西林(MIC 32 g/mL ) ， gentamicin (MIC 16 g/mL ) ， cefotaxime (MIC 4 g/mL ) 和 ceftriaxone (MIC 4 g/mL ) 分别地。为 imipenem 的全部的抵抗也在 1.0% 点被观察(MIC 4 g/mL ) 并且任何一个 isolates 都不对 ceftazidime (MIC 16 g/mL ) 抵抗。生产 ESBL E。从鸡排汇物和零卖鸡肉的 coli 带了 bla SHV 以 6.8% 和 5.7% 的率的基因，分别地并且 bla CTX-M 基因也在零卖鸡肉在 2.9% 点被揭示。而且，生产 ESBL E。从土壤孤立的 coli 怀有 bla SHV 和 bla CTX-M 在 5% 点的基因。任何一个都没 feed 样品产出 ESBL 基因。23 个抵抗模式为多抵抗的生产 ESBL E 被观察。coli。这研究加亮多抗菌剂的流行抵抗生产 ESBL E。在 small-scaledpoultry 农场和零卖鸡肉的 coli，因此考察家禽管理的需要练习最小化出现。

Pollution characteristics and risk assessment of organophosphate esters in aquaculture farms and natural water bodies adjacent to the Huanghe River delta

To date,little attention has been paid to the effects of organophosphate esters(OPEs)pollution on aquacultural environment and aquatic product safety.Huanghe(Yellow)River delta area is one of the largest aquaculture centers in China,where ecological security protection is crucial in the national strategy of China.To explore the pollution characteristics,bioaccumulation,and health risks of OPEs in aquaculture farms in the Huanghe River delta and natural water bodies in the adjacent seas,five species of organisms from different farm types nearby the Huanghe River delta,and the corresponding culture water and sediments were sampled in this study.The total concentrations of Σ_(13)OPEs in water,sediments,and organisms were 51.53-272.18 ng/L,52.63-63.17 ng/g dry weight(dw),and 46.82-108.90 ng/g dw,respectively.Among the five types of culture ponds,the water samples from the swimming crab and hairy crab culture ponds exhibited higher OPEs,the concentration of OPEs in the sediments from the few ponds was relatively balanced,and the OPEs in the organism from the holothurian ponds was higher.Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-isopropyl pho sphate)(TDCP)was the main contaminant in water samples and tripropyl phosphate(TPrP)in sediments and organisms.However,trisphenyl phosphate(TPhP)showed the strongest bioaccumulation ability,followed by 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate(EHDPP)and TPrP.The bioaccumulation capacities of the five species were as follows:prawn>holothurian>hairy crab>swimming crab>carp.These five types of organisms,as main seafood in human consumption,were at low risk of negative impacts of pollution.However,the risk from the mixture of organophosphate flame retardants(OPFRs)still requires more attention due to the increasing consumption and production in the world.

Performance of the CMA-GD Model in Predicting Wind Speed at Wind Farms in Hubei, China

This study assesses the predictive capabilities of the CMA-GD model for wind speed prediction in two wind farms located in Hubei Province,China.The observed wind speeds at the height of 70m in wind turbines of two wind farms in Suizhou serve as the actual observation data for comparison and testing.At the same time,the wind speed predicted by the EC model is also included for comparative analysis.The results indicate that the CMA-GD model performs better than the EC model in Wind Farm A.The CMA-GD model exhibits a monthly average correlation coefficient of 0.56,root mean square error of 2.72 m s^(-1),and average absolute error of 2.11 m s^(-1).In contrast,the EC model shows a monthly average correlation coefficient of 0.51,root mean square error of 2.83 m s^(-1),and average absolute error of 2.21 m s^(-1).Conversely,in Wind Farm B,the EC model outperforms the CMA-GD model.The CMA-GD model achieves a monthly average correlation coefficient of 0.55,root mean square error of 2.61 m s^(-1),and average absolute error of 2.13 m s^(-1).By contrast,the EC model displays a monthly average correlation coefficient of 0.63,root mean square error of 2.04 m s^(-1),and average absolute error of 1.67 m s^(-1).

Research on Reactive Power Optimization of Offshore Wind Farms Based on Improved Particle Swarm Optimization

The lack of reactive power in offshore wind farms will affect the voltage stability and power transmission quality of wind farms.To improve the voltage stability and reactive power economy of wind farms,the improved particle swarmoptimization is used to optimize the reactive power planning in wind farms.First,the power flow of offshore wind farms is modeled,analyzed and calculated.To improve the global search ability and local optimization ability of particle swarm optimization,the improved particle swarm optimization adopts the adaptive inertia weight and asynchronous learning factor.Taking the minimum active power loss of the offshore wind farms as the objective function,the installation location of the reactive power compensation device is compared according to the node voltage amplitude and the actual engineering needs.Finally,a reactive power optimizationmodel based on Static Var Compensator is established inMATLAB to consider the optimal compensation capacity,network loss,convergence speed and voltage amplitude enhancement effect of SVC.Comparing the compensation methods in several different locations,the compensation scheme with the best reactive power optimization effect is determined.Meanwhile,the optimization results of the standard particle swarm optimization and the improved particle swarm optimization are compared to verify the superiority of the proposed improved algorithm.

Operations Improvement Function and Organisational Adaptability of Petroleum Tank Farms in South-South, Nigeria

The study examined the nexus between operations improvement function (dimensioned by contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes) and organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The contingency theory and the theory of routine dynamics underpinned the study, and positivism was the underlying philosophy. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey through the use of questionnaire. 820 middle and top-level managers constituted the elements of the population, and the Krejcie & Morgan’s formula was used to determine the sample size of 262 respondents. Structural Equation Modeling was deployed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. The results showed that contingency planning;benchmarking and continuous improvement processes all have a significant positive relationship with organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The study concludes that Petroleum tank farms’ operations should focus on the adoption of contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes to enhance organisational adaptability. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of Petroleum tank farms should put in place mechanisms to advance continuous improvement processes by allocating the necessary amount of resources, such as energy, time and money, in order to promote the continuous development of the continuous improvement systems. Furthermore, managers of Petroleum tank farms should make better the adoption of contingency planning, ensuring that there is as much necessary training and information for employees on how to act during a crises situation, in order to evaluate safety and prepare in advance for recovery from disasters.

The Impacts and Causes of Land Fragmentation on Farm Productivity: Case Review of East African Countries

This report provides an overall assessment of land fragmentation problems in East Africa. Many parts of East Africa have become highly fragmented, putting development systems and activities in these areas at risk of complete collapse. Land fragmentation occurs when land gets converted for agriculture, industrialization, or urbanization, invaded by non-local plants, or enclosed for individual use and by subdividing farmlands into subsequent smaller units called parcels with varying average farm sizes. Fragmentation results from inappropriate agricultural development processes and ineffective land use planning that fails to recognize how farmland is used, and the importance of its interconnected areas. Insecurity of tenure and resource rights are key factors in making this possible. Land fragmentation is one of the key reasons why the ability of most resources in East Africa becomes scarcer, and those remaining become “privatized” by more powerful community members—keen to maintain their access to them. Such individualistic attitudes are new and disadvantage the poorest even further by affecting the traditional customary safety nets and agricultural outputs. Neither the government nor customary governance systems effectively protect resource access for the poorest. This review summary report identifies the key causes, measures, and implications, government interventions, and the common remedies to land fragmentation problems in the East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania including neighboring Ethiopia, and the Sudan. The findings indicated from 2005 to 2015, the population kept increasing for all the named countries in East Africa with Rwanda and Uganda having a substantial increase in population density. The study review further explores the trend in the performance of agriculture by average farm sizes within the intervals of five years by highlighting their strong linkages and found that the average farm size has declined drastically, especially for Kenya. This can only mean that small farms kept becoming smaller and smaller and that there were more small-scale farmers. The results further depicted that the major and commonly cultivated food crops among the East African countries include maize, sorghum, rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, Irish potatoes, beans, peas, etc., with maize yields (Mt/ha) in 2003 for Uganda being the highest (1.79 Mt/ha) and the lowest in Rwanda (0.77 Mt/ha) respectively. Therefore, from the review results, recommendations are being made as to how the negative impacts of land fragmentation on agricultural productivity can be reduced or mitigated. One way is by community sensitization and awareness about the importance of land consolidation and its proposition on farm productivity.

Smart Farming for Sustainable Rice Production:An Insight into Application,Challenge,and Future Prospect

Rice has a huge impact on socio-economic growth,and ensuring its sustainability and optimal utilization is vital.This review provides an insight into the role of smart farming in enhancing rice productivity.The applications of smart farming in rice production including yield estimation,smart irrigation systems,monitoring disease and growth,and predicting rice quality and classifications are highlighted.The challenges of smart farming in sustainable rice production to enhance the understanding of researchers,policymakers,and stakeholders are discussed.Numerous efforts have been exerted to combat the issues in rice production in order to promote rice sector development.The effective implementation of smart farming in rice production has been facilitated by various technical advancements,particularly the integration of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.The future prospects of smart farming in transforming existing rice production practices are also elucidated.Through the utilization of smart farming,the rice industry can attain sustainable and resilient production systems that could mitigate environmental impact and safeguard food security.Thus,the rice industry holds a bright future in transforming current rice production practices into a new outlook in rice smart farming development.

Farm buildings and agri-food transitions in Southern France:Mapping dynamics using a stakeholder-based diagnosis

This study's goal is to present a dynamic portrait of the farm-buildings environment in Occitania,in Southern France,in order to better identify the transitions underway in agri-food chains.To this end,we undertook a ter-ritorial diagnosis based on actor statements,using 28 semi-structured interviews across Occitania.This diagnosis was enriched by graphic modelling,which enabled the spatialization of the dynamics described.We show that the process of standardisation of farm buildings prevails in the majority of the territories studied.This phenomenon has intensified in recent years with the development of vast photovoltaic-roofed sheds,accentuating the farm-land conversion and soil sealing.At the same time,in areas with strong environmental,landscape and heritage contexts,a'new adventure in farm buildings'(2022 survey)is taking shape.It is primarily driven by local short food chains,which rely on self-construction,repurposing and refurbishment,the sharing of tools and equipment,and which favour the use and reuse of local resources.This study shows that farm-buildings dynamics crystallise many challenges confronting the reterritorialisation of agriculture and food production.

Transient Stability Preventive Control of Wind Farm Connected Power System Considering the Uncertainty

To address uncertainty as well as transient stability constraints simultaneously in the preventive control of windfarm systems, a novel three-stage optimization strategy is established in this paper. In the first stage, the probabilisticmulti-objective particle swarm optimization based on the point estimate method is employed to cope with thestochastic factors. The transient security region of the system is accurately ensured by the interior point methodin the second stage. Finally, the verification of the final optimal objectives and satisfied constraints are enforcedin the last stage. Furthermore, the proposed strategy is a general framework that can combine other optimizationalgorithms. The proposed methodology is tested on the modified WSCC 9-bus system and the New England 39-bussystem. The results verify the feasibility of the method.

高科技工具帮助Bullseye Farms提高灌溉效率

Bullseye Farms是一个多元化的经营农场,种植了17000英亩的蔬菜,谷物和坚果,其中包括4000英亩的杏仁树。它们坐落于加利福尼亚州北部的中央山谷,在整个干燥的夏季都需要灌溉作物。像其他加州种植者一样,他们不断与干旱有关的问题作斗争。

Development of an Integrated Tool for Small-Scale Maize Farming in Uganda

About 62% of the maize produced in developing countries is cultivated manually owing to limited access to appropriate technology. Available technologies perform a single operation, necessitating farmers to buy multiple implements, which is expensive. In this study, an ox-drawn tool integrating a plough, planter and cultivator for small-scale maize farming was developed and its performance evaluated. Planting and cultivating units were designed and fabricated for assembly onto an existing standard ox-plough beam. The integrated tool was tested in the field to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of cultivation and planting of maize. Results showed that the planting unit had an average seed rate of 35.4 kg/ha with a seed damage of 4% and an effective field capacity of 0.15 ha/h at a field efficiency of 87.3%. The cultivating unit had an effective field capacity of 0.1 ha/h and a weeding efficiency of 86%. The efficiency, effectiveness and reliability for field operations are superior to manual operations currently used by farmers and are comparable to single-unit prototypes developed in other countries. This demonstrates the technical feasibility of integrating planting and cultivation units onto an existing mould board plough instead of buying multiple tools.

Erratum to “Effects of Silvicultural Alternatives on Model-Based Financial Evaluation of Teak (Tectona grandis L.) Farm Forestry Management for Small-Scale Farmers in Northeast Thailand” [Open Journal of Forestry, 4 (2014) 558-569]

The original online version of this article (Noda, I. et al. (2014). Effects of Silvicultural Alternatives on Model-Based Financial Evaluation of Teak (Tectona grandis L.) Farm Forestry Management for Small-Scale Farmers in Northeast Thailand. Open Journal of Forestry, 4, 558-569. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojf.2014.45060) was published in October. The author wishes to correct Table 5.

Effects of Silvicultural Alternatives on Model-Based Financial Evaluation of Teak (<i>Tectona grandis</i>L.) Farm Forestry Management for Small-Scale Farmers in Northeast Thailand

Teak (Tectona grandis L.) plantation management is said to be profitable, but small-scale farmers with teak plantations need to find appropriate and effective choices for plantation management because of their small plots. There have been few studies on how combinations of site quality, rotation and plant spacing affect financial evaluations of teak plantation management quantitatively. In this study, we introduced the yield table for teak plantations in Northeast Thailand, and investigated the effects of site quality with rotation (15-year and 20-year) and spacing (2 m × 4 m and 4 m × 4 m) on the financial evaluation of teak plantation management using discounted cash flow analysis. The equivalent annual incomes (EAI) and benefit/cost ratios (BCR) were negative and <1, respectively, at site indexes (SI) of 14 and 18, but increased ~2 - 3 times as SI rose from 22 (site of medium quality) to 26 and 26 to 30. The 20-year rotation was generally preferable to the 15-year one, especially at SI 22. At SI 30, 2 m × 4 m was more profitable than 4 m × 4 m for both rotations, but at SI 22, 20-year rotation with 4 m × 4 m was the most profitable, followed by 20-year with 2 m × 4 m.

GNN Representation Learning and Multi-Objective Variable Neighborhood Search Algorithm for Wind Farm Layout Optimization

With the increasing demand for electrical services,wind farm layout optimization has been one of the biggest challenges that we have to deal with.Despite the promising performance of the heuristic algorithm on the route network design problem,the expressive capability and search performance of the algorithm on multi-objective problems remain unexplored.In this paper,the wind farm layout optimization problem is defined.Then,a multi-objective algorithm based on Graph Neural Network(GNN)and Variable Neighborhood Search(VNS)algorithm is proposed.GNN provides the basis representations for the following search algorithm so that the expressiveness and search accuracy of the algorithm can be improved.The multi-objective VNS algorithm is put forward by combining it with the multi-objective optimization algorithm to solve the problem with multiple objectives.The proposed algorithm is applied to the 18-node simulation example to evaluate the feasibility and practicality of the developed optimization strategy.The experiment on the simulation example shows that the proposed algorithm yields a reduction of 6.1% in Point of Common Coupling(PCC)over the current state-of-the-art algorithm,which means that the proposed algorithm designs a layout that improves the quality of the power supply by 6.1%at the same cost.The ablation experiments show that the proposed algorithm improves the power quality by more than 8.6% and 7.8% compared to both the original VNS algorithm and the multi-objective VNS algorithm.

Case Study:Productive Performance and Prediction of Operating Income of Small-Scale Contract Farming of Swine in Lampang,Thailand

The objective of this study was to examine productive performance and predict factors affecting operating income of small-scale contract farming of swine(SCFS)in Lampang,Thailand.Ten SCFSs were selected by purposive sampling as primary data sources for two consecutive fattening cycles during the year 2015-2017.Data indicated that the SCFS was feeder pig finishing system which herd size(HS)averaged 502 head/farm.The animals consumed approximate 1.59 kg of feed/head/d.The average daily gain(ADG)was 675.22 g/d and feed conversion ratio(FCR)was 2.42.The mean of fattening time(FT)averaged 158 d/cycle.The culling rate(CR)and mortality rate(MR)were 0.17%and 2.50%,respectively.The predicted operating income(POI)was estimated by multiple linear regressions.The equation was:POI=2,700.912+0.027HS–7.119CR–18.225MR+16.885ABW+806.466FI–4.142ADG–420.281FCR–9.719FT(ABW=average body weight;FI=feed intake)with r=0.899,r2=0.808,p-value=0.009.According to stepwise procedure,the potential equation was:POI=323.664FI–9.769MR–22.635 with r=0.837,r2=0.701,p-value=0.000.This predicted equation would benefit as a monitoring index for SCFS to manage their expected operating income and proper farm management to be further profitable and sustainable.