Development of a Novel Classification Approach for Cow Behavior Analysis Using Tracking Data and Unsupervised Machine Learning Techniques.

Global Positioning Systems (GPSs) can collect tracking data to remotely monitor livestock well-being and pasture use. Supervised machine learning requires behavioral observations of monitored animals to identify changes in behavior, which is labor-intensive. Our goal was to identify animal behaviors automatically without using human observations. We designed a novel framework using unsupervised learning techniques. The framework contains two steps. The first step segments cattle tracking data using state-of-the-art time series segmentation algorithms, and the second step groups segments into clusters and then labels the clusters. To evaluate the applicability of our proposed framework, we utilized GPS tracking data collected from five cows in a 1096 ha rangeland pasture. Cow movement pathways were grouped into six behavior clusters based on velocity (m/min) and distance from water. Again, using velocity, these six clusters were classified into walking, grazing, and resting behaviors. The mean velocity for predicted walking and grazing and resting behavior was 44, 13 and 2 min/min, respectively, which is similar to other research. Predicted diurnal behavior patterns showed two primary grazing bouts during early morning and evening, like in other studies. Our study demonstrates that the proposed two-step framework can use unlabeled GPS tracking data to predict cattle behavior without human observations.

Two plant-associated Bacillus velezensis strains selected after genome analysis, metabolite profiling, and with proved biocontrol potential, were enhancing harvest yield of coffee and black pepper in large field trials.

Elimination of chemically synthesized pesticides, such as fungicides and nematicides, in agricultural products is a key to successful practice of the Vietnamese agriculture. We describe here the route for developing successful biostimulants based on members of the Bacillus subtilis species complex. A number of endospore-forming Gram-positive bacterial strains with antagonistic action against plant pathogens were isolated from Vietnamese crop plants. Based on their draft genome sequence, thirty of them were assigned to the Bacillus subtilis species complex. Most of them were assigned to the species Bacillus velezensis. Whole genome sequencing of strains BT2.4 and BP1.2A corroborated their close relatedness to B. velezensis FZB42, the model strain for Gram-positive plant growth-promoting bacteria. Genome mining revealed that at least 15 natural product biosynthesis gene clusters (BGCs) are well conserved in all B. velezensis strains. In total, 36 different BGCs were identified in the genomes of the strains representing B. velezensis, B. subtilis, Bacillus tequilensis, and Bacillus. altitudinis. In vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated the potential of the B. velezensis strains to enhance plant growth and to suppress phytopathogenic fungi and nematodes. Due to their promising potential to stimulate plant growth and to support plant health, the B. velezensis strains TL7 and S1 were selected as starting material for the development of novel biostimulants, and biocontrol agents efficient in protecting the important Vietnamese crop plants black pepper and coffee against phytopathogens. The results of the large-scale field trials performed in the Central Highlands in Vietnam corroborated that TL7 and S1 are efficient in stimulating plant growth and protecting plant health in large-scale applications. It was shown that treatment with both bioformulations resulted in prevention of the pathogenic pressure exerted by nematodes, fungi, and oomycetes, and increased harvest yield in coffee, and pepper.

[Comparative assessment of N-nitrosamines' contamination of baby's canned meat with vegetables and cereals by various methods in Russia and Vietnam].

The quality and safety of food, intended for baby in particular, is one of the global issues of our time. The group of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines is of especially dangerous. It is worth mentioning that currently there are no standards for their content in Vietnam. Therefore, to ensure the chemical safety of infant food, it is necessary to improve the control system, including the development of modern technical and methodological base. The aim of the research is the comparative assessment of contamination with highly toxic, N-nitrosoamines of baby canned meat and vegetable products by the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) using an automatic solid-phase extraction system and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Material and methods. The objects of research were homogenized canned meat-vegetable products for baby nutrition - 21 samples taken from the distribution network of the Republic of Vietnam: vegetables and rice with chicken (sample No. 1); sweet corn with mashed potatoes and turkey (sample No. 2); potatoes with veal (sample No. 3); each species has 7 samples. Each food sample was analyzed thrice by two methods. At the Federal Center of Perm, the screening studies of canned foods were performed using GC/ MS with application of the automatic solid-phase extraction system (SPE) after distillation using alkaline catalysis at the sample preparation stage. At the National Institute of Food Control of Republic of Viеtnam, canned samples were studied using GC-MS/MS. The extraction method was developed on the base of QuEChERS-approach. Results and discussion. During the research, the following chemical contaminants were found in the canned samples: N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-methylethyl nitrosoamine, N-dipropylnitrosoamine, N-dibutyl nitrosoamine, N-piperidinitrozoamine, N-pyrrolidinin nitrosoamine, N-morpholinithrosamine and N-diphenyl nitrosoamine. It was demonstrated that the results of quantitative determination of the content of N-nitrosoamines in canned meat of Vietnam producers obtained in different laboratories are comparable and have good validation characteristics for the determination of N-nitrosoamines in baby food. Thus, N-nitrosodimethylamine was detected by both methods in all analyzed samples in the concentration range from 0.00045 to 0.00077 mg/kg. Values exceeding the maximum permissible level of N-nitrosoamines (N-nitrosodimethylamine and N-nitrosodiethylamine) in canned meat and vegetable samples (0.001 mg/kg according to Technical Regulations of the Customs Union TR TC 021/ 2011 "On Food Safety") were not found. The application of low-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the use of an automatic SPE system made it possible to achieve high comparability of the results in chemical analysis of N-nitrosoamines in canned products obtained in the laboratory of the Center and the National Institute for Food Control of Vietnam. Conclusion. The executed studies indicate the need for further monitoring of the content of chemicals in baby products in order to justify methodological approaches to the analysis of the risk of the simultaneous effect of chemical contaminants on the health of children. In this regard, it seems extremely important and relevant issue of hygienic regulation of the content of the studied compounds in products for baby food.

CDAO-store: ontology-driven data integration for phylogenetic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The Comparative Data Analysis Ontology (CDAO) is an ontology developed, as part of the EvoInfo and EvoIO groups supported by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, to provide semantic descriptions of data and transformations commonly found in the domain of phylogenetic analysis. The core concepts of the ontology enable the description of phylogenetic trees and associated character data matrices. RESULTS: Using CDAO as the semantic back-end, we developed a triple-store, named CDAO-Store. CDAO-Store is a RDF-based store of phylogenetic data, including a complete import of TreeBASE. CDAO-Store provides a programmatic interface, in the form of web services, and a web-based front-end, to perform both user-defined as well as domain-specific queries; domain-specific queries include search for nearest common ancestors, minimum spanning clades, filter multiple trees in the store by size, author, taxa, tree identifier, algorithm or method. In addition, CDAO-Store provides a visualization front-end, called CDAO-Explorer, which can be used to view both character data matrices and trees extracted from the CDAO-Store. CDAO-Store provides import capabilities, enabling the addition of new data to the triple-store; files in PHYLIP, MEGA, nexml, and NEXUS formats can be imported and their CDAO representations added to the triple-store. CONCLUSIONS: CDAO-Store is made up of a versatile and integrated set of tools to support phylogenetic analysis. To the best of our knowledge, CDAO-Store is the first semantically-aware repository of phylogenetic data with domain-specific querying capabilities. The portal to CDAO-Store is available at http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~cdaostore.