Identificar e analisar as demandas de tipo curricular articuladas no discurso do movimento social denominado como Revolução Pinguina, o que luta por uma educação de qualidade, gratuita e equitativa para os chilenos. Utilizo como referencial teórico, com registro pos-estrutural, a teoria do currículo desenvolvida por Alice Casimiro Lopes e Elizabeth Macedo a partir de uma abordagem discursiva e, a teoria do discurso desenvolvida por Ernesto Laclau em parceria com Chantal Mouffe. Entendo que essas demandas se inserem dentro dum conjunto mais amplo de demandas diferenciais que tem por antagonismo o projeto neoliberal do governo, representado pela concertación de partidos por la democracia. Dessa forma existem duas cadeias discursivas, por um lado o discurso dos estudantes, por outro, o discurso do governo, ambos tentam fixar determinados sentidos para o que representa qualidade da educação, desenvolvendo una guerra de representações. Defendo que por essa amplitude da cadeia discursiva a partir da incorporação de novas demandas representativas de diferentes atores sociais, também há um esvaziamento das bandeiras de luta, mas também uma maior força do movimento. Nesse sentido o significante qualidade da educação se transformou num significante vazio que se desprendeu de seus conteúdos concretos e precisos para poder representar provisoriamente a totalidade que a excede, ou seja, deixou de representar apenas um grupo especifico para representar a totalidade do movimento social. Assim, a luta política do movimento estudantil chileno pela educação de qualidade, tem colocado no centro do debate nacional diversas temáticas vinculadas com educação, mobilizando periodicamente á sociedade e conseguindo importantes transformações dentro da estrutura do sistema educativo nacional, significada pelo discurso estudantil como um sistema em crise. / Identify and analyze the articulate curricular demands in the discourse of the social movement known as Penguin Revolution, who struggles in order to achieve a free, egalitarian and quality education for the Chileans. Based on the curricular theory developed by A.Lopes and B.Macedo, and the theory of the discourse developed by Ernesto Laclau in society with Chantal Mouffe. Understanding that these demands are inserted within a broader group of distinguishing demands whose antagonists are the governments neoliberal project, represented by the Concertación de partidos por la democracia. In this way, there are two discursive chain: on one hand, the discourse of the students, on the other hand the discourse of the Chilean government. They both try to establish their own meaning for quality in education, developing a war of representations. I sustain that the broadening of the discourse chain, due to the incorporation of the new demands representing different social actors, has allowed strengthening the movement of the Penguin Revolution, which has permitted the articulation of a chain of equivalences between the demands which has led this discourse to remain hegemonic through time. Precisely thanks to the constant addition of new social demands. In this sense the signifier quality of the education has turned into a empty signifier, unable to represent temporarily the totality of the social movement. This is, the totality of the demands registered in the articulatory chain. In this way, the political struggle of the Chilean student movement for a quality education has put on the national debate the issue of the education, periodically setting in motion the society, and achieving important transformations within the structure of the national education system

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study aimed to assess the feasibility of the use of soybean hulls and/or white oat grain in the diet of feedlot steers fed exclusively with concentrate and its response on performance, ingestive behavior, non-carcass components and meat and carcass characteristics. We used thirty three crossbred steers with Charolais or Nellore predominance, with average age and weight of 20 months and 269.72 kg. The animals were randomly distributed in the treatments, blocked according to their genetic predominance, and kept in individual pens. Diets were isonitrogenous, being the treatments: Soybean hulls; White oat grain and the Mixture (equal parts of soybean hulls and oat grain), plus limestone and protein nucleus. There was no difference (P> 0.05) among treatments for dry matter intake (7.42 kg day-1; 2.23% BW). Despite the similar dry matter intake, steers of the mixture treatment had greater weight gain compared to the soybean hulls treatment (1.300 vs. 0.972 kg day-1), but these two treatments were similar to the oat grain (1.203 kg-1 day). Animals fed soybean hulls remained longer time in total idle (1,164 minutes) compared with those fed the mixture (1.061 min), which in turn, remained longer in idling than animals fed oat grain (971 min) (P <0.05); for the total rumination time we observed a contrary behavior, 69 min, 217 min and 343 min, respectively (P <0.05). Carcass weights and yields of hot (65.99%) and cold carcass (64.45%) of the steers, expressed in empty body weight were not affected by treatments (P> 0.05). There was higher internal fat in the abdominal cavity in steers from the oat grain treatment in relation to others (16.22 vs 20.58 kg; 4.93 vs 6.15 kg 100 kg-1 empty body) (P <0.05). The absolute and relative weights of all the internal organs and external components of the steers was similar (P> 0.05). Steers fed oat grain and the mixture had greater blood volume in relation to steers fed soybean hulls (3.53 vs 2.80 kg 100 kg-1 of empty body). Carcass quantitative traits and physical composition, with exception of forequarter, muscle and fat percentage, were not affected (P>.05) by the treatments. The use of diets with 100% concentrate are technically viable for steers fed diets based on oat grain or the mixture. The high contend of soluble neutral detergent fiber in treatment based on soybean hulls, is not sufficient to promote adequate ingestive behavior (rumination time) of steers compared to the other treatments. Diets based exclusively on concentrate do not influence the empty body weight of steers feedlot finished and promote similar (P>.05) meat qualitative characteristics. / Objetivou-se investigar a viabilidade da casca de soja e/ou grão de aveia branca, na dieta de novilhos terminados exclusivamente com concentrado em confinamento, e a sua resposta no desempenho, comportamento ingestivo, componentes não-integrantes da carcaça e características da carcaça e carne. Foram utilizados 33 novilhos, com predominâncias raciais Charolês ou Nelore, com idade e pesos médios inicias, de 20 meses e 269,72 kg de peso vivo. Os animais foram distribuídos ao acaso nos tratamentos, bloqueados conforme predominância genética, e alocados em baias individuais. As dietas foram isonitrogenada, sendo os tratamentos: Casca do grão de soja; Grão de aveia branca e Mistura (partes iguais de casca do grão de soja e grão de aveia branca), acrescidos de calcário calcítico e núcleo proteico. Não ocorreu diferença (P>0,05) entre tratamentos para o consumo de matéria seca (7,42 kg dia-1; 2,23 % PV). Apesar do consumo de matéria seca semelhante, novilhos do tratamento mistura tiveram maior ganho de peso comparados aos do tratamento casca de grão de soja (1,300 vs. 0,972 kg dia-1), porém esses dois tratamentos foram semelhantes ao grão de aveia branca (1,203 kg dia-1). Os animais do tratamento casca do grão de soja mantiveram-se maior tempo em ócio total (1.164 min), comparados aos que receberam a mistura (1.061 min), que por sua vez, permaneceram maior tempo em ócio que os novilhos alimentados com grão de aveia branca (971 min) (P<0,05); para o tempo de ruminação total foi observado comportamento inverso, 69 min; 217 min e 343 min, respectivamente (P<0,05). Os pesos e rendimentos de carcaça quente (65,99%) e fria (64,45%) dos novilhos, expressos em peso de corpo vazio, não foram influenciados pelas dietas (P>0,05). Houve superioridade na quantidade de gordura interna na cavidade abdominal dos novilhos do tratamento grão de aveia branca em relação aos demais (16,22 vs. 20,58 kg; 4,93 vs. 6,15 kg 100 kg-1 de corpo vazio) (P<0,05). O peso absoluto e relativo do conjunto dos órgãos internos e componentes externos dos novilhos foi semelhante (P>0,05). Os novilhos dos tratamentos grão de aveia branca e mistura apresentaram maior volume de sangue em comparação aos da casca do grão de soja (3,53 vs. 2,80 kg 100 kg-1de corpo vazio). As características quantitativas e composição física da carcaça, com exceção do percentual de dianteiro da carcaça, músculo e gordura, não foram afetadas (P<0,05). A implementação de dietas com 100% concentrado são tecnicamente viáveis para novilhos alimentados à base do grão de aveia branca e mistura. O elevado teor de fibra solúvel em detergente neutro no tratamento casca do grão de soja não é suficiente para promover adequado comportamento ingestivo (tempo de ruminação) de novilhos comparado aos demais tratamentos. Dietas exclusivamente com concentrado não influenciam (P>0,05) o peso de corpo vazio de novilhos terminados em confinamento e proporcionam semelhante características qualitativas da carne.

Submitted by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2017-07-20T12:25:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 8355941 bytes, checksum: 4578b237a60519138ddea8c5bc23f675 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-20T12:25:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 8355941 bytes, checksum: 4578b237a60519138ddea8c5bc23f675 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-28 / This paper is connected to the proposal of transforming unbuilt areas into elements of the green urban infrastructure. It is fully known that the disorderly processes of urban expansion of brazilian medium-sized cities have caused damaged to the periurban natural environment thus causing the supression of green urban areas. Those areas are considered an importante indicator of the quality of life in the cities, due to the several functions they can exert and the benefits they can bring to the urban population, such as the access to better quality food, when destined to farming. Furthermore, the green areas are part of the green infrasctructure of the cities and are also one of the vital elements to the urban sustainability. Therefore, based on these observations, the potential for implementation of vegetable gardens in empty urban spaces as a part of the green urban infrastructure in João Pessoa, Paraíba’s state’s capital, was evaluated. Through the usage of tools like GIS (Geographic Information System), themed maps were developed aiming at providing the necessary information for the classification, in graded scale, of the potential of transformation of urban empty spaces, adapting and using the systematization developed by Sanches (2011). The chosen methodological procedure is guided by the principles of green infrasctructures and defines quantity and quality indicators, with numerical values for each of these evaluation criteria, which are grouped in three distinct categories- ecological group, hydrous group and social group- the arithmetic mean in each group composes the final grade, and the sum of these grades results in the rate of the potential for the transformation of the analysed areas in vegetated spaces. After the application of the methodological procedure and the visitation of the areas with the highest potential for transformation, some propositions were issued in order to enable the implementation of vegetable gardens in these empty urban spaces and, consequently, the bulding of models of sustainable farming production. / O presente trabalho relaciona-se com a proposta de transformação de áreas desprovidas de construção em elementos da infraestrutura verde urbana. Sabe-se que os processos desordenados de expansão urbana das cidades brasileiras de porte médio têm ocasionado danos ao meio ambiente natural periurbano e que entre suas implicações está a supressão das áreas verdes urbanas. Estas compreendidas como um importante indicador da qualidade de vida nas cidades, devido às diversas funções que podem exercer e benefícios que são capazes de proporcionar à população urbana, como o acesso a alimentos de qualidade, quando destinadas ao cultivo. Além disso, as áreas verdes constituem a infraestrutura verde das cidades e são um dos elementos chaves para a sustentabilidade urbana. Assim, com base nessas observações, buscou-se avaliar o potencial de implantação de hortas em vazios urbanos da cidade de João Pessoa, capital do estado da Paraíba, como parte da infraestrutura verde urbana. Por intermédio de ferramentas SIG (Sistema de Informação Geográfico), foram elaborados mapas temáticos, com o objetivo de fornecer as informações necessárias para a classificação, em escala graduada, do potencial de transformação dos vazios urbanos, a partir da adaptação e aplicação de sistematização desenvolvida por Sanches (2011). O procedimento metodológico adotado pauta-se nos princípios de infraestrutura verde e estabelece indicadores quantitativos e qualitativos, com valores numéricos, para cada um dos seus critérios de avaliação, que são agrupados em três categorias distintas – grupo ecológico, grupo hídrico e grupo social –, cuja média aritmética em cada grupo conforma as notas finais, e a soma destas resulta no grau potencial de transformação das áreas analisadas em espaços vegetados. Após a aplicação do procedimento metodológico e de visitas às áreas com maior potencial de transformação, foram lançadas proposições com o intuito de viabilizar meios para a implantação de hortas nesses vazios urbanos e, consequentemente, para a construção de modelos de produção sustentável para o cultivo.

Em Busca de uma Poética do Vazio é uma pesquisa teórico-prática fomentada no Núcleo de Pesquisa Beckett-we – espaço de criação, desconstrução e de transbordamentos criativos a partir do universo de Samuel Beckett. Criado no ano de 2012 em Canoas/RS, o Núcleo dá voz aos aqui chamados esgotados, sujeitos contemporâneos que encontram em Beckett uma possibilidade de diálogo e caos. Os participantes não são atores, nem bailarinos, nem pesquisadores, são PIM: massa de corpos que não aguentam mais, unidos por uma pequena vida – extrato de existência em comum, que transcende as referências culturais, geográficas, étnicas ou históricas – PIM é plural. Este escrito é composto pelas vozes de esgotados, de Beckett, por minha voz, por fluxos de pensamento que me atravessaram durante a pesquisa e pela voz de referências significativas neste estudo: Gilles Deleuze, Suely Rolnik, Peter Pál Pelbart, dentre outros tantos. São analisadas performances criadas durante três anos do Núcleo, a partir dos textos: Todos os que Caem (Beckett - 1957) que se transformou em Eu, Ser Pulsante e Semivivo (2013) e Eleutheria (Beckett - 1947) metamorfoseado em sobre.vida (2015), Ensaio sobre a Liberdade (2014) e inspiração (2014). Buscando fazer um paralelo estrutural com a obra Como É (Beckett, 1961), que se passa em um buraco enlameado, no qual um personagem procura seu parceiro – PIM -, esta pesquisa se propõe a investigar os caminhos que foram inventados durante as práticas, visando se aproximar de uma possível metodologia que se encontra no vazio, buscando constantemente a instabilidade – seja através da tentativa de esvaziamento de referências, no diálogo com os esgotados que são desconhecedores de Beckett ou na renovação constante de PIM. No ato de esvaziar-se e se deixar atravessar pelas vozes e impulsos dos envolvidos, alimentados pelo universo beckettiano, esta dissertação sugere a figura do cartógrafo, desenvolvida por Rolnik, como um possível caminho para a prática criativa no vazio. / In Search of a Poetic of Emptiness is a theoretical-practical research fomented in the Núcleo de Pesquisa Beckett-we (Research Group Beckett-we) - space of creation, deconstruction and creative overflows based on the universe of Samuel Beckett. Created in the year of 2012 in Canoas/RS, the group gives voice to the ones here called the exhausted , contemporary subjects that find in Beckett a possibility of dialogue and chaos. The participants are not actors, nor dancers, nor researchers, they are PIM: a mass of bodies that cannot bear anymore, united by a little life - extract of a common existence, that transcends the cultural, geographical, ethnic or historical references - PIM is plural. This writing is composed by the voices of the exhausted, Beckett’s voice, my own voice, by flows of thoughts that crossed me while researching and by the voice of significative references in this study: Gilles Deleuze, Suely Rolnik, Peter Pál Pelbart, among so many others. Here we analyse performances created during the three years of the group, based on the texts: All that fall (Beckett - 1957) that became Eu, ser pulsante e semivivo [Me, pulsing being and halfalive (2013) and Eleutheria (Beckett - 1947) metamorphosed in sobre.vida [about.life] (2015), Ensaio sobre a Liberdade [Essay about Freedom] (2014) and inspiração [inspiration] (2014). Aiming to create a structural parallel with the work How it is (Beckett - 1961), that passes in a muddy hole, in which one character looks for his partner - PIM -, this research proposes itself to investigate the paths that were invented during the practices, aiming to approach a possible methodology found in the emptiness, searching constantly the instability - be it through the attempt of emptying references, in the dialogue with the exhausted who are unfamiliar with Beckett or in the constant renovation of PIM. In the act of emptying itself and letting it be crossed by the voices and impulses of the involved, fed by the beckettian universe, this dissertation suggests the figure of the cartographer, developed by Rolnik, as a possible path for the creative practice in the emptiness.

O presente trabalho trata do planejamento da movimentação de contêineres vazios ao longo de um conjunto de portos, buscando o balanceamento entre as demandas e ofertas dos mesmos em todos os portos ao menor custo, e considerando as restrições de capacidade de transporte dos modais envolvidos. Para isso será adotado um modelo de fluxo em rede multi-produto para representar o sistema de movimentação de contêineres vazios e que servirá de base para o desenvolvimento de uma formulação matemática, a qual, implementada através de uma ferramenta computacional de otimização, determina os fluxos de vazios no sistema. A verificação do modelo proposto deu-se através de testes em problemas reduzidos de movimentação de vazios, assim como em um problema cujos resultados foram publicados na literatura. Os resultados sugeriram a adequabilidade e confiabilidade do modelo proposto que pode, então, ser aplicado a um problema real da empresa de navegação Hamburg Süd, tendo seus resultados comparados aos resultados fornecidos pela mesma. / This dissertation deals with the empty containers movement planning throughout a set of ports, aiming the balancing between the demands and supplies in all the ports at minimal cost, and considering the capacity constraints of the transport modes considered. A multi-commodity network flow model will be adopted to represent the empty containers movement system. This model supports the development of a mathematical formulation which, through a computational optimization tool, determines the flows of empty containers throughout the system. The verification of the proposed model was given through tests in reduced problems, as well as in a problem which results had already been published in literature. The results had suggested the adequateness and trustworthiness of the proposed model, which could, then, be applied to a real problem of the navigation company Hamburg Süd, and the results could be compared with the ones given by the company.

Palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB) is an abundant and cheap lignocellulose material in South East Asia. Its use as the sole medium for producing lignocellulose-hydrolyzing enzymes would increase its commercial value. A newly isolated Aspergillus niger DSM 26641 was investigated for its capability of producing hemicellulases in EFB hydrolysate obtained by treatment with pressurized hot water (1-20%, w/v) at 120-180◦C in a 1 L Parr reactor for 10-60 min. The optimal hydrolysate for the fungal growth and endoxylanase production was obtained when 10% (w/v) of empty fruit bunch was treated at 120◦C or 150◦C for 10 min, giving an endoxylanase activity of 24.5 mU ml-1 on RBB-Xylan and a saccharification activity of 5 U ml-1 on xylan (DNS assay). When the hydrolysates were produced at higher temperatures, longer treatment times or higher biomass contents, only less than 20% of the above maximal endoxylanase activity was detected, possibly due to the higher carbohydrate concentrations in the medium. Transcriptome analysis showed that 3 endoxylanases (expression levels 59-100%, the highest level was set as 100%), 2 b-xylosidases (4%), 4 side chain-cleaving arabinofuranosidases (1-95%), 1 acetyl xylan esterase (9%) and 2 ferulic acid esterases (0.3-9%) were produced together.

In the last few decades, database management systems became powerful tools for storing large amount of data and executing complex queries over them. In addition to extended functionality, novel types of databases appear like triple stores, distributed databases, etc. Graph databases implementing the property-graph model belong to this development branch and provide a new way for storing and processing data in the form of a graph with nodes representing some entities and edges describing connections between them. This consideration makes them suitable for keeping data without a rigid schema for use cases like social-network processing or data integration. In addition to a flexible storage, graph databases provide new querying possibilities in the form of path queries, detection of connected components, pattern matching, etc. However, the schema flexibility and graph queries come with additional costs. With limited knowledge about data and little experience in constructing the complex queries, users can create such ones, which deliver unexpected results. Forced to debug queries manually and overwhelmed by the amount of query constraints, users can get frustrated by using graph databases. What is really needed, is to improve usability of graph databases by providing debugging and explaining functionality for such situations. We have to assist users in the discovery of what were the reasons of unexpected results and what can be done in order to fix them. The unexpectedness of result sets can be expressed in terms of their size or content. In the first case, users have to solve the empty-answer, too-many-, or too-few-answers problems. In the second case, users care about the result content and miss some expected answers or wonder about presence of some unexpected ones. Considering the typical problems of receiving no or too many results by querying graph databases, in this thesis we focus on investigating the problems of the first group, whose solutions are usually represented by why-empty, why-so-few, and why-so-many queries. Our objective is to extend graph databases with debugging functionality in the form of why-queries for unexpected query results on the example of pattern matching queries, which are one of general graph-query types. We present a comprehensive analysis of existing debugging tools in the state-of-the-art research and identify their common properties. From them, we formulate the following features of why-queries, which we discuss in this thesis, namely: holistic support of different cardinality-based problems, explanation of unexpected results and query reformulation, comprehensive analysis of explanations, and non-intrusive user integration. To support different cardinality-based problems, we develop methods for explaining no, too few, and too many results. To cover different kinds of explanations, we present two types: subgraph- and modification-based explanations. The first type identifies the reasons of unexpectedness in terms of query subgraphs and delivers differential graphs as answers. The second one reformulates queries in such a way that they produce better results. Considering graph queries to be complex structures with multiple constraints, we investigate different ways of generating explanations starting from the most general one that considers only a query topology through coarse-grained rewriting up to fine-grained modification that allows fine changes of predicates and topology. To provide a comprehensive analysis of explanations, we propose to compare them on three levels including a syntactic description, a content, and a size of a result set. In order to deliver user-aware explanations, we discuss two models for non-intrusive user integration in the generation process. With the techniques proposed in this thesis, we are able to provide fundamentals for debugging of pattern-matching queries, which deliver no, too few, or too many results, in graph databases implementing the property-graph model.

ScandFibre Logistics AB (SFL) är ett logistikföretag inom järnvägsindustrin och ingår i BillerudKorsnäs-koncernen. SFL:s uppgift är att för pappersbruk ägda av BillerudKorsnäs, samt ett fåtal externa kunder, erbjuda logistiklösningar via järnväg för brukens leveranstransporter till cirka 50 olika terminaler i Europa. I samband med det interna arbetet med att strategiskt effektivisera hanteringen av vagnstransporterna syftar detta examensarbete till att ge kunskap och undersöka hur transporter av tomvagnar från svenska terminaler tillbaka till bruken kan effektiviseras med hänsyn till transport- och hyreskostnader. Information har empiriskt samlats från intervjuer med flertal av SFL:s anställda, genom deltagande observationer och inhämtade rådata från SFL:s databas. Med en deskriptiv metod kartlagdes SFL:s verksamhet i en nulägesbeskrivning som utgjorde startpunkten för examensarbetets modellskapande. Från modellskapandet presenteras examensarbetets förslag till en teoretisk bokningsmodell. Denna bokningsmodell uppnår en teoretisk tids- och kostnadseffektivisering med matematisk logik och olika strikta samt tidskänsliga bokningskriterier som genererar bokningsförslag vars prioritering ligger vid korta transportsträckor och ett tidseffektivt utnyttjande av tomvagnar som anländer till bruken enligt JIT-principen. Med anledning av att modellen byggs på antaganden och teori bör dess resultat granskas av operativ bokningspersonal innan praktisk tillämpning. / ScandFibre Logistics AB (SFL) is a logistics company operating in the railway industry and is a part of BillerudKorsnäs. SFL offers logistic solutions for railway transport of products from BillerudKorsnäs’, as well as a few other external customers’, different paper mills to roughly 50 different terminals in Europe. In conjunction with SFL:s own interest of developing the efficiency of their own operations and handling of wagon transports, this master’s thesis aims to improve knowledge and investigate how to streamline the transport of empty wagons from Swedish terminals back to the paper mills, in regards to transport and rental costs. Information have been gathered through interviews with several employees, through participating observations, and with the extraction of raw data from SFL’s database. With a descriptive method the overall operation at SFL could be outlined, serving as the base for a model development phase. This phase resulted in this thesis’ proposed bookings model for empty wagon transports. The model acquires a theoretical streamline way of booking empty wagon transports in such a manner that wagons arrive at the paper mills according to the JIT-principle. The model succeeds in doing this by generating booking proposals using mathematical logic and time-sensitive booking criteria, with the focus being transports of short distances; in theory also meaning a time efficient use of each wagon. As the model is theoretically constructed and relies on several generalizing assumptions, its booking proposals should always be evaluated from a perspective of practicality by executive booking personnel.

Abstract A central problem in all language teaching is to teach the correct use of prepositions. There are grammar rules, but also a lot of exceptions and idiomatic expressions that often have to be learnt by examples or by heart. A trick for learning might be to use a mnemonic method with songs and music to memorize a correct use of prepositions. The purpose of this study is to test a language teaching didactic exercise for knowledge of preposition in Spanish with songs and music. Grammatical aspects, rules and exceptions when studying prepositions in Spanish are presented. A literature review shows the significance of music for language learning. By lesson trials the five so called “empty” prepositions in Spanish: a, con, de, en and por, are studied by 40 high school students only by listening to and singing two different songs in the beginning and at the end of each Spanish lesson during two weeks. The result of the study shows an improved knowledge of correct use of the 5 Spanish prepositions among the students using the method. Furthermore, the language teaching didactic exercise with song and music was seen as a pleasurable learning experience by the students.

yes / Novel natural fibre composites of nylon-6 reinforced with coconut shell (CS) particles and empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibres have been investigated. Fillers were alkali treated before melt compounding with nylon-6. Mechanical, thermal and rheological properties of composites were measured. Tensile modulus was found to improve with both fillers up to 16% for nylon-6/CS composite and 10% for nylon-6/EFB composite, whereas a moderate increase in tensile strength was observed only with CS composites. Differences in the strengthening mechanisms were explained by the morphology of the two fillers, empty fruit bunch fibres having a weaker cellular internal structure. Observation of composite morphology using SEM showed that both fillers were highly compatible with nylon-6 due to its hydrophilic nature. Both fillers were found to cause a slight drop in crystallinity of the nylon matrix and to lower melt viscosity at typical injection moulding strain rates. Moisture absorption increased with addition of both fillers.