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Your search resulted in 269 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


The bacterial transformation of organic biocides; a common mechanism?
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10585
It was found that a number of unformulated organic biocides showed a susceptibility to degradation by proteobacteria. Exposure of tebuconazole, a candidate biocide, chlorothalonil and IPBC to a Ralstonia strain was found to result in biocide detoxification, as demonstrated through HPLC and a bioassay. Exposure of the biocides to a previously identified extracellular factor was also found to resu...
D F Wallace, D J Dickinson


Exposure of CCA and ACZA treated parallel strand lumber to marine borer attack in northeastern and southeastern waters of the United States of America
2006 - IRG/WP 06-30400
Southern pine and Douglas fir Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) panels were treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) or ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate (ACZA), respectively and exposed in a marine environment in Massachusetts (northeastern USA coast) for 7 years. Similarly treated panels were also exposed to a site on the Atlantic coast Florida (southeastern USA) for the same period. In the northe...
B Goodell, P Merrick, J Jellison, Y Qian


Investigation of new wood preservation formulations based on synergies between antioxidant, 2-HPNO and Propiconazole
2006 - IRG/WP 06-30401
Wood degradation by fungi is a complex phenomenon taking place in part through oxidative reactions involving many oxidizing agents like free radicals and hydroperoxide. In order to develop novel and more environmentally benign preservative systems, mixtures of Propiconazole and antioxidants with different stabilization mechanisms were investigated to detect possible synergies allowing to reduce th...
B Bakhsous, S Dumarçay, E Gelhaye, P Gérardin


The Effect of Flavonoids on Colour and Spectral Changes of the Wood Surface Caused by Heat Treatment or Ultra-violet Irradiation
2006 - IRG/WP 06-40341
Both heat treatment and UV irradiation can cause discolouration and change in the spectral properties of wood surface. Some of the characteristic flavonols have significant role on colour and spectral changes, despite of their relative small quantities in wood. Colour changes and spectral properties of natural and extracted black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and poplar (Populus nigra L.) were...
R Csonka-Rákosa, L Molnár-Hamvas, E Börcsök, J Molnár, K Németh


Phenol oxidase activity and one-electron oxidation activity in wood degradation by soft-rot deuteromycetes
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10615
Wood degradation, one-electron oxidation activity as assayed by ethylene generation from 2-keto-4-thiomethylbutyric acid (KTBA), and phenol oxidase activity were measured in cultures of six deuteromyce fungi, with glucose or wood as the carbon source. The four fungi that degraded Japanese beech wood had higher one-electron oxidation activities in wood-containing cultures than in glucose-containing...
H Tanaka, M Yamakawa, S Itakura, A Enoki


Gypsum effects on ‘dry rot’ wood degradation as a function of environment
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10624
‘Dry rot’ fungi are a unique group of brown rot fungi that can degrade wood away from ground contact where other fungi fail to colonize. Successfully occupying this niche is partially due to efficient water and nutrient transport, but mobilizing elements, notably calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe), from adjacent building materials has also been implicated in their success. Here we report a series of t...
J Schilling, J Jellison


Photo-degradation of modified and non-modified wood, coated with water borne acrylic coatings during artificial light exposure
2007 - IRG/WP 07-30416
A series of experiments were carried out to investigate photo-degradation of thermally modified (at 210oC and – 0.9 bars for two hours) and non-modified spruce wood (Picea abies L (Karst)), coated with transparent and semitransparent (with 3% pigment content) acrylic coatings during artificial UV light irradiation for 200 hours. Photo-degradation was evaluated in terms of colour changes througho...
M Deka, M Tomažic, M Petric


Validity of above ground testing according to ENV 12037
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20379
The standard ENV 12037 for testing of treated and untreated wood (lap-joint) exposed above ground was issued in 1996 by The European Committee for Standardization. A draft for the development of the standard was presented by CEN-TC 38/WG 25/DOC N 076 in 2002. For a test to become valid the median rating of decay for untreated control replicates (Scots pine sapwood) must be equal or greater than ...
Ö Bergman, U Råberg, N Terziev


Effect of wood polymers degradation during heat treatment on extracellular enzymatic activities involved in beech degradation by Trametes versicolor
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40392
Effect of heat treatment on extracellular enzymes involved in wood degradation by Trametes versicolor was investigated. Heat-treated and untreated beech blocks were exposed to T. versicolor on malt agar medium and extracellular enzymatic activities investigated. A strong ABTS oxidizing activity has been detected during the first stage of colonization in both cases, while cellulase activities are m...
S Lekounougou, G Nguila Inari, M Pétrissans, S Dumarçay, J P Jacquot, E Gelhaye, P Gérardin


Heat treatment, thermal treatment, thermal degradation of wood, carbon nanotubes and Damascus steel swords. What do they all have in common?
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40399
Thermal degradation of wood is a well known phenomenon. Yet heat-treatment of wood can also provide protection for wood against certain environmental hazards. This paper explores some of the aspects of thermal degradation of wood fiber at relatively low temperatures with a surprising result. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were produced when a specific heating regime was used to carbonize the wood fiber. ...
Xinfeng Xie, B Goodell, Yuhui Qian, G Daniel


Degradation of polychlorinated organic biocides by the wood decaying fungi
2008 - IRG/WP 08-50253
Organochlorine biocides such as lindane, pentachlorophenol sodium salt, and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 have been widely used as wood preservatives. Due to their low degradability by soil bacteria, treated waste wood products pose a serious threat to the environment. Consequently, there is an increased need for development of new strategies for their detoxification. In this work, the bioremediati...
I Vidic, L Zupancic-Kralj, K Sepcic, F Pohleven


The involvement of hydroxyl-radical-producing glycoprotein from the white-rot basidiomycete Ceriporiopsis subvermispora in wood decay
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10688
White-rot decay can be divided into two subtypes. One type involves the simultaneous degradation of all wood components through the formation of erosion troughs with a progressive thinning of wood cell walls. This type of decay is consistent with a model in which several polymer-degrading enzymes act on the exposed surfaces of the wood cell walls, producing progressive erosion from the lumen to th...
H Tanaka, Y Inoue, T Morikawa, S Itakura, A Enoki


Antinomic natural self-protection mechanism in long-lasting woods: a case study with three tropical species from French Guiana
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10696
We demonstrate in this work through 3 examples that Amazonian trees may specialize long-lasting woods by means of at least to different approaches. Wallaba impregnates its wood with large amounts of weakly antifungal compounds acting in synergy, while tatajuba and louro vermelho woods are naturally impregnated with antifungal agents. Comparison of biological activities in vitro and concentrations ...
A Rodrigues, M Royer, N Amusant, J Beauchêne, G Herbette, V Eparvier, A Thibaut, L Salmen Espíndola, B Thibaut, D Stien


Degradation of wood veneers by Fenton’s reagents: effects of low molecular weight phenolic compounds on hydrogen peroxide decay and tensile strength loss
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20400
Pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneers strips were incubated in acetate buffer containing hydrogen peroxide and iron to mimic mechanisms of brown rot decay and assess the degradation of cellulose through analysis of the tensile properties of the decayed wood. The tensile properties of thin wood strips treated with Fenton system reagents or precursors were determined and correlated to weight loss as ...
Yanjun Xie, R Well, Zefang Xiao, B Goodell, J Jellison, H Militz, C Mai


Fungal Attack on Lignin and Cellulose: Elucidation of Brown- and White-Rot Mechanisms Comparing Biomimetic and In-Vivo Degradation Patterns
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10714
This paper examines research and hypotheses that have been developed over several years on wood degradation mechanisms. This information is combined with new data and analyses to explain why wood decay patterns caused by brown-rot fungi and specific types of white-rot fungi are different. New data, including work with both biomimetic studies on low molecular weight compounds, degradative enzymes, ...
V Arantes, B Goodell, A M F Milagres, Yuhui Qian, T Filley, J Jellison, S Kelley


Glutathione transferases as functional biomarkers of wood degradation?
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10735
The recent release of several fungal genome sequences allows the report of an overview of fungal glutathione transferases (GSTs) focused on their function in the wood-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium. A genomic and phylogenetic analysis of GST classes in various sequenced fungi –zygomycetes, ascomycetes and basidiomycetes- revealed some specificity in GSTs distribution, in com...
E Gelhaye, M Morel


Simulation and Investigation of Wood Degradation by Erosion Bacteria in Laboratory Experiments
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20431
A Microcosm experiment was successfully set up to establish, monitor and manipulate bacterial wood degradation under low oxygen conditions. Sound pine sticks were placed in waterlogged sediment from a heavily decayed pine pile foundation site in Amsterdam. The system was subject to different gassing treatment regimes in order to investigate the role of oxygen in the bacterial degradation process o...
J Gelbrich, E I Kretschmar, N Lamersdorf, H Militz


The Use of Micro-Tensile Testing to Assess Weathering Decay and Oxidative Degradation of Wooden Items
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20433
This paper presents a method to study the weathering performance of wooden items and to assess the oxidative degradation of wood via the Fenton reaction. Weathering resistance and photo-stability of wood was tested using pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneer strips measuring approximately 60 µm in thickness. The veneer strips were treated using a reactive chemical to impart surface protection. The ...
C Mai, Yanjun Xie, Zefang Xiao, P D Evans, H Militz


Degradation of Carbon-Based Preservatives by Black-stain Fungi
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30533
Some black-stain fungi are known to exhibit resistance to carbon-based preservatives. However, the cause of this resistance is unclear. The fungi may have mechanisms to tolerate these chemicals, or they may be able to degrade and detoxify them. Fungi capable of degrading carbon-based preservatives are of interest for possible bioremediation of carbon-based preservative-treated wood at the end of i...
R Stirling, P I Morris


Biological degradation of acetylated wood after 18 years in ground contact and 10 years in marine water
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40522
This paper addresses the resistance to biological degradation of acetylated wood. Firstly, it presents results from an EN 252 test after 18 years’ exposure. The test is still running in Nordic NWPC test fields, Simlångsdalen in Sweden and Viikki in Finland. Results from this test were presented after 5 years’ exposure ( IRG/WP 97-30139), and showed that the resistance of acetylated wood wit...
P Larsson Brelid, M Westin


Utilization of thermodesorption coupled to GC-MS to study kinetics of thermodegradation of different wood species
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40559
Thermdesorption coupled to Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectroscopy (TD-GC-MS) has been investigated to identify volatile degradation products generated during wood heat treatment by mild pyrolysis. For this purpose, wood samples of different softwood and hardwood species have been heat treated under nitrogen for different temperatures comprised between 180 and 230°C during 15 min. in the ...
K Candelier, M Chaouch, S Dumarçay, A Pétrissans, M Pétrissans, P Gérardin


In-situ experimental treatment and consolidation of degraded timber elements from a XIX century building
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10767
This paper presents the in situ experimental conservation work performed on three timber structural elements from a XIX century building: two floor beams and one roof beam. The palace was built in 1877 in the centre of Lisbon initially with residential purposes. It has four floors, with timber structural horizontal elements, stairs and roof beams (generally of Pinus sylvestris L.). The exterior wa...
D F Henriques, J de Brito, L Nunes


Micromorphological and chemical characteristics of waterlogged archaeological bamboos excavated from the Yellow Sea
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10785
Bamboos have widely used as documentation material in Far Eastern countries such China, Korea and Japan. In particular, bamboo slips as documentation material were extensively used even after the wide spread of paper in those countries. A large number of bamboo slips have been excavated from the shipwreck since 2009 in Korea. Understanding the cause of deterioration of ancient bamboos is crucial f...
Mi Young Cha, Yoon Soo Kim


Use of Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy for in situ Observation of Degradation of Wood Surfaces during Artificial Weathering
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20489
Variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM) is capable of observing electrically non-conductive materials like wood without the need to render the surface conductive by applying a coating of gold, platinum or carbon. Hence, there is the possibility that VPSEM could be used to non-destructively follow the structural changes occurring at wood surfaces during weathering, because specimens ...
F Hatae, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, H Matsunaga, J Matsumura


Utilization of thermodesorption coupled to GC-MS to characterize volatiles formation kinetics during wood thermodegradation
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40587
Identification of volatile degradation products produced during wood mild pyrolysis is important to have better insight on thermodegradation mechanisms. Previous studies have shown that thermodesorption coupled to GC-MS is an attractive tool to characterize and quantify products formed during wood thermodegradation indicating an higher susceptibility of hardwoods to thermodegradation compare to so...
K Candelier, S Dumarçay, A Pétrissans, M Pétrissans, P Kamdem, P Gérardin


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