Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2002
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Authors
Klaus MittenzweiAbstract
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The effect of cold acclimation and defence activators on snow mould resistance and expression of pathogenesis-related (PR-) genes were investigated in winter cereals and perennial ryegrass. Cold acclimation, known to induce snow mould resistance, had apotentiating effect on snow mould-induced PR-gene expression in winter wheat. Chitosan treatment induced chitinase expression and in some cases also snow mould resistance in winter wheat. Bion treatment reduced snow mould resistance in perennial ryegrass.
Abstract
Sheep and goat farming systems in this part of Europe are based on extensive use of non-fertilised natural pastures and a long barn-feeding period. One million ewes are kept for the production of meat and wool while 60,000 goats are kept mainly for themilk. The local demand for organic meat and milk is increasing gradually and 10 percent of the agricultural area is projected to be managed according to organic principles by 2010. This paper discusses the feasibility of introducing cashmere goats in an organic sheep farming production system, based on economical calculations in a Linear Programming model. Significant movements from sheep to cashmere goats production are entirely as slaughtering of eight months old kids (11 kg) is unprofitable, assuming equal labour input of goats and sheep. Yields of meat and cashmere could be improved by feeding the kids until 20 months (19 kg) so possibly making goats as profitable as sheep. The benefits of high value cashmere production and controlling bush encroachment by goats favour a mixed farming system. If yield-levels of roughage can be maintained at 75% without artificial fertilizers and challenges in housing of small ruminants are solved, a shift away from conventional farming is profitable given the current support for organic farming.
Authors
Gudbrand LienAbstract
A new non‐parametric method to estimate a decision maker's coefficient of absolute risk aversion from observed economic behaviour is explained. The method uses the expected value‐variance (E‐V) framework and quadratic programming. An empirical illustration is given using Norwegian farm‐level data.
Authors
Nicholas ClarkeAbstract
In natural waters, total organic carbon (TOC) is the sum of particulate and dissolved organic carbon. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is operationally defined, usually as organic carbon that passes through a 0.45 µm filter. Cellulose acetate or nitrate filters should not be used for this purpose due to contamination or adsorption problems. Glass fibre filters are preferable. Although the discussion below concerns DOC, much of it applies to TOC as well. Organic carbon is most often determined after oxidation to CO2 using combustion, an oxidant such as persulphate, UV or other high-energy radiation, or a combination of some of these. If only UV radiation with oxygen as oxidant is used, low DOC values may be obtained in the presence of humic substances. A variety of methods are used for detection, including infrared spectrometry, titration and flame ionization detection after reduction to methane. Always follow the instrument manufacturer’s instructions. For determination of dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon must be either removed by purging the acidified (for example with phosphoric acid) sample with a gas which is free from CO2 and organic compounds, or determined and subtracted from the total dissolved carbon. If acidification followed by purging is used, care should be taken as volatile organic compounds may also be lost. After acidification, remove CO2 by blowing a stream of pure carbon-free inert gas through the system for at least 5 minutes. Carbon is ubiquitous in nature, so reagents, water, and glassware cannot be completely cleaned of it. Method interferences (positive bias) may be caused by contaminants in the carrier gas, dilution water, reagents, glassware, or other sample processing hardware (for example a homogenization device). All of these materials must be routinely demonstrated to be free from interference under the conditions of analysis by running reagent blanks. Plastic bottles can bleed carbon into water samples, especially when they are new, or when they are used for low-level samples (less than 200 ppb C). Any new bottles (especially plastic) should ideally be filled with clean water for a period of several days or boiled in water for a few hours before use. The use of high purity or purified reagents and gases helps to minimise interference problems. It is very important to use ultra-pure water with a carbon filter or boiled distilled water just before preparing stock and standard solutions, in order to remove dissolved CO2. The stock solution should not be kept too long (about one week). For most DOC instruments a correction for DOC (due to dissolved CO2) in the dilution water used for calibration standards is necessary, especially for standards below 10 ppm C. The carbon in the blank should only be subtracted from standards and not from samples. For calibration, standard solutions are most often potassium hydrogen phthalate for total dissolved carbon and sodium bicarbonate for dissolved inorganic carbon. The DOC concentration should be within the working range of the calibration. If necessary the sample can be diluted. Sample DOC below about 50 ppb C can be affected by atmospheric exposure. In these cases, sampling bottles should be kept closed when possible, and autosampler vials should be equipped with septa for needle piercing by the autosampler.
Authors
Peder GjerdrumAbstract
This dissertation addresses questions of timber quality in the interface between the forestry and the sawmill. The labour was carried out in an industrial environment for the benefit of the sawmill industry and - in a wider scope - for the entire wood chain. Specimens from a total of more than three thousand five hundred softwood sawlogs and trees were investigated for heartwood, spiral grain or log geometry. Applying analytic and statistical tools, several models for wood properties were built. For pine heartwood the samples spanned most growth conditions and forested areas in the Scandinavian Peninsula. Age was found to be the predominant factor in heartwood formation. A global model termed the Heartwood Age Law could be recognised: Heartwood age, at arbitrary height in the tree, equals the square root of cambial age less three, to the second power. This finding might be used for heartwood modelling. Based on temperature gradients between the sap- and heartwood, an algorithm for calculating the heartwood diameter fraction in an IR image was established. Used in conjunction with a scanner, the following model was established: Top end heartwood diameter might be calculated by multiplying top end diameter observed in a shadow scanner with heartwood diameter fraction estimated from an IR image of arbitrary end of the log. The observed temperature gradient between heart- and sapwood indicated the accuracy of the method. In the industry, IR heartwood detection might be applied in sorting sawlogs to produce timber of distinct properties. Further, correlation to properties like ring width and knots, and to time since harvest, was suggested. A constant change rate in grain angle was found for the mature part of spruce sawlogs. Albeit great variability in intercept and inclination, a linear pattern in grain angle to radial distance from the pith prevailed for specimens from both of the two separated Nordic samples. A combined model including the juvenile zone around the pith was suggested. Two parameters are sufficient to model the grain angle for the entire radial range from the pith to the mantle in any spruce specimen. The main impact of the finding might be for use in modelling and simulation. Derived from observations in a 3D scanner, four parameters describing the centroid of sawlogs were calculated. Based on these parameters several distinct crook types could be classified in an automated routine: First, straight logs were separated from crooked ones; then smooth and simple sweep (that might be accepted in sawlogs) were separated from abrupt crook. Even more specific crook classes could be identified. In an industrial application, this model might increase the speed and reliability of sawlog classification. Observing the log diameter on or under bark and the cross-sectional shape of a sawlog both have an impact on the yield. Optimal yield was only obtained after accurate observing the diameter under bark, integrated in the conversion process. Based on actually observed crosscut shapes, simulation indicated that this strategy might produce up to one tenth more main yield as compared to diameter observation in one direction before barking. Other methods were intermediate. Further investigations analysing the variation in crosscut shape along the stem and the accuracy of observation were recommended.
Authors
Peder Gjerdrum I. AkerfeldsAbstract
No abstract has been registered