Modelling and Simulation of Milk Production System of Dairy Goats in Malaysia

The main purpose of this study was to construct a model for goats ' milk production in Malaysia. Apart from that, the research meant to study the effect of several particular factors on milk production in Malaysia. Another objective was to study the dynamic behaviour of lactation curve of goats by modelling approach. In order to gain the objectives, a few steps of study were taken. The first study was to identify the energy requirement of goats at the maintenance level. The second study aims to identify the content and the production of goats' milk. The next step was constructing a model of milk production system of goats based on reports made by previous researchers and the results obtained from the current studies. To validate the model constructed, validation steps were taken by comparing simulation data to the actual data on milk production system of goats. The initial study was conducted on 8 non lactating adult Saanen goats which were reared by the intensive system. The goats were fed with oil palm frond leaflet silage mixed with 5% DM molasses (OPFL) and also concentrate as supplement. The feed offered was adjusted in order to maintain the body weight. Later, an experiment was carried out to identify the digestibility of feed offered by using 6 goats from the same group. The second experiment was conducted on 17 adults, lactating goats reared by intensive system. The goats were also fed with OPFL silage and 33.6% of DM concentrate (in the diet) as supplement. The result of the research shows that the dry matter digestibility of feed with 77% of DM OPFL silage and 23% of DM concentarate by the Saanen goats was 44.1% whereas the dry matter intake was 3% of body weight. The energy requirement for maintenance was 433.3 kJ ME/kg BWo.75/day. The model developed was based on the energy utilization in the body system of goats. There were 4 main parameters considered in the model which influence the energy utilization for milk production. The parameters are feed intake, digestibility of feed, energy requirement for maintenance and energy conversion factor into milk production. The metabolizable energy consumption of goats can be estimated using the equation, MEvi = FI x DMD x 1 4.94, where FI is dry matter intake (kg/day), DMD is dry matter digestibility and 14.94 is the metabolizable energy value in feed (MJ/kgDM). The metabolizable energy requirement for maintenance for goats can be estimated using the equation MERm = MEmbw x MBW, where MEmbw is metabolizable energy for maintenance per metabolic body weight (MJ/kgBWo.75/day) and MBW is metabolic body weight. For goats in intensive system, MEmbw = 0.4333, however for grazing goats, MEmbw = 0.5416. The lactation curve and milk production can be estimated using the equation, y = a x nb x e(-c x n), where y is an average daily milk production, n is lactation week, a, b and c are constant. Metabolizable energy requirement for milk production can be estimated using the equation, MERI = 2.78 x MY/(0.463 + 0.1944 x DMD), where 2.78 is milk energy (MJ/kg) and MY is milk production (kg). The dry matter intake can be estimated using the equation, PI = (MEmbw x MBW + 2.78 x MY /(0.463 + 0.1944 x DMD))/( 1 4.94 X DMD). In general , milk production in the Malaysian production system can be represented by the mathematical equation: MY = ((14.94 x PI x DMD - MEmbw x MBW) x (0.463 + 0. 1 944 x DMD))/ 2.78. Assesment made on the Malaysian milk production system reveals that the main factors which effect milk production are breed and nutrition. B reeds that are suitable for producing milk in high quantity are dairy breeds which have the ability to adapt themselves with the environment in Malaysia. This study also finds that most of livestock feed sources in Malaysia has low or moderate in nutritive value. As a result, they are not suitable for high milk production. However, some of the sources such as oil palm frond (OPF) can be obtained from agricultural by-products. They are more suitable because the cost is cheaper and they can be obtained in a great quantity. In order to increase milk production, high quantity of concentrate should be given in the livestock feed. The model constructed is able to helps farmers in planning and managing their farms. It enables farmers to predict feed requirement, milk production and financial requirement for the dairy herds. Indirectly, this will improve the goats milk production in Malaysia

Inter-firm Relationships and Performance Factors in the Australian Beef Supply Chain: Implications for the Stakeholders

Recent study by Meat & Livestock Australia revealed that cost competitiveness and market development issues in supply chain are the major factors for a long term decline of the Australian Beef industry. This study, based on the explanation of transaction cost theory argues that competitive performance of an industry depends on improving cost efficiency across the whole of supply chain, the underlying value chain, and the relationship among the stakeholders in the industry. With a main objective to investigate the underlying factors of developing competent inter-firm relationship that influence the supply chain performance and competitiveness, this study presents details of a survey carried out and tests the hypothesis that inter-organizational relationships in supply chain and its antecedents have impact on the performance of Australian beef industry and thus have impact on the competitiveness of the industry. Data were collected through a telephone survey of 315 firms in the beef industry from the states of Western Australia and Queensland. The sample respondents were categorized as input suppliers, beef-cattle producers, processors, retailers/exporters, and wholesalers. The data were analysed using the partial least square based structural equation modelling. PLS analysis reveals that ‘Transaction Climate’ is the strongest determinants of developing a competent relationship, while negotiation power, presence of industry competitors, and the degree of vertical coordination significantly influence the relationship strength. Findings also demonstrate that relationship strength is the most prevalent source of performance and competitiveness, while SC performance highly positively influences the Competitiveness of beef industry. Thus this study identifies significant antecedents and consequences of Supply Chain Performance in Australian beef industry, which are strategic and extremely important information for beef producers, processors, retailers, and other stakeholders for appropriate planning and benchmarking.Beef Supply Chain, Agribusiness Management, Supply Chain Management, Agribusiness,

An early experience of total hip arthroplasty done through direct anterior approach: an adult of cases done at Helen Joseph hospital

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Of Master of Medicine Johannesburg, 2016Background: Total hip arthroplasty is among the most successful and reliable procedures used to treat various hip arthritides. It improves the quality of life by relieving pain and improving function. There are various factors that affect the outcome following surgery. One important factor is the choice of the surgical approach used. The direct anterior approach to the hip is minimally invasive with fewer complications and faster rehabilitation compared to other commonly used surgical approaches to the hip joint. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate intra-operative complications, early post-operative complications and time to mobilization in Total Hip Arthroplasty done using a Direct Anterior Approach and thus determine the length of hospital stay. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of the records of all the cases of total hip arthroplasty done using a direct anterior approach from January 2013 to June 2015. Intraoperative complications and times of mobilization were evaluated. Results: Out of thirty (30) cases, twenty one (21) cases met the inclusion criteria with 11 male and 10 female patients. The average perioperative blood loss was 440ml and the average time of surgery was 145min. No intra-operative fracture, case of deep vein thrombosis, injury to lateral femoral cutaneous nerve and postoperative hip dislocation occurred in this series. The average time to mobilization was 6.14 days and the average length of hospital stay was 10.28 days. Conclusion These results are good and comparable to international studies in spite of the learning curve faced by surgeons when using a new approach.MT201

POULTRY REVERSE SUPPLY CHAIN PROCESS CONVEYS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental sustainability is eminent concept for the corporate industry to manage internal and external resources for contemporary and future generation. This valued concept make beneficiary to its follower in terms of environment friendly reputation and gaining extra profit. Reverse supply chain (RSC) is one of the divisions of supply chain management that deals product return, waste reduction, recycle and reuse. The researchers have preferred this potential area based on particular case industry to observe how reverse supply chain can be used to protect and improve environmental hazards. The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, it offers a literature review on sustainability along with environment and supply chain in conjunction with reverse supply chain issue. Second, it develops a sustainable environment friendly model based on reverse supply chain theory. Later, model has been fitted in simulation environment through Simul8 package. The paper ultimately focused on sustainability (only dealt with environmental domain) along with reverse supply chain process in the hub of poultry industry of Bangladesh

The rules of tort liability as a basis for the product's manufacturer Liability.

The subject of this research revolves around the rules of tort liability as a basis for the manufacturer’s Liability which is one of the topics that hardly any person can disregard, whether a manufacturer or a consumer, because people need to deal with the goods in their lives as it is a necessity of life. Accordingly, there must be a legislation that protects the consumer from the manufacturer in case of defect in the goods which is caused by the producer divertive behavior of what is considered proper or is a breach of the general legal obligation of not harming others. Keywords: tort liability , the product ,consumer ,goods , detriment the consumers

Gaya ‘Lukisan Kajian’. Perbandingan Karya Lukisan Pengkaryaan Dan Perekaan: Fenomena Visualisasi

Kajian ini meneroka gaya penghasilan‘stroke line’ atau kesan palitan mata pen secara ‘free hand drawing’ dalam menghasilkan bentuk illustrasi 3 Dimensi(3D).Tujuan kajian, adalahmembuat perbandingan ‘Gaya stroke line’(gSLine) antara bidang 'Art'dengan 'Architecture Graphic Presentation Drawing' yang diringkaskan sebagai ‘A+AGPD’. Batasan responden terdiri daripada pelukis artistik dan pelukis illustrasi seni bina yang aktif berkarya dan menghasilkan buku rujukan atau bahan ilmiah.Pengkaji mengkaji perbandingan (gSLine)dikalangan 6 orang responden yang dianggap pakar dalam kajian ini. Isu lukisan ‘free hand’ yang tidak berpekadaran, kejung dan kurang menjadi dikalangan pelajar seni dan seni bina ‘under-graduate’ sering dibincangkan dalam jurnal-jurnal dalam dan luar Malaysia bermula tahun 2001 hingga 2014. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif.Metodologi kajian melalui kaedah secara trangulasi iaitu pemerhatian, rakaman visual serta kajian literature telah digunakan dalam kajian ini.Fenomena (gSLine) dianalisis berdasarkan kepada unsur-unsur seni: garisan, rupa, bentuk, tekstur dan warna dalam menghasilkan illustrasi bentuk 3D secara ‘free hand’. Dapatan kajian secara literatur, mendapati karya artistik dikenali sebagai lukisan pengkaryaan.Manakala lukisan yang dihasilkan oleh pelukis illustrasi grafik seni bina, grafik dikenali sebagai lukisan perekaan.Dapatan kajian daripada 6 orang responden mendapati terdapat tiga perbezaan (gSLine) antara dua disiplin ilmu seni ini iaitu daya visual(perkadaran) ,emosi(seimbang) dan estetik(bernada) yang diringkaskan sebagai (dVEE). Dapatan kajian ini dikumpulkan dalam usaha pengkaji menghasilkan model hibrid ‘Art+Architecture Graphic Presentation Drawing’ (A+AGPD).Teori pemodelan Albert Bandura dan teori gabungan organik dirujuk dalam penghasilan model Proses dalam pembangunan menghasilkan (gSLine) yang berkualiti dalam menjelaskan ‘how’ atau bagaimana lukisan illustrasi 3D yang mempunyai (dVEE) boleh dihasilka

Cold mix asphalt- an alternative method to pavement rehabilitation

Failure or distress on pavement surface such as pothole, alligator cracking and shear cracking that commonly occurred and required pavement rehabilitation for maintenance proposes. Regarding the cost of reconstruction and the cost of transport and storing removed pavement materials, paying attention to recycling strategies for asphalt pavements has been considered extremely by transportation agencies [1] Pavement rehabilitation is considered as cost efficient instead of reconstruction for new pavement. Pavement rehabilitation is a structural or functional enhancement of a pavement which produces a substantial extension in service life, by substantially improving pavement condition and ride quality. The characteristic of existing pavement conditions is an important component of any rehabilitation design methodology

Port choice by intra-regional container service operators : an application of decision-making techniques to liner services between Malaysian and other Asian ports

Intra-regional container service operators are challenged to design regular and reliable liner services connecting regional ports at the lowest cost and shortest transit time while considering customer demand. This paper focuses on the selection of ports of call in regular intra-regional container services, an under-researched part of the container shipping market. A combination of decision-making techniques (i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process, fuzzy link-based and Evidential Reasoning) are presented to assist intra-regional container service operators in selecting ports of call. The proposed methodology is empirically applied to container services between Malaysian and other nearby Asian ports. While Port Klang is the main gateway to Malaysia, the results show that other Malaysian ports should play a more prominent role in accommodating intra-Asian container services. This research can assist maritime stakeholders in evaluating intra-regional port-to-port liner service configurations. Furthermore, the novel mix of decision-making techniques complements and enriches existing academic literature on port choice and liner service configuration

Effect of fiber loadings and treatment on dynamic mechanical, thermal and flammability properties of pineapple leaf fiber and kenaf phenolic composites

This study deals with the analysis of dynamic mechanical, thermal and flammability properties of treated and untreated pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) and kenaf fiber (KF) phenolic composites. Results indicated that storage modulus was decreased for all composites with increases in temperature and pattern of slopes for all composites, having almost the same values of E' at glass transition temperature (Tg). The peak of the loss modulus of pure phenolic composites was shown to be much less. After the addition of kenaf/PALF, peaks were higher and shifted towards a high temperature. The Tan delta peak height was low for pure phenolic composites and maximum for 60% PALF phenolic composites. Cole-Cole analysis was carried out to understand the phase behavior of the composite samples. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicated that pure phenolic composites have better thermal stability than PALF and kenaf phenolic composites. Vertical and horizontal UL-94 tests were conducted and showed pure phenolic resin is highly fire resistant. The overall results showed that treated KF composites enhanced the dynamic mechanical and thermal properties among all PALF/KF composites