Treesearch

Wood extractives, solvent-soluble fractions of woody biomass, are considered to be a factor impeding or excluding fungal colonization on the freshly harvested conifers. Among wood decay fungi, the basidiomycete Phlebiopsis gigantea has evolved a unique enzyme system to efciently transform or degrade conifer extractives but little is known about the mechanism(s). In this study, to clarify the mechanism(s) of softwood degradation, we examined the transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome of P. gigantea when grown on defned media containing microcrystalline cellulose and pine sapwood extractives...

Many terrestrial vertebrate species are exhibiting geographic distribution changes including poleward range limit shifts in response to increases in regional temperature. Bats are a highly mobile taxa capable of rapid responses to changes in abiotic or biotic conditions. In North America, recent extralimital records of the non-hibernating Lasiurus seminolus (Seminole bat) have been attributed to climate change, however such attributions remain speculative and potentially subject to sampling bias in the form of increased recent sampling efforts at latitudes north of the historical range. We...

Eucalyptus is one of the fastest growing hardwoods for bioenergy production. Currently, few modeling tools exist to simultaneously estimate soil hydrological processes, nitrogen (N) uptake, and biomass production in a eucalyptus plantation. In this study, a STELLA (Structural Thinking and Experiential Learning Laboratory with Animation)-based model was developed to meet this need. After the model calibration and validation, a simulation scenario was developed to assess eucalyptus (E. grandis × urophylla) annual net primary production (ANPP), woody biomass production (WBP), water use...

Preparing cellulose II nanocrystals (CNC II) requires a polymorph transformation of natural cellulose I feedstocks. The transformation is usually achieved via a process such as mercerization or dissolution– regeneration. This study demonstrated a new method to prepare CNC II directly from bleached kraft pulp (BKP, a commercially available cellulose I feedstock) in a mildly acidic lithium bromide trihydrate (MALBTH) system, a concentrated (∼61 wt%) solution of LiBr in water with a very low concentration (2.5 mM) of sulfuric acid. First, the BKP was treated in the MALBTH system to generate a...

Carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were produced from cotton linter using a mixture of a dicarboxylic acid (maleic acid or succinic acid) and its corresponding anhydride with or without catalyst in acetic acid as solvent. The low solubilities of these dicarboxylic acids can ease chemical recovery and decrease environmental impact (especailly maleic acid is a U.S. FDA approved indirect food additive (21CFR175-177)) and capital costs compared with the conventional concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis for producing CNCs. The dicarboxylicacid-produced CNCs (DC-CNCs) contained surface...

Coupled fire-atmosphere models are increasingly being used to study low-intensity fires, such as those that are used in prescribed fire applications. Thus, the need arises to evaluate these models for their ability to accurately represent fire spread in marginal burning conditions. In this study, wind and fuel data collected during the Prescribed Fire Combustion and Atmospheric Dynamics Research Experiments (RxCADRE) fire campaign were used to generate initial and boundary conditions for coupled fire-atmosphere simulations. We present a novel method to obtain fuels representation at the...

A naturally occurring smart mycelium surface with tunable wettability is demonstrated. The commercially produced mycelium foam shows a natural hydrophobic and nonabsorbent surface with water contact angles well above 135°. The surface maintains its hydrophobicity and nonabsorbance after being compressed into a thin film under pressure and mild temperatures. We report that this surface carries tunable wettability. We have shown that a facile water treatment followed by room-temperature drying initially renders the surface highly hydrophilic and absorbent. Subsequent conditioning at 50 °C at...

The standard for calculating grade quality index (GQI) is a three-step process. First, failure codes are assigned during testing. Second, strength ratios are calculated from failure codes recorded during post-test analysis, not including failure from slope of grain. Third, the lower fifth percentile strength ratio is identified, which is defined as the GQI. In the past, the process of calculating strength ratios required one to correctly interpret and apply calculations per ASTM D4761 (current edition) and ASTM D245 (current edition) or gain remote access to USDA Forest Service, Forest...

February housing data indicated moderation in the U.S. housing market. Month-over-month data were mostly mixed; year-over-year data were predominantly positive, with the exceptions of total housing starts, multifamily starts, and multifamily housing under construction. New single-family and existing house sales were negative month-over-month and positive year-over-year. Single-family construction spending was positive month-over-month and year-over-year.

Vacuum kiln-drying, using low temperature in a low oxygen environment, produces light-colored hard maple in a significantly shorter drying time, and with less variability, than does conventional steam kiln-drying. To avoid chemical staining and to maintain light color, drying hard maple requires the use of high air flow at low temperature and relative humidity soon after being sawn. This study compared the color and drying times of hard maple dried in both types of kilns. Paired samples of 1-in. (25.4-mm) flat-sawn boards were dried in either a conventional kiln or a vacuum kiln, and...