Rum is a sugar cane spirit obtained by the distillation of molasses through yeast fermentation and subsequent aging in wooden barrels, where the spirit acquires its special flavor and aroma. Packed bed schemes were applied to the accelerated aging of rum samples. These involved maturation in contact with natural, toasted or chemically treated oak wood chips for 90 d and four secondary treatment...

We examined bird-habitat relationships within and across a range of aspen habitats in four major watersheds in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California and Nevada to identify habitat features of importance to aspen-breeding birds. Using point counts and vegetation assessments from 462 individual stations between 2001 and 2003 allowed us to investigate important habitat features at wate...

The structure of forests has changed with an increase in soft-wooded broadleaved species over the past decade. demand for hard-wooded can be met by replacing them compressed wood species. Existing technologies do not fully take into account density variations that exist along height a tree trunk. In this study, we examined variability birch and aspen microstructures trunk, including vessels per...

Arsenic from chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood, widely used in playgrounds and other outdoor equipment, can persist as surface residues on wood. This raises concerns about possible health risks associated with children playing on CCA-treated playgrounds. In a Pilot Study, 11 children (13-71 months) in homes with and without CCA-treated playgrounds were evaluated with post-exposure ha...

In order to clarify the molecular mechanism of the reorientation of adsorbed water in wood cell wall during dielectric relaxation process, the temperature and frequency spectrums of the dielectric relaxation process based on adsorbed water in wood, acetylated wood and formaldehyde-treated wood were measured, respectively, within a range of -60-20°C, 30Hz-3MHz and 0-27%m.c. On this basis, the qu...

Methylolurea and carbamide were used to impregnate eucalyptus wood to improve its physical and chemical properties. The physical properties and dimensional stability were examined. TGA was used to evaluate the thermal stability of the wood. FTIR was used to state the changes of functional groups. The changes of wood structure were observed by SEM. The results showed the bending strength and com...

Xyloglucan endo-transglycosylases (XETs) encoded by xyloglucan endo-transglycosylases/hydrolase (XTH) genes modify the xyloglucan-cellulose framework of plant cell walls, thereby regulating their expansion and strength. To evaluate the importance of XET in wood development, we studied xyloglucan dynamics and XTH gene expression in developing wood and modified XET activity in hybrid aspen (Popul...

Heat treatment may result in variation of wood equilibrium moisture content (EMC). During this study, tauari (Couratari oblongifolia), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), and oak (Quercus rubra) woods were heat-treated at 190, 200, and 210oC for 3 hours and then put into a conditioning chamber with a temperature from 30 to 75oC and a relative humidity from 50 to 90%. The isothermal moisture adsorption cu...