On the theory of elasticity of the orthotropic material wood

Summary Aim of this study is to determine the basic equations concerning the second boundary value problem of the theory of elasticity in particular for construction wood. For rhombic orthotropic materials, as represented for example by straight grained wooden constructions, the equations are calculated in Cartesian co-ordinates. For cylindrical orthotropic materials, as represented for example by curved laminated beams, the equations are calculated in cylindrical co-ordinates. In both cases the equations are determined for space stress problems. Assuming the plain stress condition the basic equations of plain stress problems can then be derived from the spatial equations.     

Laser rangefinder-based measuring of crop biomass under field conditions

Knowledge of site-specific crop parameters such as plant height, coverage and biomass density is important for optimising crop management and harvesting processes. Sensors for measuring crop parameters are essential pre-requisites to gather this information. In recent years, laser rangefinder sensors have been adopted in many industrial applications. In agricultural engineering, the potential of laser rangefinders for measuring crop parameters has been little exploited. This paper reports the design and the performance of a measuring system based on a triangulation and a time-of-flight laser rangefinder for estimating crop biomass density in representative crops under field conditions. It was shown that the mean height of reflection point is a suitable parameter for non-contact indirect measurement of crop biomass by laser rangefinder sensors. The main parameters for potential assessment were the coefficient of determination (R ² ) and the standard error (RMSE) for the relation between crop biomass density and the mean height of the reflection point in crop stands from oilseed rape, winter rye, winter wheat and grassland during the vegetation period in 2006. For the triangulation sensor, R ² was in the range from 0.87 to 0.98 and for the time-of-flight sensor in the range from 0.75 to 0.99 for both fresh matter and dry matter density. The triangulation sensor had a reduced suitability caused by masking effects of the reflected beam and because of limited measuring range. Based on the results of experiments and technical data, it was concluded that the time-of-flight principle has good potential for site-specific crop management.     

Contact structure and potential risk factors for avian influenza transmission among open-sided chicken farms in Kamalia, an important poultry rearing area of Pakistan

Since 1994, the domestic poultry in Pakistan has experienced several outbreaks due to avian influenza viruses of subtypes H7N3, H5N1, and H9N2. This paper reveals horizontal contacts and potential risk factors for the spread of avian influenza infection between open-sided chicken farms in Kamalia, a sub-district of Punjab province. Between April and June 2009, an interview-based questionnaire was administered to a sample of 78 growers. The survey identified the following potential biosecurity risks for outbreak propagation: i) short buffer distances between farms, ii) disposal of carcasses and other organic wastes into the environment, iii) entry of feral birds into poultry sheds, iv) visits of poultry farmers to possible cross-contamination sites, v) absence of boundary walls, vi) incomplete biosecurity on high-risk visitors (i. e. those going inside the poultry houses), essential vehicles and equipment used by vaccination crews vii) visits of intermediaries and service providers and, viii) sharing of egg trays between farms at production. For most of the variables, there was no significant difference between the broiler and layer type of farms (p < or = 0.05). The risk of an extensive outbreak in Kamalia was concluded to be due to its high poultry density, ubiquitous small-scale, market-oriented poultry production with medium to low biosecurity, and the affiliation of the farmers to multiple service providers. To reduce the risk of having an outbreak, farm-specific biosecurity gaps should be identified and appropriate action taken to close these gaps. Improvement in biosecurity and targeted surveillance are therefore considered critical to limit the spread of infection should an outbreak occur.     

Depth transfer of fecal indicator organisms in an arable clayey soil

In clayey soils, shrinking cracks formed during dry periods in the summer are the most important form of macropores. They may contribute under disadvantageous conditions to the movement of fecal microorganisms and therefore to the contamination of groundwater. For this reason, a field experiment was carried out on a highly clayey arable soil to investigate the effect of the factors slurry addition, sampling date, depth, and season. Under worst case conditions, i.e. a soil at field capacity, irrigated directly after application of fresh cattle slurry with high rates of water, the numbers of spores, total coliforms, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci were not significantly increased at depths of 15 cm, 45 cm and 75 cm in spring (with less shrinking cracks) or in autumn (with more shrinking cracks). The close correlations between the numbers of spores, total coliforms, aerobic bacteria and microbial biomass C indicate that spore forming organisms and most total coliforms belong to the autochthonous soil microflora and cannot indicate fecal pollution.     

Studies on dynamic torsional viscoelasticity of wood

Summary The modulus of torsion and the mechanical damping has been investigated on test pieces of beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.) with transverse fibre direction by means of a torsional pendulum. Both characteristics have been determined as a function of temperature (from 20 ... 100°C) and moisture content (from 5 percent to fibre saturation). At a frequency of about 1 cycle per second a transition region has been found characterized by a large decrease of the modulus of torsion and a distinct maximum of damping.The temperature-dependent processes of relaxation with well-defined activation energy lie at moisture contents of more than 12 percent. They have been interpreted by molecular motions which take place between the secondary valencies of the hydroxyl groups in the amorphous areas of the partial crystalline substance of the cell wall and which are favoured by the incorporation of water. The transition region is displaced to lower temperatures with increasing moisture content. In this respect the moisture content acts analogically to synthetic polymers as a plasticizer. The efficiency of plasticizers, which is the correlation between the concentration of the plasticizer and the temperature displacement of the maximum of damping respectively of the decrease of the modulus of torsion, is also used for a characterization of the influence of moisture content on the viscoelastic behaviour of the native high polymer wood.

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Zusammenfassung An quer zur Faser orientierten Proben aus Buchenholz (Fagus sylvatica L.) wurden der Drillungsmodul und der mechanische Verlustfaktor mit einem Torsionspendel gemessen. In Abhängigkeit von der Temperatur (von 20 ... 100°C) und der Holzfeuchtigkeit (von 5% bis Fasersättigung) wurde bei Frequenzen im Bereich von 1 Hz ein Dispersionsgebiet mit starkem Modulabfall und ausgeprägtem Dämpfungsmaximum gefunden.Die temperaturabhängigen Relaxationsprozesse mit eindeutiger Aktivierungsenergie liegen bei Holzfeuchtigkeiten oberhalb 12%. Sie werden in der Weise gedeutet, daß in den amorphen Bereichen der partiell kristallinen Zellwandsubstanz Molekülbewegungen zwischen den Nebenvalenzen der Hydroxylgruppen entstehen, die durch die Einlagerung des Wassers begünstigt werden. Mit zunehmendem Holzfeuchtigkeitsgehalt wird das Dispersionsgebiet nach tieferen Temperaturen hin verschoben. Der Wassergehalt verhält sich hierbei, in Analogie zu den Kunststoffen, wie ein Weichmacher. Die für die,, Weichmacherwirksamkeit gebräuchliche Beziehung zwischen Weichmacherkonzentration und Temperatureverschiebung des Dämpfungsmaximums bzw. des Modulabfalls wird auch für das native Hochpolymer Holz übernommen, um den Einfluß des Feuchtigkeitsgehaltes auf das visko-elastiche Verhalten des Holzes zu beschreiben.

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Contributed from the Institute of Wood Physics and Mechanical Wood Technology of the Federal Research Organization for Forestry and Forest Products, Hamburg-Reinbek.

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The authors wish to express their thanks to Mr. H. Funke for his valuable assistance in the performance and evaluation of the torsional experiments. Furthermore, we are thanking the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Holzforschung and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen for the funds backing this project.     

Bestimmung von Schwellwerten für die Schädigung von tierischen und pflanzlichen Organismen durch Phosphorwasserstoff und Methylbromid II. Untersuchungen an Brunnenkresse (Nasturtium officinale) und Kopfsalat (Lactuca sativa capitata)

In stored-product fumigations mainly methyl bromide and phosphine are used. These toxic gases can contaminate the environment. A harmful effect on vegetable and animal organisms cannot fundamentally be excluded. The threshold concentrations of methyl bromide and phosphine in air were determined for water cress and lettuce. These species were chosen because of their high sensitivity representing other species of plants. Whereas lettuce was harmed already at about 400 mg CH₃Br/m³, on water cress plants at 1400 mg CH₃Br/m³ external harmful changes couldn't be found. The threshold concentration for lettuce treated with phosphine is between 3 and 8 mg PH₃/m³. There is no difference between the development of water cress seeds in soil, which had been treated for 3 days with 4 mg–36g CH₃Br/m³ or 20–1400 mg PH₃/m³ and not treated soil. At high PH₃-concentrations a higher growth of water cress plants occurred.     

Widerstandsfähigkeit von Kunststoff-Folien gegenüber Tribolium confusum nach mechanischer Beanspruchung in einem Knittergerät

For various packaging foils of foods the resistance against the stored-product insectTribolium confusum was tested, after the foils had been creased and cobbled with a special apparatus. The resistance of cellophan decreased if the foils were often strained, whereas multilayer foils made of polyester, polypropylene and polyamide with an intermediate foil of aluminium as well as a biaxially stretched foil made of polyamide where resistant againstTribolium confusum, even when they had been strongly creased and cobbled.     

An approach to extrapolate categorical agricultural soil data to nonmapped areas using majority vote

Soil maps are indispensable base material for planning processes and risk analyses. For many studies, however, area‐wide uniformly scaled soil maps are not available. Our objective was to develop a GIS‐based method for providing information for NoData areas of the Medium‐Scale Agricultural Site Mapping (MMK). NoData areas represent nonagricultural zones, in this case especially forests. A grid‐based methodology for extrapolating soil mapping units of agricultural areas to the entire landscape was developed and tested in Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania (total area 23,170 km²). The principle of the extrapolation method is based on a statistical neighborhood analysis implemented by the moving‐window technology considering selected site features as geology, altitude, and relief energy. Results were illustrated exemplarily for soil‐moisture conditions, which are expressed as “hydromorphy association types”. Four different indicators were derived to ensure a spatially differentiated evaluation of the extrapolation quality. The precision with which it is possible to extrapolate already mapped MMK units in terms of the hydromorphy association type was used to validate the extrapolation method. Evaluation of the results was based on the percentage of Correctly Extrapolated Pixels (CEP), which were derived from a confusion matrix. The percentage of CEP was 26% when the 15 single classes of the hydromorphy association type were considered separately. The percentage of CEP rose up to 65% after grouping the hydromorphy association types into three practically combined categories. It could be demonstrated that the extrapolation technique applied represented an objective and relatively fast and cost‐effective method to obtain an area‐wide MMK mapping.