Wooden Planks Research Articles

Zig-zag rotational dowel welding for exterior wood joints

A zig-zag pattern of rotationally welded dowels across the interface of a butt joint between two wood planks was shown to yield strong joints without any adhesive. Tests after 2 h in boiling water showed that the joints were able to resist both 2 h immersion in boiling water, as well as the subsequent oven drying. Some unusual densification patterns were observed by X-ray microdensitometry. X-ray microdensitometry analysis of densification patterns in the dowel and at the dowel/substrate interface indicate that further improvement and optimisation of this process should consider minimizing the compression rate at the end of dowel rotation as well as minimization of the insertion impact of the dowel to avoid interfacial microfissures that can sometimes develop.

Commentary on “Seven Institutionalized Children and Their Adaptation in Late Adulthood: The Children of Duplessis”: Case Studies of the Orphans of Duplessis: The Power of Stories

When I was a boy, my father recounted his experiences growing up during the Great Depression. His family, like many others, did not have much money, especially for the extra things in life. Much of what he, his brother, and his sisters did for fun couldn’t cost money. With their father, my grandfather, they would make toys out of extra materials they found around the neighborhood or around their house. Some of my own most memorable toys were those that my father and I made together, even though there was no financial need to do it. These were toys from his childhood—rifles made from planks of wood that used elastic band bullets cut from old inner tubes and buttons that were looped through with string that whistled when you pulled on the ends. My father’s stories told of less fortunate times, but they were rich and filled with the details of family, friends, and warm memories. I learned from a young age how stories have the power to communicate experience, connect people with their past, and bring meaning to their present and future. In their paper Seven Institutionalized Children and Their Adaptation in Late Adulthood: The Children of Duplessis (Les Enfants de Duplessis), Dr. Perry and colleagues continue their valuable contribution to the literature regarding the vicissitudes of early orphanage life; but this time as storyteller. Their previous publications describing this orphan group include a pilot investigation of a smaller, mostly male population of orphans (Sigal, Rossingol, & Perry, 1999), as well as a more comprehensive and detailed description of a larger male and female index group (Sigal, Perry, Rossingol, & Ouimet, 2003). Two more recent articles describe the prevalence of certain predictive factors in the study population, such as personal strengths, attachment relationships, and adverse experiences (Perry, et al., 2005a), as well as the association of these factors to later adult psychological health and social and occupational function (Perry, et al., 2005b). In the present paper, the authors move from a statistical description of the population to a detailing of the lives of seven middle-aged adults who were placed in orphanages before the age of 4. In so doing, they introduce us to the characters in this human drama, in very personal ways, and communicate their painful Psychiatry 69(4) Winter 2006 325

Ghosts in the Woodshed

77 Ghosts in the Woodshed Katie Fallon The sun never hit our house on the ridge. Pine trees surrounded it on three sides, their branches hugging its dirty-white walls. The wind that whipped down the mountain shook needles and cones onto our roof and into the rusted gutters. Moss crawled up the cinderblock foundation. Fingers of cool, green mold wrapped around the unfinished basement walls. Ivy spilled down the steep hill from the house, tangling around the stones of the driveway’s retaining wall. Ghosts were everywhere —between the perfectly straight lines of apple trees, beneath the peach and pear trees, ensnared in the gooseberry bushes and the grapevines twisting up rotted wooden posts. My husband, Jesse, and I did not actually own this property—we rented it from a veterinarian friend of ours—but we had plans for it. A small barn stood about a hundred feet from the house, and we hoped to convert it into a rehabilitation area for injured and orphaned birds. Peach trees lined the grassy path that led from our house to the barn; tiger swallow tail butterflies and goldfinches crowded the high purple thistles along the path’s edge. The overgrown remains of another nearby shed, this one brick with no roof, were barely noticeable, buried in a thick patch of deer tongue and rosebushes. The path ended at the barn, which was a perfectly square structure, its dimensions about thirty feet by thirty feet, its base several rows of stacked cinderblocks. The walls and roof were scalloped sheet metal. The side facing the house gaped like a garage without a door. The vines that tangled around the cinderblocks bordering the open front threatened to spill the blocks and wreck the barn. The owner of the property told us she had let a homeless man live in the barn, but he disappeared. “Disappeared?” I asked. “Well, left without letting me know,” she corrected. Apparently the man, Carl, was a woodworker, and his presence was everywhere. Odds and ends were piled to the barn’s ceiling. At first, it all looked like junk: blue Maxwell 78 Ecotone: reimagining place House coffee cans filled with Carl’s cigarette butts, a small wooden chair with three legs, a twisted metal ladder from a pool or boat. In the center of the room, a rusted wheelbarrow lay on its side, spilling chunks of coal across the concrete floor. In one corner sat a TV missing its screen. These were all the ghosts of dreams, important at one time, invested in. What accident caused the boat’s ladder to twist like that? What child once sat in the broken chair? The room was also filled with lumber of various shapes, sizes, textures, and degrees of decay. Some of the boards looked like they’d been purchased yesterday, while others were coated in peeling paint and sported twisted, rusty nails. There were thin strips of molding, two-by-fours, and sheets of particle board, as well as chunks of expensive -looking cedar. Rolls of insulation were stacked along the back wall of the room, still in their brown wrappers. In a back corner loomed a thing that looked like a busted water heater. Above all this, packed-mud wasp and hornet nests clung to rafters. Three bird nests bunched in high corners made by support beams. We had been discouraged. Someone had lived here? Where? The barn was bisected by a particle-board wall. The door that led to the other “room” seemed out of place amid all the chaos—it was expertly made of slanted wood planks and it had an elaborate lock. To open the door, a wooden handle had to be turned, almost spun, a halfcircle . This would move the wooden bolt from the latch and allow the door to swing open. The other room was more livable, but only slightly. The front of the room, the side that faced our house, was closed in by the corrugated sheet metal, but the back was partially open to the outdoors . A door frame with a Plexiglas pane lay flat on the grass beyond the opening. This unfinished door didn’t have hinges. This other room had...

Experimental Evaluation of Dynamic Effects for a Selected Highway Bridge

The paper presents an experimental study of the actual dynamic effects for a preselected typical highway bridge. Knowledge of the dynamic impact factors is important for accurate determination of the ultimate load capacity and performance assessment of constructed bridges. Static and dynamic field tests were performed on a two-lane concrete highway bridge built in 1999 on U.S. 90 in northwest Florida. During the tests, one or two fully loaded trucks crossed over the bridge, which was instrumented with strain gauges, accelerometers, and displacement transducers. A wooden plank was placed across the lanes for some runs to trigger extensive dynamic vibration and to simulate poor road surface conditions. Data collected from the tests were used for comprehensive assessment of the bridge under dynamic loading. Impact factors obtained from the tests with higher speeds were found larger than corresponding values recommended by bridge codes. Analysis revealed that stiff vehicle suspension, road surface imperfection, and bouncing of the truck loading contributed to the high impact factors. Experimental data were also used for validation of the finite-element models developed for the vehicle-bridge system.

Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis in a Hardwood Processing Plant Related to Heavy Mold Exposure

Two workers employed in a hardwood floor plant presented symptoms suggestive of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). At that plant, kiln-dried wood often shows moldy growth and is subsequently brought inside for processing. This study evaluated the environment in attempt to identify the causative antigen and verify whether other workers of this and similar plants had or were at risk of developing HP. Dust from dust-removing systems and molds on the surface of wood planks were collected and air samples taken from a sister plant. Blood samples, spirometry, and symptoms' questionnaires were obtained from 11 co-workers. Dense Paecilomyces growth was observed on the surface of the dried processed wood in the index plant. This fungal genus was not detected in the sister plant. An additional worker had symptoms suggestive of HP, and his bronchoalveolar lavage revealed a lymphocytic alveolitis. The 3 confirmed cases of HP and the other 10 workers had positive specific IgG antibodies to Paecilomyces. We report 3 cases of HP out of 13 workers and a 100% sensitization to molds in workers of a hardwood processing plant. This rate is much higher than what is commonly seen in other environments associated with HP. The drying process is suspected of being responsible for the massive Paecilomyces contamination likely responsible for the HP.

Concurrent comparison of three water contact measurement tools in four endemic villages of the Philippines. The schistosomiasis transmission ecology in the Philippines project (STEP)

Schistosomiasis japonica is a chronic helminthic infection contracted through contact with water infested with Schistosoma japonicum. The infection is associated with severe disease and is an important public health concern in Philippines. To estimate the agreement in the frequency of water contact between bimonthly interviews, self-administered diaries and observations. A total of 286 individuals were followed over either a 4 or a 6 months period. Agreement between direct observation and both the bimonthly and diary methods were estimated. The agreement between the observation and the bimonthly interview was 71.8% when days without any water contacts were considered, but decreased to 23.3% when only days with at least some water contact were considered. The agreement between the observation and the diary was 78.7% when days without any water contacts were considered and 40.8% when only days with some water contacts were considered. Agreement about the degree of water contact is poor between the different measurement tools. This has important implications for future research, since a high degree of measurement error can severely bias any results from studies involving water contact.

The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

IntroductionOn October i8, 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law H.R. 40ii, the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004. Act is intended to help promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People's Republic of according to the Office of the Press Secretary of the White House. Controversies surrounding the Act began before it was officially enacted and continue to cloud efforts of many who are deeply concerned about human rights violations in North Korea. This paper is intended to clarify selected issues of controversy that surround key provisions of the Act that may hurt more than help the very people that the Act is intended to help. At this time, main concerns relate to human rights violations continuing inside North Korea and North Korean refugee problems in China.Human Rights Violations in North KoreaHuman rights violations in North Korea have been well documented in numerous publications. a special edition of the U.S. News & World Report, Omestad states that Today, at least 200,000 political prisoners are held in six giant camps, according to South Korean and U.S. officials, and the number may be growing as North Korea's leaders tighten their grip on a hungry and desperate population. The camps are nothing short of human black holes, into which purported enemies of the regime disappear and rarely exit. (Omestad, 2003, p. i2) Further, In the past three decades, some 400,000 North Koreans are believed to have perished in the gulag. Yet relatively little is known about the camps, which are sealed off from international scrutiny. U.S. News tracked down five former prisoners and who managed to defect to South Korea, and they describe a world of routine horror: beatings, crippling torture, hunger, slave-style labor, and executions. Fetuses are said to be aborted by salt water injected into women's wombs; if that fails, babies are strangled upon delivery. Guards practice tae kwon do on prisoners, who obediently line up to take their punches and kicks. (Omestad, 2003, p. i4) Lee, a female, who was fortunate to survive, said that guards force-fed her water by pushing the spout of a canister into her mouth. They laid a wooden plank across her abdomen-and pressed down, forcing water out through her mouth, nose, and bladder. (Omestad, 2003, p. i8)Jang relates other horror stories by former refugees from North Korea: saw stepping on infants' necks and tossing their bodies into buckets while their mothers screamed, said a North Korean defector. She also spoke of a woman being tied to a wooden post and then shot i8 times for begging to be allowed to feed her small children. I moved rocks for i8 hours every day but was given no more than 22 kernels of corn to eat, another defector testified. The other prisoners and I got a break once when someone was caught trying to escape. We were all forced to attend the execution. We had to throw stones at the escapee. Our loyalty to the regime was measured by the size of the stone we threw. (Jang, 2004, p. 40)A more official assessment on human rights violations in North Korea has been issued annually by the U.S. Department of State. A recent report concludes that North Korea's human rights record remains extremely poor, citing defectors who have reported that In some cases, notably at the height of the famine in the i990s, executions reportedly were carried out at public meetings attended by workers, students, school children, and before assembled inmates at places of detention; that government officials prohibit live births in prison. Forced abortion and the killing of newborn babies reportedly were standard prison practices; and that members of underground churches have been killed because of their religious beliefs and suspected contacts with overseas evangelical groups operating across the Chinese border. (U.S. Department of State, 2005, p. 2)Reports on human rights violations in North Korea are virtually endless and continue to be repeated by many defectors, humanitarian workers, and writers familiar with these cases. …

In-plane shear reinforcement of wood beam floors with FRP

A study of the behavior under shear of existing wooden floors reinforced with different materials and techniques has been carried out. The purpose of this study was to perform an experimental and numerical analysis of the shear properties of existing and reinforced wood beam floors. The wooden floors were reinforced using composite materials, reinforced concrete flat plate and wood planks. The experimental results show a significant increase in shear strength and stiffness of reinforced floors compared to those unreinforced. Numerical applications regarding the shear behavior of un-reinforced and reinforced wood floor are also presented. The comparison between the experimentally and theoretically determined shear stiffness also provided useful information for practical applications.

Excused Necessity in Western Legal Philosophy

Should a person in a life-threatening situation have a defence when he saves his life by causing death to a person who was not involved in creating the life-threatening situation? Viz., does the perpetrator have an excused necessity defence that negates imposing the punishment? This issue - excused necessity defence - has fascinated the legal world since antiquity and has been described as one of the most complicated issues in criminal law. The well-known case is the “plank of Carneades” or “two men and the plank”. Two men, A and B, are shipwrecked on the high seas; as their strength ebbs and they are about to drown, they see a wooden plank that is just large enough to support only one of them. A reaches the plank first and grabs it, but B, faced with the prospect of certain death, pushes A off the plank, resulting in the death of A by drowning. B then grabs the plank and manages to save his own life. Should B have a defence if he is prosecuted for pushing A off the plank in these circumstances?

Building for Pakistan’s quake zone

Pervez Hoodbhoy’s mission is to erect buildings that can withstand a major earthquake, like the one that killed more than 70 000 people, injured 200 000 more, and made 2.8 million homeless in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern India last October. Working with other physicists from Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan, 220 kilometers southwest of the earthquake’s epicenter, Hoodbhoy has so far raised $400 000, largely from US physicists and arms-control analysts. The relief-team physicists are using the money to build private homes, shelters, and schools.In the urban areas rocked by the 7.6-magnitude quake, 60% of the buildings were made of un-reinforced concrete, and nearly all of them were destroyed. Costlier brick buildings survived in slightly higher numbers, but even they lacked reinforcements such as concrete bond beams, according to researchers at the earthquake engineering center of the University of Engineering and Technology in Peshawar, Pakistan. Shoddy workmanship and poor materials had made nearly every building in the affected region a death trap, the researchers say.After the earthquake Hoodbhoy persuaded his university’s president to let him use the physics department’s trucks to ship supplies to the disaster zone. He and his team deliver materials and plans, and locals build their own homes. “Working through reliable local groups and individuals is fundamental to our efforts,” Hoodbhoy says. The team’s regular visits to monitor progress, he adds, “are crucial for ensuring that the most deserving get the materials we have obtained for them.”The cost of a sturdy house designed to better survive an earthquake is $1000, Hoodbhoy says. But demand is making materials scarce and driving prices up, and the onset of winter is causing delays. At subzero temperatures, Hoodbhoy says, “cement does not set well, or at all. The urgent thing now is to protect the maximum number of people from snow, rain, and biting cold winds.”“If we build primitive temporary shelters constructed from corrugated metal sheets and nailed into wooden frames, we can reuse the materials in the spring for permanent houses,” Hoodbhoy continues. “Each shelter costs $300, minus the frame wood, and we hope to build several hundred with the money at our disposal.” Locals scavenge the wood from collapsed buildings and surrounding forests. More than 132 shelters, each big enough to house six to eight people, have been built already. The shelter design is proving so popular that the Pakistani army is using it for their relief efforts, says Abdul Hameed Nayyar, a retired physicist who is working with Hoodbhoy on the building project.The biggest problem with these structures is insulation, Nayyar says. “Hay is a fire risk, using nets and mud has been abandoned as locals think the mud would rust the iron, so they suggest using a layer of wooden planks.” This would increase the shelter cost by about 20%, he adds, but would definitely save the people from bitter cold.“We can’t handle any more money for homes,” says Hoodbhoy. “The need for spot allocation and inspection requires us to be there physically. Otherwise massive pilferage is certain.” Instead, he is contemplating the relief team’s next step: rebuilding schools. Nearly 16 000 schools were destroyed in the earthquake and those that have reopened are holding classes outside. Shelters for earthquake victims are designed and organized by physicists in Pakistan.PERVEZ HOODBHOYPPT|High resolution© 2006 American Institute of Physics.

The Driest Season

middle of July, and her legs couldn't move beneath her. She looked and didn't look. Her father hung still, bloated and blue. Years later she would think of chickens, pigs, and hides of cow tied up and heavy-looking on rope and hooks at the butcher's. Cielle wasn't a child, nearly sixteen. She walked closer and touched his boot. Jesus. Sweet Jesus. She kneeled before her father and thought for a moment he could fall. Light came in from rafter windows and cut long square shadows on wood plank walls. Then light shifted to dark from what she knew to be passing clouds. The barn was cool and damp. Sharp pebbles dug at her knees. She didn't look at his face again, or his hands, or all that was him outside of his clothing. Because it wasn't him right there, but something else, someone unrecognizable, and a memory she didn't want. Why had she gone into the barn? She never went in first thing after school. But that day she did and she couldn't remember the reason. Their farm wasn't large, but it paid. It was a living. Wheat, corn, oats, hay, chickens, pigs and cows. Their house was 200 feet from the barn. Where was her mother? Helen, her sister, had gone to the lake. Cielle stood and touched his boot again. It floated above her shoulder. Daddy, she whispered. She kept her eyes down and went to the house. The dirt road was dry and soft like flour. The red pick-up truck was parked in front and shucked corn lay in the kitchen sink. A pitcher of iced tea sat on the Formica table. She called for her mother but there was no answer. She went out back into the garden, but no one was there. A breeze came through and rustled leaves. Cielle stood a moment at the door, expecting the world to stand still with her, but it didn't. Clouds like stretched gauze moved quickly above, the tire swing in the oak tree shifted and its chains creaked.

Slip and fall risk among firefighters in relation to balance, muscular capacities and age

Influencing the safety of firefighters’ work environment is almost impossible. Therefore, good individual physical capacities and adequate protective equipment are important in preventing accidents due to slips and falls. This study investigated slip and fall risk in walking experiments with firefighters wearing fire-protective equipment and determined the associations of balance, muscular capacities and age with the risk of slipping. Professional male firefighters aged 33–38 and 43–56 years ( n = 14 and n = 15, respectively) participated in four slipping trials under different conditions on a straight path of 8 meters. Slip distances were measured in each trial. Postural balance and dynamic stability were tested on a force platform, and functional balance was measured during walking on a wooden plank. Muscular capacity of the legs and trunk were also measured. The average slip distances with glycerol were 9.7 ± 9.1 cm (100 steps/min) and 15.6 ± 18.2 cm (120 steps/min) in the 33-to-38-year age group and correspondingly 10.8 ± 15.3 cm and 18.0 ± 18.6 cm in the 43–56-year age group. Though the older firefighters tended to have longer and more serious slips than the younger ones, the differences in slip distances were not statistically significant. Half of the firefighters, regardless of their age, experienced critical, over 5-cm long, foot slides, considered to increase the risk of an unavoidable fall. These firefighters performed significantly poorer in the dynamic stability test as well, whereas associations with muscular capacity and risk of slipping were not significant. The results suggest that the ability to exploit visual feedback efficiently in balance control may be associated with smaller risk of slipping. This kind of test may be useful in evaluations of balance ability. The findings also support the importance of adding exercises which enhance balance ability to the exercise protocols of firefighters.

House Remains at the Netarts Sandspit Village, Oregon

Houses and households are a major focus of archaeological research on the Northwest Coast of North America. One of the few sites on the southern Northwest Coast to have multiple houses excavated is Netarts Sandspit Village (35-TI-1). Extensively excavated in the 1950s, few details have been available regarding the form of houses at the site and the chronology of their occupations.Reexamination of field notes,feature forms, and photographs from the 1950s excavations reveals that several rectangular wood plank structures built within pits were present at the site. Each was capable of housing several families, contained multiple hearths, and was associated with dense midden deposits. The houses may have had single pitched-roofs, a style commonly seen among Salish-speaking groups in Washington State and British Columbia. Recent excavation and radiocarbon dating demonstrate that the site was first occupied around A.D. 1300 and continued to be inhabited until the mid- to late 1700s. House placement appears to have been partially dictated by vegetation and dune formation. The houses were occupied for several centuries and represent substantial time, energy, and material investments for the families who occupied them.

Prosopis Africana (Mimosaceae): Stem, Roots, and Seeds in the Economy of the savanna areas of Nigeria

Prosopis africana is a multipurpose tree of great economic value among the rural communities in the Guinea savanna of Nigeria. The fruit of the tree is used as feed for animals, while the seeds are fermented to make ukpehe, a highly proteinaceous condiment. The tree is not cultivated. The products from the hard wood, such as some wooden farm implements, kitchen utensils, and planks for construction, are extensively traded. The tree is a good source of firewood and charcoal. The secondary roots are used as medicine. Fully documented and discussed here are the various uses of some parts of the tree, including the stem, seeds, and roots.

Functional, postural and perceived balance for predicting the work ability of firefighters

The importance of balance abilities for firefighting and rescue work has already been recognized, but there are no valid balance tests available in the test batteries for the physical work capacity of firefighters. Moreover, few studies have examined the associations between balance and work ability in general. Valid work-related balance tests are needed for the purpose of screening in occupational health care and in rehabilitation for assessing the effects of balance training. This study aimed to investigate the predictive value of functional, postural and perceived balance in respect to work ability among firefighters at baseline and after a 3-year follow-up. The subjects were 135 male firefighters aged 33-56 years. The outcome variables were the work ability index and perceived physical work ability (PWA), determined by questionnaire in 1996 and 1999. The predictors assessed in 1996 were postural balance (tested with a force platform), functional balance (measured during walking on a wooden plank), and perceived balance abilities, enquired about through a questionnaire. Most of the balance test results and the perceived balance ability were associated with the perceived PWA at baseline. The final logistic regression models showed that the best predictors of decreased work ability among firefighters after 3 years were poor-to-moderate perceived balance [odds ratios (ORs) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.9-6.6]; more than one error in the functional balance test (OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.0-12.7); and a high mean amplitude of postural sway with the eyes closed (OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.9-6.1). The results support the work-related and predictive validity, in terms of perceived work ability, perceived balance, errors in the functional balance test and amplitude of postural sway with the eyes closed, of measuring balance among firefighters.

New Scientific Dating of the Later Bronze Age Wells at Swalecliffe, Kent

The Swalecliffe later Bronze Age well complex was reported in detail in volume 83 of the Antiquaries Journal. The site comprised seventeen wells cut into the base of a previously reduced hollow. Groundwater could thus have been more readily accessed within the subsequently cut well pits. The depth of the base of the wells, at up to 2.5m below ground level, and their consequent waterlogged nature, allowed exceptional preservation of wooden linings and plank steps. Application of dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating suggested that the individual wells were used in sequence over a period of around 500 years, from an origin probably in the late thirteenth century BC to abandonment probably within the seventh century BC. The earlier phases (1–4) were dated mainly by dendrochronology, a 348-year sequence known as SWALECLF 1, whilst the later phases (5–7) were dated by a series of five radiocarbon dates.

Trial-to-trial reproducibility and test-retest stability of two dynamic balance tests among male firefighters.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a dynamic stability test and a functional balance test for trial-to-trial reproducibility and stability over time. In the dynamic stability test a subject stood on the force platform and moved his center of pressure through the targets shown on a computer screen. Functional balance was measured by a test in which the subject had to walk as fast as possible across a wooden plank without falling off. Both tests are repeated six times in two testing periods with an interval of two months. The subjects were 29 male firefighters aged 33 - 56 years. According to intraclass correlation coefficients the functional balance test showed good to excellent (0.78 - 0.96) trial-to-trial reproducibility and stability over time, and the results of the dynamic stability test were moderate (0.16 - 0.81). Individual variation in the repeated tests was considerable. However, the limits of agreement in the functional balance test (+/- 2 - 3 s) and in the performance time of the dynamic stability test (+/- 4 - 5 s) would be reasonable for practical use. Furthermore, the test-retest stability improved when the reliability was estimated from the best of at least three repeated trials with the functional balance test and the best of at least five trials with the dynamic stability test.

Painting Survey by 3D Optical Scanning - The Case of Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo Da Vinci

Optical scanning has been applied to generate a complete 3D model of the famous Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci (Uffizi Gallery, Florence). Front and rear surfaces and the sides of the great painting on 10 vertical planks of wood were scanned with a lateral resolution around 0.3 mm, so as to obtain a high quality three-dimensional digital representation. The main goal was to highlight and measure a map of deviations from planarity due to the curving and warping of the wood, leading to the possibility of planning an intervention in order to prevent further deterioration. Some parts of the painting, exhibiting visible local defects, were acquired with 90 μm of resolution. Application of 3D optical scanning has been proved to be of unique value for documenting spatial deformation suffered by panel paintings and can represent a reference tool for periodic monitoring of their state of conservation.

The Delphic Boat: What Genomes Tell Us (review)

Reviewed by: The Delphic Boat: What Genomes Tell Us John H. Relethford (bio) The Delphic Boat: What Genomes Tell Us, by Antoine Danchin; translated by Alison Quayle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. 368 pp. (ISBN: 0674009304). $35.00 (hardcover). The Delphic Boat is both a scientific and a philosophical exploration of the meaning of the human genome. The title is taken from a question posed to the Oracle of Delphi regarding the structure and function of a wooden boat. If, over time, the wooden planks that make up the boat rot and are all replaced, then is the boat still the same boat? Yes, because the important defining characteristic of the boat is the relationship between the planks and not the actual original planks. Danchin extends this lesson into the realm of genetics, specifically, the wealth of data derived from the Human Genome Project. Knowing the DNA sequences is but a start in our efforts to understand genetics and life; what matters is the relationship and organization of the genetic material. According to Danchin, simply knowing the sequence of genes does not answer many of the questions we have. We also need to know about the sequential arrangement of genes, gene expression within the cell, and other aspects that influence gene function. The book is divided into five lengthy chapters. The first chapter, "Exploring the First Genomes," provides interesting historical background on the methods that have been developed and used to sequence different genomes. The second chapter, "The Alphabetic Metaphor of Heredity," examines the genetic code, starting with background on the structure of DNA and moving on to a clear description of the methods used to sequence DNA. This latter section is presented clearly and with useful diagrams, making it particularly useful for readers who might not be that conversant in molecular biochemistry (such as myself). The third chapter ("What Genomes Tell Us") gets into the heart of the matter—what can genome sequences tell us about life? The chapter begins with a philosophical discussion of models and reality and then moves on to presenting the case for examining gene function in light of biochemical constraints, organization of the cell in relation to gene action, the influence of the position of genes along a sequence, and other topics that provide insight into the actual function of genetic sequences. Although difficult in parts to follow, the basic idea of the importance of relationships (referring back to the example of the boat) comes through, and we see that knowing the genetic code by itself is only the beginning. Chapter 4 ("Information and Creation") continues stressing the importance of relationships between parts, starting with an extended discussion of the concept of information and concluding with the idea of the cell as a Turing machine. Chapter 5 deals with the question, What is life? and also considers the importance of relationship between parts to a variety of topics, including protein construction, disease, the difficulty of assessing function from structure, and genome engineering. The Delphic Boat combines large doses of philosophical discussion with biological examples from a number of organisms and a variety of metaphors and analogies. The mixture of philosophical and scientific discussion is interesting, [End Page 492] and many parts will cause the reader to stop and ponder the larger implications of genetics. Although on this level the book succeeds, the strength of the approach is also a weakness. I found the book difficult to read in part because of the long philosophical digressions, and I would have liked for the writing to have been more succinct in a number of places, with greater emphasis placed on the relationship between the abstractions discussed and genetic examples. Quite honestly, I got lost a number of times and found myself needing to go back and re-read some sections. The book does offer a number of interesting thoughts but will require more than one reading. John H. Relethford Department of Anthropology State University of New York College at Oneonta Oneonta, NY 13820 Copyright © 2004 The Wayne State University Press

Puddling depth and intensity effects in rice–wheat system on a sandy loam soil: II. Water use and crop performance

The effect of puddling in reducing water losses and increasing rice yields is thought to be a function of its intensity. However, increased puddling intensity may have a negative effect on yield of succeeding wheat crop due to subsoil compaction. A 3-year field experiment was conducted on a sandy loam soil (coarse loamy, calcareous, mixed, hyperthermic Typic Ustochrept) to study the effect of puddling intensity and puddling depth on irrigation water use in rice ( Oryza sativa) and the performance of rice and wheat ( Triticum aestivum) crops. The treatments on main plots included (i) no puddling, (ii) and (iii) medium puddling-2 passes of a tractor-drawn cultivator followed by leveling with a wooden plank and (iv) and (v) high puddling-4 passes of a tractor-drawn cultivator followed by leveling with a wooden plank, each at shallow (5–6 cm) and normal (10–12 cm) depths. Percolation losses decreased by 14–16% with the increase in puddling intensity from medium to high, whereas the amount of irrigation water required decreased by 10–25%. Puddling depth did not affect percolation losses or the amount of irrigation water applied. Intensive puddling intensity resulted in higher root mass density (RMD) in 0–5 and 5–10 cm soil layers. In 0–5 cm soil layer, the RMD in the shallow-puddled plots was 17% more than in deeply puddled plots. Puddling treatments had no effect on total dry matter and grain yield of rice in any of the 3 years of study. During the third year, the RMD of wheat in the 0–15 cm depth of the deeply puddled plots was 7% larger than in shallow-puddled plots. At depths greater than 15 cm, the RMD was 11–68% less in the deeply puddled plots than in the shallow-puddled plots. RMD of wheat in the 0–15 cm soil layer increased from 302 μg cm −3 in 1994–1995 to 319 μg cm −3 in 1996–1997 whereas in the 15–30 cm layer it decreased from 85 to 47 μg cm −3. High puddling intensity increased the canopy temperature of wheat by 0.5–1.7 °C and decreased average xylem water potential by 4–7%. During the 1996–1997 season, the total dry matter and wheat grain yield of wheat were, respectively, 19 and 8% greater in the shallow-puddled plots than the deeply puddled plots.