Load behaviors of a prefabricated wood framing house during lifting and transportation

Lifting for handling and flatbed truck transportation to the job site are important processes during manufacture of prefabri-cated wooden construction units like mini homes and building modules. Significant damage can occur to sections or components of units during these operations. Although damage usually will not impair its structural safety, it is costly to fix and causes the public to perceive prefabricated wooden buildings as low quality products. Field observations and preliminary numerical models for prefabri-cated units subject to lifting and transportation forces are summarized here. Once fully developed and verified, models will support the creation of damage mitigation strategies centered on structural details indicating how units are to be supported during lifting and transportation.     

黑龙江省黑木耳9个栽培菌株遗传多样性的RAPD分析

本文对黑龙江省9个黑木耳 （Auricularia auricular）栽培菌株进行PCR-RAPD扩增和群体聚类分析, 在40个10bp随机引物中,筛选出13个引物.结果表明：黑木耳不同栽培菌株之间存在着丰富的多态性（96.05%）.用引物27和引物46的RAPD扩增指纹能有效分辨9个不同菌株的基因型,这一结果有助于在早期对黑木耳栽培菌株进行快速鉴别,为规范鉴别食用菌菌种混乱的局面提供科学依据.     

哈茨木霉天冬氨酸蛋白酶基因SA76的3＇RACE扩增和序列分析

由EST获得全长cDNA对于结构基因组学和功能基因组学都是至关重要的,cDNA末端快速扩增技术RACE是该领域中的重要研究方法.利用BD SMART RACE技术扩增编码分泌天冬氨酸蛋白酶SA76基因的3＇末端,将其与哈茨木霉cDNA文库中的SA76基因的EST序列进行序列拼接,获得2019bp的全长cDNA序列,其开放读码框长1593bp,5＇非编码区266bp,3＇非编码区201bp,编码530个氨基酸,有信号肽.哈茨木霉天冬氨酸蛋白酶基因与玉蜀黍赤霉、粗糙脉孢菌、球毛壳菌天冬氨酸蛋白酶基因的同源性分别为53%, 37%, 36%.利用BD SMART RACE技术首次从哈茨木霉中克隆天冬氨酸蛋白酶基因,为验证SA76基因的功能奠定基础,为进一步研究蛋白酶的作用机制及生物防治功能提供依据.     

林业生态工程效益补偿问题研究初探

生态效益补偿对于促进林业生态工程建设、保护森林生产者和经营者的切身利益具有重要的作用.本文在分析国内外生态效益补偿现状的基础上,通过对建立森林生态效益补偿机制的必要性、原则、途径以及补偿标准等问题进行深入探讨,为进一步完善我国森林生态效益补偿机制提供科学依据.森林生态效益补偿资金的建立,不仅为森林资源管护提供稳定的资金来源,更是对森林生态效益价值的认可,从根本上解决了林业生态工程建设的动力和机制问题,将对中国林业和生态建设产生广泛而深远的影响.     

Effect of maleic anhydride grafted styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene （MA-SEBS） on impact fracture behavior of polypropylene / wood fiber composites

MA-SEBS as compatibilizer and impact modifier was incorporated into Polypropylene/Wood Fiber （PP/WF） to enhance interface adhesion and impact strength of the composite. The effect of MA-SEBS content on the impact fracture behavior of PP/WF composites was studied. The impact properties of composites with 8% MA-SEBS reached the maximum value. And further increasing of MA-SEBS content to 10% did not improve the fracture toughness, but improved the stiffness of composites by DMA analysis. This was attributed to the improved PP/WF adhesion. As the MA-SEBS content is more than 8%, the molecule interaction of PP and WF was expected to much stronger than lower MA-SEBS. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was performed to analyze the impact fracture surface and showed a stronger affinity for the wood surfaces.     

Influence of Ammoniacal Copper Quaternary treatments on mechanical properties of blue-stained Lodgepole Pine wood

Three concentrations （2.8%, 2.0%, 1.2%） of Ammoniacal Copper Quaternary （ACQ） was selected to treat Lodgepole pine wood for evaluating ACQ treatment on mechanical properties of blue-stained wood. The bending modules of elasticity （MOE）, modules of rupture （MOR）, toughness and shearing strength parallel to grain on tangential surface, are tested according to the criteria GB1927-1943-91. Non-treated sample were also tested according to the same procedure. The results showed that the three groups specimen impregnated by different concentrations of ACQ solution met the AWPA standard 2003 of America （UC4A 6.4g/cm^3）. There were significant difference of toughness between treated wood and non-treated wood （p=0.01）, but there were no statistically significant differences among three concentrations in terms of toughness, and toughness of treated wood was approximately 20% lower than non-treated. MOR, MOE as well as sheafing strength parallel to grain were found to be not significantly different between treated wood and non-treated one, and there were no statistically significant difference among three concentrations of ACQ too. Toughness, MOR, MOE and sheafing strength parallel to grain increased with decrease of concentration of ACQ, but they were hardly affected by ACQ preservatives.     

Effect of seed coverings and seed pretreatments on the germination response of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alnus glutinosa</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula pubescens</Emphasis> seeds

The germination of common alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) and downey birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) seeds is often poor in bare-root nurseries. The effect of a variety of seed coverings and a few seed pretreatments on seedling emergence was examined in this study in an attempt to address this problem. Seeds of each species were sown in trays containing nursery soil, covered with grit, gravel, sand, combinations of these coverings, a hydromulch or a sealed plastic cloche and then incubated for 6 weeks at 17–20°C. The grit combined with sand or gravel, the hydromulch and the cloche increased seedling emergence when compared with the standard grit. In another experiment, seeds of each species were fully imbibed (FI) (>50% moisture content, MC), as per standard practice, or adjusted to target MC (TMC) (30–35% MC) levels, and then chilled to release dormancy. Some seeds of each MC treatment were primed at 20°C for 2 days following chilling, after which all seeds were evaluated in laboratory tests and a nursery trial. Germination potential of the FI seeds declined in the lab tests by the second test date, which was reflected in low seedling emergence in the nursery in birch. The primed FI seeds of alder germinated most rapidly in the nursery, but other effects were not significant. Seedling emergence was better in the nursery in response to the TMC than the FI pretreatment in birch.

The role of land tenure in conservation of tree and shrub species diversity in miombo woodlands of southern Malawi

Biodiversity is declining throughout southern African miombo woodlands due to poor land use practices that are detrimental to soil, vegetation and habitat. We aimed at examining tree and shrub species diversity and distribution in Uapaca kirkiana-dominated woodlands under three land tenure types; forest reserves, customary and leasehold land. The study was conducted at different forest sites within similar agroecological zone in southern Malawi. Study sites were located at a range of altitudes between 900 and 1,200 m a.s.l. Three circular plots each with 32.60 m radius were established at each study site to sample tree and shrub species composition, structure and distribution under three land tenure types. We found that forest reserves had higher species diversity with an average of 16 tree families, 27 genera and 34 species as compared to only 10 tree families, 6 genera and 6 species on customary forest lands. Comparisons of diameter at breast height size class distributions showed that customary land had significantly low numbers of small (5.0–10.0 cm) and very large (≥30 cm) diameter classes suggesting lower levels of regeneration and high rate of anthropogenic activities. The high species diversity and richness in forest reserves and leasehold land indicate high potential for protected lands to restore tree species diversity. It is concluded that levels of human activities as influenced by land tenure type reduce tree species diversity, composition and distribution at the different sites, and this confirms the hypothesis that open access lands are not compatible with conservation of tree and shrub species diversity because of high anthropogenic activities.     

The Japanese pulp and paper industry: an analysis of financial performance from 1991 to 2001

This article discusses the determinants of profitability expressed as return on capital among Japanese pulp and paper companies. Return on capital is measured as income before tax related to stockholders’ equity. Return on capital has been divided into profit margin and asset utilization rate. The hypothesis is that return on capital can be explained by mill size, productivity, product line, financial situation, and use of wood resources. The dataset consists of 13 larger Japanese pulp and paper companies listed in Pulp &; Paper Statistics. Data on financial performance, production, and use of wood fibers were collected for the period 1991–2001. The average return on equity for the studied companies is 4.2%. Labor productivity has increased quite significantly, from about 600 to 1,000 kg/employee and year. An econometric analysis indicates that the best model fit is found when the asset utilization rate is used as the dependent variable. Significant variables are, among others, asset utilization rate lagged one time period (?), labor productivity (+), capital productivity (?), paper production as a share of total paper and board production (?), total value of assets on the books (?) and solidity (+). This may indicate that the total value of assets on the books is large in relation to the total production of paper, paperboard and pulp.