bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Setting targets for the Irish dairy industry
Authors: Shalloo Laurence , Hanrahan Liam
Published: December 2019

A resilient dairy business will be sustainable across all of the sustainability indicators, survive milk-price drops and be very profitable when milk price is high. The term resilient means able to ‘recover, respond, deal or withstand’ different internal and external challenges that may manifest themselves within the farm business from time to time. There is significant potential to increase efficiency and productivity at farm level when compared with the average farm nationally. The focus at a farm level must be about increasing grass growth and utilisation and converting that feed to milk solids (kg of milk fat and protein) sales at as low a cost as possible. Increasing labour efficiency by operating more streamlined work practices, using contractors and contract rearing of heifers will have a major impact on farm labour requirements.
Prediction of quarter level subclinical mastitis by combining in-line and on-animal sensor data
Authors: Khatun Momena , Thomson Peter C. , Clark Cameron E. F. , García Sergio C.
Published: December 2019

We investigated the potential for automatic detection of subclinical mastitis (SCM) in pasture-based automatic milking systems. The objective of the study was to determine the ability of electrical conductivity (EC), together with relative changes in daily activity (activity) and daily rumination (rumination) recorded using heat and rumination–long-distance tags, to predict quarter-level SCM. Activity (arbitrary unit/day) and rumination (min/day) data were determined across 21 days using heat and rumination–long-distance tags for 170 cows. Cows were allocated into the following three groups: SCM (n = 32, EC ≥ 7.5 millisiemens/cm (mS/cm) in one or more quarters and a positive bacteriological culture in the corresponding quarter(s)); true-negative (TN, n = 9, EC ≥ 7.5 mS/cm and a negative culture in all four quarters); and apparently healthy (n = 129, no culture test and EC < 7.5 mS/cm). Group mean differences in activity and rumination were compared using Welch’s t-tests. Logistic mixed models were used to predict SCM by EC, activity and rumination changes before mastitis detection, including parity information between SCM and TN groups. Cow- and quarter-specific information were included as random effects, followed by model assessment by producing receiver operating-characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) value. In total, 287 quarters were used in the prediction model, including 143 quarters with a positive culture (Gram-positive; n = 131, Gram-negative; n = 6, mixed; n = 6) and 144 quarters with a negative culture. On average, SCM group had 4.65% greater (P < 0.01) activity and 9.89% greater (P < 0.001) rumination than did the TN group and 11.70% greater (P < 0.001) activity than did the apparently healthy group. A combined model with terms for EC, activity changes, rumination changes prior to detect SCM and parity had a better SCM prediction (AUC = 0.92) ability than did any of them separately (all AUC < 0.8). Hence, we conclude that EC in combination with activity and rumination information can improve the accuracy of prediction of quarter-level SCM.
Bovine oocyte maturation: acquisition of developmental competence
Authors: Roelen Bernard A. J.
Published: December 2019

Although millions of oocytes are formed during embryo and fetal development in the cow, only a small fraction of these will form a developmentally competent oocyte and be fertilised. Development to competence relies on an intimate contact between the oocyte and the surrounding somatic cells in ovarian follicles, via both direct cell–cell contact and paracrine signalling. An important aspect of oocyte maturation is the segregation of homologous chromosomes and subsequently sister chromatids to form a haploid oocyte. Furthermore, the cytoplasm needs to be prepared for the formation of pronuclei and nuclear reprogramming to form a totipotent zygote. Conditions such as high levels of fatty acids or oxidative stress constrain the developmental competence of oocytes, and a better insight into these processes may help improve in vitro and in vivo oocyte maturation success. In addition, identification of the developmentally competent oocyte is useful for the efficiency of (artificial) reproduction.
Application of genome-editing systems to enhance available pig resources for agriculture and biomedicine
Authors: Lee Kiho , Farrell Kayla , Uh Kyungjun
Published: December 2019

Traditionally, genetic engineering in the pig was a challenging task. Genetic engineering of somatic cells followed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) could produce genetically engineered (GE) pigs carrying site-specific modifications. However, due to difficulties in engineering the genome of somatic cells and developmental defects associated with SCNT, a limited number of GE pig models were reported. Recent developments in genome-editing tools, such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) 9 system, have markedly changed the effort and time required to produce GE pig models. The frequency of genetic engineering in somatic cells is now practical. In addition, SCNT is no longer essential in producing GE pigs carrying site-specific modifications, because direct injection of genome-editing systems into developing embryos introduces targeted modifications. To date, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is the most convenient, cost-effective, timely and commonly used genome-editing technology. Several applicable biomedical and agricultural pig models have been generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Although the efficiency of genetic engineering has been markedly enhanced with the use of genome-editing systems, improvements are still needed to optimally use the emerging technology. Current and future advances in genome-editing strategies will have a monumental effect on pig models used in agriculture and biomedicine.
Genetic and genomic analyses of embryo production in dairy cattle
Authors: Jaton C. , Schenkel F. S. , Chud T. C. S. , Malchiodi F. , Sargolzaei M. , Price C. A. , Canovàs A. , Baes C. , Miglior F.
Published: December 2019

The Canadian dairy industry has been using invivo and invitro assisted reproductive technologies to produce embryos. Technological improvements have helped increase the number and quality of embryos produced, but genetic and genomic tools for improving these traits have yet to be assessed for the Canadian Holstein population. Genetic parameters and a genome-wide association study were performed in Canadian Holstein for the total number of embryos (NE) and the number of viable embryos (VE). Results showed potential for genetic selection for both NE and VE, with heritability estimates (± s.e.) of approximately 0.15±0.01. Genetic correlations between the number of embryos produced using different procedures (invivo and invitro) suggested that a similar number of embryos should be expected from a donor regardless of the procedure used. A region on chromosome 11 of the bovine genome was found to be significantly associated with the number of embryos, indicating a potential regulatory role of this region on embryo production. Overall, these findings are of interest for the Canadian dairy industry because they provide useful information for breeders that are interested in producing embryos from the elite donors in their herds or in the population using assisted reproductive technologies.
110 Absence of transmission of Mycoplasma bovis via naturally contaminated semen during invitro fertilization
Authors: Peippo J. , Vähänikkilä N. , Mutikainen M. , Lindeberg H. , Pohjanvirta T. , Simonen H. , Pelkonen S. , Autio T.
Published: December 2019

Mycoplasma bovis (Mbo) has been isolated from genital tracts of bulls, and it can survive in processed semen. Experimental studies have shown that Mbo inoculation into the uterus or insemination with Mbo-infected semen can cause bursitis, salpingitis, abortion, and infertility. The control of Mbo is very difficult because of latent carrier animals, increasing resistance to antibiotics, and unavailability of effective vaccines. The aim of this study was to follow the passage of Mbo infection from naturally contaminated semen to transferable embryos during bovine invitro embryo production (IVP). (Unless otherwise stated, all chemicals used were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.) Two batches of slaughterhouse-derived oocytes were matured in tissue culture medium 199 (TCM-199) with glutamax-I (Gibco™; Invitrogen Corporation) supplemented with 0.25mM sodium pyruvate, 100IUmL−1 penicillin, 100µgmL−1 streptomycin, 2ngmL−1 FSH (Puregon, Organon), 1µgmL−1 β-oestradiol (E-2257), and 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS; Gibco™) for 24h at 38.5°C in maximal humidity in 5% CO2 in air. Matured oocytes were fertilized for 20h in IVF-TL medium supplemented with 10µgmL−1 of heparin and 2mM of PHE at 38.5°C in maximal humidity in 5% CO2 in air, using spermatozoa per mL as a final concentration. The batches of oocytes were divided between uninfected IVP bull (N=205) and naturally Mbo-infected AI bull (N=690). Zygotes were cultured in G1/G2 media (Vitrolife) supplemented with bovine serum albumin, fatty acid free (4mgmL−1), at 38.5°C in maximal humidity in 5% O2, 5% CO2, and 90% N2. Blastocysts were collected for Mbo cultures on Days 7 and 8 (IVF=Day 0). Samples of washed semen, fertilization medium, cumulus cells, culture medium, all wash media, and transferable embryos (with and without zona pellucidae) were collected for Mbo cultures. Half of the embryos were treated with trypsin according to IETS standards after the collections. The Mbo cultures were performed in accordance with procedures previously described by Bölske (1988 Zentralbl. Bakteriol. Mikrobiol. Hyg. A 69, 331-340), followed by detection with real-time PCR. Infection with Mbo does not seem to have negative effects on fertilization (cleavage rates: 77.1% and 89.0% for IVP and Mbo AI bulls, respectively) or embryo development rates (blastocyst rate: 26.3% and 32.5% for IVP and Mbo AI bulls, respectively). Following Mbo cultures, only washed semen was found to be Mbo positive via real-time PCR. We conclude that M. bovis is not likely transmitted in bovine IVP when using naturally infected semen.
We acknowledge Tiina Kortelainen for technical assistance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for funding.
135 Strategies for transfection of bovine mesenchymal stem cells with pBC1-anti-CD3 vector
Authors: Duarte F. B. , Báo S. N. , Brígido M. , Araújo J. M. , Melo E. d. O. , Martins C. F.
Published: December 2019

Cells from different origins behave differently regarding the incorporation of exogenous genetic material and the formation of transgenic cells. In this context, the objective of this study was to verify the potential of transfection of bovine mesenchymal stem cells from Wharton's jelly and adipose tissue, comparing two transfection protocols, using Lipofectamine LTX and Plus or Xfect reagents, with the integration of humanized anti-CD3. Skin fibroblasts were used as a control group. Humanized anti-CD3 is a monoclonal antibody that interacts with the CD3 molecule of the T-cell receptor, leading to the suppression of T-cells. This antibody is considered an option in the treatment of human autoimmune diseases and against the rejection of transplanted organs. Humanized anti-CD3 was used in this work for the production of bovine transgenic cells that, in the future, will be used in the development of bioreactor animals. In all steps of this study, cell types were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) and antibiotics, in an incubator at 39°C with 5% CO2 in air with saturated humidity. All cells were plated at 5×105 into 24-well culture dishes and co-transfected with vector pBC1-anti-CD3-IRES-FEO and pEF-NEO-GFP using Lipofectamine LTX with reagent Plus or Xfect. Forty-eight hours after transfection, neomycin was added in each treatment and cells were cultured for 2 weeks. Treated cells were submitted to fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and PCR evaluations. Wharton's jelly cells were sensitive to treatments and started necrosis. In the flow cytometry assay, the median fluorescence was higher in adipocytes than in fibroblasts, for both the Xfect reagent (20.057±1.620.7 and 10.601±702.86, respectively, P<0.05) and for LTX (19.590±113.84 and 10.518±442.65 respectively, P<0.05). These results, associated with the evaluation of epifluorescence, demonstrated that adipocytes presented a better response to transfection than did other cells, independent of the kit used. Performing PCR on co-transfected adipocytes and fibroblasts demonstrated the presence of anti-CD3, making this approach feasible in future experiments. Southern blotting analysis is being performed to confirm DNA integration.
Financial support was provided by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF); Embrapa MP1.
23 Sperm quality of Pure Spanish stallions is affected by inbreeding coefficient and age
Authors: Pirosanto Y. , Valera M. , Molina A. , Dorado J. , Demyda-Peyrás S.
Published: December 2019

Inbreeding depression, a genetic condition produced by the mating of close-related individuals, has been associated with a reduction of fertility in several species. However, a loss in sperm quality was also associated with age. In horses, the few existing reports have described a tendency of both parameters to produce a negative effect on sperm quality. However, those reports were performed using a subjective evaluation of sperm motility. In the present study, a total of 692 ejaculates from 86 Pure Spanish stallions (PRE), aged between 3 and 22 years, were evaluated using a computer-assisted methodology to determine the effect of inbreeding in four semen parameters: free-gel volume (V), sperm concentration (C, by haemocytometer), and total (TM) and progressive (PM) sperm motility (by Spermvision sperm class analyser; Minitube). The inbreeding coefficient (F) was estimated using 300 000 PRE pedigree records approximately (minimum pedigree depth, eight equivalent complete generations; range, between 1 and 30.1%). Stallion, age, ejaculate, and season of semen collection were the variables included in the statistical model (general linear model), with ejaculate and season being the variables with a major effect (by variance components analysis). Our results showed that sperm concentration (r=−0.18; P<0.0001) and volume (to a lesser extent) were reduced with advancing age, both showing a major decline after 15 years of age. To the contrary, sperm motility was not affected by age of the stallion. We also found a negative correlation between the inbreeding coefficient and ejaculate volume (r=−0.14; P<0.001), with a marked decrease seen when F was between 7 and 20%. Also, a negative correlation was observed in PM (r=−0.08; P<0.05), although to a lower extent. Conversely, C and TM were not affected by inbreeding depression (P>0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that high levels of inbreeding can compromise severely the sperm quality of the PRE stallion, which, subsequently, may have a negative influence on fertility. Ongoing studies using genomic data will help to detect genetic variants associated with stallion semen quality and how it is influenced by inbreeding in specific genomic regions.
50 Effect of colony-stimulating factor 2 on competence of bovine blastocysts to survive vitrification
Authors: Sosa F. , Hansen P. J.
Published: December 2019

Colony-stimulating factor 2 (CSF2) is an important maternal regulator of embryonic development. Treatment of invitro-produced embryos with CSF2 from Days 5 to 7 after insemination increased competence of embryos to establish pregnancy after transfer. One action of CSF2 is to protect embryos from stress. Treatment with CSF2 reduced heat-shocked induced apoptosis in morulae and regulated expression of multiple genes involved in cellular stress responses in the blastocyst. Here we tested whether CSF2 would promote survival of embryos to another stress: cryodamage caused by vitrification. Ovaries were recovered from an abattoir and used to harvest cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs). Groups of 10 COCs were matured for 20-22h. After maturation, COCs were fertilised with 1×106mL−1 isolate-purified spermatozoa from a pool of frozen-thawed semen from 3 bulls. Fertilization proceeded for 20-22h. Cumulus cells were removed from putative zygotes using 1000UmL−1 hyaluronidase by agitation and putative zygotes were cultured in groups of 30 in 50-µL drops of synthetic oviducal fluid-bovine embryo 2 (SOF-BE2) medium until Day 7 after insemination. Drops of cultured embryos were randomly assigned to receive either 10ngmL−1 recombinant bovine CSF2 or vehicle [90% (vol/vol) SOF-BE2 and 10% (vol/vol) Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline containing 1mgmL−1 bovine serum albumin) on Day 5. Blastocyst-stage embryos were selected for vitrification at Day 7. Blastocysts were vitrified in open-pulled straws and rewarmed according to procedures of Vajta et al. (1996 Theriogenology 45, 683-689). After warming, embryos were cultured for 72h in groups of 5-12 in SOF-BE2 containing 10% fetal bovine serum and 50 µM dithiothreitol. Blastocysts were assessed for re-expansion (defined as restoration of a reconstituted blastocoele) and hatching (defined as partial or completion exit from the zona pellucida). A total of 11 replicates were performed using 1745 zygotes treated with CSF2 and 1690 zygotes treated with vehicle. The number of blastocysts vitrified were 280 for CSF2 and 289 for vehicle. Data on percent presumptive zygotes becoming blastocysts and on blastocyst re-expansion and hatching after thawing were calculated for each replicate and analysed by analysis of variance using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS (SAS Institute Inc.). The percentage of putative zygotes that became blastocysts was not affected by treatment (21.5±1% for CSF2 vs. 20.9±1% for vehicle). Overall, CSF2 increased (P=0.021) the percentage of blastocysts that re-expanded (77.8 + 0.05% vs. 73.3 + 0.05%), but there was no effect of CSF2 on the percentage of blastocysts that underwent hatching (39.3 + 0.06% vs. 37.4 + 0.06%). In conclusion, CSF2 increased blastocyst survival following vitrification. Further work will be performed to evaluate whether CSF2 also increases survival of vitrified embryos after embryo transfer.
Support was provided by NIH R01 HD088352.
90 Establishment and characterization of Day 30 equine chorionic girdle and allantochorion cell lines
Authors: Salman S. , Asghar A. , Magee C. , Winger Q. , Bouma G. , Bruemmer J.
Published: December 2019

Establishing cell lines is a good model for experimental applications to study molecular mechanisms and cell-specific gene expression. Equids have a diffuse epitheliochorial placenta, where the invasive trophoblast is represented by the chorionic girdle (CG) and the noninvasive trophoblast by the allantochorion (AC). Embryonic CG cells are unique to horses and have a crucial role in equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) production and maintenance of pregnancy during the first trimester. This study had three objectives: (1) establishing a stable cell line from Day 30 CG cells and AC using lentivirus encoding hTERT; (2) characterisation of Day 30 CG cells and AC cell morphology and expression of eCG α (eCGA) and β (eCGB) subunits, major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII), and Kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R) in CG and AC cells; (3) investigating eCG protein production invitro from Day 30 CG and AC cells. Three mares (n=3) were used to collect Day 30 conceptuses by non-surgical uterine lavage on Day 30 of pregnancy. All 3 conceptuses were dissected for CG and AC cells then cultured invitro to confluency in cell culture plates. Second-generation lentiviral particles were generated using a three-vector system including transfer vector pLV-hTERT-IRES-hygro, and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) lentivirus was utilised to establish stable hygromycin-resistant equine embryonic cell lines. Reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) was used to study gene expression in cells and radioimmunoassay was used to investigate protein presence in the media. We established a hygromycin-resistant Day 30 CG and AC cell lines that express eCGA, eCGB, and hTERT and confirmed using RT-PCR yielding the predicted bands. The cell lines were maintained for 16 passages (7±2 days/passage), 10 of which were cultured after the lentiviral infection steps. Also, we characterised CG cells as fast-growing, large, binucleated, and epithelioid, and AC cells as rapid-growing showing smaller, squamous, mononucleate, epithelioid, and elongated fibroblastic cells. The RT-PCR results showed eCGA and eCGB subunits are expressed by both Day 30 CG and AC cells, but MHCII and KISS1R genes were not expressed in either of cells. Moreover, radioimmunoassay results showed that Day 30 CG cells did produce eCG protein (35.42ngmL−1) invitro earlier than what previous literature has shown. However, Day 30 AC cells did not produce eCG protein (0.042ngmL−1) invitro, and both CG and AC cell lines stopped secreting eCG in the media after the lentiviral infection. To conclude, establishing stable and hygromycin-resistant cell lines from Day 30 equine CG and AC cells using lentivirus encoding pLV-hTERT-IRES-hygro is attainable. Also, equine chorionic gonadotropin eCG protein is produced invitro as early as Day 30 from CG cells.
Identification of a cyanidin-3-O-β-galactoside in gall tissue induced by midges on Japanese beech (Fagus crenata Blume)
Authors: Miyazaki Sho , Kurisu Hironosuke , Nakata Masaya , Saikawa Yoko
Published: December 2019

Insect gall structures have many characteristic forms and colors, which are distinguishable from host plants. In this study, we identified an anthocyanin from red color insect galls and revealed that the anthocyanin biosynthesis of plants was induced by the gall extracts. The galling insects presumably regulate the anthocyanin biosynthesis of host plants to protect their larvae from environmental stresses.
Gene doping: Present and future
Authors: Cantelmo Rebeca Araujo , da Silva Alessandra Pereira , Mendes‐Junior Celso Teixeira , Dorta Daniel Junqueira
Published: December 2019

Being an elite athlete is an extremely coveted position, which can lead an individual to use doping. As knowledge is extended, doping techniques have become increasingly sophisticated, and the newest method of doping is gene doping. This article aims to present an updated bibliographic survey that addresses gene doping between 1983 and 2018. Anti‐doping agencies have not yet approved any detection technique for this type of doping. The possibility of eradicating such doping is almost zero mainly because gene therapy advances rapidly. In this scenario, the future of gene doping must be discussed and decided before irreversible limits are exceeded.
Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser using graphene oxide as passive saturable absorber
Authors: Yusoff R A M , Jafry A A A , Kasim N , Munajat Y , Harun S W , Halim N A H
Published: December 2019

A Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) was demonstrated using Graphene Oxide (GO) as a saturable absorber (SA). Without SA, the ring cavity operates in a continuous wave laser at 1038 nm which is shifted to 1030 nm with the implementation of SA. The laser has a threshold pump power of 175 mW, a maximum repetition rate of 141 kHz and the shortest pulse width of 1.94?s. The highest pulse energy of 5.65 nJ is achieved at the pump power of 175mW. A stable Q-switched ytterbium doped fibre laser was successfully achieved in this experiment as the pulses measured SNR of 56.52 dB.
Microbottle resonator for temperature sensing
Authors: Batumalay Malathy , Md Johari Md Ashadi , Imran Mustafa Abdul Khudus Muhammad , Hafiz Bin Jali Mohd , Al Noman Abdullah , Wadi Harun Sulaiman
Published: December 2019

The whispering gallery mode on the surface of the microbottle optical resonator (MBR) was studied in this research paper as a relative temperature sensor. The MBR is formed by a technique known as “soften-and-compress” allowed SMF-28 silica fiber to be formed in bottle structure with a bottle diameter Db
= 190μm, stem diameter of Ds
= 125μm and bottle length of Lb
= 182μm. The Q-factor of the MBR is defined by excited with bare microfiber with 2 μm diameter and managed to have >105. The range of temperature between 40°C to 100°C is then employed to the MBR as a temperature sensor for analysis purpose. The performance of the MBR is promising with sensitivity 0.0149 dB/0C with linearity 94% and P-value >105 which is defined as a good sensor. The sensitivity value from the wavelength shift is 1.3 pm/0C. The repeatability and stability of the MBR can be employed as a temperature sensor.
Indium tin oxide thin film based saturable absorber for Q-switching in C-band region
Authors: Zalkepali N U H H , Awang N A , Yuzaile Y R , Zakaria Z , Latif A A , Ali A H , N Mahmud N N H E
Published: December 2019

An indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film based saturable absorber (SA) is proposed and demonstrated for the operation of Q-switched pulse within the C-band region. The ITO was deposited through DC magnetron sputtering method. The thickness of ITO was 86.40 nm and it was measured using F20 Filmetrics. The deposited fiber ferrule was incorporated in an erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser cavity for generating a stable Q-switching pulse. The generated output pulses displayed a repetition rate that ranged between 16.74 kHz and 38.03 kHz. The shortest pulse width retrieved was 5.78 µs at the maximum pump power of 165.5mW, while the maximum pulse energy recorded was 12.30 nJ. These results show that ITO has the potential to be used for pulsed laser applications.
Uric acid detection by using contactless intensity modulation based displacement sensor
Authors: A Gan N N G M , Taib N A M , Abdullah M , Mukhtar W M , Rashid A R A
Published: December 2019

A simple and contactless intensity modulated displacement sensor is proposed and demonstrated for sensing uric acid concentration. For a concentration change of uric acid from 0 ppm to 500 ppm, two peak voltages are obtained from the displacement curve correspond to the highest reflectivity of each concentration. Those peak light intensities increase linearly with the concentration due to the increase of the refractive index of the uric acid solution. This implies that the higher concentration of uric acid tends to detect a stronger signal. The measured sensitivities are obtained at 0.0015 V/ppm and 0.0016 V/ppm for the first peak voltage and second peak voltage respectively. The result showed the percentage of similarity for the first peak to the second peak is almost 94% and the linearity more than 97% for both peak voltages is obtained suggested the consistency of the sensor system. The stability and simplicity of the contactless sensor offer a good and valuable opportunity for many applications especially in the hazardous chemical, pharmaceutical, process control and diagnostic sectors.
The pH sensor based optical fiber coated with PAH/PAA
Authors: Mohd Yatim Khairiah , Krishnan Ganesan , Bakhtiar Hazri , Daud Suzairi , Wadi Harun Sulaiman
Published: December 2019

pH-sensitive optical fiber sensors were fabricated with layer-by-layer (LbL) method. Multiple layers of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) bilayers were coated on an unclad fiber to create the pH-sensitive region. The coating process was done using a coating system developed in this work. 10 to 40 bilayers of PAH/PAA were coated on the fiber core to evaluate its performance as pH sensor. The existences of coating on the fiber were verified with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. It was shown that the fabricated sensor is pH sensitive and independent of variation in the refractive index of the surrounding. The best performance was obtained with 30 bilayers fiber sensor. The sensitivity and resolution of the sensor were 0.453 a.u/pH and 0.0022 pH units respectively. With the developed coating system, various physical and chemical sensors can be realized by varying the coating materials.
Titanium dioxide-based picoseconds pulsed fiber laser performances comparison in the 1.5-micron region
Authors: Rahman M F A , Reddy P H , Paul M C , Das S , Dhar A , Rusdi M F M , Latiff A A , Dimyati K , Harun S W
Published: December 2019

We demonstrated and compared picoseconds pulsed fiber lasers based on Titanium dioxide based saturable absorbers (SAs); 20 cm long Titanium dioxide-doped fiber (TiO2DF) and Titanium dioxide PVA film (TiO2PF) in the 1.5-micron region. The laser cavity utilized 2.4 m long Erbium-doped fiber (EDF) as the gain medium. A self-starting pulsed laser with a consistent repetition rate of ∼1 MHz emerged stably with the incorporation of TiO2 based SAs. The TiO2DF SA produced 9.74 ps pulsed laser at a central wavelength of 1553 nm within a pump power range of 106-142 mW. The fiber SA promoted slightly higher slope efficiency and maximum pulse energy of 13.17% and 8.56 nJ, respectively in comparison with the film SA. On the other hand, the TiO2PF SA generated stable 3.89 ps pulsed laser at an operating wavelength of 1560 nm within 86-142 mW pump power range. The film SA also produced slightly greater maximum output power of 12.17 mW and maximum peak power of 3.43 kW, respectively at the maximum pump power. The results confirmed that both TiO2 SAs can be good alternative pulse modulator in the 1.5-micron region.
A novel approach to the sustainable financing of the global restoration of degraded agricultural land
Authors: Chapman Bruce , Lindenmayer David B
Published: December 2019

Humanity must find ways to feed an expanding human population. This requires maintaining the productivity of agricultural land, although much of it is increasingly degraded. Many trillions of dollars will be needed to address land degradation globally, but there has been little discussion about how to sustainably finance major global initiatives such as the UN Decade of ecosystem restoration. We suggest that existing financing instruments (government grants and commercial loans) have two limitations. First, the size of the problem is so substantial that contemporary approaches have no real prospects of adequately addressing the issue. Second, even if grants and loans had the potential in terms of prospective magnitude, in many instances they would be inequitable, regressive and/or have high risks for farm properties. We examine an alternate financing instrument, revenue-contingent loans (RCL), which potentially has subsidy-reducing properties for government budgets, and thus the capacity for more broadly-based public sector engagement with agricultural land remediation. RCL can substantially diminish borrowing risks and hardship for farm properties. Unlike commercial debt, repayments under RCL are not time-based but instead occur when a farm business can afford to make them. This is important as remediation of farmland degradation can be a medium to long-term process, and hence loan repayments need to parallel the time that it takes for the benefits of restoration to accrue to a farm business. Using income data from Australian agriculture, we illustrate empirically the repayment effects of a hypothetical RCL, focusing on the consequences for a government’s budget, the time stream of repayments for farms differing in revenue streams, and the benefits of income-smoothing. Our results underscore the potential benefits of RCL for the financing of land restoration investments, for both farmers and taxpayers. RCL could be made operational without significant costs to government budgets and within acceptable time frames.
Ultimate strength analysis of CFRP confined concrete using finite element method (FEM)
Authors: Mukhtar Z Z , AbWahid A H H , Bakar A A , Fitriadhy A , Majid M S Abdul , Saat A M
Published: December 2019

This paper presents a comparison with experimental data of CFRP confined concrete column damage. The study investigates the behaviour of CFRP confined concrete beams against the experimental results. It also investigates the influence of different parameters on the behaviour of the FRP confined concrete column. The ABAQUS code was used to develop finite element models for simulation of the damage behaviour of the beams. The concrete was modelled using a plastic-damage model which is a perfect bond model and were evaluated for the concrete-FRP confinement interface. The results showed that when the thickness of carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) proportional to the load capacity of the beam for both shear and compressive strength. The maximum load increases with an incremental of CFRP thickness. From the simulation results, the load- deflection relationships have been analysed and the FEM results agreed well with the experiments data. Finally, the study shows that the differences between the results of finite element analysis and experimental tests are in an acceptable range.
New bio-based nanolubricants for turning of Inconel 718 towards improvement of tool wear resistance and specific cutting energy
Authors: Mahboob Ali Mohd Asyraf , Azmi Azwan Iskandar , Mohd Zain Mohd Zahiruddin , Murad Muhamad Nasir , Mohd Khalil Ahmad Nabil , Abd Rahim Mohd Shukor
Published: December 2019

Substitution of traditional metal cutting fluid with newly formulated bio-based nanolubricants for machining hard-to-cut material such as Inconel 718 can be advantageous in reducing the impact on environmental as well as on the overall operating or machining expenditure. Added to that, combination of nano-lubricants with Minimum Quantity Lubricant (MQL) system provides benefit towards controlling fluid consumption along with the aim of cooling and lubricating effectively at the cutting zone. Until now, research studies on the ability of bio-based nano-lubrications for cutting fluids application on hard metal alloys are still at infancy. Hence, in this work, newly formulated bio-based nano-lubrications were tested while machining Inconel 718 with uncoated carbide tool. Performances of different cutting fluids namely; Solcut oil, coconut oil, pure bio-based oil, bio-based oil + 0.2% Al2O3, bio-based oil + 0.5% Al2O3 and bio-based oil + 0.8% Al2O3 were evaluated with respect to tool wear and specific cutting energy. Overall, bio-based oil + 0.8% Al2O3 exhibited excellent wear resistant which prolong the cutting time or the tool life expectancy. Meanwhile, bio-based oil + 0.5% Al2O3 was superior in lowering the specific cutting energy for machining Inconel 718 as compared to other five types of cutting fluids.
Evaluation of delamination damage and surface roughness in end milling flax fibre composites
Authors: Mustafa A R , Azmi A I , Zakaria M S , Lih T C
Published: December 2019

Flax fibre reinforced composites have been very attractive in numerous applications such as wall and automotive panels. With chemical treatments and modifications, their mechanical competent can be at par with the existing synthetic fibre composites. The flax fibre composites are normally fabricated to near-net shape, but very often these composites require a secondary cutting process such as milling to attain final geometrical and dimensional tolerances. Due to the continuous contact of the milling tool on the composite material during cutting process, several undesirable damage such as delamination, matrix cracking, fibre pull-out; existed which may lead to deterioration of their mechanical strength. In this study, parametric effects of milling parameters, namely; feed rate, spindle speed, and number of end mill flutes on delamination damage and surface roughness, were investigated. Taguchi L18 orthogonal array was used to design the experimental plan. Signal to Noise (S/N) ratio and response tables were implemented to analyse the experimental data. It was found that spindle speed and feed rate had equal effects on delamination damage and surface roughness, whereas the number of end mill flute had a marginal influence on the aforementioned machining outputs.
Surface modification of nitinol by using electrical discharge coatings in deionized water
Authors: Mansor A F , Jamaluddin R , Azmi A I , Lih T C , Zain M Z M
Published: December 2019

Nitinol, also known as nickel-titanium shape memory alloy, has a high potential in medical implantation due to its unique mechanical properties, shape memory effect, and low modulus of elasticity which close to bone’s modulus. However, high composition of nickel element in this alloy is harmful whenever the element is released into human body that can induce inflammation and allergic reactions. The objective of this study is to develop a deposition layer of titanium oxide on nitinol surface through the study of electrical discharge coatings (EDC) parameters effects. In particular, deionized water and pure titanium rod were as the dielectric fluids and electrodes, respectively, during the EDC process. Variation settings of polarity, gap voltage and erosion depth were employed in this study. Experimental results examined the coating thickness and surface roughness through full factorial design with ANOVA analysis. It was determined that the polarity gave the highest significant effect on the deposition thickness. Meanwhile, the interaction between polarity and gap voltage was exhibited significant effect to the surface roughness. In additional, reverse polarity and low gap voltage were preferred in EDC process to provide good surface roughness and higher uniformity of the material deposition.
Experimental validation of finite element modelling on tibia with osteogenesis imperfecta
Authors: Tan H Y , Basaruddin K S , Khan S F , Som M H Mat , Daud R , Sulaiman A R
Published: December 2019

The paper aimed to determine the validity of finite element analysis of tibia bone affected by Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) under various angle of bowing of the bone. Finite element (FE) model of human tibia bones were developed with various degree of bowing to simulate different severity of OI, and then the geometrical models of these FE models were used to develop bone specimen using fused deposition method (FDM) rapid prototyping technique. Compression tests were conducted to the bone specimen and FE analysis were performed by simulating conditions of the compression test, and then results from the compression test and FE simulation were compared. It have been found that both of the results corresponded to each other, therefore it is concluded that FE analysis is able to simulate the mechanical response of tibia bone with OI.
Normalization and weighting methods for precise and standardized sustainability assessment: recent practices in manufacturing
Authors: Ahmad S , Wong K Y , Zahid I , Hussain Z , M S K  , Sarfraz M
Published: December 2019

To address the challenges of sustainable manufacturing, precise, transparent and standardized sustainability assessment is essential. In this regard, normalization and weighting approaches are key tools to improve the precision, transparency and robustness of sustainability assessment efforts. However, mostly, the available literature on sustainability assessment discusses less about normalization and weighting. Moreover, previously, most of the related sustainability assessment and review studies were based on normalization and weighting for life cycle assessment (environmental dimension) only. Thus, this paper aims to present the recent status quo of normalization and weighting practices for sustainability assessment in manufacturing. Unlike previous review studies, this paper includes all three dimensions of sustainability (environment, economy and society). In order to achieve this objective, recent sustainability assessment studies (published in last 10 years) were reviewed and analyzed, from normalization and weighting viewpoints. The results showed that a majority of the reviewed studies which considered all three dimensions of sustainability were based on internal normalization. In contrast, the environmental assessment based studies were mostly grounded on external normalization. In addition, most of the reviewed studies considering all three dimensions of sustainability were concerned with normalization of input and/or output indicators, whereas environment based studies were mostly normalized for impact indicators. For weighting purposes, the analytic hierarchy process method was used most commonly, whereas the Delphi method and others were less frequently employed. Overall, more future work is required to increase awareness and usage of normalization and weighting methods for sustainability assessment in manufacturing.
Chip Morphology of Stainless Steel in Oblique Cutting Process using Finite Element Modeling and Simulation
Authors: Maideen N C , Budin Salina , Ibrahim Dzullijah , Maharam Lafishahzreen
Published: December 2019

Finite Element Method (FEM) is a numerical modelling technique that can increase the understanding of characteristic and behavior of the machining process. In order to increase the machining efficiency, the suitable selection of cutting parameter is very important. Simulation can be used to compress a time frame and investigate quickly the change of parameter and their effects like in a real situation without producing a physical sample. In addition, simulation study also able to minimize material cost involved due to trial and error manufacturing techniques. Due to many advantages of simulation, this work conducts a study on oblique cutting process. 3D model of turning process of Stainless Steel 316L (workpiece) using tungsten carbide, WC (cutting tool) was developed by FEM software ABAQUS. Three different velocity of cutting tool which are 185,415 and 660 (m/min) was carried out as manipulated variables. Simulation of cutting process was conducted to examine the chip morphology and their stress distribution in the workpiece. Then, chip morphology was compared with previous study and the gap between these two techniques were discussed. From the results obtained, developed model was successfully produced similar chip morphology produced by experiments and able to mimic oblique cutting process.
Mechanical properties of carbon and glass fibre reinforced composites produced by additive manufacturing: A short review
Authors: Omar N W Y , Shuaib N A , Hadi M H J Ab , Azmi A I
Published: December 2019

Fibre reinforced composites are widely used in various sectors such as aerospace, wind energy and automotive. Due to its versatility and low cost for rapid prototyping and production applications, additive manufacturing technology has grown exponentially over the past few years. In this paper, performances of glass fibre and carbon fibre reinforced composites in additive manufacturing are reviewed from the perspective of mechanical properties. From the review, the reinforcements generally improve mechanical properties, in particular for tensile modulus and tensile strength. The paper presents a benchmark of additive manufacturing technologies for composite material as well as the spotlights of further research in the usage of carbon and glass fibres in rapid prototyping processes.
Implementation of multi-component dusty-gas model for species transport in quasi-three-dimensional numerical analysis of solid oxide fuel cell. Part II: direct ammonia fuel
Authors: Tan W C , Iwai H , Kishimoto M , Yoshida H
Published: December 2019

The Fick’s model is applied to analyze the species transport in the porous electrodes for an in-house developed quasi-three-dimensional numerical model of solid oxide fuel cell. It may not be reliable when significant concentration difference is formed in the gas mixture, owing to chemical reactions such as steam methane reforming and ammonia decomposition. In this study, the multi-component dusty-gas model is implemented to solve the conservation of species on a three-dimensional grid system in the anode layer involving direct ammonia decomposition. The results with the developed model are compared with the available two-dimensional numerical analysis. The obtained results show that the dusty-gas model can accurately predict the transport of gas species in the porous anode even when a chemical reaction occurs.
Assessment of the Malaysian Tidal Stream Energy Resources
Authors: Rahman A , Ibrahim I , Rahman M T A
Published: December 2019

As a developing country, Malaysia has shown great interest and effort to commit and invest for green technology and green energy especially tidal energy resources. This research project is conducted to carry out an assessment study to analyse and compare several locations in Malaysia while using the optimal analytical approach in finding the best sites to harness tidal stream resource around Malaysia. Previous studies that only considered flow velocity at the deployment sites may not be accurate since geometry of the coastal region and the friction force exerted from the tidal flow with the seabed can also contribute to the suitability of the proposed tidal sites. Tidal Model Driver was used to extract tidal elevation data on specific harmonic constituents and tidal velocity attribute, and then compared to the data obtained from General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans. The weighted decision matrix was used to analyse the potential of each location by considering essential criteria such as tidal velocity, depth of coastline, geometry of coastline and environmental impacts. Top locations with the highest score were chosen as potential location to invest in a tidal energy farm, which consists of Pulau Pangkor, Port Dickson, and Pulau Tioman among others. The locations that produce the highest yearly energy density are found to be Pulau Pangkor with 1.21 MWh/year followed by Pulau Pinang with 836.5 kWh/year. Notably, the inclusion of other factors besides tidal velocity such as the site characteristic and the amount of potential impact to the environment provided different outcome than published materials in this field.
Flexural properties of hybrid synthetic/Napier fibres reinforced epoxy composites
Authors: Ridzuan M J M , Majid M S Abdul , Khasri A , Tajul L , Cheng E M
Published: December 2019

This paper present the flexural properties of hybrid synthetic/Napier fibres reinforced epoxy composites. The synthetic materials used were carbon and glass fibres. The composites were fabricated using the vacuum infusion method. Napier grass and synthetic fibres were used as reinforcement materials would be mixed with the epoxy resin. The samples were differed by volume fractions. The flexural tests has been conducted using a universal testing machine according with ASTM standard D790. The flexural strength and modulus of the hybrid synthetic/Napier fibre reinforced epoxy composites increased as the content of the synthetic fibre content increased. The flexural properties of the hybrid carbon/Napier reinforced epoxy composites were observed higher than the hybrid glass/Napier reinforced epoxy composites.
Thermal polymer composites of hybrid fillers
Authors: Samsudin S S , Majid M S Abdul , Ridzuan M J M , Osman A F
Published: December 2019

Thermal polymer composite materials for heat dissipation purposes have been widely researched over the previous decade due to their ease of processing, electric insulating, low cost and lightweight. These materials, which embedded with high thermal conductive fillers in the polymer matrix, exhibit high electrical insulation and thermal conductivity properties. These materials, however, are very hard to manage because usually it contains more than 70% volume of filler in order to be able to rapidly dissipate heat. Several approaches have been conducted by different research groups to enhance heat transfer through polymers while decreasing its filler contents. This paper presents a systematic review on several approaches which are used for enhancing the thermal properties of polymer composites by incorporating various types of fillers. The primary goal of this review is to identify any future trends in thermal polymer composites that regulate and dictate the method of thermal conduction.