• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.283-300
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• 2004

Currently commercial dry sows are housed in individual stalls and subject to restricted feeding. These sows often show stereotypic behaviours which increase their maintenance energy requirement. Group housing is desirable to improve animal welfare and public perception. However, under restricted feeding systems, group-housed dry sows are also aggressive. The feed intake of these sows is variable, depending on their social rank, which results in different milk production and variable piglet performance. These problems can be solved by ad libitum feeding systems, but the large capacity of intake by dry sows will not allow this feeding system to be practical as high feeding level during pregnancy can reduce reproduction performance of sows. Current research indicates that feeding high fibre diets to dry sows enables sows to be fed ad libitum, but the effect of dietary fibre on feed intake and nutrient utilisation is dependent on the quality of fibre sources. Most research has focused on sugar beet pulp, straw, lucerne meal and by-products, but there is a need to identify and evaluate some widely available and cheap fibre materials and feed grains for developing the best strategy to control nutrient intake of dry sows while feeding ad libitum.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.4
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• pp.515-520
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• 2020

In the modern era, the world is facing unprecedented challenges in form of environmental pollution and international agencies are forcing scientists and materialists to look for green materials and structures to counter this problem. Composites based on renewable sources like plant based fibres, vegetable fibres are finding increasing use in interior components of automobile vehicles, aircraft, and building construction. In the present study, jute and flax fibre based composites were developed and tested for assessing their suitability for possible applications in interior cabin and parts of automobile and aerospace vehicles. Matrix system involves epoxy as resin and fibre weight fractions used were 45% and 55% respectively. Composites samples were prepared as per American society for testing and materials (ASTM) standard and were tested for individual fiber tensile strength, composite tensile strength, and flexural strength to analyse its behavior under various loading conditions. The results revealed that the Jute fibre composites possess enhanced mechanical properties over Flax fibre composites.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.19-43
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• 2014

A risk assessment framework for evaluating building structures is implemented in this study. This framework allows considering sources of uncertainty both on structural capacity and seismic demand. In particular randomness on seismic load, incident angle, material properties, floor mass and structural damping are considered; in addition the choice of fibre modelling versus plastic hinge model is also considered as a source of uncertainty. The main objective of this work is to study the contribution of these sources of uncertainty on the fragilities of steel and steel-reinforced concrete composite 3D building structures. The fragility curves are expressed in the form of a two-parameter lognormal distribution where vertical statistics in conjunction with metaheuristic optimization are implemented for calculating the two parameters.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3747-3752
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• 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly occurring cancers in China. Dietary fibre has been thought to decrease the risk of colorectal cancer in Western countries. However, studies investigating the association between dietary fibre (particularly soluble and insoluble fibres) and colorectal cancer have hitherto been lacking in China. Objective: This case-control study examined the effect of dietary fibre intake on the risk of colorectal cancer, stratified by tumour site. Materials and Methods: The study included 265 cases (colon cancer, 105; rectal cancer, 144; colon and rectal cancer, 16) and 252 controls residing in Qingdao. A food frequency questionnaire that included 121 food items was used to collect dietary information. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression analysis. Results: For food groups, controls in the study consumed more vegetables, soy food and total fibre than did colorectal cancer patients (p<0.05). The intakes of fruit, meat and sea-food did not differ significantly between cases and controls. However, we did not find any association between soy food intake and colon cancer. We observed inverse associations between total fibre intake and colorectal, colon and rectal cancer (Q4 vs Q1: OR=0.44, 95%CI, 0.27-0.73; OR=0.40, 95%CI, 0.21-0.76; OR=0.52, 95%CI, 0.29-0.91). Vegetable fibre intake showed similar inverse associations (Q4 vs Q1: OR=0.51, 95%CI, 0.31-0.85; OR=0.48, 95%CI, 0.25-0.91; OR=0.53, 95%CI, 0.29-0.97). In addition, inverse associations were observed between soluble fibre and insoluble fibre and both colorectal cancer and colon cancer. No relationship was found between colorectal cancer and fruit, soy or grain fibre intakewhen the results were stratified by tumour site. Conclusions: The present study suggests that vegetable fibre and total fibre play very important roles in protecting against colorectal cancer. Soluble and insoluble fibres were inversely associated with only colorectal cancer and colon cancer.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1726-1733
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• 2012

The effect of genotype, fibre level and fibre source on gut morphology, environment and microflora was studied using 18 Mong Cai (MC) and 18 Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire (LY) pigs, aged around 60 d. The diets were based on maize, rice bran, soybean meal, fish meal and soybean oil, and cassava residue (CR) or brewer's grain (BG) as fibrous ingredient sources in the high-fibre diets (HF). A low-fibre diet (LF), containing around 200 g NDF/kg dry matter (DM), was formulated without CR and BG as feed ingredients. The HF diets (HF-CR and HF-BG) were formulated to contain around 270 g NDF/kg DM. The experiment was arranged according to a $2{\times}3$ factorial completely randomized design with six replications, and lasted 30 d. Crypt density in ileum was lowest (p<0.05) and villus height in jejunum and ileum were the greatest (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet HF-BG. Villus width in ileum was greatest in pigs fed diets HF-CR and HF-BG (p<0.05). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts in stomach were greatest (p<0.05) and E. coli counts in ileum and colon were lowest (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet HF-CR. The concentration of total organic acids in ileum, caecum and colon were greatest (p<0.05), and pH in ileum and colon were lowest (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet HF-CR. Crypt density in ileum was lowest, and villus height in ileum and villus width in jejunum and ileum was greatest in LY pigs (p<0.05). LAB counts in stomach and ileum were greatest, and E. coli counts in ileum were lowest in MC pigs (p<0.05). The concentration of total organic acids in ileum, caecum and colon were greatest (p<0.05) and pH lowest (p<0.05) in MC pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.1075-1079
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• 1999

Adult German cross $(German{\times}British{\times}Russian)$ angora rabbits (one year age), 32 in number were divided randomly into four groups $(T_1-T_4)$ with equal sex ratio and fed diets containing $T_1$ groundnut cake (GNC); $T_3$, soyaflakes (SF); $T_4$, sunflower cake (SFC) and $T_2$, a mixture of all the three cakes along with green forage as roughage for a period of 9 months. Nine per cent protein was added from each protein source. Fibre level was maintained by adjusting the level of rice phak in the diets. The diets were iso-nitrogenous and contained similar level of fibre. DMI through roughage was not affected due to source of protein in the diet, however, DMI through concentrate was higher $(p{\leq}0.05)$ with SFC diet, which resulted in higher total feed intake in the group $(T_4)$. Body weights increased up to second shearing, thereafter it decreased due to summer depression. Diet containing soyaflakes sustained higher wool yield whereas, it was lowest $(p{\leq}0.05)$ on SFC diet. Wool attributes (staple length, medullation, fibre diameter) were not affected due to source of protein in the diet. Digestibility of fibre and its fractions (ADF, cellulose, hemicellulose) decreased $(p{\leq}0.05)$ with incorporation of SFC in the diets. Balance of calcium was lowest whereas, that of nitrogen was highest with SFC diet $(T_4)$. Biological value of N and net protein utilization was better when different protein sources were mixed together $(T_2)$. Protein quality of soyaflakes proved better for wool production followed by groundnut cake and mixture of three protein sources. Sunflower cake alone or in combination decreased wool production which may be checked by supplementation of amino acids and energy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.729-736
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• 2022

Earth is facing a serious problem of pollution and scarcity of energy sources. The synthetic fibers used in automobile and Aerospace manufacturing sectors are non-renewable and harmful to environment. International Agency such as FAA and SAE is forcing for green fuel, green materials and structures. Further exploration is much needed to understand its potential in structural applications. In the current study, hemp and Jute fibre based composites were developed and tested for assessing their suitability for possible applications in automobile and aerospace sectors. Composites were undergone tensile test, water absorption test, and fatigue analysis to understand its behavior under various loading conditions. The finite element analysis has been carried out to understand the fatigue behaviour of composites. The results revealed that the usage of hemp and jute fibre reinforced composites can improve mechanical properties and have shown a viable alternative to replace synthetic fibres such as glass fibres for specific applications. Hemp reinforced bio-composites have shown better performance as compared to Jute reinforced bio-composites while water resistance characteristics for hemp is poorer to jute fibres.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.58-69
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• 2012

As the meaning of dictionary terminology, scum refers to a layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid. In papermaking process, scum indicates the floated solid waste generated by a flotation process during the primary wastewater treatment. In this study, different kinds of stocks and scums collected from newspaper, liner, tissue and fine paper were analysed in details. The purpose of this study was firstly to demonstrate the composition characteristics of different sources of scum, secondly the analysis of environmental hazardous materials, and thirdly the evaluation of reutilization ability of fibrous materials from collected scum. As mentioned the meaning of solid waste, scum was actually differ from the waste sludge in sources, compositions and recycling abilities. In the same manner of waste paper, the sludge which is generated within onsite of papermaking processes would be reused as a raw material. The general compositions of scum from waste water were mainly inorganic ash materials, fine fibre fractions, recycled fibre debries, and ink particles. If the scum is able to reuse as fibrous additives in papermaking process, it could contribute to the savings of running costs in both the subsidiaries of fibrous material and the solid waste treatment with even small quantity.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.8-11
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• 2006

It has been reported for several decades that microbes, which naturally contaminate cotton fibres during crop growth and subsequent storage can have an adverse effect on the structural quality of cotton lint. Although several studies have analysed the relationship between numbers of Gram-negative bacteria or bacterial endotoxin and particular physical properties, these studies have been limited to cotton from the United States, and the possible effects of fungal contamination have not been examined in detail. This study quantified the Gram-negative bacteria and fungal cells, as well as measuring concentrations of bacterial endotoxin and fungal glucan, on cotton lint samples from international sources. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients calculated between these results and quality data analysed by an automated testing instrument revealed several significant correlations. Findings included inverse correlations between the biological contamination parameters and fibre elongation, micronaire and reflectance. The possible causes and implications of these findings were also discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.861-868
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• 2012

During two years, four samples per year were collected in Vietnam from rice bran, cassava residue, brewer's grain, tofu residue, soybean meal, coconut cake, sweet potato vines and water spinach for chemical analysis and assessment of water holding capacity (WHC). The selected feedstuffs represent fibre-rich plant sources and agro-industry co-products commonly used in pig feeding in Vietnam. The content (g/kg DM) of crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) varied between feedstuffs and ranged from 21 to 506 for CP, from 14 to 118 for EE and from 197 to 572 for NSP. Cassava residue had a high starch content of 563 g/kg DM, while sweet potato vines, water spinach, coconut cake and soybean meal had a high content of sugars (63-71 g/kg DM). The content of individual neutral sugars varied between feed ingredients, with the highest content of arabinose, galactose and glucose in tofu residue, the highest content of xylose in brewer's grain and the highest content of mannose in coconut cake. The content of uronic acid was high for cassava residue, tofu residue, sweet potato vines and water spinach (57-88 g/kg DM). The content of soluble non-cellulosic polysaccharides (S-NCP) was positively correlated ($r^2$ = 0.82) to the WHC. The content (g/kg DM) of CP, NDF, neutral sugars, total NSP, total NCP, S-NCP and total dietary fibre in tofu residue, water spinach and coconut cake varied (p<0.05) between years. In conclusion, diet formulation to pigs can be improved if the variation in chemical composition of the fibre fraction and in WHC between potential feed ingredients is taken into account.