Innovationswirkungen branchenbezogener Regulierungsmuster am Beispiel energiesparender Kühlschränke in Dänemark

Die Studie behandelt zum einen den Verkaufserfolg energiesparender Kühlschränke der Klassen A, B und C in Dänemark zwischen 1994 und 1997, deren Anteil in den drei Jahren von 42 auf etwa 90 Prozent stieg. Zum anderen wird die analoge Innovation des führenden dänischen Kühlgeräte-Herstellers Gram untersucht, der unter anderem einen Kompressor mit einem noch einmal um 40 Prozent verringerten Stromverbrauch entwickelte. Die hier beschriebene Innovation könnte den Stromverbrauch von Kühlschränken ohne Frostfach im Zehnjahresvergleich um den Faktor zehn senken. Die naheliegende (Ausgangs-)Hypothese war, daß beide Vorgänge - Diffusion und Innovation - auf die ab 1994 im Rahmen einer umfassenden ökologischen Steuerreform erfolgte spürbare Erhöhung - und schrittweise Steigerung bis 1998 - der Energiesteuer zurückzuführen sind. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich aber, daß für die Erklärung ein breiter angelegter Ansatz erforderlich ist. Als Minimum ist ein Mix unterschiedlicher Instrumente zur Erklärung heranzuziehen: Für den Verkaufserfolg der Bestgeräte war die Energiesteuer - die mit einer CO2- Abgabe gekoppelt ist - zwar die notwendige Bedingung. Aber ohne das weitere Instrument der Verbrauchskennzeichnung der Geräte (1989, 1994 auch als EURichtlinie beschlossen und 1995 für Kühlschränke in Kraft getreten) wäre die eingetretene Wirkung kaum zu erwarten gewesen. Hinzu kam die Weiterbildung von Teilen des Verkaufspersonals durch die Energiebehörde (1994) in Verbindung mit der Kennzeichnung. Das den Verkaufserfolg zusätzlich erklärende Instrument waren nationale wie regionale Energiesparkampagnen, unter Beteiligung der Energieversorgungsunternehmen (1994 und 1995). Zu dieser Kampagne gehörte schließlich auch eine Verschrottungsprämie (200 DKK) für alte, durch Bestgeräte ersetzte Kühlschränke (1994). Als Hintergrundvariable muß das breite Umwelt- und Klimaschutzbewußtsein der dänischen Bevölkerung gelten. Bei der Innovation des dänischen Herstellers Gram spielte die staatliche FuEFörderung eine wesentliche Rolle, die die Bildung von Innovationsnetzwerken implizierte. Als Hintergrundbedingung ist auch hier die Energie-/CO2-Steuer von Bedeutung, wobei sie von den Unternehmen nicht als entscheidend eingestuft wurde. Als besonders wichtig angesehen wird die 1999 in Dänemark wirksam werdende Höchstverbrauchs-Richtlinie der EU, die die bestehenden Bestgeräte zur Norm macht. Neue Märkte waren folglich nur durch weitergehende Verbesserungen zu erschließen. Zugleich mußte der Handel bemüht sein, ineffiziente Geräte frühzeitig aus Sortiment und Lager zu nehmen. Das Projekt hat auch methodische Resultate. Im Hinblick auf die Breite des wirksam gewordenen Instrumentariums, die Bedeutung und Konfiguration der beteiligten Akteure und den kooperativen, zukunftsorientierten Politikstil der Regulierungsinstanz erweist sich das weiter angelegte Konzept des "Regulierungsmusters" als heuristisch sinnvoll. Gleiches gilt für den Bottom- up-Ansatz der Politikevaluation, der für die Breite und Dynamik der Einflußfaktoren die notwendige Offenheit bietet. Im untersuchten dänischen Fall folgt die Innovation der Diffusion. Beide wurden durch einen wesentlich strategischen Ansatz von Umwelt und Klimaschutzpolitik bewirkt, der sich durch eine entschlossene, aber ausgehandelte Zielbildung (CO2- Reduktion, Energieeinsparung), eine gute technologiepolitische Infrastruktur und eine intensive Vernetzung staatlicher und nichtstaatlicher Akteure auszeichnet. Besonders zu betonen ist die Breite und Flexibilität des Instrumenteneinsatzes, der von indikativer Langzeitplanung, über Energiesteuern, Subventionen und informationelle Instrumente bis zu Effizienzstandards reicht

the case of Danish refrigerators

This study begins by looking at the retail success of class A, B and C energy- saving refrigerators in Denmark between 1994 and 1997, where their market share rose from 42% to around 90%. It also examines analogous innovation by the leading Danish manufacturer of refrigeration units, Gram, which has developed, among other things, equipment whose energy consumption is a further 40% lower. The innovation described here could, over ten years, reduce energy consumption by refrigerators without freezer compartment by a factor of ten. The hypothesis which immediately suggested itself was that both processes - diffusion and innovation - could be traced back to the rise in energy tax which made itself felt with the comprehensive environmentalist revision of taxation in 1994, and further gradual increases until 1998. The results of this study, however, show that any explanation requires a broader approach. At the very least, the explanation must include a mix of different instruments. The necessary condition for retail success of the best appliances was certainly the energy tax - which is levied according to CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, without the further instrument of labelling the energy consumption of appliances (1989, also issued as an EU guideline in 1994, coming into force for refrigerators in 1995), the effect would scarcely have been to be expected. In addition to this came training connected with the labelling for sales staff by the Energy Agency (1994). An instrument which also explains this retail success was the national and regional energy saving campaigns, in which the energy supply companies participated (1994 and 1995). Finally, the campaign also included an upgrade incentive of 200 DK for replacing an old appliance with one of the best models (1994). The Danish public’s widespread awareness of environmental and climate change issues must also be considered as a background variable. For the innovations at the Danish manufacturer Gram, state R&D; funding played a considerable part, implying the formation of innovation networks. Here also, the energy/ CO2 tax is a significant background condition, although the company itself did not consider it decisive. The EU’s Maximum Consumption Guideline, which will come into effect in Denmark in 1999, making existing energy-saving models standard, is also considered especially important. New markets were thus only accessible through further improvements, and retailers also had to ensure that inefficient appliances were removed early on from their product ranges and warehouses. The project has also borne methodological fruit. With respect to the broad spectrum of instruments which have come into effect, the significance and configuration of the participating actors and the cooperative, forward-looking policy style of the regulating authorities, the extended concept of a “regulatory framework” proves to be heuristically useful. The same applies for the bottom-up approach to policy evaluation, which affords the necessary openness for the breadth and dynamics of the influential factors. In the Danish case studied here, innovation follows diffusion. Both were brought about by an essentially strategic approach to environmental and climate protection policy, notable for its committed, but negotiated, development of aims (CO2 reduction, energy saving), its good technological policy infrastructure and the close networking between public and private sector actors. Of particular note was the breadth and flexibility in applying instruments, from indicative long-term planning, through energy taxation, subsidies and informal instruments, to efficiency standards

Repeated Adaptive Introgression at a Gene under Multiallelic Balancing Selection

Recently diverged species typically have incomplete reproductive barriers, allowing introgression of genetic material from one species into the genomic background of the other. The role of natural selection in preventing or promoting introgression remains contentious. Because of genomic co-adaptation, some chromosomal fragments are expected to be selected against in the new background and resist introgression. In contrast, natural selection should favor introgression for alleles at genes evolving under multi-allelic balancing selection, such as the MHC in vertebrates, disease resistance, or self-incompatibility genes in plants. Here, we test the prediction that negative, frequency-dependent selection on alleles at the multi-allelic gene controlling pistil self-incompatibility specificity in two closely related species, Arabidopsis halleri and A. lyrata, caused introgression at this locus at a higher rate than the genomic background. Polymorphism at this gene is largely shared, and we have identified 18 pairs of S-alleles that are only slightly divergent between the two species. For these pairs of S-alleles, divergence at four-fold degenerate sites (K = 0.0193) is about four times lower than the genomic background (K = 0.0743). We demonstrate that this difference cannot be explained by differences in effective population size between the two types of loci. Rather, our data are most consistent with a five-fold increase of introgression rates for S-alleles as compared to the genomic background, making this study the first documented example of adaptive introgression facilitated by balancing selection. We suggest that this process plays an important role in the maintenance of high allelic diversity and divergence at the S-locus in flowering plant families. Because genes under balancing selection are expected to be among the last to stop introgressing, their comparison in closely related species provides a lower-bound estimate of the time since the species stopped forming fertile hybrids, thereby complementing the average portrait of divergence between species provided by genomic data

Personnavne og forenelighed: Hvordan passer familiens navne sammen?

This article discusses the phenomenon of matching personal names, arguing that the term name compatibility (in Danish: navneforenelighed) can be used to describe it. The perception of personal names being more or less compatible is also closely related to the notion of style as it is used in sociolinguistics. When parents, living in all parts of Denmark, who participated in a study carried out in 2012-2013 chose names for their children, it was common for them to consider how the first name matched other names in the family as well as how the name matched the child itself and the perceived identity of the parents. The latter is in line with the views of sociologist Anthony Giddens who argues that an increase in reflexivity and lack of tradition in modern society necessitates that individuals construct their own identities

Evolution of sociality in spiders leads to depleted genomic diversity at both population and species level

textcopyright 2017 John Wiley Sons Ltd.Across several animal taxa, the evolution of sociality involves a suite of characteristics, a "social syndrome," that includes cooperative breeding, reproductive skew, primary female-biased sex ratio, and the transition from outcrossing to inbreeding mating system, factors that are expected to reduce effective population size (Ne). This social syndrome may be favoured by short-term benefits but come with long-term costs, because the reduction in Ne amplifies loss of genetic diversity by genetic drift, ultimately restricting the potential of populations to respond to environmental change. To investigate the consequences of this social life form on genetic diversity, we used a comparative RAD-sequencing approach to estimate genomewide diversity in spider species that differ in level of sociality, reproductive skew and mating system. We analysed multiple populations of three independent sister-species pairs of social inbreeding and subsocial outcrossing Stegodyphus spiders, and a subsocial outgroup. Heterozygosity and within-population diversity were sixfold to 10-fold lower in social compared to subsocial species, and demographic modelling revealed a tenfold reduction in Ne of social populations. Species-wide genetic diversity depends on population divergence and the viability of genetic lineages. Population genomic patterns were consistent with high lineage turnover, which homogenizes the genetic structure that builds up between inbreeding populations, ultimately depleting genetic diversity at the species level. Indeed, species-wide genetic diversity of social species was 5-8 times lower than that of subsocial species. The repeated evolution of species with this social syndrome is associated with severe loss of genomewide diversity, likely to limit their evolutionary potential

Orthologous genes identified by transcriptome sequencing in the spider genus Stegodyphus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evolution of sociality in spiders involves a transition from an outcrossing to a highly inbreeding mating system, a shift to a female biased sex ratio, and an increase in the reproductive skew among individuals. Taken together, these features are expected to result in a strong reduction in the effective population size. Such a decline in effective population size is expected to affect population genetic and molecular evolutionary processes, resulting in reduced genetic diversity and relaxed selective constraint across the genome. In the genus <it>Stegodyphus</it>, permanent sociality and regular inbreeding has evolved independently three times from periodic-social (outcrossing) ancestors. This genus is therefore an ideal model for comparative studies of the molecular evolutionary and population genetic consequences of the transition to a regularly inbreeding mating system. However, no genetic resources are available for this genus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present the analysis of high throughput transcriptome sequencing of three <it>Stegodyphus </it>species. Two of these are periodic-social (<it>Stegodyphus lineatus </it>and <it>S.tentoriicola</it>) and one is permanently social (<it>S. mimosarum</it>). From non-normalized cDNA libraries, we obtained on average 7,000 putative uni-genes for each species. Three-way orthology, as predicted from reciprocal BLAST, identified 1,792 genes that could be used for cross-species comparison. Open reading frames (ORFs) could be deduced from 1,345 of the three-way alignments. Preliminary molecular analyses suggest a five- to ten-fold reduction in heterozygosity in the social <it>S. mimosarum </it>compared with the periodic-social species. Furthermore, an increased ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous polymorphisms in the social species indicated relaxed efficiency of selection. However, there was no sign of relaxed selection on the phylogenetic branch leading to <it>S. mimosarum</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The 1,792 three-way ortholog genes identified in this study provide a unique resource for comparative studies of the eco-genomics, population genetics and molecular evolution of repeated evolution of inbreeding sociality within the <it>Stegodyphus </it>genu<it>s</it>. Preliminary analyses support theoretical expectations of depleted heterozygosity and relaxed selection in the social inbreeding species. Relaxed selection could not be detected in the <it>S. mimosarum </it>lineage, suggesting that there has been a recent transition to sociality in this species.</p

Pronounced plastic and evolutionary responses to unpredictable thermal fluctuations in <i>Drosophila simulans</i>

Organisms are exposed to temperatures that vary, for example on diurnal and seasonal time scales. Thus, the ability to behaviorally and/or physiologically respond to variation in temperatures is a fundamental requirement for long-term persistence. Studies on thermal biology in ectotherms are typically performed under constant laboratory conditions, which differ markedly from the variation in temperature across time and space in nature. Here, we investigate evolutionary adaptation and environmentally induced plastic responses of Drosophila simulans to no fluctuations (constant), predictable fluctuations or unpredictable fluctuations in temperature. We whole-genome sequenced populations exposed to 20 generations of experimental evolution under the three thermal regimes and examined the proteome after short-term exposure to the same three regimes. We find that unpredictable fluctuations cause the strongest response at both genome and proteome levels. The loci showing evolutionary responses were generally unique to each thermal regime, but a minor overlap suggests either common laboratory adaptation or that some loci were involved in the adaptation to multiple thermal regimes. The evolutionary response, i.e., loci under selection, did not coincide with induced responses of the proteome. Thus, genes under selection in fluctuating thermal environments are distinct from genes important for the adaptive plastic response observed within a generation. This information is key to obtain a better understanding and prediction of the effects of future increases in both mean and variability of temperatures

Sperm competition intensity affects sperm precedence patterns in a polyandrous gift-giving spider

Abstract Sperm competition drives traits that enhance fertilization success. The amount of sperm transferred relative to competitors is key for attaining paternity. Female reproductive morphology and male mating order may also influence fertilization, however the outcome for sperm precedence under intense sperm competition remains poorly understood. In the polyandrous spider Pisaura mirabilis, males offer nuptial gifts which prolong copulation and increase sperm transfer, factors proposed to alter sperm precedence patterns under strong sperm competition. First, we assessed the degree of female polyandry by genotyping wild broods. A conservative analysis identified up to four sires, with a mean of two sires per brood, consistent with an optimal mating female rate. Then we asked whether intense sperm competition shifts sperm precedence patterns from first male priority, as expected from female morphology, to last male advantage. We varied sexual selection intensity experimentally and determined competitive fertilization outcome by genotyping broods. In double matings, one male monopolised paternity regardless of mating order. A mating order effect with first male priority was revealed when females were mated to four males, however this effect disappeared when females were mated to six males, probably due to increased sperm mixing. The proportion of males that successfully sired offspring drastically decreased with the number of competitors. Longer copulations translated into higher paternity shares independently of mating order, reinforcing the advantage of traits that prolong copulation duration under intense competition, such as the nuptial gift. Sperm competition intensity enhances the impact of competitive sexual traits and imposes multiple effects on paternity