Genotypbestämmning av etenproduktionsgenerna Md-ACS1 och Md-ACO1 för markörbaserat urval i äppelförädling

Texture, firmness and storability are among the most important traits for fruit quality in apple. Consumers are increasingly demanding apples with a “crispy texture”, and the market is offering a premium for a longer shelf life, which has as a result generated an increased interest from plant breeders to meet these demands. The traits are internally regulated by the fruit‟s inherent ethylene production, the suppression of which results in higher firmness retention. Thus far, the ethylene production genes Md-ACS1 and Md-ACO1 represent the best known candidates for enhancing firmness retention during storage. In this study, capillary electrophoresis was used to screen 255 cultivars from Nordic and Baltic germplasm collections for alleles at the Md-ACS1 and Md-ACO1 loci. This was done in order to enable DNA-marker based selections of these genes in breeding material suitable for cool climates. In addition to compiling genotype data, we performed verifications of previously screened cultivars, and additional evaluations of parentage were made in order to determine any pedigree errors. The analysis of the Md-ACO1 locus showed false positives for uncertain reasons, and therefore the true allelic compositions could not be determined. Frequencies of the normal ethylene allele Md-ACS1-1 was much higher in the Estonian (0.94), Finnish (0.95) and Latvian (0.90) collections, whereas the low ethylene allele ACS1-2 was more common in the Lithuanian (0.22), Swedish (0.33) and Norwegian (0.35) collections. Of the previously screened cultivars, 59 showed the expected genotype, with the cultivar „EvaLotta‟ constituting the only exception. In addition, this cultivar was the only genotype that showed any inconsistencies when comparing it to the presumed parents.Textur, fasthet och lagringsförmåga är bland de mest avgörande egenskaperna för ett äpples fruktkvalitet. Konsumenter kräver alltmer "krispig konsistens" i sina äpplen, och marknaden erbjuder högre pris för längre hållbarhet. Detta har resulterat i ett ökat intresse från växtförädlare för att möta kraven som ställs. Kvalitetskraven påverkas av äpplets egna etenproduktion, som vid nedreglering ökar äpplets förmåga att bevara fasthet vid lagring. Hittills representerar etenproduktionsgenerna Md-ACS1 och Md-ACO1 de bästa kandidaterna för att förbättra lagringsförmågan. I den här studien undersöktes Md-ACS1 och MdACO1 alleler i 255 sorter från nordiska och baltiska samlingar, med hjälp av kapillärelektrofores. Detta gjordes för att möjliggöra DNA-markörbaserade selekteringar för dessa gener i sorter som är lämpliga för kalla klimat. Förutom att sammanställa genotypdata utförde vi verifieringar av tidigare undersökta sorter. Ytterligare utvärderingar av föräldraskap gjordes för att avgöra eventuellt felbestämda härkomster. Av osäkra skäl visade analysen falskt positiva resultat i Md-ACO1 locuset och allelsammansättningen kunde därför inte bestämmas korrekt. Frekvenserna för allelen Md-ACS1-1, som är associerad med normal etenproduktion, var mycket högre i de estniska (0,94), finska (0,95) och lettiska (0,90) samlingarna, medan Md-ACS1-2 allelen, associerad med låg etenproduktion, var vanligare i litauiska (0,22), svenska (0,33) och norska (0,35) samlingar. Av de tidigare undersökta sorterna upvisade 59 den förväntade genotypen. Sorten "Eva-Lotta" utgjorde det enda undantaget. Dessutom var "Eva-Lotta" den enda sort vars genotyp inte överensstämde med de kända föräldrarnas genotyper

Towards classification of head movements in audiovisual recordings of read news

In this paper we develop a system for detection of word-related head movements in audiovisu-al recordings of read news. Our materials consist of Swedish television news broadcasts and comprise audiovisual recordings of five news readers (two female, three male). The corpus was manually labelled for head movement, applying a simplistic annotation scheme consisting of a binary decision about absence/presence of a movement in relation to a word. We use OpenCV for frontal face detection and based on this we calculate velocity and acceleration features. Then we train a machine learning system to predict absence or presence of head movement and achieve an accuracy of 0.892, which is better than the baseline. The system may thus be helpful for head movement labelling

Enterprise Liability, Public and Private

In Sweden, where forests cover more than 60% of the land area, silviculture and the use of forest products by industry and society play crucial roles in the national carbon balance. A scientific challenge is to understand how different forest management and wood use strategies can best contribute to climate change mitigation benefits. This study uses a set of models to analyze the effects of different forest management and wood use strategies in Sweden on carbon dioxide emissions and removals through 2105. If the present Swedish forest use strategy is continued, the long-term climate change mitigation benefit will correspond to more than 60 million tons of avoided or reduced emissions of carbon dioxide annually, compared to a scenario with similar consumption patterns in society but where non-renewable products are used instead of forest-based products. On average about 470 kg of carbon dioxide emissions are avoided for each cubic meter of biomass harvested, after accounting for carbon stock changes, substitution effects and all emissions related to forest management and industrial processes. Due to Sweden’s large export share of forest-based products, the climate change mitigation effect of Swedish forestry is larger abroad than within the country. The study also shows that silvicultural methods to increase forest biomass production can further reduce net carbon dioxide emissions by an additional 40 million tons of per year. Forestry’s contribution to climate change mitigation could be significantly increased if management of the boreal forest were oriented towards increased biomass production and if more wood were used to substitute fossil fuels and energy-intensive materials

Drought response of the boreal forest carbon sink is driven by understorey-tree composition

The boreal forest is an important global carbon sink, but its response to drought remains uncertain. Here, we compiled biometric- and chamber-based flux data from 50 boreal forest stands to assess the impact of the 2018 European summer drought on net ecosystem production (NEP) across a 68 km2 managed landscape in northern Sweden. Our results reveal a non-uniform reduction in NEP (on average by 80 +/- 16 g C m-2 yr-1 or 57 +/- 13%) across the landscape, which was greatest in young stands of 20-50 years (95 +/- 39 g C m-2 yr-1), but gradually decreased towards older stands (54 +/- 57 g C m-2 yr-1). This pattern was attributed to the higher sensitivity of forest-floor understorey to drought and its decreasing contribution to production relative to trees during stand development. This suggests that an age-dependent shift in understorey-tree composition with increasing stand age drives the drought response of the boreal forest NEP. Thus, our study advocates the need for partitioning ecosystem responses to improve empirical and modelling assessments of carbon cycle-climate feedbacks in boreal forests. It further implies that the forest age structure may strongly determine the carbon sink response to the projected increase in drought events across the managed boreal landscape.Carbon sink in young boreal forests is more vulnerable to drought than in mature forests due to the greater contribution and drought sensitivity of understorey relative to trees, according to carbon flux assessments of managed boreal forests in northern Sweden during the 2018 European summer drought

Innseiling til Borg havn – modellering av mudrings- og deponeringsoperasjoner - Spredning av finpartikulært materiale

Rapporten viser resultatene av en diagnostisk modellering av mudring og deponering ved en utdypning av innseilingen til Borg havn. I den pågående designfasen er det gjennomført modellering av turbiditet for å forutsi virkningen og omfanget av operasjonene. Turbiditetssimuleringene er gjort ved hjelp av SINTEFs partikkelbaserte DREAM-modell. DREAM-modellen bruker et detaljert datasett for strøm generert av SINTEFs numeriske 3D-modell SINMOD. Datasettet dekker de hydrodynamiske forholdene i innseilingen til Borg havn fra 1. april til 8. oktober 2013. Borg havneområde inneholder både forurenset og ikke-forurenset sediment og stein. Basert på omfattende feltmålinger ble lokalitetene av de forskjellige bunnmaterialene bestemt for to usikkerhetsnivåer (konfidensintervall). På grunn av de sensitive forholdene i Borg havneområde og den planlagte store mudringen, ble egnede og validerte mudringsteknikker brukt i simuleringen. Turbiditetsverdier ble tatt fra internasjonal litteratur, felt- og laboratoriemålinger og tilpasset DREAM-modellen. Forventede effekter er bestemt med et akseptabelt nøyaktighetsnivå. En indikasjon på innvirkningen på sårbare områder er gitt. Det er lagt vekt på at en god og miljørettet ledelse av mudringsarbeidene krever et grundig operativt overvåkingsprogram under utførelsen av arbeidene.publishedVersio

Endocytic turnover of Rab8 controls cell polarization

Adaptation of cell shape and polarization through the formation and retraction of cellular protrusions requires balancing of endocytosis and exocytosis combined with fine-tuning of the local activity of small GTPases like Rab8. Here, we show that endocytic turnover of the plasma membrane at protrusions is directly coupled to surface removal and inactivation of Rab8. Removal is induced by reduced membrane tension and mediated by the GTPase regulator associated with focal adhesion kinase-1 (GRAF1, also known as ARHGAP26), a regulator of clathrin-independent endocytosis. GRAF1-depleted cells were deficient in multi-directional spreading and displayed elevated levels of GTP-loaded Rab8, which was accumulated at the tips of static protrusions. Furthermore, GRAF1 depletion impaired lumen formation and spindle orientation in a 3D cell culture system, indicating that GRAF1 activity regulates polarity establishment. Our data suggest that GRAF1-mediated removal of Rab8 from the cell surface restricts its activity during protrusion formation, thereby facilitating dynamic adjustment of the polarity axis.Peer reviewe

On the role of forests and the forest sector for climate change mitigation in Sweden

We analyse the short- and long-term consequences for atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations of forest management strategies and forest product uses in Sweden by comparing the modelled consequences of forest resource use vs. increased conservation at different levels of GHG savings from carbon sequestration and product substitution with bioenergy and other forest products. Increased forest set-asides for conservation resulted in larger GHG reductions only in the short term and only when substitution effects were low. In all other cases, forest use was more beneficial. In all scenarios, annual carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration rates declined in conservation forests as they mature, eventually approaching a steady state. Forest set-asides are thus associated with increasing opportunity costs corresponding to foregone wood production and associated mitigation losses. Substitution and sequestration rates under all other forest management strategies rise, providing support for sustained harvest and cumulative mitigation gains. The impact of increased fertilization was everywhere beneficial to the climate and surpassed the mitigation potential of the other scenarios. Climate change can have large—positive or negative—influence on outcomes. Despite uncertainties, the results indicate potentially large benefits from forest use for wood production. These benefits, however, are not clearly linked with forestry in UNFCCC reporting, and the European Union\u27s Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry carbon accounting, framework may even prevent their full realization. These reporting and accounting frameworks may further have the consequence of encouraging land set-asides and reduced forest use at the expense of future biomass production. Further, carbon leakage and resulting biodiversity impacts due to increased use of more GHG-intensive products, including imported products associated with deforestation and land degradation, are inadequately assessed. Considerable opportunity to better mobilize the climate change mitigation potential of Swedish forests therefore remains

Forests, bioenergy and climate change mitigation: are the worries justified?

No abstract availabl

When Is a Principal Charged With an Agent’s Knowledge?

Question: Detecting species presence in vegetation and making visual assessment of abundances involve a certain amount of skill, and therefore subjectivity. We evaluated the magnitude of the error in data, and its consequences for evaluating temporal trends. Location: Swedish forest vegetation. Methods: Vegetation data were collected independently by two observers in 342 permanent 100-m2 plots in mature boreal forests. Each plot was visited by one observer from a group of 36 and one of two quality assessment observers. The cover class of 29 taxa was recorded, and presence/absence for an additional 50. Results: Overall, one third of each occurrence was missed by one of the two observers, but with large differences among species. There were more missed occurrences at low abundances. Species occurring at low abundance when present tended to be frequently overlooked. Variance component analyses indicated that cover data on 5 of 17 species had a significant observer bias. Observer-explained variance was < 10% in 15 of 17 species. Conclusion: The substantial number of missed occurrences suggests poor power in detecting changes based on presence/absence data. The magnitude of observer bias in cover estimates was relatively small, compared with random error, and therefore potentially analytically tractable. Data in this monitoring system could be improved by a more structured working model during field work.Original publication: Milberg, P., Bergstedt, J., Fridman, J., Odell, G & Westerberg, L., Systematic and random variation in vegetation monitoring data, 2008, Journal of Vegetation Science, (19), 633-644. http://dx.doi.org/10.3170/2008-8-18423. Copyright: Opulus Press, http://www.opuluspress.se/index.ph