Herbarium plants were used as a material to study possible long-term changes in mineral elements of forest plants. Plants from South Norway collected in the period 1870 to 1930 were compared to plants collected in 1982. Relative to mineral contents in plants from 1870 to 1930, the 1982 material showed elevated levels of Zn, Cd, Rb, K, Mn and Ti and decreased levels of Sr, B, Ca and Mo in some of the plant species analysed. Most of these differences may be explained by changes in the environmental conditions, due to differences in chemical composition of precipitation, accelerated soil acidification and subsequent increasing mineral weathering. Consequently analysis of herbarium plants seems to provide valuable information about preindustrial levels of mineral elements and seems to detect changes in mineral elements brought about by recent anthropogenic activity. 相似文献
Three groups of data entry female visual display terminal (VDT) workers from Norway (n = 30), Poland (n = 33) and the USA (n = 29) were compared. Before intervention, the Norwegian group reported more neck pain compared with the Polish group. The Polish group reported less shoulder pain than both the U.S. and the Norwegian groups. The clinical examination documented fewer symptoms and signs of musculoskeletal illness among the Polish participants compared with the Norwegian and the U.S. groups. After intervention, the Norwegian group reported a reduction in neck pain while the U.S. group reported a reduction in shoulder pain. The Polish group reported an increase in neck, shoulder and forearm pain at follow-up compared to after intervention. The Polish group recorded higher flexion of the upper arm at follow-up parallel with an increase of pain in the upper part of the body. Visual discomfort showed variable results in the 3 countries. 相似文献
Silicon-based fertilizers and soil amendments can have direct and indirect positive influences on cultivated plants. The solid forms of Si-based substances, the most widespread in use, are efficient only at high application rates due to their low level of solubility. Several types of Si-based substances such as fumed silica, slags from the iron and steel industry, modified slags, and a Si-rich product were tested using barley and pea as silicon accumulative and non-accumulative plants, respectively, at two application rates. The plants were grown under toxic concentrations of heavy metals in a greenhouse. Si-rich materials high in water-soluble Si had a positive effect at both the low and high application rates, and for both plant species. This type of substance can be regarded as Si fertilizer, demonstrating greater efficiency at a low application rate and lessened efficiency at a high application rate for protection of the cultivated plants against accumulation of the heavy metals.
Implementation of CO2 capture and geological storage (CCGS) technology at the scale needed to achieve a significant and meaningful reduction in CO2 emissions requires knowledge of the available CO2 storage capacity. CO2 storage capacity assessments may be conducted at various scales—in decreasing order of size and increasing order of resolution: country, basin, regional, local and site-specific. Estimation of the CO2 storage capacity in depleted oil and gas reservoirs is straightforward and is based on recoverable reserves, reservoir properties and in situ CO2 characteristics. In the case of CO2-EOR, the CO2 storage capacity can be roughly evaluated on the basis of worldwide field experience or more accurately through numerical simulations. Determination of the theoretical CO2 storage capacity in coal beds is based on coal thickness and CO2 adsorption isotherms, and recovery and completion factors. Evaluation of the CO2 storage capacity in deep saline aquifers is very complex because four trapping mechanisms that act at different rates are involved and, at times, all mechanisms may be operating simultaneously. The level of detail and resolution required in the data make reliable and accurate estimation of CO2 storage capacity in deep saline aquifers practical only at the local and site-specific scales. This paper follows a previous one on issues and development of standards for CO2 storage capacity estimation, and provides a clear set of definitions and methodologies for the assessment of CO2 storage capacity in geological media. Notwithstanding the defined methodologies suggested for estimating CO2 storage capacity, major challenges lie ahead because of lack of data, particularly for coal beds and deep saline aquifers, lack of knowledge about the coefficients that reduce storage capacity from theoretical to effective and to practical, and lack of knowledge about the interplay between various trapping mechanisms at work in deep saline aquifers. 相似文献
Insects with two or more generations per year will generally experience different selection regimes depending on the season,
and accordingly show seasonal polyphenisms. In butterflies, seasonal polyphenism has been shown with respect to morphology,
life history characteristics and behaviour. In temperate bivoltine species, the directly developing generation is more time-constrained
than the diapause generation, and this may affect various life history traits such as mating propensity (time from eclosion
to mating). Here, we test whether mating propensity differs between generations in Pieris napi, along with several physiological parameters, i.e. male sex pheromone synthesis, and female ovigeny index and fecundity.
As predicted, individuals of the directly developing generation—who have shorter time for pupal development—are more immature
at eclosion; males take longer to synthesise the male sex pheromone after eclosion and take longer to mate than diapause generation
males. Females show the same physiological pattern; the directly developing females lay fewer eggs than diapausing females
during the first days of their life. Nevertheless, the directly developing females mate faster after eclosion than diapausing
females, indicating substantial adult time stress in this generation and possibly an adaptive value of shortening the pre-reproductive
period. Our study highlights how time stress can be predictably different between generations, affecting both life history
and behaviour. By analysing several life history traits simultaneously, we adopt a multi-trait approach to examining how adaptations
and developmental constraints likely interplay to shape these seasonal polyphenisms. 相似文献
Animal courtship rituals are important for species recognition, and a variety of cues might be utilized to recognize conspecific
mates. In this paper, we investigate different species-recognition mechanisms between two sympatric butterfly sister species:
the wood white (Leptidea sinapis) and Real’s wood white (Leptidea reali). We show that males of both species frequently court heterospecific females both under laboratory and field conditions.
The long-lasting elaborate courtships impose energetic costs, since the second courtship of males that were introduced to
two subsequent conspecific females lasted on average only one fourth as long as the first courtship. In this paper, we demonstrate
that premating reproductive isolation is dependent on female unwillingness to accept heterospecific mates. We studied female
and male courtship behavior, chemical signaling, and the morphology of the sexually dimorphic antennae, one of the few male
traits visible for females during courtship. We found no differences in ultraviolet (UV) reflectance and only small differences
in longer wavelengths and brightness, significant between-species differences, but strongly overlapping distributions of male
L. sinapis and L. reali antennal morphology and chemical signals and minor differences in courtship behavior. The lack of clear-cut between-species
differences further explains the lack of male species recognition, and the overall similarity might have caused the long-lasting
elaborate courtships, if females need prolonged male courtships to distinguish between con- and heterospecific suitors. 相似文献
Insects that hibernate as adults have a life span of almost a whole year. Hence, they must have extraordinary adaptations
for adult survival. In this paper, we study winter survival in two butterflies that hibernate as adults and have multimodal
anti-predator defences—the peacock, Inachis io, which has intimidating eyespots that are effective against bird predation, and the small tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae, which does not have an effective secondary defence against birds. We assessed predation on wild butterflies hibernating
in the attic of an unheated house, as well as survival of individually marked butterflies placed by hand on different sites
in the attic. Our objectives were to assess (1) the number of butterflies that were killed during hibernation, (2) whether
survival differed between butterfly species, and (3) how predation was related to hibernation site and the identity of the
predator. There was a strong pulse of predation during the first 2 weeks of hibernation: 58% of A. urticae and 53% of I. io were killed during this period. Thereafter, predation decreased and butterfly survival equalled 98% during the final 16 weeks
of hibernation. There was no difference in survival between the two butterfly species, but predation was site-specific and
more pronounced under light conditions in locations accessible to a climbing rodent, such as the common yellow-necked mouse,
Apodemus flavicollis. We contend that small rodents are likely important predators on overwintering butterflies, both because rodents are active
throughout winter when butterflies are torpid and because they occur at similar sites. 相似文献
In this paper the purpose is to discuss a concept of technology that can explain how the transfer of technology implies the risk of new failures, misuse, accidents and unhealthy workplaces. Production technologies are often transformed through a steady stream of incremental changes appropriate to their social context, and the technology will therefore gradually acquire some contextually dependent preconditions for use. These preconditions will most probably be revealed when a technology is transferred from one context to another. Thus, a technology transfer project may trigger a long process of re-innovations just to make the technology fully operational in its new context. In a transfer process, technological risks may arise due to incomplete transfer of mastering capacity; mismatch between transferred technology and the environment; transfer of latent conditions for failure; and the transformation of latent conditions or known risks when the technology is installed in a new environment. Longitudinal data from the Norwegian petroleum industry indicates that the first phases in a transfer process will create high technological risks. It will take many years before the transferred technologies are adapted to the new context and the risk level has been normalised. 相似文献
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are a group of halogenated hydrocarbons, comprising 210 different, theoretically possible congeners. They are relatively hydrophobic and persistent to biodegradation, thereby rendering them subject to bioaccumulation. This study was conducted in Frierfjord and Eidangerfjord in the Grenland fjord system, Norway, heavily polluted by PCDD/PCDF discharges from the magnesium production at Herøya from 1951 to 2001. Pooled samples of surface-sediments and the following organisms were collected for the Frierfjord and Eidangerfjord study areas: common shrimp (Crangon crangon), polychaetes (mainly Nereis diversicolor), shore crab (Carcinus maenas), cod (Gadus morhua), flounder (Platichthys flesus), trout (Salmo trutta), herring (Clupea harengus), benthic amphipods and zooplankton. Concentrations of 2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs were quantified in pooled samples for all species. The relative abundances of stable isotopes of nitrogen (δ15N) were evaluated in the organisms as a measure of chemically-derived trophic level. Contrary to earlier studies on other persistent organochlorines, it was found that the concentrations of PCDD/Fs declined with increasing trophic level. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) also showed differences between species in the pattern of PCDD/Fs. Higher chlorinated congeners constituted lower percentages of the PCDD/F-concentrations higher in the food chain as compared to lower trophic levels. In general, congener patterns did not differ between fjords. Infauna (polychaetes) and zooplankton had congener patterns most similar to the pollution source. The results indicate lower accumulation of higher chlorinated congeners in species at higher trophic levels (fish), presumably due to low membrane permeability (high molecular size) and possibly slow transport through intestinal aqueous phases because of low aqueous solubility. 相似文献