The article presents the results of thermo-mechanical densification tests conducted on Scots pine timber. The densification process was carried out in industrial conditions with a high-pressure ...press, which allowed flat compression of boards that were up to 2.5 m long. A phenomenon of elastic redeformations was observed in the densified boards after each pulse of compression. As a result of thermo-mechanical compression, the average timber moisture content dropped to 9%, and the average density increased by 13.5%, from the level of 547 to 621 kg/m3. As a result of thermo-mechanical densification, the strength class C of most Scots pine timber pieces improved. Most timber pieces that were subjected to thermo-mechanical densification have improved their strength class, C, by one (72.7% of the tested batch) or two C classes (3.6% of the batch under study).
Cross-sectional studies report a correlation between slow wave sleep (SWS) duration and insulin sensitivity (SI) in children and adults. Suppression of SWS causes insulin resistance in adults but ...effects in children are unknown. This study was designed to determine the effect of SWS fragmentation on SI in children.
Fourteen pubertal children (11.3-14.1 y, body mass index 29(th) to 97(th) percentile) were randomized to sleep studies and mixed meal (MM) tolerance tests with and without SWS disruption. Beta-cell responsiveness (Φ) and SI were determined using oral minimal modeling.
During the disruption night, auditory stimuli (68.1 ± 10.7/night; mean ± standard error) decreased SWS by 40.0 ± 8.0%. SWS fragmentation did not affect fasting glucose (non-disrupted 76.9 ± 2.3 versus disrupted 80.6 ± 2.1 mg/dL), insulin (9.2 ± 1.6 versus 10.4 ± 2.0 μIU/mL), or C-peptide (1.9 ± 0.2 versus 1.9 ± 0.1 ng/mL) levels and did not impair SI (12.9 ± 2.3 versus 10.1 ± 1.6 10(-4) dL/kg/min per μIU/mL) or Φ (73.4 ± 7.8 versus 74.4 ± 8.4 10(-9) min(-1)) to a MM challenge. Only the subjects in the most insulin-sensitive tertile demonstrated a consistent decrease in SI after SWS disruption.
Pubertal children across a range of body mass indices may be resistant to the adverse metabolic effects of acute SWS disruption. Only those subjects with high SI (i.e., having the greatest "metabolic reserve") demonstrated a consistent decrease in SI. These results suggest that adolescents may have a unique ability to adapt to metabolic stressors, such as acute SWS disruption, to maintain euglycemia. Additional studies are necessary to confirm that this resiliency is maintained in settings of chronic SWS disruption.
Abstract
Study Objectives:
During adolescence, there is a precipitous decrease in slow-wave sleep (SWS) and its spectral correlate, delta power, which may reflect cortical reorganization. The ...temporal association between the decrease in delta power and puberty suggests that sex steroids may initiate these changes. This association has not been previously investigated.
Methods:
To determine whether estrogen triggers the adolescent decline in delta power, we compared delta power in 14 girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) and 6 age-matched, prepubertal controls. Five CPP participants were re-studied 7–14 months after pubertal suppression to determine if the changes in delta power are reversible after restoring a prepubertal hormonal milieu. The change in delta power was also compared between CPP participants and five historic controls from a longitudinal polysomnographic study.
Results:
CPP participants (6.7–10.5 years) spent 30% of the night in SWS. Delta power (3.7 × 106 ± 2.7 × 105 µV2) predominated in the first 2 non-rapid eye movement episodes and decayed exponentially (tau 0.006 minutes). Age-matched controls demonstrated similar sleep staging (24% SWS) and delta dynamics (3.3 × 106 ± 5.1 × 105 µV2, tau 0.004 minutes). Four out of 5 CPP participants had a significant decrease (26%) in delta power after hormone suppression (p < .05), similar to historic controls.
Conclusion:
Using an innovative model of girls with CPP studied before and after estrogen suppression, the effects of puberty on the decline in delta power were dissociated from those of chronologic age. The current studies suggest that increased estrogen does not cause the adolescent decline in delta power and indicate that neurodevelopmental changes per se or other factors associated with puberty drive these sleep changes.
The compressive strength parallel to grain of earlywood and latewood from the yellow pine sapwood and heartwood areas was examined in the study. The structure of the basic structural elements of wood ...- tracheids, which conduct water and/or perform the mechanical function - was also characterized. The compressive strength parallel to grain of latewood in the sapwood area was found to be twice as high as the compressive strength parallel to grain of earlywood. The compressive strength parallel to grain of latewood in the heartwood area, on the other hand, was found to be 2,5 times higher than the compressive strength parallel to grain of earlywood. This was due to the density of particular areas of wood and the dimensions of structural elements - tracheids. In the sapwood area, the density of latewood was ca. twice as high as the density of earlywood. Similar relationships were found for heartwood. The thickness of latewood tracheids was found to be 1,5 times greater than the thickness of earlywood tracheids. These relationships were observed in sapwood and heartwood. The diameter of earlywood tracheids in radial direction was twice as large as the diameter of latewood tracheids. These relationships were observed in yellow pine sapwood and heartwood
A batch of pine timber sawn from butt, middle and top logs was strength graded with the visual method (classification into grading classes KW—best quality, KS—medium quality, KG—inferior quality and ...Reject) and with the machine strength grading method—performed with the use of a mobile timber grader (classification into C strength classes). We compared the efficiency of grading classes and strength classes, depending on the type of log from which the material was obtained (butt, middle, top). Next, a strength grading machine was used to measure the modulus of elasticity in bending (MOE) and static bending strength (MOR). The ANOVA confirmed the influence of both the log type (butt, middle, top), the C strength class, and the visual strength grading class on the values of density (DEN) and MOR. Timber density and MOR decreased from the butt log section to the top log section. The ANOVA confirmed the influence of log type on MOE values, but only to a limited extent.
The paper presents an analysis of the influence of geographical origin and Scots pine log type on the mechanical properties of the timber sawn from them. The tested timber was sawn from logs obtained ...from three different forestry regions in Poland, located in the western part of the country. A batch of 150 timber pieces was obtained from each region. The cross-section had the dimensions of 40 mm × 138 mm. The timber was sawn from logs of three different types: butt, middle and top, from a fresh, mixed forest around 120 years old. The timber was dried in industrial conditions and planed four times. The values determined for the timber under research were the static modulus of elasticity in bending (MOE), and the bending strength (MOR). Moreover, timber density (DEN) was determined with the stereometric method. For all three sites, the highest average values of the tested timber properties were obtained for timber made of butt logs, and the lowest for timber made of top logs. It was concluded that the tested Scots pine properties depended on the type of log, and to limited extent, on its geographic origin. The statistical analysis revealed that the geographic origin of the logs that the tested timber was made of had a statistically significant impact on the variance of all the tested timber properties. The type of log also had a statistically significant influence on the variance of all the tested properties.
This article presents the results of tests conducted on Scots pine timber from three different kinds of logs: butt, middle and top. A planed pine timber batch composed of 510 pieces, dried to ca. 12% ...humidity, was machine-graded using a portable MTG device, and classified into the following classes: C18, C24, C30, C35 and C40 (according to EN 338:2016). During the second stage of the study, the timber was tested to determine its density, MOE and MOR, in accordance with EN 408:2012. We analyzed the impact of the timber’s log of origin on the results of machine strength grading and on the values of correlation coefficients between the tested properties. The results show, among others, that there is a correlation between the C classes and MOR of the tested timber, as well as its origin from butt, middle or top logs.
The paper presents the partial research results of a mechanical properties study conducted on Scots pine from the Silesian Forestry Area in Poland. The scope of research included the visual strength ...grading of the timber according to the PN-D-94021:2013 standard, mechanical testing (according to EN 408:2012) and an attempt to assign visuals to the C strength classes. The EN 1912: 2012 standard assigns the visual sorting classes of individual wood species (according to national sorting standards) to the C strength classes introduced by the EN 338: 2018 standard. At the moment, this standard does not assign Polish visual sorting classes (KW, KS, and KG) to C strength classes. The obtained MOE (modulus of elasticity) and MOR (static bending strength) values were corrected according to the EN 384:2018 standard, and their characteristic values were later calculated. On this basis, we proposed a classification of the grading classes determined on the basis of PN-D-94021 into C classes described in EN 338:2018, which is necessary in the process of the transposition of Polish strength grades (KW, KS, KG, and Reject) and the qualification of them in line with EN 1912:2012. The calculated characteristic values of density, MOR and E0 (the modulus of elasticity parallel to the grain) allowed us to assign Polish visual grades KW, KS, and KG to C35, C30, and C20, respectively. The pine timber under research had high physical and mechanical parameters, which translated into high C classes to which the KW, KS, and KG timber categories were assigned.
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