BVOC ecosystem flux measurements at a high latitude wetland site

In this study, we present summertime concentrations and fluxes of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) measured at a sub-arctic wetland in northern Sweden using a disjunct eddy-covariance (DEC) technique based on a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). The vegetation at the site was dominated by <i>Sphagnum</i>, <i>Carex</i> and extit{Eriophorum} spp. The measurements reported here cover a period of 50 days (1 August to 19 September 2006), approximately one half of the growing season at the site, and allowed to investigate the effect of day-to-day variation in weather as well as of vegetation senescence on daily BVOC fluxes, and on their temperature and light responses. The sensitivity drift of the DEC system was assessed by comparing H<sub>3</sub>O<sup>+</sup>-ion cluster formed with water molecules (H<sub>3</sub>O<sup>+</sup>(H<sub>2</sub>O) at m37) with water vapour concentration measurements made using an adjacent humidity sensor, and the applicability of the DEC method was analysed by a comparison of sensible heat fluxes for high frequency and DEC data obtained from the sonic anemometer. These analyses showed no significant PTR-MS sensor drift over a period of several weeks and only a small flux-loss due to high-frequency spectrum omissions. This loss was within the range expected from other studies and the theoretical considerations. <br><br> Standardised (20 °C and 1000 μmol m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup> PAR) summer isoprene emission rates found in this study of 329 μg C m<sup>−2</sup> (ground area) h<sup>−1</sup> were comparable with findings from more southern boreal forests, and fen-like ecosystems. On a diel scale, measured fluxes indicated a stronger temperature dependence than emissions from temperate or (sub)tropical ecosystems. For the first time, to our knowledge, we report ecosystem methanol fluxes from a sub-arctic ecosystem. Maximum daytime emission fluxes were around 270 μg m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> (ca. 100 μg C m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>), and during most nights small negative fluxes directed from the atmosphere to the surface were observed

Carbon budget estimation of a subarctic catchment using adynamic ecosystem model at high spatial resolution

A large amount of organic carbon is stored in highlatitude soils. A substantial proportion of this carbon stock is vulnerable and may decompose rapidly due to temperature increases that are already greater than the global average. It is therefore crucial to quantify and understand carbon exchange between the atmosphere and subarctic/arctic ecosystems. In this paper, we combine an Arctic-enabled version of the process-based dynamic ecosystem model, LPJGUESS (version LPJG-WHyMe-TFM) with comprehensive observations of terrestrial and aquatic carbon fluxes to simulate long-term carbon exchange in a subarctic catchment at 50m resolution. Integrating the observed carbon fluxes from aquatic systems with the modeled terrestrial carbon fluxes across the whole catchment, we estimate that the area is a carbon sink at present and will become an even stronger carbon sink by 2080, which is mainly a result of a projected densification of birch forest and its encroachment into tundra heath. However, the magnitudes of the modeled sinks are very dependent on future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Furthermore, comparisons of global warming potentials between two simulations with and without CO2 increase since 1960 reveal that the increased methane emission from the peatland could double the warming effects of the whole catchment by 2080 in the absence of CO2 fertilization of the vegetation. This is the first process-based model study of the temporal evolution of a catchment-level carbon budget at high spatial resolution, including both terrestrial and aquatic carbon. Though this study also highlights some limitations in modeling subarctic ecosystem responses to climate change, such as aquatic system flux dynamics, nutrient limitation, herbivory and other disturbances, and peatland expansion, our study provides one process-based approach to resolve the complexity of carbon cycling in subarctic ecosystems while simultaneously pointing out the key model developments for capturing complex subarctic processes

Client abuse to public welfare workers: theoretical framework and critical incident case study

We analyse a case study of workers’ experience of client abuse in a Danish public welfare organisation. We make an original contribution by putting forward two different theoretical expectations of the case. One expectation is that the case follows a pattern of customer abuse processes in a social market economy – in which worker are accorded power and resources, in which workers tend to frame the abuse as the outcome of a co-citizen caught in system failure, and in which workers demonstrate some resilience to abuse. Another expectation is that New Public Management reforms push the case to follow patterns of customer abuse associated with a liberal market economy – in which the customer is treated as sovereign against the relatively powerless worker, and in which workers bear heavy emotional costs of abuse. Our findings show a greater match to the social processes of abuse within a social market economy

The employee as 'Dish of the Day’:human resource management and the ethics of consumption

This article examines the ethical implications of the growing integration of consumption into the heart of the employment relationship. Human resource management (HRM) practices increasingly draw upon the values and practices of consumption, constructing employees as the ‘consumers’ of ‘cafeteria-style’ benefits and development opportunities. However, at the same time employees are expected to market themselves as items to be consumed on a corporate menu. In relation to this simultaneous position of consumer/consumed, the employee is expected to actively engage in the commodification of themselves, performing an appropriate organizational identity as a necessary part of being a successful employee. This article argues that the relationship between HRM and the simultaneously consuming/consumed employee affects the conditions of possibility for ethical relations within organizational life. It is argued that the underlying ‘ethos’ for the integration of consumption values into HRM practices encourages a self-reflecting, self-absorbed subject, drawing upon a narrow view of individualised autonomy and choice. Referring to Levinas’ perspective that the primary ethical relation is that of responsibility and openness to the Other, it is concluded that these HRM practices affect the possibility for ethical being

The changing nature of labour regulation: the distinctiveness of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry

The article addresses the changing nature of labour regulation through analysis of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry, originating in 1981. It shows how multiple spatial regulatory scales, the changing coalitions of actors involved, employer and client engagement and labour agency have been critical to National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry's survival

Cabin crew collectivism: labour process and the roots of mobilization

The protracted dispute (2009–11) between British Airways and BASSA (British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association) was notable for the strength of collective action by cabin crew. In-depth interviews reveal collectivism rooted in the labour process and highlight the key agency of BASSA in effectively articulating worker interests. This data emphasizes crews’ relative autonomy, sustained by unionate on-board Cabin Service Directors who have defended the frontier of control against managerial incursions. Periodic attempts to re-configure the labour process, driven by cost cutting imperatives in an increasingly competitive airline industry, eroded crews’ organizational loyalties. When BA imposed radical changes to contracts and working arrangements, BASSA successfully mobilized its membership. The article contributes to labour process analysis by emphasizing the collective dimensions to emotional labour, restoring the ‘missing subject’, but also articulating the interconnections between labour process and mobilization and the role unions can play in providing the organizational and ideological resources to legitimate worker interest

Implementing Lean into a Servicing Environment

International audienceThe study provides a description of what Lean means in a service context, focused on the energy sector. The study covered a range of operational processes, including TQM, Six Sigma and freestanding benchmarking and Kaizen initiatives. A divide between managers actively implementing Lean and those that are not is clear in both survey results and interviews; this divide is driven wider by the misunderstanding of what is actually being implemented, sometimes inappropriately assigned as Lean. Moreover, only a core of Lean manufacturing attributes are carried through into services: waste removal, responding to customer demand and increased breadth of communications in the firm. The study also finds that Lean is consistently confused with Six Sigma, but that this does not negatively impact the Lean implementation

Boerhaave syndrome as a complication of colonoscopy preparation: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Colonoscopy is one of the most frequently performed elective and invasive diagnostic interventions. For every colonoscopy, complete colon preparation is mandatory to provide the best possible endoluminal visibility; for example, the patient has to drink a great volume of a non-resorbable solution to flush out all feces. Despite the known possible nauseating side effects of colonoscopy preparation and despite the knowledge that excessive vomiting can cause rupture of the distal esophagus (Boerhaave syndrome), which is a rare but severe complication with high morbidity and mortality, it is not yet a standard procedure to provide a patient with an anti-emetic medication during a colon preparation process. This is the first report of Boerhaave syndrome induced by colonoscopy preparation, and this case strongly suggests that the prospect of being at risk of a severe complication connected with an elective colonoscopy justifies a non-invasive, inexpensive yet effective precaution such as an anti-emetic co-medication during the colonoscopy preparation process.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 73-year-old Caucasian woman was scheduled to undergo elective colonoscopy. For the colonoscopy preparation at home she received commercially available bags containing soluble polyethylene glycol powder. No anti-emetic medication was prescribed. After drinking the prepared solution she had to vomit excessively and experienced a sudden and intense pain in her back. An immediate computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a rupture of the distal esophagus (Boerhaave syndrome). After initial conservative treatment by endoluminal sponge vacuum therapy, she was taken to the operating theatre and the longitudinal esophageal rupture was closed by direct suture and gastric fundoplication (Nissen procedure). She recovered completely and was discharged three weeks after the initial event.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a case of Boerhaave syndrome as a complication of excessive vomiting caused by colonoscopy preparation. The case suggests that patients who are prepared for a colonoscopy by drinking large volumes of fluid should routinely receive an anti-emetic medication during the preparation process, especially when they have a tendency to nausea and vomiting.</p

Carbon budget estimation of a subarctic catchment using a dynamic ecosystem model at high spatial resolution

Large amount of organic carbon is stored in high latitude soils. A substantial proportion of this carbon stock is vulnerable and may decompose rapidly due to temperature increases that are already greater than the global average. It is therefore crucial to quantify and understand carbon exchange between the atmosphere and subarctic/arctic ecosystems. In this paper, we combine an arctic-enabled version of the process-based dynamic ecosystem model, LPJ-GUESS (version LPJG-WHyMe-TFM) with comprehensive observations of terrestrial and aquatic carbon fluxes to simulate long-term carbon exchange in a subarctic catchment comprising both mineral and peatland soils. The model is applied at 50 m resolution and is shown to be able to capture the seasonality and magnitudes of observed fluxes at this fine scale. The modelled magnitudes of CO₂ uptake generally follow the descending sequence: birch forest, non-permafrost Eriophorum, Sphagnum and then tundra heath during the observation periods. The catchment-level carbon fluxes from aquatic systems are dominated by CO₂ emissions from streams. Integrated across the whole catchment, we estimate that the area is a carbon sink at present, and will become an even stronger carbon sink by 2080, which is mainly a result of a projected densification of birch forest and its encroachment into tundra heath. However, the magnitudes of the modelled sinks are very dependent on future atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Furthermore, comparisons of global warming potentials between two simulations with and without CO₂ increase since 1960 reveal that the increased methane emission from the peatland could double the warming effects of the whole catchment by 2080 in the absence of CO₂ fertilization of the vegetation. This is the first process-based model study of the temporal evolution of a catchment-level carbon budget at high spatial resolution, integrating comprehensive and diverse fluxes including both terrestrial and aquatic carbon. Though this study also highlights some limitations in modelling subarctic ecosystem responses to climate change including aquatic system flux dynamics, nutrient limitation, herbivory and other disturbances and peatland expansion, our application provides a mechanism to resolve the complexity of carbon cycling in subarctic ecosystems while simultaneously pointing out the key model developments for capturing complex subarctic processes.This discussion paper has been under review for the journal Biogeosciences (BG). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in BG. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. The final revised paper is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/5694