QUALITY OF GROUPED CONVENTIONAL KILN DRYING OF THREE SPECIES OF Eucalyptus sp. WOOD

A ind\ufastria brasileira comumente seca diferentes esp\ue9cies de eucalipto em uma mesma carga de secagem convencional, seja pela dificuldade de identifica\ue7\ue3o das esp\ue9cies, h\uedbridos e clones, seja para melhor utilizar o equipamento. No entanto, essa pr\ue1tica n\ue3o \ue9 recomendada na literatura espec\uedfica. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a qualidade da secagem convencional conjunta da madeira de Eucalyptus saligna , Eucalyptus grandis e Eucalyptus dunnii oriundas de plantios clonais. Para tal, foi realizada a secagem de tr\ueas cargas com as tr\ueas esp\ue9cies conjuntamente em uma c\ue2mara-piloto de secagem convencional. Os crit\ue9rios utilizados para analisar-se a qualidade da secagem foram: umidade final, rachaduras de topo, rachaduras de superf\uedcie, encanoamento, colapso, gradiente de umidade e tens\uf5es de secagem. Eucalyptus grandis apresentou a melhor qualidade de secagem, seguido pelo Eucalyptus saligna, e ambas as esp\ue9cies possuem potencial para serem secas conjuntamente. Eucalyptus dunnii apresentou baixa qualidade de secagem, esta esp\ue9cie n\ue3o deve ser seca conjuntamente com Eucalyptus grandis e Eucalyptus saligna. A densidade b\ue1sica e a retratibilidade foram bons crit\ue9rios para a expectativa de qualidade da secagem de Eucalyptus spp., em que esp\ue9cies menos densas e mais est\ue1veis dimensionalmente apresentaram melhor qualidade de secagem. O programa de secagem utilizado deve ser modificado para a secagem futura dessas esp\ue9cies, notadamente no tocante aos per\uedodos de uniformiza\ue7\ue3o e condicionamento, que foram considerados insuficientes.The Brazilian industry commonly dries different species of eucalypt in a same load because of the difficulty of identifying the species, hybrids and clones, and also by optimizing the use of the kiln. However, this practice is not recommended in the literature. The aim of this work was to verify the quality of grouped conventional drying of Eucalyptus saligna , Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus dunnii from clonal plantations. To this end, three loads were dried with the three species together in a pilot conventional dry kiln. The criteria used to analyze the quality of dried wood were final moisture content, end checks, cupping, collapse, moisture gradient and drying stresses. Eucalyptus grandis showed the best quality of drying, followed by Eucalyptus saligna, and both species have potential to be kiln dried together. Eucalyptus dunnii had the worst quality of drying, and should not be kiln dried together with Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus saligna. The basic density and shrinkage were good parameters for the expected quality of the drying of Eucalyptus species, in which less dense and more dimensionally stable species had better quality of drying. The drying schedule used must be modified to further drying of these species, especially regarding to uniformity and conditioning periods, which were considered insufficient

Fate and effects of silver nanoparticles at the aquatic-terrestrial interface: A floodplain mesocosm experiment

The production volume of engineered inorganic nanoparticles (EINP) successively increased over the last years. Once released into the natural environment, these particles may change their size and surface properties in interaction with other substances. This is expected to control their mobility and their impact on biochemical processes. However, the underlying processes are not fully understood yet. Transformation processes and long-term fate of citrate-coated silver nanoparticles (Ag NP) were investigated in an innovative floodplain mesocosm, which was run with river Rhine water and natural soil from an adjacent floodplain for 33 weeks. Flooding events were simulated every three weeks. The Ag NP with a concentration of 5 mg L-1 were continuously introduced into the water for three weeks followed by a three-week period without spiking. Every third week the ecotoxicological impact of Ag NP was determined by means of Gammarus mortality and feeding assays. At the end of the experiment, the total Ag concentrations were measured in profiles of the floodplain soil and the sediment as well as in algae that developed in the mesocosm. The total Ag concentration in the aquatic phase in the main zone as well as in the floodplain fluctuated according to the periodic Ag NP pulse. Further, significant amounts of Ag accumulated in algae (up to 4.7 mg g-1) and exposed leaves (up to 170 μg g-1). However, for the applied experimental conditions we did neither observed mortality nor sublethal effects on Gammarus feeding activity. More than 40 % of the Ag remained in the sediment of the main zone and 7 % were transported during flooding into the floodplain soil. Furthermore, 0.5 % of the Ag was still in the water phase. Most of the particles were immobilized in the top layer of the sediments and soil. Only very little transport in deeper soil layers was observed in the soil columns and sediment. Accumulation in algae, sediment, and soil is alarming for long-term environmental impact assessments and the long lifetime in the aqueous phase suggests long-range transport of Ag NP in rivers

A Comparative Study of the Outer Membrane Proteome from an Atypical and a Typical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

This study compared the proteomic profile of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) from one strain of atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (aEPEC) and one of typical EPEC (tEPEC). The OMPs fractions were obtained using sarcosine extraction, and analyzed by one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (1DE and 2DE, respectively). The 1DE OMPs analysis of typical and atypical EPEC evidenced similar patterns; however, the 2DE OMP profile from the aEPEC revealed more protein spots in the 40- to 70-kDa region. 2DE image analysis identified 159 protein spots in both strains whereas 53 protein spots were observed only in tEPEC and 128 were observed only in aEPEC. Remarkably, 41.5% of aEPEC spots showed higher levels of expression compared to tEPEC, some of which with two, others four or even five times more. Twenty-four selected spots were identified using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and they corresponded to proteins involved in cell structure and metabolism, as well as in gene regulation. Some of these proteins showed similarity with proteins identified in other E. coli pathotypes. Besides, the differential expression of some proteins in aEPEC may suggest that it could be related to their features that ascertain the adaptation to distinct environments and the worldwide spread distribution of these pathogens

Einfluss von unterschiedlichen Schnarchgeräuschen auf das Schlafverhalten nicht-schnarchender Probanden

Hintergrund: Schnarchen kann den Schlaf der schnarchenden Person negativ beeinflussen. Über den Einfluss auf das Schlafverhalten von Schnarchen auf Bettpartner liegen bisher keine Informationen vor. Ziel der Studie war es, das Ausmaß der Beeinträchtigung durch unterschiedliche Schnarchgeräusche zu verifizieren.Methodik: 30 gesunden Probanden (22 und 30 Jahren) wurden 3 unterschiedliche Schnarchgeräusche in ansteigender Lautstärke während Leicht-, Tief- und REM-Schlaf eingespielt. Die Schnarchgeräusche unterschieden sich in Frequenz und Periodik: Tieffrequent und rhythmisch = primäres Schnarchen, hochfrequent und rhythmisch = Schnarchen bei Upper Airway Resistance Syndrom (UARS), hochfrequent und unrhythmisch = Schnarchen bei obstruktivem Schlaf-Apnoe-Syndrom (OSAS). Die jeweilige Zeit bis zum kurzzeitigen Erwachen wurde gemessen.Ergebnisse: Bei allen 3 Schnarchqualitäten erfolgte die Wachreaktion im Leichtschlaf früher als im Tief- und REM-Schlaf. Tief- und REM-Schlaf zeigten keinen Unterschied für Störanfälligkeit durch Schnarchen. Hochfrequentes, unrhythmisches Schnarchen (OSAS) führte in allen 3 Schlafstadien zu einer zeitigeren Wachreaktion als tieffrequentes, rhythmisches (primär) und hochfrequentes, rhythmisches Schnarchen (UARS).Schlussfolgerung: Schnarchen vom OSAS-Typ erscheint für den Bettpartner als besonders belästigend. Im Leichtschlaf kann auch primäres Schnarchen zur Schlafbeeinträchtigung bei Personen mit schnarchendem Bettpartner führen. Von der Therapie des Schnarchens durch Behandlung der Grunderkrankung wie OSAS und UARS profitieren die schnarchende Person selbst, wie auch der Bettpartner. Die Therapie des primären Schnarchens würde sich vor allem für den Bettpartner sozial und gesundheitlich segensreich auswirken

Ultra-lightweight and flexible inverted metamorphic four junction solar cells for space applications

In this work an inverted metamorphic four junction (IMM4J) solar cell with 30.9% conversion efficiency in beginning of life conditions under the AM0 (1367 W/m2) spectrum is presented. Additionally, our newest improved IMM3J cell, consisting of Ga0.51In0.49P/GaAs/Ga0.73In0.27As subcells, with 30.6% efficiency is also shown. The IMM4J solar cells consist of Al0.05Ga0.46In0.49P/Al0.14Ga0.86As/Ga0.89In0.11As/Ga0.73In0.27As subcells and are epitaxially grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) on a GaAs substrate. These IMM solar cells achieve power-to-mass ratios of 3 W/g or more, which is more than three times higher than standard germanium based triple or four junction space solar cells. The losses in comparison to the simulated near-term potential efficiency of 33.8% for the IMM4J are analyzed in detail. Furthermore, the irradiation behavior for 1 MeV electron fluences of 1 × 1014 e−/cm2 and 2.5 × 1014 e−/cm2 for the IMM4J cells was investigated. A roadmap to further develop this concept towards an IMM5J with a realistic begin of life (BOL) efficiency potential of 35.9% under AM0 is presented