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Q: ExpressJs - dbQuery is not defined In console, when I go to specific item id I have error(ExpressJs):
ReferenceError: dbQuery is not defined

My api.js
    var express = require('express'),
    Bourne = require('bourne'),
    bodyParser = require('body-parser'),

    db = new Bourne('data.json'),
    router = express.Router();
....
    .route('/contact/:id')
        .get(function (req, res) {
            db.findOne(req,dbQuery, function (err, data) { //problem
                res.json(data);
            });
        })
 ....

module.exports = router;

A: dbQuery is not defined? If its coming from a form it needs to be req.body.dbQuery or req.query.dbQuery.
If set somewhere else, req.dbQuery needs to be a dot not a comma.


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package org.eclipse.ceylon.compiler.java.test.interop;

class JavaException extends java.lang.Exception {
    public JavaException() {
    }
}

class JavaError extends java.lang.Error {
    public JavaError() {
    }
}

class JavaExceptionMessage extends java.lang.Exception {
    public JavaExceptionMessage() {
    }
    public java.lang.String getMessage() {
        return super.getMessage();
    }
}

class JavaErrorMessage extends java.lang.Error {
    public JavaErrorMessage() {
    }
    public java.lang.String getMessage() {
        return super.getMessage();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Welcome to the website of the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association. We are a non profit organisation, fully focused on delivering premium officiating in professional and corporate boxing.
Our association is affiliated with the IBF, WBC, WBF, WBO and Commonwealth Boxing Council.


Kosovo's parliamentary speaker, Kadri Veseli has declared today that Russia is heading toward the recognition of the independence of Kosovo. According to him, Putin has told the same to Thaci and Vucic.
"You can consider it as a positive thing. We're on the side of the western powers and our neighbours in the north want to have good relations with them. After meeting Thaci and Vucic, Putin has told them the same thing, which means that Russia is heading toward the recognition of Kosovo's independence. We're truly hoping that Kosovo becomes a UN member this year".


Every year, more than $100,000 is given away through ALSC's professional awards, grants, and scholarships. Please click on the individual award or grant for application information. For information about scholarships please click here.
A list of the 2018 Professional Award winners is now available. Congratulations to all of our winners!
This fellowship provides a $4,000 stipend to allow a qualified children's librarian to spend a month or more reading at the University of Florida's Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature, which contains a special collection of 85,000 volumes of children's literature published mostly before 1950.
The application process is currently closed. Recipients of the Bechtel Fellowship will be announced in late December 2019.
This award provides a $600 stipend, provided by Penguin Young Readers Group, for up to four winners to attend their first ALA Annual Conference. Applicants must have fewer than 10 years of experience as a children's librarian and work directly with children.
The application process is currently closed. Winners of the Penguin Random House Group Award will be announced in late November 2019.
This $3,000 grant provides financial assistance to a public library for developing an outstanding summer reading program for children.
The application process is currently closed. Recipients of the Baker & Taylor Grant will be announced in late December 2019.
This $4,000 award was established with funding from Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, in honor of Maureen Hayes, to bring together children and nationally recognized authors/illustrators by funding an author/illustrator visit to a school or public library that has not before had the opportunity to host one.
The application process is currently closed. Recipients of the Maureen Hayes Award will be announced in late December 2019.
This award honors an individual member who has made significant contributions to and an impact on, library services to children and ALSC. The recipient receives $2,000 and an engraved pin at the ALSC Membership Meeting during the ALA Annual Conference.
The application process is now open. Recipients of the Distinguished Service Award will be announced at the 2020 midwinter meeting in Philadelphia.
This $3,000 grant is sponsored by Candlewick Press in honor of author Kate DiCamillo and the themes represented in her books. The grant will be awarded to a library with exceptional outreach to underserved populations in efforts to help them continue their service.
The application process is currently closed. Recipients of the Light the Way Grant will be announced in early February 2020.
Each year the ALSC office receives almost 3,000 newly published books, videos, audiobooks and recordings from children's trade publishers for award and notables consideration. At the end of the year, after the awards have been given out, ALSC selects three libraries to receive a Bookapalooza collection of these materials (estimated to be worth $10,000 each) to be used in a way that creatively enhances their library service to children and families.
The application process is currently closed. Applications will reopen December 2019.


With so much information at your disposal, you are now better prepared to tackle your pest problem. Just remember the advice in this article and implement it as a means to finally get rid of those darn pests. You will be pleased to become pest free.


Please note that these scans are not suitable for trading advice. Each of these scans is in a development phase, they are being refined as each day passes.
Watchlists are being studied and refinements made, until there is some good degree of reliability, these scans are unsuitable except to record the scans.


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Henry Williams attended East Carolina University and played briefly with the USFL'S Memphis Showboats before joining the Edmonton Eskimos in 1986. His skills caused the CFL to create a 'Designated Import' spot on each team's roster to allow for a game-breaking specialist. No one else broke open games like Williams through 14 seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos.
In 149 regular season games Williams, affectionately know as "GIZMO", returned 26 punts for touchdowns, including, 5 in one season, to set CFL records. He also returned 3 kickoffs and 2 missed field goals for touchdowns, added 21 touchdown passes as a receiver and another on a running play. Undersized but speedy, he often punctuated his touchdowns with end zone back flips.
Williams spent the 1989 season withe the NFL'S Philadelphia Eagles and rejoined the Eskimos in 1990. At the time of his retirement in 2000, Williams was the CFL'S All-Time leader in punt returns (1,003), Punt return yardage (11,177 Yards), Kickoff returns (335) And Kickoff-return yardage (7,354). He amassed 23,927 All-purpose yards in his career.
Williams made 14 post-season appearances, playing in 22 playoff games and 5 Grey Cup games. In the 1987 Grey Cup he set a record by returning a missed field goal 115 yards for a touchdown. In 2002, he was inducted into the North West Mississippi Junior Collage Hall of fame and became a member of the Eskimo Wall of Honour that same year.
"Gizmo" by the numbers:
West Division All-Star: 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997
CFL All-star: 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
Member of the Eskimo 1987 and 1993 Grey Cup winning teams
Grey Cup record for most yards on missed field goal returns: 143 vs. Toronto Nov. 29th, 1987
Grey Cup record for longest missed field goal return: 115 yards vs. Toronto Nov. 29th 1987
Longest punt return in playoffs: 103 yds vs. Saskatchewan Nov. 15, 1992
Inducted to the Eskimo Wall of Honour in 2002
Inducted to the CFL Hall of Fame in 2006
Edmonton Eskimos 1986-1988 and 1990-2000
All-Canadian Special Teams 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
All-Western Special Teams 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997
Grey Cup Participation 1986, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996
Grey Cup Winning Teams 1987, 1993
Success to us is WOW! Success to us is YOU!
Experience: LEAP on February 29, 2016 will be an experience like no other! Don't wait! Tickets are moving!
Buy Tickets NOW!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Border Patrol Agents Rescue Six Undocumented Immigrants from Fuel Tank
DEL RIO, Texas – On Oct. 17, Border Patrol agents rescued six undocumented immigrants after they attempted to illegally further their entry into the United States near Eagle Pass.
In the early morning hours, Eagle Pass South Station agents encountered a 2007 Dodge flatbed pickup truck at an immigration checkpoint located on Farm Road 2644. During inspection a Border Patrol canine alerted agents to the cargo area of the vehicle. Agents transported the vehicle to the Eagle Pass Port of Entry for inspection by a non-intrusive imaging system.
Border Patrol agents from the Eagle Pass South Station found six undocumented immigrants hidden in an auxiliary fuel tank of a pickup truck, Oct. 17.
A scan of the vehicle revealed an image of several human bodies hidden in the diesel auxiliary tank. Emergency Medical Services were immediately contacted and placed on standby for the medical evaluation of the individuals upon extraction. Custom and Border Protection officers deployed a forklift to remove the auxiliary tank from the bed of the truck. Once the tank was raised, six men – ranging in age from 19 to 50 - were discovered. The subjects appeared disoriented and were sweating profusely. Medical personnel evaluated the subjects at the scene.
The driver, a 52-year-old San Antonio man, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for prosecution of 8 USC § 1324 - Alien Smuggling. The six subjects hidden inside the pickup – three from Mexico, two from El Salvador and one from Guatemala – were transported to the Eagle Pass South Border Patrol Station and processed according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy.
"All of our agents are trained in basic first aid and utilize these skills in their everyday duties," said Rodolfo Karisch, Chief Patrol Agent, Del Rio Sector. "This incident highlights the dangers of attempting to enter the United States illegally."
Del Rio Border Patrol Sector is an integral part of the South Texas Safety Initiative and the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations. To report suspicious activity call the Del Rio Sector's toll free number at 1-866-511-8727.


text:
Homechevron_rightKeralachevron_rightHC agrees to hear...
date_range 15 Jan 2016 4:26 PM GMT
HC agrees to hear revision plea in SNC Lavalin case in Feb
Kochi: The Kerala High Court Friday agreed to hear in February third week a revision petition filed against a CBI court verdict acquitting CPI-M politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin graft case.
On Wednesday, Director General of Prosecution T Asaf Ali had filed a plea for early posting of the hearing of the revision petition.
In its plea filed under Section 482 of the CrPC, the government said it has suffered heavy loss in the deal. "The losses suffered by the State of Kerala and KSEB are very high. Procrastination tactics adopted by the accused in the case is to be viewed seriously. There is no justification in delaying the hearing of the case on one pretext or other. Hence the matter is urgent in nature," it said.
The revision plea challenging the discharge of Vijayan and six others in the SNC Lavalin graft case was originally filed by one T P Nandakumar and CBI, which had filed charge sheet in the case. In its petition, CBI had said there was sufficient evidence to prove the charges against the accused.
The CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram had in November 2013 discharged Vijayan and six others from the Rs 374.50 crore graft case.
The special judge had ruled that the CBI had failed to prove the charges of conspiracy and corruption levelled against Vijayan and other accused.
The special court had stated that CBI had failed to establish the fraudulent intention, abuse of official position, criminal conspiracy and element of cheating in connection with the award of contract to Canadian firm SNC Lavalin for renovating three hydel projects in the state.


Energy drives our lives and when the power goes off, customers want it back on – fast. Especially during a crisis, restoration is critical. It is for this reason and many more that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) implemented a smart grid program, leveraging the Silver Spring standards-based IPv6 network, software and services, to serve its 5 million customers in northern and central California.
The biggest difference between the most recent quake and the last large Bay Area "Loma Prieta" earthquake in 1989, the article explains, is technology innovation. Nearly a week after the 1989 earthquake 55,000 customers were still without gas service. In the article, PG&E noted that the smart grid was a key enabler in being able to both respond and restore service quickly to its customers.


Construction of the US Navy's 12th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessel has begun at Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, on 29 January.
EPFs are non-combatant vessels designed to operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, increasing operational flexibility for a wide range of activities including manoeuvre and sustainment, relief operations in small or damaged ports, flexible logistics support and rapid transport.
The ships are capable of transporting 600 short tonnes of military cargo 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35kt. The vessels are capable of interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, as well as on/off-loading vehicles such as a fully combat-loaded Abrams main battle tank. Each vessel includes a flight deck to support day and night aircraft launch and recovery operations.
Austal USA delivered USNS Burlington (EPF 10) to the navy in November 2018 and is currently in production on Puerto Rico (EPF 11), which was christened in November 2018. The navy issued Austal long-lead-time material contracts in late 2018 for EPF 13 and EPF 14.


text:
MC / Moderator
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Speaker Enquiry
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Michele Wucker
How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore
Categories: Business, Change, China, Economics, Global Affairs, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy, Trends
An award-winning global thought leader with experience in strategy, immigration policy, finance, globalization, turnarounds, and crisis management, Michele Wucker draws on three decades in media and non-profit management and policy development. Her third book is THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore, which grew out of a presentation at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland in which she coined the term "gray rhino" for highly probable, high impact crisis events. The book has received praise from business, policy, and thought leaders around the world and influenced policy debates at the highest levels. Michele founded Gray Rhino & Company in 2015 to help leaders and organizations to identify and strategize responses to gray rhino risks that are neglected despite -and all too often because of- their size.
Michele has been recognized as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and a Guggenheim Fellow, among other honors. Her previous leadership positions include Vice President for Studies at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs; President of the World Policy Institute, which she re-launched in 2007 in a dramatic turnaround; and Latin America Bureau Chief at International Financing Review. She also has taught master's students at the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, of which she is an alumna. An engaging keynote speaker, moderator, panelist, and facilitator, she has delivered presentations in 16 countries on five continents. She lives in Chicago.
GRAY RHINO-PROOFING YOUR FUTURE
Gray Rhino events are highly probable, give clear warnings and have high impact. Yet all too often, leaders fail to plan for, recognize, or respond to obvious dangers, from the personal to the organizational to the political to the global level: financial crisis, industry disruptions, failing infrastructure, the aging of the workforce, climate change and more. The most successful organizations are the ones that identify and confront Gray Rhino threats instead of letting themselves be trampled. Michele's provocative talk lays out a framework for recognizing Gray Rhinos and the pitfalls and opportunities at each of their five stages, from denial to action –not just to avoid highly obvious dangers, but to see opportunities where others do not. She customizes each talk to your industry or organization's needs. In the workshop version of this talk, she leads participants through the five-stage analytical framework and facilitates reflections and conversations that lead to actionable steps to help your team and organization rise up to stubborn challenges and turn obstacles into opportunities. This talk has been particularly popular for leadership development.
GRAY RHINOS AND GREEN SWANS: THE NEW ESG IMPERATIVE
Environment and climate are global, obvious, challenges with huge impact on supply chains, agriculture, property values, and finance. Yet progress in dealing with them has been painfully slow. That is changing, with huge implications on capital flows and investment strategies. Amid increasingly extreme weather and recognition that global supply chains depend on addressing climate change, calls are rising for action. And companies are waking up on environment, social, and governance (ESG) issues — not for political reasons, but because it's a business imperative. What does the ESG rallying cry mean for your business? How do you sound the alarm loud enough to get your company and partners on board? What are the right change metrics to follow?
A DOUBLE GRAY RHINO: THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
The age of automation and artificial intelligence is here, with profound implications that companies, economies, and the labor force ignore at their peril. Businesses must adapt to disruption or perish; workers must prepare for dramatic change; and policy makers must provide an ecosystem to ease a difficult transition. What are the most dangerous pitfalls —and hidden opportunities- for decision makers in this obvious but poorly understood "gray rhino" threat? This talk provides a framework for developing strategies that can turn dangers into catalysts for innovation in a time of uncertainty.
DEMOGRAPHIC GRAY RHINOS: ROBOTS MEET AGING AND MIGRATION
Tectonic shifts are coming in labor markets and consumer demographics, intensified by recent technological advances in additive manufacturing and machine learning. Together, they are a crash of obvious, highly probable yet neglected "gray rhino" challenges.
* By 2050, there will be just one worker for every retiree, less than a third of the current level
* Pension shortfalls in the U.S. alone are roughly $20 trillion
* By 2044, the United States will be a majority minority country
* Close to half of U.S. jobs could be lost to automation of everything from scheduling to driving to legal and financial analysis
Learn about the opportunities and pitfalls that your organization faces amid shifting demographics colliding with increasing automation, and strategies for getting ahead of the game.
Your presentation was engaging and thought provoking; we have received a lot of compliments on our speaker choice!
~ Ruth Elmore, The Business Continuity Institute
We all took a lot of valuable insight from your presentation and workshop. When I got back to work I had a session with my managers to identify our 'Grey Rhinos' and Brexit was one of them. Having identified it, we had a strategy on what we'd do if the worst happened –leaving Europe for us– so we could react quickly and put a positive spin on it to counter any potential negative effect. We continue to meet to discuss the latest Grey Rhinos and it's very much in our team mind-set now.
~ Leanne Linacre, ALTO
I received so many warm comments from your master class. Everything from "highly relevant" and "practical" to "greatly informative and instructional" to "expert," "right on point" and "eye-opening."
~ Anthony Vlahos, ExecuNet
An engaging, insightful speaker! Michele Wucker is able to demystify complex global happenings in a breezy conversational style.
~ Peter Marber, Head of Emerging Markets Investments at Loomis, Sayles & Co
Brett King
Leading Futurist
Pulitzer Prize-winning author, China Expert
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Martin Roll
Business & Brand Leadership
DNA of a Winner
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Leading Global Economist
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A kiss is just a kiss— except in China and Chnlove! No social kissing whatsoever. Nor do they shake hands socially to say hello or goodbye, but rather nod their heads and smile. So exactly what is the protocol regards kissing in Chinese culture? Even nowadays any public display of affection; including holding hands, hugging and kissing are frowned upon very strongly in China. So where, when and how exactly can you kiss a Chinese woman?
Chinese culture simply decrees that people don't kiss each other and so they conform and basically refrain from kissing. The exception to this readily accepted credence is for married couples within the privacy if their own bed. And of course very young children may be kissed but even then very little physical validation is offered to youngsters.
ht kissing publicly. One such young lady took her own life because a neighbour saw her boyfriend kiss her gently on the forehead and then told everyone that she was a bad woman. Sadly the girl was shattered believing she had brought such shame to her family despite having done absolutely nothing wrong at all. It's best to understand that the cultural pressure on Chinese women to not show any public affection, especially kissing is immense often with heavy consequences for breaking traditional protocol.
Do Chinese Girls Actually Like Kissing?
Yes. Apparently they do but since it is so frowned up to the point of bringing shame to one's family, many Chinese women do not have much experience with basic affection, let alone the art of kissing. Chinese women are also generally reserved and shy in nature when dating. It often takes a great deal of patience and empathy when starting a relationship with your lovely Chinese lady.
There is every chance that your gorgeous Chinese woman will love to kiss you and be kissed passionately but never in public. Affection and intimacy including kissing, in Chinese culture is primarily reserved for the sanctity of marriage. She may even expect you to delay any form of intimacy with very little, if any affection at all until the wedding. You can suggest that you marry in China instead of upon your return home to the west.
If you decide to kiss a Chinese woman keep the following tips in mind so as not to offend and/or cause embarrassment for her, her family or yourself. Keep in mind that Chinese girls are traditionally submissive and shy regards showing affection, especially in public.
If you do want to show affection; try holding hands as many are happy to do this. Still want to kiss your Chinese woman in public or private? It's always best to ask her how she feels about it. Of course public or private affection assumes you have attained a sufficient level of closeness that would progress as such. Very small, quick affectionate pecks are safest publicly and never pull her head towards yours.
It's wise and respectful to save any deep passionate kissing for when you are alone together. However chances are she will make you wait until you are officially engaged or even married for such an intimate kiss. But then again; sometimes even Chinese girls behave differently behind closed doors and away from societal scrutiny.


Copyright © 2015 M. Asim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Natural fibre based composites are under intensive study due to their ecofriendly nature and peculiar properties. The advantage of natural fibres is their continuous supply, easy and safe handling, and biodegradable nature. Although natural fibres exhibit admirable physical and mechanical properties, it varies with the plant source, species, geography, and so forth. Pineapple leave fibre (PALF) is one of the abundantly available wastes materials of Malaysia and has not been studied yet as it is required. A detailed study of chemical, physical, and mechanical properties will bring out logical and reasonable utilization of PALF for various applications. From the socioeconomic prospective, PALF can be a new source of raw material to the industries and can be potential replacement of the expensive and nonrenewable synthetic fibre. However, few studies on PALF have been done describing the interfacial adhesion between fibres and reinforcement compatibility of fibre but a detailed study on PALF properties is not available. In this review, author covered the basic information of PALF and compared the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties with other natural fibres. Furthermore, it summarizes the recent work reported on physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of PALF reinforced polymer composites with its potential applications.
Industries are widely using plant fibres for numerous applications from many resources. In the middle of 20th century, synthetic fibres rose up drastically, and natural fibres industries collapse its market shares. For promoting natural fibre and material, year 2009 is considered as international year of natural fibre (IYNF), which is highly supportive to famers, agriculture, environment, and market demands. Composite market of United States has been recorded 2.7–2.8 billion pounds from 2006 to 2007. On the basis of compound annual growth rate of 3.3%, it is estimated to cross over 3.3 billion pounds . In 2009, Thailand produces 1.894 million tonnes, the Philippines produced 2.198 million tonnes, and Brazil produced only 1.43 million tonnes. In 2001 the production of Costa Rica, Cote d'lvoire, and Philippines were 322,000 tonnes, 188,000 tonnes, and 135000 tonnes, respectively . The most important property of natural fibre is biodegradability and noncarcinogenic which bring it back into fashion, with an advantage of being cost-effective. The versatile nature of it makes it suitable for automobiles, railway coach, building construction, partition wall cabinets, or furniture for machinery uses and packaging. Natural fibres are important agricultural biomass contributing to Malaysian economy. The huge and wide range availability of natural fibre can reduce the pressure on forest and agriculture. The usage of diverse raw materials will help to keep a ecological balance in nature. Generally agriculture materials and forest product produce 30–40% waste materials, which can also be used in value added processing. The low density natural fibres can also be utilised as per the aim of utility. For example, a grass fibre can be a good alternative for low load bearing products . It has cumulative advantage of light weight (low density), cheaper source, low wages, being noncarcinogenic, and biodegradability [4–6]. Scientists and engineers are having great interest to find out new sources of raw materials that possess comparable physical and mechanical properties to synthetic fibres. Various other parameters to be considered while selecting raw materials are being cheap, being ecofriendly , absence of health hazards, high degree of flexibility , lower plant's age, easy collection, and regional availability which directly influence the suitability of natural fibres [9, 10]. Above all the natural fibres are renewable resource, thus providing a better solution of sustainable supply, like it has low cost, low density, least processing expenditure, no health hazards, and better mechanical and physical properties [11–16]. The main drawback of natural fibre is moisture absorption, so it is bound to change its surface property by using chemicals . Synthetic fibre reinforced polymers were costly and have an impact on environment . There are many plant fibres available which has potential to be applied in industries as raw materials such as pineapple, kenaf, coir, abaca, sisal, cotton, jute, bamboo, banana, Palmyra, talipot, hemp, and flex [16–21]. Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) is one of the waste materials in agriculture sector, which is widely grown in Malaysia as well as Asia. After banana and citrus, pineapple (Ananas comosus) is one of the most essential tropical fruits in the world . Commercially pineapple fruits are very important and leaves are considered as waste materials of fruit which is being used for producing natural fibres. The chemical composition of PALF constitute holocellulose (70–82%), lignin (5–12%), and ash (1.1%). Pineapple (PALF) has tremendous mechanical properties and can be applied in making of reinforced polymer composites [23, 24], low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites, and biodegradable plastic composites. Physical and mechanical properties of composites like viscoelastic behaviour processing, tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact are dependent on length of fibre, matrix ratio, and fibre arrangement [25, 26]. The main drawbacks PALF is hydrophilic nature; it does not make good bonding with hydrophobic matrix, particularly at high temperatures . Interfacial quality between PALF and polymer could be enhanced by using chemical treatments like dewaxing, treatment with NaOH, cyanoethylation, and grafting of acrylonitrile monomer onto dewaxed PALF . Moreover, the surface modification by chemicals like sodium hydroxide (NaOH), 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene, benzoyl peroxide (BPO), and BPO/acetylation can minimize water absorption and improves the mechanical properties . The moisture absorption of chemically modified PALF-reinforced LDPE composites shows considerably less moisture content . Bonding agent resorcinol (reso), hexamethylenetetramine (Hexa), and silica have good affinity for PALF-natural rubber (NR) and exhibits better adhesion .
Nowadays, biocomposite reinforced materials are widely accepted in place of traditional materials in high strength and several light weight applications. Such composite materials exhibit good strength by weight ratio, high tensile and flexural strength, high creep resistance, and high compactness. Natural fibres reinforced into bioplastics are a good example of green composites, which is easily degradable by bacteria and enzyme . The major problem of natural fibres as a reinforced material is improper contact of adherent surface and polymer matrix with a bad interaction load transformation from matrix to fibre . Thus, to enhance the adhesion property of fibres, it needs surface modification by using appropriate chemicals. These modification methods can be alkaline treatment  grafting with malic anhydride copolymer  and using saline coupling agent .
It is believed that source of petroleum based products are limited and uncertain. So an alternative with cheap sustainable and easily available raw material is required. The countries growing plant and fruit are not for only agricultural purpose but also to generate raw materials for industries. Most of the developing countries trade lignocellulosic fibres for improving economic condition of poor farmers as much as country support. Recently polymer composites containing cellulosic fibres are under focus in literature as well as industries. Table 1 shows the annual natural fibre production from various sources. Near about 30 million tonnes of natural fibres are produced every year and used as component of many manufacturing processes like clothing, packaging, paper making, automobiles, building materials, and sports equipment . Natural fibres composites are eye-catching to industry because of its density and ecofriendly nature over traditional composites . Other than plant fibres, various animal fibres also have different types such as products from the wool, silk, feathers, avian fibre, and animals hairs which are prime resource. Fruit fibres are taken from fruits like coconut (coir) fibre. Stalk fibres are collected from husk and straw of crops like wheat, rice, barley, and so forth. Tree wood can also be used as fibre. Natural fibres have been used for a long time in many developing countries as cement materials .
Table 1: Annual production of natural fibres and sources [41–43].
These fibres are thread-like structure of various sizes; it can be used in rope or threads making; now it is major component of biocomposite materials like boards, paper, and many structures .
The performance of natural fibre varies with part of the plant that is used for fibre extraction, age of plant, fibre extraction process, and many more factors . It can be extracted from the bast stem, leaf, and seeds from the plants in a bundle form; therefore it is also called fibre bundles; extraction method of fibres is similar in both bast stem and leaf, while seed fibres have many methods like cotton lint extracted from ginning process. The strip fibre bundle is extracted from stem and leaf; decorticator technique is recommended. Retting technique prefers to use chemicals and biological treatment for removing fibres from stem; retting is basically two types: dry retting and water retting . Dew retting is most popular in Europe, but its quality is not good as much as water retting. Water retting technique is being used in Asian countries .
Natural fibres have systematic internal cell wall structure which is divided into three major structural parts . The microfibril angle and arrangement inside the cell wall decide the properties of fibres . Cell wall mainly consists of two cell walls, primary cell wall (S1) and secondary cell wall (S2). Primary cell wall propagates at the time of growth of plant. Secondary cell wall is made up by three layers and each layer carries long chain of microfibril . Amount of cellulose increases from S1 to S2 steadily and hemicelluloses content remains the same in each layer but lignin content shows reciprocal trend to cellulose. Hemicelluloses molecules are net-like structure and make bond with cellulosic fibrils. Cellulose-hemicelluloses make network together and lignin and pectin provide an adhesive quality. These adhesive properties are responsible for strength and rigidity of cellulosic fibres. Secondary layer (S2) decides the physical and mechanical strength of fibres. Normally high level of cellulose content and lower microfibrillar angle provide better strength properties [55, 83]. In general synthetic fibres show better mechanical and physical properties compared to the natural fibre whereas the specific modulus and elongation at break are better in natural fibres than the synthetic fibres, which is considered as an important factor in polymer engineering composites .
The major chemical composition of fibres like coir, banana, pineapple leaf, sisal, Palmyra, sunhemp, and so forth are cellulose and lignin discussed in Table 2. Natural fibres are constitutes of cellulose and lignin; these celluloses consist of many fibrils along the length which is, associated with hydrogen bond to provide strength and flexibility .
Table 2: Chemical composition of natural fibres [41, 44].
The fibre selection depends on the length, strength, and purpose of usage. Table 3 discusses the physical and mechanical properties of various cellulosic fibres, with their respective density, microfibril angle, Young's modulus, and fibre elongation of fibres that determine the overall properties of the fibres . Cell dimension of lignocellulosic fibres depends on the species, maturity, and location of the plant and also on the fibre extraction conditions .
Table 3: Mechanical properties of natural fibre [44, 45].
It is believed that the resins produced from petroleum products are not fully biodegradable. However the composite produced from such matrix resin with reinforced natural fibres is considered biodegradable. Matrix material of thermosets and thermoplastics should be compatible for the natural composites [85–87]. The thermoset composite formulation is more complex than thermoplastic. It depends on many parameters like flowing agents, resin, curing agents, catalysts, and hardeners. Such composites need to be chemically cured by using perfect cross-linkage with all direction setup structure. The cross-linked structures are tough, creep resistant, and highly solvent resistant. Fibre loading can enhance the property up to 80% because of alignment of fibres. Thermoplastics provide more advantage over thermoset polymers. Thermoplastics matrix composite is having low processing cost, design flexibility, and ease of moulding complexity. It is very simple method for processing of composites such as extrusion or injection moulding methods. In thermoplastics, most of the work has been done with polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymers. These polymers require temperature below 200°C temperature which is suitable for natural fibres and avoid thermal degradation. In thermoplastic composites, fibres distribution plays an important role to achieve quality products. Since natural fibre varies its properties, such as length density, it is very difficult to control the mass production. Natural fibres are highly affected by its growing environment such as composition of soil, temperature, humidity, and frost. Plantation and harvesting methods can also cause variation in density . Natural fibres are tough, elastic and demonstrate good mechanical strength. The composite from natural fibres is introduced for commercial purpose and becomes a good alternative of glass reinforced composites in many uses. A comparison of various parameters between natural fibres and glass fibres is described in Table 4.
Table 4: Comparison between glass fibre and natural fibres .
Although synthetic composites like glass fibres have high density with significantly high cost, natural fibre (flax fibres) exhibits fairly good density of 1.5 g/cm3 and cost between $0.22 and $1.10/kg . In other words, the cost of glass fibres is nearly about 1200–1800 US$/tonnes and density is around 2500 kg/m3 while natural fibres cost lies between 200 and 1000 US$/tonnes and density varies from 1200 to 1500 kg/m3 .
Pineapple is perennial herbaceous plant with 1-2 m for height and width belongs to family Bromeliaceae . It is chiefly cultivated in coastal and tropical regions, mainly for its fruits purpose. In India, it is cultivated on about 2250 000 acres of land  and is continuously increasing its production. Figures 1(a) and 1(b) show a pineapple plant in the field; it is a short stem with dark green colour. First sprout of leaf looks decorative; later it converts into 3 ft. long, 2 to 3 inch wide sword shaped and numerous spirally arranged fibrous leaves edges as well as curved towards the cross section to maintain the stiffness of the leaf .
Figure 1: Production of pineapple leaf fibre, sequential (a) plantation of pineapple, (b) fruit of pineapple, (c) extraction of fibres from pineapple leaves, and (d) Indonesian PALF.
Each pineapple fruit has equal number of hexagonal sections on outer shell and does not depend on the size or shape. Now Malaysia is one of large producers in Asia as much as Hawaii. It produces a huge amount of waste material, about 384,673 metric tonnes in year 2008 . Productions of Pineapple leaf fibres are plentiful for industrial purpose without any supplementary addition and annually renewable and of easy availability . Pineapple is known as Nanas in Malaysia; basically they use different varieties for different purpose; for commercial purpose they use red pineapple and green pineapple; for edible purpose, they prefer Sarawak pineapple and Morris pineapple. Pineapple fruits contain many major and minor elements. Table 5 shows the percentage of elemental found in pineapple fruit. It is source of bioactive compounds, particularly in proteolytic enzymes. Pineapple is very rich source of bromelain and other cysteine proteases are present in different part of pineapple [95, 96]. Commercially, bromelain has been used in many food industries, cosmetics, and dietary supplements [46, 97].
Table 5: Elemental composition of pineapple plant.
Pineapple is a native plant of America, first seen by Columbus and his companion in November 4, 1493, at an island of West Indies. When the new world was discovered, pineapple has been spread all over South America coastal region as well as in tropical regions. A Spanish government officer, De Oviedo, came to America in 1513; he handed over first written documents of some varieties of pineapple, and he added some Indies varieties also. The plant is called "pineapple" because of its fruit which look like pine cone. The native Tupi word for the fruit was anana, meaning "excellent fruit;" this is the source for words like ananas, common in many languages. The pineapple is an old emblem of welcome and can often be seen in stamped decorations. In 17th century Americans imported pineapple from Caribbean because of its apparently exotic features and rareness; pineapple began to be considered as an icon of wealthy people in America. The Portuguese contributed their important role in introducing the fruit throughout the whole tropical regions and major parts of world like south and east coast of Africa, Madagascar, south India, China, Java, Philippines, and Malaysia . Nowadays, varieties of pineapple plants are available which are used in various applications such as edible, medicinal, and industrial applications. For example, bromelain is an enzyme extracted from its leaves and helps in respiratory ailments. A mixture of pineapple juice and sand is powerful cleaner for boat decks. Dehydrated waste material of pineapple is used as bran feed for cattle, chicken, pigs, and so forth .
Every year tonnes of pineapple leaf fibres are being produced, though very small portions are being used in the field of feedstock and energy production. The expansion of biocomposites has amplified industrial usage that would release the possibilities to minimize the wastage of renewable materials. It promotes a non-food-based market for agricultural industry . It is white in colour, smooth, and glossy as silk, medium length fibre with high tensile strength. It has a softer surface than other natural fibres and it absorbs and maintains a good colour .
However, PALF has high specific strength and stiffness; it is hydrophilic in nature due to high cellulose content [101–103]. Extraction of fibres from pineapple leaf fibre is carried out by mechanical method and retting method, exhibited in Figure 1(c). Fresh leaves yield about 2 to 3% of fibres . Fibrous cell of PALF consists of vascular bundle system in the form of bunches which is obtained after mechanical removal of the entire upper layer after harvesting. PALF is composed of many chemicals constituents. It is multicellular lignocellulosic fibre containing polysaccharides, lignin in major amount, and some miner chemicals like fat, wax, pectin, uronic acid, anhydride, pentosan, colour pigment, inorganic substance, and so forth . Fibre is collection of thin and small multicellular fibres which appears like a thread. These cells are tightly joined with the help of pectin . PALF constitute cellulose (70–82%) and arrangement of fibres is the same as in cotton (82.7%) [55, 107, 108].
In all the collection, pineapple leaf fibre is more compatible natural fibre resource and constitutes a good chemical composition. PALF has better mechanical strength than the jute when it is used in making of fine yarn [109, 110]. The cellulosic molecules model of PALF is a three-dimensional structure and parallel to crystalline region of the fibre. Remaining parts of molecular structure are supposed to associate within amorphous regions. Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) is vital natural fibre, which have high specific strength, rigidity, and flexural and torsional rigidity as much as jute fibres. Considering these exclusive properties of PALF, industries can use it as an outstanding alternative raw material in the prospect of reinforcing composite matrixes .
Pineapple natural fibres have excellent mechanical strength but due to lack of knowledge it is still not utilised properly. It can be used in various applications like artificial fibres, as a sound absorber and thermal insulator, and so forth. There are various methods to extract the PALF from leaves of pineapple.
Scrapping machine is the machine used for scrapping the pineapple leaf fibre . The machine is the combination of three rollers: (a) feed roller, (b) leaf scratching roller, and (c) serrated roller . Feed roller is used for the feeding of leaves into the machine; then leaves go through the second roller that is called scratching roller. It scratches upper layer of leaf and removes the waxy layer. And at last leaves come to the dense attached blade serrated roller, which crushes leaves and makes several breaks for the entry passage for the retting microbes .
In retting process, small bundles of scratched pineapple leaves are immersed in a water tank which contains substrate : liquor in 1 : 20 ratio, urea 0.5%, or diammonium phosphate (DAP) for fast retting reactions. Materials in water tank are regularly checked by using finger to ensure fibre are loosened and can extract many chemical constituents like pentosans, lignin, fat and wax, ash content, nitrogenous matter, and pectin. After retting process, fibres are segregated mechanically, through washing in pond water. Extracted fibres are dried in hanging place by air. Both ball mill and disc mill can be used to extract PALF from chopped fresh pineapple leaf . The methods not only are simple but also provide higher fibre yield and smaller fibre than the conventional methods. Among the two mechanical grinding methods studied, wet ball milling is much slower but provides PALF with a greater number of elementary fibre .
Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI)  standards reported that the chemical constituents and extractive like holocellulose, α-cellulose, lignin, and ash content of PALF were analysed from different source of fibres, age of fibres, and climatic conditions. The procedure to extract the fibres may attribute the factor of various types of chemical composition and cell wall structure . In a transmission electron microscopy, PALF cell wall shows distinct different layers as primary (P), secondary, and tertiary (S1, S2, and S3) layers. The chemical composition of PALF is depicted in Table 6. Pineapple leaf fibres have many chemical constituents like α-cellulose, pentosans, lignin, fat and wax, pectin, nitrogenous matter, ash content, degree of polymerization, crystallinity of α-cellulose, and antioxidants [54, 117, 118]. PALF has a large quantity of -cellulose (81.27), low quantities of hemicelluloses (12.31%), and lignin content (3.46%) . PALF has higher cellulosic content as compared to other natural fibres like oil palm frond, coir, and banana stem fibres . The higher quantity of cellulose in PALF supports the higher weight of the fruit . The chemicals composition fibre directly affects performance of fibres .
Table 6: Chemicals composition of PALF.
Reinforced natural fibres composite plays a huge share in biocomposite and material science. PALF has been proved as a good substitute of synthetic fibres, because of its economical and renewable nature. Specific strength of natural fibres supports in enhancing the physical and mechanical strength of polymer matrix without using any additional processing. The superiority of PALFs mechanical properties is related with the high content of alpha-cellulose content and low microfibrillar angle (14°). Due to extraordinary qualities of PALF, it can be used as reinforcing composite matrix . The physicomechanical properties of any natural fibres depend on fibre-matrix adhesion, volume fraction of fibre, aspect ratio, orientation, and stress transfer efficiency at interface . The result of PALF based polymer composites shows excellent stiffness and strength compared to other cellulose based composite materials . Strange characteristics of PALF are noticed; that is, a wet PALF bundle exhibits lower strength by 50%, but when it converts into yarn, its strength increases up to 13%. Table 7 shows the physical and mechanical strength of PALF. The PALF exhibits a modulus range from 34.5 to 82.51 GNm−2, tensile strength ranges from 413 to 1627 MNm−2, and an elongation at breakpoint ranges from 0.8 to 1.6%. PALF can sustain abrasiveness . Datta et al.  studied many different types of properties and behaviour like morphology of surface structure, tensile behaviour, and dielectric property. PALF shows good elastic property in cellulose type I structure. In comparison to other natural fibres PALF has high strength. The electrical properties show high anisotropy.
Table 7: Physical and mechanical strength of PALF.
FTIR spectroscopy is used to observe functional groups in natural fibres, such as hydroxyl group, carbonyl groups and vinyl groups, ketone group, and many more. It helps to identify the changes in chemical compound of natural fibres before and after the chemical treatments . Table 8 shows the typical FTIR spectra of various untreated natural fibres hemp, sisal, jute, kapok, kenaf, and oil palm fibre along with PALF. The characteristic of the O–H group is common for all, visible in between the intensity of 3338–3450 cm−1. The untreated fibres show common peaks corresponding C–H stretching and C–O stretching at 2924.2 and 1741.1 cm−1, respectively . According to Jonoobi, in kenaf, the broad peak at 3338 cm−1 which appears in spectra is attributed to the O–H frequency, whereas the peaks at 2899 cm−1 mainly take place from C–H stretching . Sreekala noted that the untreated oil palm fibre shows peaks corresponding C–O stretching at 770 cm−1 and C–H stretching at 2850 cm−1, whereas oil palm fibre shows another peak at 3450 cm−1 due to the –O–H stretching .
Table 8: Infrared transmittance peaks (cm−1) of untreated natural fibres [28, 68–70].
FTIR spectra of holocellulose and -cellulose samples free from extractive of PALF are presented in Figure 2 . The peak 3343 cm−1 represents O–H groups in case of -cellulose sample. In holocellulose and free-extractive samples, hydroxyl stretching frequency displayed at 3,296 cm−1 and 3327 cm−1, respectively. For -cellulose sample, another peak frequency at 1725.25 cm−1 shows C–O bending frequency. While, in case of holocellulose and free extractive, the peak frequency at 1728 and 1733 cm−1 corresponds to the carbonyl peak frequencies, respectively. The sharp band observed at 1733 cm−1 is due to the absorption of carbonyl stretching of ester and carboxyl groups which is most abundant in pineapple leaf hemicelluloses .
Figure 2: FTIR spectra of pineapple leaf fiber in various forms  (With Permission).
PALF shows lower degree of compatibility with hydrophobic polymers due to its hygroscopic nature. Existence of natural waxy substance on surface of fibre layer provides low surface tension, which does not allow a strong bond with polymer matrix. However, the literature suggests various methods to improve the fiber surface to make it suitable for good interfacial fibre/matrix bonding. Natural fibres reinforced polymers are susceptible to humidity and water absorption that causes a physical degradation of final product. High moisture content in fibre can cause swelling or dimensional defect at the time of composites preparing that affect the physical and mechanical property of the final product. . At low temperature, water molecule faces obstacle by stiffness of polymer chain segments. Moisture diffusion into polymer depends on various factors such as molecule structure, polarity, crystallinity and the hardeners used in composite making .
Natural fibres are focused study among researchers and industries, as a replacement of glass fibres to natural fibres. The rapid growth in research on environmental issues is acceleration factors to utilise natural fibres in coming decades. Recently, PALF is being utilised effectively in polymer matrix to develop composites with improved mechanical strength . The outstanding mechanical properties of individual PALF are reflected in its ultimate product. Various research has been done to reinforce PALF with thermoset , thermoplastic , biodegradable plastics [25, 26], and natural rubber .
Epoxy resin has excellent properties like adhesion, strength, low shrinkage, corrosion protection, and many other properties . Although it is expensive resin, its mechanical and chemical properties are very good. Natural fibres like jute, flax, sisal, and bamboo fibres with epoxy reinforced have been studied [129–133]. In case of PALF there is no work done yet. PALF has a major problem related to adhesion with many polymer matrices. PALF is hydrophilic in nature and it does not have good compatibility with hydrophobic polymer. PALF contains waxy substance on its surface causing low surface tension which negatively affects the bonding with polymer matrix. To overcome this issue PALF surface is modified to improve bonding. In surface modification process reagents make fibres hydrophobic in nature and graft the fibres surface with resin matrix and some compatible polymers . A number of researches have been carried out to improve the adhesion between PALFs and matrix, for example, cyanoethylation, alkalization, dewaxing, and grafting of acrylonitrile monomer . These methods have been proved to be a very effective modification to enhance the adhesion property of PALFs with polymer matrix. Benzoylated PALF with alkali treatment are used to enhance the adhesion and tensile properties. The alkalization process makes the fibres surface rough and improved mechanical hold. A rough surface improves the affinity of epoxy matrix and interfacial adhesion made strong due to deposition of DGEBA resin on fibres surface. Furthermore PALF-epoxy composites will exhibit a positive result in interfacial bonding when combination of alkalization and DGEBA solution will be used. Such kinds of surface modification will enhance the flexural, tensile, and impact properties of epoxy composite .
A pineapple leaf fibre reinforced with polyethylene exhibits high performance composites . In comparison to other natural fibres, pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) shows excellent mechanical and physical properties but the hydrophilic nature of PALF causes a negative impact. Thus, a chemical treatment such as alkali, isocyanate, saline, and permanganate was carried out to improve the water resistance. Peroxide modification is very helpful to reduce the hygroscopicity of fibres .
Pineapple leaf fibres (PALF) are renounced as possible and plentiful substitutes for the high-priced and nonrenewable synthetic fibres. PALF enhances the mechanical properties of the polymer matrix through its own high specific strength. PALF is multicellular, lignocellulosic and has very good mechanical properties. In study of stress behaviour of PALF reinforced polyethylene composite, stress is inversely proportional fibre content. Mechanical properties of polypropylene-pineapple leaf fibre reinforced composites are reported. The tensile and flexural properties of composites are depending on volume fraction . The recent study showed very useful composites with high-quality strength. PALF is being used as a reinforced agent in polyropylene matrix in the palce of pure resin, to improve the mechanical properties. Flexural modulus and flexural stress are directly related to the volume fraction. Though, value is insignificant due to fibre-to-fibre repulsion and dispersion problems. Researchers are mainly focused on improving the mechanical properties of PALF-PP composites and interfacial relation.
Now natural fibres are widely used in the research as a substitute of glass fibre (GF) in fibre reinforced plastics (FRP). In comparison to glass fibre, these natural fibres have lower densities, are economical, consume lesser energies during production, cause less or no abrasion to machines, and are not hazardous to health when inhaled . In spite of these properties, pineapple leaf fibres are untouched in research areas especially for reinforcing plastics although this application is now becoming an important research area. Now polymers composite is focused on using pineapple leaf fibres for developing value added applications. Despite several merits, PALF possesses inherent demerits such as poor interfacial fibre-matrix adhesion and absorbing water. In the last two decades, a lot of researches have been carried out to optimize the problem of the interfacial adhesion between natural fibres and polymer matrices . There is not much literature available on PALF-vinyl composites. Vinyl esters are strong, flexible, and less hydrophilic in nature . Moreover, interfacial shear stress (IFSS) is the measurement of fibre-matrix adhesion which is always higher for natural fibre-vinyl ester compared to those of other matrices . Most of the work on PALF-reinforced thermoset composites used hand lay-up method in sample preparation and very few if any reported the use of liquid compression moulding process. As reinforced matrix, both untreated and bleached PALF are using in the form of random and unidirectional PALF mats. To evaluate the viability of PALF-vinyl ester ecocomposites, there are many criteria of measurement, for instance, mechanical properties, water absorption, and thermal stability.
PALF is obtained from the pineapple plant's leaves. Major compounds of PALF are cellulose (70–80%), lignin (5–12%), and ash (1.1) . The recent study proved that by using different surface modified pineapple leaf fibres as reinforcing material can be used for polyester matrix. PALF fibre loading up to 30% by weight with polyester showed significant increment in flexural strength, tensile strength, and impact strength. Toughness of composite material is reached up to the benchmark of engineering materials. Surface modification by chemical treatment can enhance the strength of individual fibers and it can help to develop better mechanical strength PALF/polyester composite for commercial purpose .
A poor contact between PALF and matrix are prone to moisture intake and ultimately degradation through insects and pests [31, 141]. Thus, fibre surface modification is an important and necessary step to reduce the polarity of fibre. There are many methods like alkaline treatment , grafting with maleic anhydride copolymer , saline coupling agent such as c-aminopropyl trimethoxy silane (Z-6011) and c methacrylate propyl trimethoxy saline (Z-6030) [143, 144]. Polycarbonate (PC) is an amorphous thermoplastic resin. It provides numerous vital and important characteristics such as lucidity, dimensional strength, high impact strength, and high heat resistant and flame resistance. Though there are some limitations of using the PALF in some applications. At low temperatures, it becomes softer and easy to remove from mould . There are very few research works published on the PALF reinforced with polymers .
Melt mixing and solution mixing techniques have been used in preparation of PALF reinforced LDPE composites. Solution mixed technique shows a better tensile strength than melt mixed technique. Relation of fibre size, loading %, and orientation with mechanical properties has been studied. Through fibre distribution curve and scanning electron micrographs, it is possible to analyse fibre rupture and damage during composite making. Fibre length of 6 mm length was found to be suitable for PALF reinforced with LDPE. Mechanical properties are found to be improved and elongation at break is inversely proportional to fibre loading. In comparison to random and transverse orientation, longitudinal orientation of fibres showed better mechanical properties of composites. PALF-LDPE composites are ecofriendly, biodegradable and exhibit superior performance than any other cellulose-fibre-reinforced LDPE systems .
Table 9: PALF biocomposites and hybrid composites with thermosets and thermoplastics.
On the basis of these studies, the aim of this research is to develop a high-performance, cost-effective, and lightweight pineapple leaf fibres and GF as the reinforcement based hybrid composites. Utilization of pineapple leaf with disposable chopsticks is very popular [155, 156]. Pineapple leaf fibre (2.3–3.9 mm) and recycled disposable chopstick fibres were integrated into PLA and PBS. The optimum ratio and content of the hybrid fibres were investigated in order to obtain the best thermal and mechanical properties.
PALF is generally used in making threads for textile fabrics from several decades. A future prospect of diversified application of PALF is presented in Figure 3. Present application of PALF for various purposes is textile, sports item, baggage, automobiles, cabinets, mats, and so forth. Surface modified PALF is introduced for making machinery parts like belt cord, conveyor belt cord, transmission cloth, air-bag tying cords, and some cloths for industry uses . PALF is very good for carpet making because of its chemical processing, dyeing behaviour, and aesthetically pleasing fabric . The use of pineapple leaf fibre can be considered relatively as new in the paper manufacturing industry in Malaysia . PALF can be suitable for various other applications such as cosmetics, medicine, and biopolymers coating for chemicals [160–162].
Figure 3: Various present and future applications of pineapple leaves.
The pineapple leave fibre is one of the natural fibres, having highest cellulosic content nearly 80%. Its density is similar to the other natural fibres while Young's modulus shows highest tensile strength when compared to other natural fibres. These properties are suitable for its application as building and construction materials, automotive components, and furniture. From this review it is clear that limited work has been done on thermal, electrical, dynamic, and mechanical properties. Till now, PALF has been studied as being reinforced with PP and unsaturated polyester only, so it is required to understand its behaviour with other resins also in relation to fabricated biocomposites and hybrid composites. PALF is widely accepted in textile sector and already used in our daily life materials but we attribute that further study will enhance the application in various other exiting products.
Pineapple leaf fibre is very common in tropical regions and very simple to extract fibres from its leaves. The utilization of pineapple leaf fibre in composite material is a new source of materials which can be economic, ecofriendly, and recyclable. However, the main issue of PALF is its hydroscopic nature, which makes a big hurdle for fibre utilization as a reinforced material in polymer composites. Surface modification of PALF is required to improve for good interfacial adhesion of PALF with polymers in fabrication of polymer composites. Synthetic fibres can be replaced or partially substituted with PALF in fabrication of composite products for different applications. The author concluded various recent works reported on chemical modification of PALF and physical and mechanical properties of PALF reinforced polymer composites and its hybrid. Pineapple is one of the natural fibres having highest cellulosic content nearly 80%. Density of PALF is similar to other natural fibres while Young's modulus is very high, and tensile strength is highest among the related natural fibres. These properties are suitable for its application as building and construction materials, automotive components, and furniture. From this review it is clear that limited work has been carried out on thermal properties such as, electrical properties, thermal conductivity, dynamic mechanical analysis, and modelling of mechanical properties of PALF reinforced polymer composites. In most of the examples, PALF fibres are reinforced with PP and unsaturated polyester only, so it is required to study the behaviour of PALF with other resins to get it wider application in biocomposites and hybrid composites manufacturing. PALF is widely accepted in textile sector and already used in our daily life materials but we attributed that further study will enhance its application in development of various existing products.
The authors are thankful to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOSTI), E-Science Project no. 03-01-04-SF 1855 for supporting this research work.
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text:
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:
DeCasien, S. "Ancient Roman Naval Rams as Objects of Phallic Power". Journal of Ancient History 9, no. 1 (2021): 123-146.
Review of T. Vijgen, The Cultural Parameters of the Graeco-Roman War Discourse (Brepols Publishers, 2020) in The Journal of Military History 85, no. 2 (April 2021): 491-492.
Review of R. Nolan, Julius Caesar's Invasion of Britain: Solving A 2,000-Year-Old Mystery. (Frontline Books, 2018) in The Journal of Military History 84, no. 4 (2020): 1194-1196.
Review of J.P. Delgado, War at Sea: A Shipwrecked History from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press, 2019) in Res Militares 20, no. 1 (2020): 6-7.
Popular Publications:
DeCasien, S., "Knowing the Ropes: A Roman Passenger at Sea," Ancient History Magazine 31, December 2020, 36-39.
DeCasien, S., "Besieging Rhodes by sea – Naval siege machinery in action," Ancient Warfare Magazine 14, no. 3, December 2020, 26-33.
Database Collections and Entries:
DeCasien, S. "Naval Ram Collection." The Nautical Archaeology Digital Library. December 2020. https://shiplib.org/index.php/rams-2/.


text:
using Detached.EntityFramework.Tests.Context;
using Detached.EntityFramework.Tests.Model;
using Detached.Mapping;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Xunit;

namespace Detached.EntityFramework.Tests
{
    public class MapInputTests
    {
        [Fact]
        public async Task map_input()
        {
            Mapper mapper = new Mapper();
            TestDbContext db = await TestDbContext.CreateInMemorySqliteAsync(mapper);

            db.Roles.Add(new Role { Id = 1, Name = "admin" });
            db.Roles.Add(new Role { Id = 2, Name = "user" });
            db.UserTypes.Add(new UserType { Id = 1, Name = "system" });
            await db.SaveChangesAsync();

            User user = new User
            {
                Name = "test user",
                Roles = new List<Role>
                {
                    db.Find<Role>(1),
                    db.Find<Role>(2)
                },
                Addresses = new List<Address>
                {
                    new Address { Street = "original street", Number = "123" }
                },
                Profile = new UserProfile
                {
                    FirstName = "test",
                    LastName = "user"
                },
                UserType = db.Find<UserType>(1)
            };

            db.Users.Add(user);

            await db.SaveChangesAsync();

            User savedUser = await db.Users.Where(u => u.Id == 1)
                    .Include(u => u.Roles)
                    .Include(u => u.Addresses)
                    .Include(u => u.Profile)
                    .Include(u => u.UserType)
                    .FirstOrDefaultAsync();

            await db.MapAsync<User>(new EditUserInput
            {
                Id = 1,
                Name = "edited name"
            });

            Assert.Equal(1, savedUser.Id);
            Assert.Equal("edited name", savedUser.Name);
            Assert.NotNull(savedUser.Profile);
            Assert.Equal("test", savedUser.Profile.FirstName);
            Assert.Equal("user", savedUser.Profile.LastName);
            Assert.NotNull(savedUser.Addresses);
            Assert.Equal(1, savedUser.Addresses.Count);
            Assert.Equal("original street", savedUser.Addresses[0].Street);
            Assert.Equal("123", savedUser.Addresses[0].Number);
            Assert.NotNull(savedUser.Roles);
            Assert.Equal(2, savedUser.Roles.Count);
            Assert.Contains(savedUser.Roles, r => r.Id == 1);
            Assert.Contains(savedUser.Roles, r => r.Id == 2);
            Assert.NotNull(savedUser.UserType);
            Assert.Equal(1, savedUser.UserType.Id);
        }

        public class EditUserInput
        {
            public int Id { get; set; }

            public string Name { get; set; }
        }
    }
}


text:
Q: Paypal Adaptive Payments SDK integration in Yii 1.1.x I am trying to integrate Paypal Adaptive Payments SDK in Yii 1.1.x framework.
I installed composer and created a composer.json file with the following contents.
{
    "name": "me/myApp",
    "require": {
        "paypal/adaptivepayments-sdk-php":"3.8.*"
    }
}

and I run composer update.
I have updated the Configuration.php. After I require PPBootStrap.php in my application
Yii::import('application.extensions.pp.*', true);
spl_autoload_unregister(array('YiiBase','autoload'));
require_once('PPBootStrap.php');
spl_autoload_register(array('YiiBase','autoload'));

after I create the receiver
$receiver = array();
$receiver[0] = new Receiver();

and I get the error:
include(Receiver.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory

I integrated Angelleye following the same logic with no problems (I am able to make payments). But I want to use the official sdk from PayPal.
I am not sure why the class Receiver is not being loaded. Any information and/or guidance on how to solve this issue will be greatly appreciated.

A: You can try to require composer autoloader without unregistering yii autoloader.
Add this line for example to the index.php before running application:
...
require(__DIR__ . '/protected/vendor/autoload.php');
Yii::createWebApplication($configFile)->run();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Thanks for the Rev 1.2 update!
First of all, Happy New Year !!!
Will a Budgie REV.:1 391425-02 Chip work with PCB versions 1.1 & 1.2 ?
Because I´m trying to build my two boards with as many NOS-components as I can find.
The problem is the I can not find a Budgie REV.:0 only the newer version.
just wanted to note that C307 (470uF through hole electrolytic) is missing from the component locator.


Knoerle's first novel, Crystal Meth Cowboys was optioned by Fox TV. His second novel, The Violin Player, won the Mayhaven Award for Fiction. Knoerle is currently at work on The American Spy Trilogy. Book One, A Pure Double Cross, came out in 2008. Book Two, A Despicable Profession, was published in August of 2010.
John Knoerle currently lives in Chicago with his wife, Judie. Enjoy this interview.
I've been writing about forty years. I started out penning sketches for a college comedy troupe, moved on to stand-up routines then screenplays and, finally, about twenty years ago, novels.
It has taken those twenty years to get four books in print so I'm not what you'd call prolific. The good news is that I'm proud of all four.
My latest is A Despicable Profession , it's Book Two of The American Spy Trilogy. I hope that readers find it a fun read, first and foremost. But, as it is set in 1946 Berlin, I hope readers get a good sense of that fascinating time at the beginning of the Cold War.
What's next is Book Three. I'm more than halfway home but wrapping up a trilogy is one hell of a challenge!
The Old Boys by Burton Hersh. It's an exhaustive summation of the interesting characters and intrigues that comprised the WWII OSS and the subsequent transition to CIA.
I am currently reading Harlot's Ghost: A Novel by Norman Mailer, and will be for some time. It's a sweeping 1100 page novel about the first two decades of CIA.
I prefer the barstool by the window at Chicago's venerable Club Lucky. My drink of choice is a Stoli martini with a twist.
I do not believe in writer's block. It's a job. Plumber's plumb, nurses nurse and writer's write.
To write what you want to write and do it well. And hang the consequence.
Bless all you readers and writers. Sometimes I feel like we're the only sane people left.
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text:
Farmers left frustrated over Coolmore Stud 'pricing them out' buying land
Amy Forde
Jul 27, 2016, 10:01pm
Farmers in the south Tipperary region are reportedly being priced out of buying land by Coolmore Stud and land is understood to be changing hands having not being disclosed for sale.
The issue has led to huge frustration amongst farmers in the area and Coolmore is understood to have accumulated a portfolio of up to 20,000ac.
A special radio show on the issue on Tipp Mid West Radio recently saw a local auctioneer and Independent TD Mattie McGrath discuss the issue.
Coolmore was invited to come on the show, and were contacted a number of times by Tipp Mid West Radio however, they declined to have a representative speak on its behalf.
Local auctioneer from Clonmel, Tom Pollard, is familiar with the movement of lands in the area and confirmed that a lot of land in the area is sold off market.
"Coolmore have bought land in the south Tipperary vicinity – the thoroughbred business is very good at the moment and the bloodstock people are buying land.
They put a good floor on the market and from a sellers [often farmers] point of view, they've worked the land all their lives they're entitled to get a fair price for it.
Pollard said that land values have remained pretty stable in south Tipperary, with an acre selling for in the region of €12,000-13,000 – depending on the quality of land and what's included. He also said values in the area are less than land values in Cork, Kilkenny and Meath.
"There's been a good lot of [land buying] activity in Tipperary in 2015 and 2016. Relative to other years it's been greater, coming out of the recession people wanted to make changes and sell land.
Pollard said that his brief as an auctioneer is for the seller and for to get the best price he can for them.
"I've had two particular clients who asked me to negotiate directly with Coolmore to see if I could do a deal. When you get a deal done, you get a contract signed, a deposit is put down and it's paid for very quick.
"They're cash buyers at the moment and this is what sellers want – they need to get a deal done.
"Coolmore have taken small plots and reasonably big plots, they spend a lot of money on the land when they buy it. One thing with Coolmore is that they develop their land."
When asked was there an element of frustration building in the farming community that farmers aren't able to compete with Coolmore, Pollard said that he is aware of it and understands where they're coming from.
But, he said that most farmers are never ready to go with a sale, they are reliant on getting money together [whereas Coolmore are ready to go there and then].
The farming scene isn't a bright as it was, tillage is not making its money this year, the dairy men who have expanded and developed are having a rough time, beef prices are low.
"It's the bloodstock industry now, it was the dairymen a couple of years ago."
The Clonmel auctioneer said that there's a lot of people in the bloodstock industry and that it could expand more, that if there's money coming in they'll spend it.
The advice he had for farmers in the region who find themselves competing with Coolmore is that if they really need and want the to land go and talk to someone in Coolmore.
"See if they're willing to talk to you – maybe there's a way to negotiate," he said.
However, frustrated farmers who got in contact with the show said that Coolmore snapping up the land is a "disgrace" and that the "small and ordinary farmers are suffering".
Another listener to the show said that they went into Coolmore to negotiate buying land in the area and he got laughed at.
Meanwhile, Independent TD Mattie McGrath was also speaking on the show who said that the situation now is nothing to do with boosting Ireland's equine industry.
It's just a mass amalgamation of land and it's interfering with the market. Farm families are suffering.
"We need something to ensure that when land comes on sale that there's a fair share of the cake.There has to be a fair degree of equity for young farmers and families to survive.
"Lots of farmers know that its difficult to get a loan due to difficulties in agriculture, but it takes too much time, others who have the cash could have the land gobbled up and its gone before you blink twice."
Coolmore Coolmore Stud Farmers Land Prices


Twenty days into March and this is my first blog post. It's OK, though, because I've been actively practicing fully trusting into not knowing.
I fully trusted that when it was time to write a new blog post, I would know.
I fully trusted that life and business would deliver me subjects to write about as long as I stayed relaxed in not knowing.
I let go of demanding that I write a blog post just for the sake of writing a blog post.
There are probably Marketing Coaches writhing with frustration reading this post right now because they believe that every business owner needs to write a new blog post every 2 or 3 days. That may be a nice rule of thumb, but if you've read my blog for any period of time you know I don't write fluffy posts about nothing just so I can meet a blog writing quota. I won't do anything for my business that doesn't feel aligned just to meet a quota because I understand the power of vibration in creating! If we aren't positively aligned when we take action, then the results also won't be positively aligned with what we desire.
Many successful entrepreneurs have a keen sense of intuition and an ability to quickly follow inspired action. We all know what it feels like to just *know* inside of yourself exactly what steps to take next and what is the right choice for you. You may even have read my blog post about this important business resource.
If you've been in business for any length of time, you know very well that there are also times when you just don't know. It can be frustrating and unnerving. Especially if you are used to *always knowing* exactly what you want to do next.
The vibration of frustration, though, is not conducive to receiving quality inspiration. Fighting anything, including the not knowing, actually puts us in a place of resistance rather than a place of receiving what you desire. Being in resistance manifests more experiences to feel resistance. So, how does one trust into not knowing?
It starts with letting it be OK to not know. For some, that means extra self-love. For others, it means addressing their impatience. Still others might really need to learn how to relax. Only you really know what emotions not knowing brings up for you. Learning to trust yourself, trust your guidance AND trust your not knowing are essential to being an effective solopreneur or business owner. For that matter, it's essential for living a peace-filled joyful life.
When you allow yourself to be OK with not-knowing, even in a place of inner peace, some magical alchemy begins to happen: The fully allowed not knowing transmutes itself into a gentle understanding, and then into fully knowing. Gradually, your trusting energy is rewarded. You find it easy to allow what's most important to bubble up to the surface, and soon the not-knowing shifts to knowing.
This morning, after spending nearly twenty days in not-knowing, I woke up knowing exactly what was most important to share at this time. Once again, I was reminded how relaxing into wherever you are can be one of the most helpful tools a solo business owner can possess!
What are your experiences in trusting into not-knowing? Share them below in the comments so we may all learn from each other.


text:
LGBTQ Violence is Still on the Rise...Where and How You Can Help
Being informed is step one
By Emy Rodriguez Flores
stock-eyeGetty Images
According to the Human Rights Campaign, there have been at least 19 transgender deaths due to violence in America so far in 2019. Since 2017, there have been 8,126 hate-related offenses with 15.9% based on sexual orientation and 1.7% being related to gender identity. This alone should be enough for politicians and city leaders to take action. Our LGBTQ brothers and sisters deserve the same opportunities and equalities we all should be receiving and should not fear for their lives for merely existing. The quickest and easiest way to help is to be informed and empathetic towards others that are different from ourselves. If we start with empathy and an open mind, it can be the first step in creating a safe space.
Trans people of color (specifically trans women) are the most targeted minorities to date. If we continue being woefully blind towards issues such as this, then we leave no opportunities for our future generations to fully understand the beautiful complexities of human nature. Earlier this month, politicians took the stage at CNN's LGBTQ Town Hall in what was the nation's first LGBTQ public forum for Democratic nominees of the 2020 Presidential Election. Just by watching, audiences were presented with the difficulties LGBTQ people face on a daily basis. The debate may have left you wondering how you could get involved. Here are some ways you could be an ally to the community...
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By just listening to today's current events and learning the history of the community, you'll start to understand the issues that LGBTQ people face. Resources like the Human Rights Campaign, ACLU and Lambda Legal are just a few organizations that you can get involved with to learn more and keep yourself up to date.
Brush up on the old pronoun alphabet
LamaipGetty Images
The pronoun topic can be a tricky one because it's all a case by case basis. A simple way to find out how someone identifies is to just ask before making assumptions based on how they look to you. No one will fault you for asking. You can also refer to guides such as these two from Oprah Magazine's website: Using the Correct Pronoun at Work or The Ultimate Glossary of LGBTQ Terms You Need to Know.
Support a youth center
Caiaimage/Trevor AdeilineGetty Images
Almost every state has an LGBTQ youth center and it's important to show support. According to HRC.org, "LGBT youth are twice as likely as their peers to say they have been physically assaulted, kicked or shoved." Youth centers are a safe space for LGBTQ youth to feel supported and secure enough to truly be themselves even when they don't have that in their home life. There are a variety of ways to support, anything from clothes to time spent can be donated.
Show your authentic self
FlashpopGetty Images
Representation is essential. Shows like Pose are breaking down barriers by showcasing a diverse cast of LGBTQ characters. Not only is this groundbreaking, it also helps inspire people to be themselves. By sharing your own story and truth, you allow others to do the same.
Teach youth compassion through education
Luxy ImagesGetty Images
By normalizing LGBTQ terms and history, it demystifies and creates less opportunity for hate. More and more resources for children and youth are becoming available by the day. Simply by changing our vocabulary, we can create more inclusive spaces and teach our children to do the same. Subjects once thought to be taboo (such as trans rights) can now be communicated to our littles ones in ways they can understand. States like New Jersey, Illinois and California are now including LGBTQ education as part of their public school curriculum. You can find a list of the best LGBTQ books for kids here.
Be sensitive to experienced trauma
Caiaimage/Tom MertonGetty Images
A part of being empathetic is listening to someone's experience with open arms. With an uprising of hate crimes taking place, a big population of LGBTQ people have experienced some sort of trauma related to violence committed against them or someone they know. With open arms and heart, you'll be able to show your brothers and sisters they're safe and wanted.
And perhaps the most important tip to keep in mind: If you see something, say something. It's just as important to educate people around you when teachable moments arise.
10 Ways You Can Help Keep a Woman Safe
Yes, You Can Stop Violence Against Women
Drive-Ins Where You Can Still Dine in Your Car
Attention, Food-Lovers: You Can Still Lose!
Domestic Violence Resources: How to Get Help
How You Can Help the Victims of Domestic Violence


I knew long before I had my first that I wanted to baby wear. I didn't know where to begin. When my son was 4 months, I met Brittany at a meet up. She helped so much! She has been an invaluable resource for me throughout the past four years of baby wearing and will continue to be a close resource for the future with my infant. Brittany is an excellent teacher who is patient, loving and invested in your bonding experience. She has assisted my bonding with my third son in ways I couldn't imagine by allowing me to try out carriers as well as showing me how to use them. Thank you Brittany from Caleb, Gavin and Katy!
In a time when my job required me to be away from my daughter 6 days a week, finding babywearing truly saved my relationship with my daughter.


Problems in staff attrition? Sickness absence? Accidents or errors of judgement at work? Challenges in performance? Equipping yourself with neuroscience based techniques could be the solution. Pressure to boost performance and achieve targets from leadership creates a battle between well-being and performance. Employee well-being should be the number one priority, and with a positive approach to well-being, one among many results will be boosting performance.
In many UK businesses today, we are seeing real issues being faced by managers to create an environment that properly supports one another.
With less than 10% of employees feeling comfortable talking about depression, or discuss their inability to cope with unacceptable work pressures, it's no wonder performance is down (Bowcott, 2017). According to the 2017 Thriving at Work report (Department of Works and Pensions, 2017), there is a strong link between mental health and productivity. If people can't connect and openly discuss their emotions, presenteeism will continue to rise. Presenteeism, or going to work whilst ill, currently costs more than £4000 per employee annually according to research by Nottingham Business School (Whysall, Bowden and Hewitt, 2018). Many line managers and HR directors are simply not well equipped enough to recognise new issues that have arisen due to changing work ecologies.
Yes, that's right. With our new digital age, workplace ecologies are radically changing at an alarming rate. Connectivity between employees is no longer face to face, but online. Of course, this is a great thing for innovation and improving workplace efficiencies. But what's it doing to employees? Evolution takes time. Our ability to adapt our brains to changes in our ecology is slow. We are misunderstanding emotions that are created by change and associating them with negativity. No greater is a relationship misunderstood than that of the one between employees and stress itself.
The belief that stress is harmful to us, is more harmful than the stress itself. Stress, if managed correctly can be of great benefit to you and your team. With a little physiological intervention through applying very simple steps, we can face those scary stressful moments and become courageous and enjoy the whole experience: we change the chemistry and our attitude changes automatically.
So what can I do for my team?
An understanding of the science behind wellbeing, using neuroscience based coaching approaches, we believe, is at the heart of all positive people development as well as effective leadership and management. Coaching skills are life skills and essential business skills for an organisation to compete in the market with a robust and adaptable workforce. We can guide you step by step on a learning journey to really understand the effectiveness of brain science.
HR team members regularly encounter difficulties managing and responding to poor performance, as well as the challenge of one to one meetings. The outcomes may see HR coming across as the 'bad' people. Having to fire someone, make redundancies or disciplinaries. For many, this does not come naturally. Neuroscience techniques can be deployed to turn around performance, attitude and outcomes for individuals and their line managers. Neuroscience makes real culture change not only possible, but it enables it to happen fast.
Wellbeing applications, such as CARI™ have been developed to provide greater insight into organisational health using cutting edge neuroscience research. This easily deployed tool can rapidly assess the wellbeing of employees in the organisation, and pinpoint those who need help. You can learn to deliver this within your organisation, to transform your workplace ecology. This highly effective tool could be the missing piece in the puzzle, to providing better mental health and wellbeing in your organisation.
Bowcott (2017) Research shows most employees will discuss mental health issues with someone, but rarely their employer. Available at: https://www.legalandgeneralgroup.com/media-centre/press-releases/research-shows-most-employees-will-discuss-mental-health-issues-with-someone-but-rarely-their-employer/ (Accessed: 10 May 2018).
Department of Works and Pensions (2017). Thriving at work – The Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers. London.
Whysall, Z., Bowden, J., and Hewitt, M. (2018) Employees spend 2.5 weeks a year working when ill – costing businesses £4k per employee in lost productivity. Available at: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2017/10/employees-spend-2.5-weeks-a-year-working-when-ill-costing-businesses-4k-per-employee-in-lost-productivity (Accessed: 15 May 2018).


Availability This account is tailored to fit the average adult consumer. Individuals, pension funds, escrow accounts, nonprofit organizations, and other agencies eligible to maintain NOW accounts. This account is available to individuals 55 or older.
Rate Information You will be paid the disclosed interest rate for at least 30 calendar days. We will never decrease this rate unless we first give you at least 30 days notice in writing.
Compounding and Crediting Frequency Interest will not be compounded. Interest will be credited to your account every month.
Effect of Closing An Account If you close your account before interest is credited, you will not receive the accrued interest.
Daily Balance Computation Method We use the daily balance method to calculate the interest on your account. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal in the account each day.
Accrual of Interest on Non-Cash Deposits Interest begins to accrue no later than the business day we receive credit for the deposit of noncash items (for example, checks).