Wood Anatomy

Se realizó el estudio de anatomía de la madera de 69 especies latifoliadas procedentes de la Unidad Experimental de la Reserva Forestal Caparo (estado Barinas, Venezuela). Se presentan descripciones completas, tanto a nivel macroscópico como a nivel microscópico, siguiendo lo indicado por IAWA Committee (1989). Se agruparon las especies de acuerdo a los caracteres de identificación
indicados por Wheeler y Baas (1998). Los caracteres más adecuados para la agrupación de especies fueron: porosidad semicircular, presencia de estructuras secretoras y sustancias minerales (cristales, sílice), estructura estratificada, ancho de radios y tipo de parénquima.
Se elaboró una clave dicotómica que permite el reconocimiento de 61 especies (88,41 %) y donde las únicas que no se pudieron separar correspondían a géneros similares (cuatro especies de Inga, dos de Annona y Zanthoxylum, respectivamente).

This comparative study focused on understanding the effect of coupling agent and particle size on weathering behaviour of wood polypropylene composite. Two coupling agents, namely maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene and m-TMI (m-Isopropenyl-α,α− dimethylbenzyl isocyanate) grafted polypropylene were used in preparation of the composites. The composites were exposed to outdoor conditions for one year and changes in surface colour and mechanical properties were measured after 2, 4, 8 and 12 months of natural weathering. During the initial four months of weathering considerable colour change was observed with increase in lightness. Mechanical properties were unaffected largely for the initial four months and thereafter started declining. Overall, tensile strength decreased by about 15 % and flexural strength decreased by about 8 % after one year of weathering. The flexural modulus also decreased by about 10 %. Wood particle size was found to affect the aesthetic and strength of the composites after natural weathering. Coupling agents had a positive impact on mechanical properties however their influence on weathering degradation was not noticeable.

A análise comparativa da anatomia do lenho das espécies Bowdichia nitida Spruce ex Benth, Diplotropis brasiliensis (Tul.) Benth., Diplotropis martiusii Benth., Diplotropis purpurea (Rich.) Amshoff e Diplotropis racemosa (Hoehne) Amshoff é descrita no presente trabalho, visando a determinar as principais características anatômicas necessárias à distinção dessas espécies. Qualitativamente, as características anatômicas mais importantes para a diferenciação do lenho dessas espécies foram: camadas de crescimento, estratificação dos raios, arranjo dos vasos e fileira marginal dos raios. Quantitativamente, a análise estatística mostrou que os parâmetros anatômicos mais importantes no agrupamento das espécies foram: diâmetro dos elementos de vasos, largura dos raios em micrometros, comprimento, espessura da parede e largura das fibras. Verificou-se que a anatomia do lenho pode ser utilizada como importante subsídio na identificação das espécies estudadas.

Los objetivos del trabajo fueron 1- Determinar los patrones de variación axial y radial de la densidad de la madera y longitud de fibras en el fuste de Robinia pseudoacacia, 2- Determinar la edad de transición entre madera juvenil y madera madura, 3- Construir un modelo descriptivo de distribución de la madera juvenil en el fuste en base a la densidad de madera y longitud de fibras. Se cortaron rodajas a 4 alturas en el fuste (0,3 m; 1,3m; 2,3m y 4m a partir del suelo) en 10 árboles (7-15 años) implantados en Buenos Aires, Argentina. Se determinó la densidad normal12% y la longitud de fibras en probetas radiales obtenidas cada 3 anillos de crecimiento en todas las alturas. La densidad de la madera mostró una homogeneidad de los valores a lo largo del fuste comercial (variación axial), con un rango que la clasifica como madera semi-pesada (750 - 823 kg/m3). La longitud de fibras mostró aumento radial de sus valores de médula a corteza y sin variaciones axiales. El modelo de madera juvenil se asemeja al modelo de cilindro central pero de menor diámetro en el ápice. El cono juvenil se formaría hasta la edad de 3-6 años.

Kayu merupakan komoditas alam yang hingga saat ini masih dipilih sebagai bahan bangunan dan meubel karena beberapa keunggulannya yaitu, warna, corak, kekuatan serta mudah dalam pengerjaan.. kekurangan dari produk kayu kapur (Dryobalanops sp) yaitu mudah mengalami penurunan kualitas akibat dari faktor kimia, fisika, atau biologi. Salah satu agen penyebab kemunduran yaitu jamur Schizhophyllum commune dapat menyebabkan kehilangan berat hingga 14,14%. Pengujian Kehilangan berat kayu dilakukan dengan inokulasi jamur S.commune menggunakan media PDA (Potato Dextrose Agar) dan diinkubasi selama 4 minggu, Pengujian nilai kerapatan kayu dilakukan dengan menggunakan standar jerman DIN 32182. Hifa jamur S.commune yang menyerang kayu kapur (Dryobalanops sp) dapat dengan mudah terlihat pada sel pori yang selanjutnya hifa melakukan penetrasi antar sel pori serta menyebar ke segala arah. Kehilangan berat kayu kapur tertinggi sebesar 0,77% dan terendah 0%.

BACKGROUND:
In spite of its indusrial usefulness and varied daily uses, lead (Pb) pollution is a widespread ecological problem that faces the humans in the 21th century. Pb was found to produces a wide range of toxic effects including neurotoxicity especially to the developing and young offspring. Recently, the utilization of herbal plants has received a significant attention where there has been rising awareness in their therapeutic use; among these is the garlic.
AIM OF THE WORK:
In light of the above, the current study is designed experimentally in female pregnant rats in order to investigate the beneficial role of garlic extract in the protection from the maternal and fetal cerebellar damage that produced by administration of different doses of Pb during pregnancy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Positively pregnant female rats were divided into five groups; one control group, two Pb-treated groups (exposed to 160 and 320 mg/kg b.wt. of Pb, respectively) and two groups treated with both Pb and garlic (exposed to Pb as previous groups together with 250 mg/ kg b.wt. /day of garlic extract). Treatments started from day 1 till day 20 of pregnancy, where the mother rats of different experimental groups were sacrified to obtain the fetuses. Pb level in the maternal nd fetal blood and cerebellum was estimated by spectrophotometry. Specimens of the cerebellum of different mother and fetal groups were processed to histological and immunohistochemical staining for microscopic examination.
RESULTS:
The results showed that administration of Pb to pregnant rats resulted in a dose-dependent toxicity for both mothers and fetuses in the form of decrease of maternal weight gain, placental and fetal weights, brain weight and diminished fetal growth parameters, which were prominent in rat's group treated with larger dose of Pb. In Pb-treated rats, Pb level in blood and cerebellum was high when compared to the control. The histopathological examination of the cerebellum of treated dams and fetuses showed marked alterations mainly in the form of Purkinje cell degeneration and lack of deveopmet of fetal cerebellum. Co-treatment of garlic extract along with Pb resulted in a significant decrease in Pb levels as compared with those treated with Pb alone with improvement of the histopathological changes.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study was useful in evaluating the hazardous effects of uncontrolled use of Pb in general and in assessing the developmental and neurotoxicity of fetuses due to exposure during pregnancy in particular. Co-administration of garlic has beneficial effects in amelioration of Pb-induced neurotoxicity and reversing the histopathological changes of the cerebellum of mother rats and fetuses.
KEYWORDS:
garlic; glial fibrillary acidic protein; lead; purkinje cells

Effect of temperature and moisture content on compression strength parallel to the grain of selected species of wood with variable density and anatomical structures
This paper presents an assessment of the effect of temperature and moisture content on compression strength parallel to the grain. The development of this field of wood science has been discussed and the collected information has been experimentally verified on the basis of eighteen selected species of wood with variable density and anatomical structures.
A satisfactory mathematical description of the phenomena relating to strength of materials was made in the second half of the 17th century, which was a stimulus also for development of research on wood. The next century saw research on compression strength of selected species of wood, however, without a due consideration of the effect of moisture content and the buckling phenomenon. In the 19th century, an explicit distinction was made between compression (crushing) of short specimens and a complex mechanism of destruction of slender elements. The turn of the 20th century is a period of an arduous basic research, i.e. determination of the characteristics of physical and mechanical properties including compression strength parallel to the grain for specific levels of moisture content of wood species from various continents. A new quality in testing the compression strength (optimisation of specimens and analysis of the effect of temperature) was forced by the needs of aviation in the first half of the 20th century. The last decades of the 20th century and the present century focus on testing of the above-mentioned characteristics of the material mainly for the purposes of wood constructions in the building industry. At present, compression strength parallel to the grain is readily used as a criterion in assessment of wood, due to the established strong correlation with other properties and simplicity of the test itself. Even so, the testing procedures are not fully standard yet, and the effect of temperature, moisture content, density and the characteristics of an anatomical structure of wood has been analysed only in a fragmentary way.
A unique testing method was developed for the purposes of this paper, with appropriate selection parameters for compression tests of clear wood “multi-twin” specimens, facilitating the examination of the effect of moisture content and temperature. Specimens obtained from a “single board” within the specific species of wood were used, which had been conditioned in groups of 10 pieces for each of the moisture content options, and subsequently heated or cooled without changing the moisture content. The specimens were destructed at a constant speed of increasing deformation equal to 2 mm∙min-1. The testing time of each of the specimens did not exceed 150 seconds.
The values determined for the eighteen species of wood, as a whole demonstrating a wide spectrum of density and variable anatomical structures, allowed to determine the averaged interactions and to describe them with simple (linear) correlations. A strong and directly proportional interaction between compression strength and dry density was established. This relationship is weaker in moist wood. As anticipated, the compression strength of wood tends to decrease, presenting an approximately linear trend, in the entire hygroscopic range along with increase of the wood moisture content, reaching the minimum value with moisture content at the fibre saturation point. Similarly, the strength tends to decrease along with increasing temperature. The effect of temperature is slightly stronger in moist wood. Irrespectively of the averaged interactions, a significant effect of individual characteristics of an anatomical structure and density of respective species of wood is observable, manifesting itself, among others, in significantly different values of conventional moisture content at the fibre saturation point or differences in changes of compression strength parallel to the grain resulting from moisture content and temperature. Various appearances and the nature of distractions of the specimens after the compression test were an evident indication of the effect of the anatomical structures and density of wood.
The correlations of the effect of temperature and moisture content on compression strength of the specific species of wood with variable density and anatomical structures will support quick testing of wood, i.e. not requiring long-term seasoning and conditioning of specimens. It will be possible to recalculate any wood compression strength indicating non-standard moisture content and temperature to the standard reference level. The testing method developed in this research work and the data obtained in this way have a significant value also for the purposes of determination of constructional timber characteristics. Considering cost-effectiveness factors, testing of small, “multi-twin” laboratory specimens and an effective transfer of the achieved results onto full-size constructional timer is more relevant.

Il legno delle specie del genere Salix, di colore chiaro e lucente, a durame appena differenziato, mostra notevole omogeneità a livello anatomico, e non presenta particolari differenze tra le diverse entità tali da rendere possibile una identificazione specifica. Le caratteristiche anatomiche del legno confermano una dipendenza dall’acqua del salice più alta rispetto al pioppo.

The chemical contents in cultivated 3 year-old bamboo culms of Gigantochloa brang, G. levis, G. scortechinii and G. wrayi were studied. Different composition were exhibited in the extractives, holocellulose, α-cellulose, lignin, and ash contents between the four (4) bamboo species, location in the culms and position at the nodes and internodes. The extractive content in four species ranged from 8.30 to 9.23%. The extractive content of G.brang, G.levis, G.scortechinii and G.wrayi were 8.30%, 9:23%, 8:00% and 8.62% respectively. The holocellulose content for G. levis were 85.08%, G. wrayi 84.53%, G. brang 79.94% and G. scortechinii 74.62%. The holocellulose content for the cultivated bamboo genus Gigantochloa were 74% to 85%. The α-cellulose is the chemical constituents in the holocellulose. The highest was G.brang (51.58%) followed by G. scortechinii (46.87%), G.wrayi (37.66%) and G. levis (33.80%). The lignin content ranged between 24.84 to 32.65%.The highest were obtained in G. scortechinii (32.55%), G. wrayi (30.04%%), G. levis (26.50%) and lowest in G. brang (24.83%). The ash content in four species of Gigantochloa bamboo ranged between 0.88 to 2.86%. The ash content is the highest in G. scortechinii (2.83%) follow by G. levis (1.29%), G. brang (1.25%) and the lowest in G.wrayi (0.88%).

The only natural material for building boats is wood. There are various designs in the art of wooden boat building. The techniques for building wooden boats depends on the type of boat, the technique and procedure for making day sailors is different from the one used for construction of powerboats, cruising boats, or performance rows among several others.

Likewise, depending on the type of boat you want to build, you have an option of choosing from a large variety of timbers....

Introducción: La región de los mayas peninsulares en México es la que más ha conservado la tradición de la construcción de vivienda a partir de elementos naturales con un conocimiento ancestral de carácter etnoecológico, lo cual es parte del patrimonio biocultural de sus pobladores. Con el objetivo de conocer las especies vegetales utilizadas en la construcción de viviendas tradicionales en la Península de Yucatán y elaborar una xiloteca a partir de estas, se realizó la presente investigación en la que se recolectaron las maderas que los caseros seleccionan para tal fin, así como ejemplares botánicos de referencia.
Discusión: Se registraron 45 especies utilizadas para la elaboración de la vivienda tradicional, de las que sobresalen las maderas duras, pesadas, con abundante duramen y resistentes al ataque de hongos que son utilizadas para postes como el kitam che ́ (Caesalpinia gaumeri), chak ́te ́ (Caesalpinia mollis) Yaax ek ́ (Chloroleucon mangense) y jabín (Piscidia piscipula). Para travesaños es común que seleccionen sac loob (Eugenia foetida), boob (Coccoloba barbadensis), ta ́may (Zuelania guidonia) y tastaab (Guetterda combsii) debido a que son maderas resistentes sin tanto peso. Para la estructura del techo y del bahareque utilizan las maderas jóvenes de especies tales como el elemuy (Mosannona depressa), pichi ́che ́ (Psidium sartorianum), majagua (Hampea trilobata), y sinanche ́ (Senna atomaria); el bejuco anilkaab (Cydista diversifolia) es utilizado para amarres de gran resistencia mientras que el techo se cubre con hojas de palma xa ́an (Sabal yapa) o pasto (Spartina spartinae).

E-book version of the printed book "Archaeology and Ethnography of Forest and Wood." The Working Committee on Industrial Archeology and Archeometry of the Veszprém Academic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences – together with the Working Committee of Handicraft History, and with the supporting cooperation of the local professional museums – has organized annual scientifical workshops about the archaeologic, historic, and ethnographic relics of the material culture in the Carpathian Basin, and about the manifold investigation of the findings belonging to different groups of materials. The lectures dealt with the working and utilization of three very important elements of life, i.e. earth (clay, in 2004), wood (in 2005) and metal (iron, in 2006, 2007). After the Workshop in Budapest in 2004, ”a thousand of years of pottery,” we invited the specialists dealing with the investigation of ”archeology and ethnography of forest and wood” to Sopron, in May, 2005.
Twenty researchers participated in the workshop in Sopron, held in the lecture hall of the Collection of History of Forestry, Wood Industry and Surveying of the Forestry Engineering Faculty of the University of West Hungary (”Forestry Museum”).
Before an interested audience, the lecturers explained different points of view the ”element” nearest to life, i.e. forests and wood. The two day meeting was rather short. Hence the archeologists, ethnographers, historians, restorers and foresters could only deal with some main matters. They gave reports on environment archeology of ancient forests as well as archaeologic, ethnographic and historic relics of the wood industry, with special regard to historic aspects of handicrafts. Lectures were presented on age determinations of wood remains as well as on the conservation of archaeologic wooden findings. The texts of the lectures are presented here with the hope that, at the next meetings, those other fields will be reviewed, (which were outlined in the preparation of the Sopron Workshop from the Ethnographical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), to use this immense scientific data on the research of forests and wood).
We propose the following questions for disucssion: Wood working tools in the archaeologic and ethnographic collections; charcoal burning; analyses of the inventories compiled on the workshops and products of the craftsmen dealing with different kinds of wood, the conclusions about the regulations of products of craftmen; the devastation of forests, forest protection and afforestation and their regulation on different times during the different periods; wooden household objects, their manufacturing or acquisition; what was made at home, what was bought and from where. Our working committees organized the Sopron Workshop in cooperation with the Sopron Museum. Many thanks must be said to the Forestry Museum which gave place for the Workshop and to the Scarbantia Society for supporting it. We have to express special thanks to the Sopron Scientific Society of the Veszprém Academic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for their financial support given to the organization of the Workshop, as well as to the printing costs of publication of the lectures in this book.

Sistem kardiovaskuler adalah suatu sistem organ yang bertugas untuk menyampaikan nutrien (seperti asam amino dan elektrolit), hormon, sel darah dll dari dan menuju sel-sel tubuh manusia, yang bertujuan untuk menjaga keseimbangan homeostasis. Sistem ini terdiri atas organ jantung dan pembuluh-pembuluh darah. Jantung merupakan organ yang terdiri dari empat ruangan, yaitu atrium kanan, ventrikel kanan, atrium kiri dan ventrikel kiri. Secara umum sistem ini bekerja dengan mengikuti pola sebagai berikut: Darah yang rendah kandungan oksigen dan tinggi CO2 yang berasal dari sirkulasi sistemik dihantarkan melalui vena kava superior dan inferior menuju atrium kanan, masuk ke ventrikel kanan lalu dihantarkan melalui arteri pulmonalis menuju ke paru untuk di-oksigenasi kembali. Selanjutnya darah yang telah kaya akan oksigen akan masuk melalui vena pulmonalis menuju atrium kiri, lalu masuk ke ventrikel kiri untuk dihantarkan menuju sirkulasi sistemik melalui pembuluh aorta. Demikian seterusnya. Secara umum, pembuluh darah yang ada di dalam tubuh dapat dibagi menjadi pembuluh yang membawa darah menjauhi jantung (arteri) dan menuju jantung (vena).

VITALITY OF XYLEM PARENCHYMA DURING HEARTWOOD FORMATION


ABSTRACT
Three dyes namely Neutral Red (NR), Brilliant Cresyl Blue (BCB) and Phenosafranine were used in studying the vitality of xylem ray parenchyma cells in three heartwood producing trees. The capacity of the colls to take up and accumu¬late the stains decreased from sapwood to transition zone in heartwood trees. Phenosafranine, a dye used for staining the dead cells, showed metachromatic property by staining the living parenchymatous cells yellow.

Recent large-scale studies of tree growth in the Iberian Peninsula reported contrasting positive and negative effects of temperature in Mediterranean angiosperms and conifers. Here we review the different hypotheses that may explain these trends and propose that the observed contrasting responses of tree growth to temperature in this region could be associated with a continuum of trait differences between angiosperms and conifers. Angiosperm and conifer trees differ in the effects of phenology in their productivity, in their growth allometry, and in their sensitivity to competition. Moreover, angiosperms and conifers significantly differ in hydraulic safety margins, sensitivity of stomatal conductance to vapor-pressure deficit, xylem recovery capacity or the rate of carbon transfer. These differences could be explained by key features of the xylem such as non-structural carbohydrate content (NSC), wood parenchymal fraction or wood capacitance. We suggest that the reviewed trait differences define two contrasting ecophysiological strategies that may determine qualitatively different growth responses to increased temperature and drought. Improved reciprocal common garden experiments along altitudinal or latitudinal gradients would be key to quantify the relative importance of the different hypotheses reviewed. Finally, we show that warming impacts in this area occur in an ecological context characterized by the advance of forest succession and increased dominance of angiosperm trees over extensive areas. In this context, we examined the empirical relationships between the responses of tree growth to temperature and hydraulic safety margins in angiosperm and coniferous trees. Our findings suggest a future scenario in Mediterranean forests characterized by contrasting demographic responses in conifer and angiosperm trees to both temperature and forest succession, with increased dominance of angiosperm trees, and particularly negative impacts in pines.

Acacia melanoxylon and Acacia dealbata are two Australian species well acclimated in Chile, both wood species with an interesting industrial potential. In this work, has been studied kiln drying runs and the wood drying quality of the sawn wood of Acacia melanoxylon and Acacia dealbata during kiln drying at conventional temperatures. Eight tests of kiln drying to conventional temperatures are made, using a convective drying of 0,3 m 3 of capacity. The experimental design includes as variable the species (A. melanoxylon an A. dealbata), the wood thickness (25 and 50 mm) and the cut-type (fl atsawn-wood and quartersawn-wood). The wood drying quality on the basis of European and Chilean standards is evaluated.

At the foot of the Bandiagara cliffs in Mali lives one of the most studied and yet most mysterious ethnic groups of West Africa, the Dogon. According to their religion, masks have a key role in traditional rites, since they are the link between the earthly and the divine. The production and maintenance of such important tools have precise rules handed down by the Dogon secret society called Awa. Fifteen traditional Dogon masks were studied to ascertain the wood species selected to carve them. The analysis shows the occasional use of marula (Sclerocarya birrea, 3 masks) and African grape (Lannea spec., 2 masks) and a preference for ceiba (Ceiba pentandra, 10 masks), a tree revered as sacred by the Dogon. The results suggest potential implications concerning the use of trees and woods in Dogon tradition.

In 2013 heeft de Universiteit van Amsterdam een archeologisch onderzoek uitgevoerd in  het plangebied Leiderdorp-Plantage. Eerder uitgevoerd inventariserend veldwerk door Archeomedia in 2003 had al aangetoond dat op deze locatie een vroegmiddeleeuwse nederzetting was gelegen aan een in de Karolingische periode zwaar beschoeide geul, een zijarm van de Oude Rijn. In de nabijheid van het plangebied zijn meer vroegmiddeleeuwse vindplaatsen bekend. In het voorliggende hoofdstuk wordt verslag gedaan van het houtspecialistische onderzoek aan bouwhout en houten voorwerpen die tijdens de opgraving tevoorschijn kwamen. Het gaat om (verspoeld) bouwhout van oeverbeschoeiingen, van aanlegplaatsen, waterputten en van enkele gebouwstructuren. De houten voorwerpen zijn voornamelijk afkomstig uit een afvallaag van de geul die uit de eerste helft van de 9e eeuw dateert, en daarnaast uit waterputten en kuilen.

The Age of Wood is a lively history of biology, mechanics and culture of wood that stretches back 60 million years, from the evolution of small, tree-dwelling, bush babies, to our more sobering modern times, as megafires, propelled by climate change, incinerate millions of hectares in Australia and the United States.