Prediction of oriented strand board properties from mat formation and compression operating conditions. Part 2: MOE prediction and process optimization

A model to predict the bending modulus of elasticity (MOE) of oriented strand board (OSB) panels produced by batch processing is presented. The approach developed herein is unique in its comprehensiveness since the MOE is determined from information on the panel structure, temperature and moisture profiles and vertical density profiles obtained from the mat formation and compression models presented in Part 1. Comparison of predicted MOE values with those measured from 24 commercially produced panels shows good agreement considering some of the uncertainties involved. Simulations show that the MOE can be increased by any of the following changes: reduced fines content, increased panel density, better flake alignment in each of the three layers within a panel, increased flake length and a larger difference between the density of the face and core layers. The model was also used in a genetic algorithm to carry out an optimization study of batch OSB manufacturing. This analysis showed that by combining the appropriate reduction in the amount of flakes used, increase in fines content, improvement in flake alignment within each of the face and core layers and shortening of the batch time, a significant theoretical profit increase from the base case scenario can be obtained.     

Effects of induction treatments on flowering in Populus deltoides

Stimulation of early flowering is required to shorten breeding cycles of eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh. var. deltoides), a commercially important and fast-growing hardwood species. A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the influence of various treatments on flowering in rooted cuttings from mature and juvenile trees. A combined treatment of water stress, root pruning and paclobutrazol was applied to 3-month-old rooted cuttings from mature trees. These cuttings had been subjected to root restriction and long days. All treated plants flowered, whereas no untreated plants formed flower buds. One-year-old rooted cuttings from juvenile trees did not flower when treated with either paclobutrazol, paclobutrazol plus water stress, paclobutrazol plus root pruning, or paclobutrazol plus girdling. This was true both under continuous or periodic growth. Assessment of the lack of flowering in juvenile trees may require an integrated approach that investigates environmental or physiological stimuli, assimilate shift, gibberellic acid type and concentration, and flowering-time gene activity in the new shoots of mature and juvenile cottonwood trees.     

Blight of conifer seedlings caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

In a growth chamber experiment, 70-day-old seedlings of 10 conifer species were inoculated with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides conidia to determine the host range of the fungus. Based on the percentage of seedlings affected and the disease severity on individual seedlings, the order of most to least susceptibility was: western hemlock (WH), mountain hemlock, western larch, Sitka spruce, Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir (coastal form, then interior form), white spruce and ponderosa pine; lodgepole pine and western red cedar remained unaffected. Inoculation of WH needles showed that within 24 h C. gloeosporioides conidia germinate and appressoria (penetration structures) form. A growth chamber study demonstrated that the pathogen can infect WH at needle wetness periods as short as 15 min; number of needles affected was higher at 0.5 h, but did not increase further even when wetness was extended up to 8 h. The results are discussed in relation to blight management of greenhouse-grown conifer seedlings.Portion of a Bachelor of Science (Honors) thesis, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.     

Dry matter production and allocation in Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus argophloia seedlings in response to soil water deficits

Effects of soil water availability on seedling growth, dry matter production and allocation were determined for Gympie (humid coastal) and Hungry Hills (dry inland) provenances of Eucalyptus cloeziana F. Muell. and for E. argophloia Blakely (dry inland) species. Seven-month-old seedlings were subjected to well-watered (100% field capacity, FC), moderate (70% FC) and severe (50% FC) soil water regimes in a glasshouse environment for 14 wk. There were significant differences in seedling growth, biomass production and allocation patterns between species. E. argophloia produced twice as much biomass at 100% FC, and more than three times as much at 70% and 50% FC than did either E. cloeziana provenance. Although the humid provenance of E. cloeziana had a greater leaf area at 100% FC conditions than did the dry provenance, total biomass production did not differ significantly. Both E. cloeziana provenances were highly sensitive to water deficits. E. argophloia allocated 10% more biomass to roots than did E. cloeziana. Allometric analyses indicated that relative biomass allocation patterns were significantly affected by genotype but not by soil water availability. These results have implications for taxon selection for cultivation in humid and subhumid regions.     

Evaluation of competition and light estimation indices for predicting diameter growth in mature boreal mixed forests

A series of conventional distance-independent and distance-dependent competition indices, a highly flexible distance-dependent crowding index, and two light resource estimation indices were compared to predict individual tree diameter growth of five species of mature trees from natural-origin boreal mixed forests. The crowding index was the superior index for most species and ecosites. However, distance-independent indices, such as basal area of competing trees, were also effective. Distance-dependent light estimation indices, which estimate the fraction of seasonal photosynthetically-active radiation available to each tree, ranked intermediate to low. Determining separate competition indices for each competitor species accounted for more variation than ignoring species or classifying by ecological groups. Species’ competitive ability ranked (most competitive to least): paper birch ≈ white spruce ≈> trembling aspen > lodgepole pine > balsam poplar. Stratification by ecosite further improved model performance. However, the overall impact of competition on mature trees in these forests appears to be small.     

THYROID SCINTIGRAPHY FINDINGS IN 2096 CATS WITH HYPERTHYROIDISM

Thyroid scintigraphy is currently the reference standard for diagnosing and staging cats with hyperthyroidism, but few studies describing the scintigraphic characteristics in a large number of cats have been reported. The objective of this study was to better characterize thyroid scintigraphy findings by evaluating 2096 consecutive cats with hyperthyroidism that were referred over a 3.5‐year period. Of these cats, 2068 (98.7%) had a high thyroid‐to‐salivary ratio (>1.5), whereas 2014 (96.1%) were found to have a high thyroid‐to‐background ratio (>6.1). When the patterns of the cats’ thyroid disease were recorded, 665 (31.7%) had unilateral disease, 1060 (50.6%) had bilateral‐asymmetric disease (two thyroid lobes unequal in size), 257 (12.3%) had bilateral‐symmetric disease (both lobes similar in size), and 81 (3.9%) had multifocal disease (≥3 areas of increased radionuclide uptake). The number of areas of ^99mTcO^?₄ uptake in the 2096 cats ranged from 1 to 6 (median, 2), located in the cervical area in 2057 (98.1%), thoracic inlet in 282 (13.5%), and in the thoracic cavity in 115 (5.5%). Ectopic thyroid tissue (e.g. lingual or mediastinal) was diagnosed in 81 (3.9%) cats, whereas thyroid carcinoma was suspected in 35 (1.7%) of the cats. The results of this study support conclusions that most hyperthyroid cats have unilateral or bilateral thyroid nodules, but that multifocal disease will develop in a few cats that have ectopic thyroid disease or thyroid carcinoma. Both ectopic thyroid disease and thyroid carcinoma are relatively uncommon in hyperthyroid cats, with a respective prevalence of ～4% and ～2% in this study.     

Accelerated induction of etorphine immobilization in blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) through the addition of hyaluronidase

ObjectiveTo study the effects of the addition of hyaluronidase (HA) to an etorphine/azaperone drug combination on induction times of immobilization.Study designExperimental part-randomized ‘blinded’ cross-over study.AnimalsEight wild managed blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus).MethodsAnimals were immobilized, on separate occasions separated by two weeks, with one of four treatments. Treatments were; ‘Control drugs (CD), etorphine 0.01 mg kg⁻¹ + azaperone at 0.1 mg kg⁻¹; treatment 1 CD + 5000IU HA; treatment 2 CD + 7500 IU HA; and treatment 3 etorphine 0.007 mg kg⁻¹ + azaperone at 0.07 mg kg⁻¹ + 7500 IU HA. Times to first effect and to immobilization (from darting to possible to approach and blindfold) were measured. anova was used to compare treatments. Results are given in means ± SD (range).ResultsFor control, and treatments 1–3 respectively, times (in minutes) to first effect were 1.58 ± 0.42 (1.02–2.10), 1.64 ± 0.42 (0.95–2.17), 1.12 ± 0.24 (0.80–1.48) and 1.60 ± 0.21 (1.13–1.88) and to immobilization were 5.38 ± 1.53 (3.82–8.07), 3.80 ± 1.14 (2.02–5.50), 3.51 ± 1.08 (2.28–5.52) and 4.46 ± 0.67 (3.30–5.40). Compared to control, time to first effect for treatment 2 was significantly shorter. Time to immobilization was significantly quicker in all three treatments containing HA than that for control.Conclusion and clinical relevanceHyaluronidase can reduce the time to immobilization when used in the immobilizing dart, and might be usefully incorporated into etorphine combinations for darting wildlife.