Characteristics of briquettes made from various biomass resources (staghorn sumac wood, vineyard and apple tree pruning biomass, pine cones, corn stalk and corn cobs) were investigated in the present paper. The moisture content of raw materials was first determined, before compacting them in a hydraulic briquetting machine. Briquettes with diameter of 40mm and various lengths were obtained. Five replicates of each briquette type were selected for the determination of density, compression strength and calorific value. The results were compared to those of beech and pine briquettes obtained under similar conditions. Based on the experimental results, mathematical correlations between density and compression strength and density and calorific value were investigated.

Intraspecific polymorphism exists for many fungus species, making their macroscopic identification difficult. Easily usable molecular markers providing access to information about variability have boosted the development of fungus diversity analyses. For this study, on wood-decaying Aphyllophorales, the main problem to be solved consisted in detecting any existence of intraspecific polymorphism in these fungi, in order to complete and clarify their identification. In order to characterize 98 strains in the CIRAD collection, we developed a rapid discriminant analysis method based on analysing the diversity of partial ribosomal DNA sequences independently of the macro- and microscopic morphological traits of the fruiting bodies required for the identification of genera and species. Adaptation of the Qiagen kit for higher plants made it possible to extract fungal DNA from a few milligrams of mycelium; with most of the strains studied, these DNA extracts enabled us to obtain an ITS amplificate of a size varying from 550 to 895 base pairs. We also found a large margin of error, of around 12%, for the DNA molecular weight readings on gel, leading us to prefer direct sequencing for precise determination of amplificate lengths. PCR-RFLP showed a good ability to characterize a given strain by providing different profiles obtained using several restriction enzymes. We thus demonstrated that studying ITS diversity using PCR-RFLP is a discriminant method making it possible to distinguish between strains. However, this method calls for the compilation of a database whose use remains partly subjected to interpretation, which cannot be used to work on a material unknown to the database. This simple, rapid technique is efficient and perfectly suitable for monitoring known strains in controlled trials

This paper refers to the second edition (2014) of the summer restoration camp organized by our faculty in cooperation with the ASTRA Museum from Sibiu, as a voluntary action for cultural heritage conservation. A group of 13 (thirteen) volunteers, with different levels of experience and expertise in the field of conservation, from undergraduate students to master and PhD students, alongside researchers and teachers, formed an united and dedicated team involved in this action. During a period of two weeks, this team has assumed the challenge of conserving and restoring three very different objects from the collections of ASTRA Museum: a chair from Sapânta - Maramures, a long bench with drawers from Scoreiu Porumbacu and a cart from Brateiu - Sibiu County. Within this paper the three objects are briefly presented, alongside with some general aspects related to their conservation, while a more detailed description and illustration of the initial state and the conservation – restoration schedule is presented for the chair from Sapânta. A sequence of operations, including dry ant wet cleaning, active conservation by biocide treatments and consolidation of wood material by impregnation with Paraloid B72, structural consolidation of the object, replacement of missing parts, chromatic integration and finishing with beeswax, were necessary for this purpose. An “exhibition” has been set in the working area where the reception of the restored objects was made by the museum’s curators. The action as a whole represented a valuable professional and human experience, an opportunity to get new skills and strengthen cooperation with recognised specialists, while bringing a contribution to the necessary effort for cultural heritage conservation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the protection effect of acrylic coating systems on mechanical properties of some wood species exposed to natural weathering. Beech (Fagus orientalis L.), scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and oriental spruce (Picea orientalis L.) wood samples were coated with a new generation of acrylic resin including two different UV absorbers (organic and inorganic) and subjected to natural weathering tests for 15 months in Uzungöl and Hidirnebi plateau located in the north of Turkey. Changes in mechanical (compression strength parallel to fibers, static bending strength and modulus of elasticity) properties were investigated and compared with non-coated wood samples. The result of this research demonstrated that the mechanical strength losses of specimens coated with acrylic resin decreased after the 15-month natural weathering test. Under outdoor conditions, the best protection is provided by the organic UV absorber for oriental spruce and by the inorganic UV absorber for oriental beech. The influence of acrylic resin including UV absorbers (organic and inorganic types) were similar to each other for scots pine. The wood samples had higher rates of mechanical strength loss in Uzungöl plateau when compared to the ones from Hidirnebi plateau.

An important task of hydrothermal technology of wood processing is the task of determining the stress tensor components distribution and their permissible values in the dry timber. After all, the high-quality dried material is considered to be the material in any part of which stress values do not exceed the permissible values. Today this problem is only partly solved. In general, mathematical models are developed in order to calculate the stress field in the timber with the uneven distribution of humidity fields in the elastic approach. Therefore, the research of the limiting stress state in the timber with the gradient humidity fields is of importance today.