The fungal species Fusarium graminearum is related to deoxynivalenol (DON) formation. The aim of this study was to evaluate mycoflora and DON occurrence in 53 whole wheat grain samples collected in Southern Brazil during the 2012 crop. Wheat grains showed adequate values of water activity ranging from 0.48 to 0.72, within the required limits of moisture content, ranging from 9.1% to 13.9%. In a...

Uncontrolled excess moisture in buildings is a common problem that can lead to changes in fungal communities. In buildings, moisture parameters can be classified by location and include assessments of moisture in the air, at a surface, or within a material. These parameters are not equivalent in dynamic indoor environments, which makes moisture-induced fungal growth in buildings a complex occur...

Ultrasonic energy was applied to assist the wood vacuum drying process. At a drying temperature of 60°C, the absolute pressure was either 0.05 MPa or 0.08 MPa; the ultrasonic power and frequency were 100 W and 28 kHz, respectively. The results showed that the effective water diffusivity of the specimens dried by the ultrasonic assisted vacuum drying at 0.05 MPa or 0.08 MPa were higher than that...

Acetylene reduction (AR) rates by cyanobacteria epiphytic on a moss at Marion Island (46 degrees 54' S, 37 degrees 45' E) increased from -5 degrees C to a maximum at 25 to 27 degrees C. Q(10) values between 0 and 25 degrees C were between 2.3 and 2.9, depending on photosynthetic photon flux density. AR rates declined sharply at temperatures above the optimum and were lower at 35 degrees C than ...

Capillary pressure-saturation-relative permeability relations described using the van Genuchten and Mualem models for non-uniform porous media lead to numerical convergence diiculties when used with Richards' equation for certain auxiliary conditions. These diiculties arise because of discontinuities in the derivative of speciic moisture capacity and relative permeability as a function of capil...

Most drying simulation models describe the moisture migration in wood as a diffusion process, including free water flow at contents greater than the fibre saturation point. This means that wood is seen as a homogeneous material lacking internal structure. However, especially in softwood narrow sections, bordered pits, divide the free water phase into rather distinct units. It is thus quite clea...

Moisture ingress is one of the major damaging factors for building material. Today, the only approved way to assess such damages is the oven-drying Darr-method, which is essentially destructive. At BAM substantial progress has been made using the geophysical complex resistivity (CR) method, which can be applied non-destructively and provides spatial information along 2D sections rather than pun...

Livestock grazing is one of the most important kinds of land usage that has a high potential to decrease or increase carbon storage in rangeland ecosystem. This research was investigated the effects of enclosure on soil carbon storage in a rangeland with dominant plants of Artemisia aucheri. Hence, two rangelands of enclosure (Shahtappeh-Chah Mahmood) and no enclosure (Chiro) were chosen in Sem...

[1] We used a simulated data set of hydro-climatological variables to examine for 20th century trends in soil moisture, runoff, and drought characteristics over the conterminous United States (U.S.). An increasing trend is apparent in both model soil moisture and runoff over much of the U.S., with a few decreasing trends in parts of the Southwest. The trend patterns were qualitatively similar t...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine types and levels of airborne fungal spores in air-conditioned homes built after 1980 without obvious moisture problems during the 2004 summer (rainy season) in central Florida, USA. METHODS Eighteen single-family homes were selected based on protocol questionnaire and cursory inspection, which revealed no obvious moisture or visible fungal grow...