• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.519-524
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• 1996

An investigation was carried out to study the microbial colonization and degradation of five crop residues, viz., sago waste, rice straw, oil palm trunk shavings, untreated palm press fibre and palm press fibre teated with 3% ammonium hydroxide in the rumen of goats. Colonisation by rumen bacteria and fungi was already established on all the five crop residues 8 h after incubation. However, the extent of colonization varied among the crop residues. Microbial colonization was poor on palm press fibre (treated and untreated) but more extensive on sago waste, oil palm trunk shavings and rice straw. By 24 h, most of the soft-walled tissues in sago waste, rice straw and oil palm trunk shavings were degraded leaving the thick-walled tissues extensively colonized by bacteria and fungi. Degradation on palm press fibre was still limited. At 48 h, the thick-walled tissues of sago waste, oil palm trunk shavings and rice straw showed various degrees of degradation - from small erosion zones to large digested areas. Bacterial growth was similar to that at 24 h but fungal growth was less. On palm press fibre, microbial colonization was more extensive than at 24 h but degradation of the fibres was still limited. Degradation of all the five crop residues at 72 h was somewhat similar to that at 48 h. Overall, microbial colonization and degradation were the most extensive on sago waste, followed by rice straw and oil palm trunk shavings, and the least on palm press fibre (treated and untreated). Dry matter loss of the five crop residues at the various incubation periods also showed the same order of degradation.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.329-341
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• 2017

The challenge of replacing conventional plastics with biodegradable composite materials has attracted much attention in product design, particularly in the tensile-related areas of application. In this study, fibres extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) were treated and utilized in reinforcing polyester matrix by hand lay-up technique. The effect of fibre loading and combined influence of alkali and silane treatments on porosity and water absorption parameters, and its correlation with the tensile behaviour of composites was analyzed. The results showed that tensile strength decreased whilst modulus of elasticity, water absorption and porosity parameters increased with increasing fibre loading. The composites of treated oil palm EFB fibre exhibited improved values of 2.47 MPa to 3.78 MPa for tensile strength; 1.75 MPa to 2.04 MPa for modulus of elasticity; 3.43% to 1.68% for porosity and 3.51% to 3.12% for water absorption at respective 10 wt.% fibre loadings. A correlation between porosity and water absorption with tensile behavior of composites of oil palm EFB fibre and positive effect of fibre treatment was established, which clearly demonstrate a connection between processing and physical properties with tensile behavior of fibre composites. Accordingly, a further exploitation of economic significance of oil palm EFB fibres composites in areas of low-to-medium tensile strength application is inferred.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.329-335
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• 1992

Degradation of rice straw was observed to be higher (p<0.01) in the buffaloes than in cattle. At 48 h, the dry matter (DM) loss of straw for buffaloes was 53.6 0.8% and that for cattle was 48.7 2.6%. Palm press fibre (PPF) was poorly degraded in the rumen of both animal species. A loss of about 21% DM was observed in both cattle and buffaloes after 48 h of incubation in the rumen. The pattern of bacterial and fungal colonization of straw and PPF seemed to be similar in both cattle and buffaloes. Microbial colonization was restricted by plant structures like the silica crystals in both straw and PPF. The predominant bacteria colonizing both straw and PPF fragments were the rods. Eroded zones and digestion pits were pronounced in straw fragments after 1 h of incubation. The PPF fragments appeared undegraded even after 6 h of incubation. Fungal colonization of straw was rapid and extensive in both cattle and buffaloes. The sporangia observed in straw were mainly spherical or oval in shape, but fusiform sporangia with acuminate tip were predominantly seen in PPF fragments.

• Mycobiology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.467-474
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• 2015

Development of efficient substrate formulas to improve yield and shorten production time is one of the prerequisites for commercial cultivation of edible mushrooms. In this study, fifteen substrate formulas consisting of varying ratios of palm press fibre (PPF), mahogany sawdust (MS), Gmelina sawdust, wheat bran (WB), and fixed proportions of 1% calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) and 1% sucrose were assessed for efficient Lentinus squarrosulus production. Proximate compositions of mushrooms produced on the different substrate formulas were also analysed and compared. Substrate formulations containing 85% PPF, 13% WB, 1% $CaCO_3$, and 1% sucrose were found to produce the highest carpophore yield, biological efficiency and size (206.5 g/kg, 61.96%, and 7.26 g, respectively). Days to production (first harvest) tended to increase with an increase in the amount of WB in the substrate formulas, except for PPF based formulas. The addition of WB in amounts equivalent to 8~18% in substrate formulas containing 80~90% PPF resulted in a decrease in the time to first harvest by an average of 17.7 days compared to 80~90% MS with similar treatment. Nutritional content of mushrooms was affected by the different substrate formulas. Protein content was high for mushrooms produced on formulas containing PPF as the basal substrate. Thus, formulas comprising PPF, WB, $CaCO_3$, and sucrose at 85% : 13% : 1% : 1%) respectively could be explored as starter basal ingredients for efficient large scale production of L. squarrosulus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.455-459
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• 1992

Five type of formulated diet from agricultural by-products (ABP) were fed to four breedtype of cattle in feedlot. The ABP used are palm kernel cake (PKC), palm press fibre (PPF), palm oil mill effluent (POME), cocoa pod (COP), coffee pulp (COF) and pineapple waste (PAP). The formulated diets are PS (52% PKC, 15% PPF and 30% POME), PF (57% PKC, 20% PPF and 20% POME), PA (2% PKC and 55% PAP), CO (42% PKC and 55% COP) and CF (67% PKC and 30% COF) with 1% urea, 1% NaCl and 1% vitamins premix. The cattle breedtypes are Kedah-Kelantan (KK), Brahman-KK (BK), Hereford-KK (HK) and Sahiwal-Friesian (SF). The result showed that breedtype significantly affect all the carcass characteristic except dressing percentage. Each breedtype has it's specific carcass characteristics. HK cattle gave high marbling, BK has high % of carcass bone, KK has high % of carcass meat and low % of carcass fat (lean meat type) and SF has high % of carcass fat. Diet-type significantly affect the deposition of fat in the carcass. High moisture diets (PA and CO) produced significantly higher % carcass bone, the lowest % carcass fat and the highest % carcass meat (65.3%). PF, CF, PA and CO diets produced 63.4%, 59.9%, 55.3% and 54.1% carcass meat respectively.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.627-634
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• 2020

The past years were marked by an increase in the use of wood waste in civil and mechanical constructions. Date palm waste remains also one of the most solicited renewable and recyclable natural resources in the composition of composite materials. In Algeria, a great amount of this type of plant wastes accumulates every year. In order to make use of this waste, a new wood-epoxy composite material based on date palm petiole particleboard is developed. It makes use of date palm petiole particleboard as reinforcement and epoxy resin as matrix. The size of the particles reinforcement are between 1~3 mm and proportion of reinforcement used is 37%. In this work, experimental and numerical studies are conducted in order to characterize the wood fibre-epoxy plates. Firstly, experimental modal analysis test was carried out to determine Young's modulus of the elaborated material. Then, in order to validate the results, compression test was conducted. Furthermore, additional information about the shear modulus of this material is obtained by performing an experimental modal analysis to extract the first torsional mode. Moreover, a finite element model is developed using ANSYS software to simulate the vibration behaviour of the plates. The results show a good agreement with the experimental modal analysis, which confirms the values of Young's modulus and shear modulus.