Comparison of energy-wood and pulpwood thinning systems in young birch stands

In early thinnings, a profitable alternative to pulpwood could be to harvest whole trees as energy-wood. In theoretical analyses, we compared the extractible volumes of energy-wood and pulpwood, and their respective gross values in differently aged stands of early birch thinnings at varying intensities of removal. In a parallel field experiment, we compared the productivity at harvest of either pulpwood or energy-wood, and the profitability when the costs of harvesting and forwarding were included. The theoretical analyses showed that the proportion of the total tree biomass removed as pulpwood increased with increasing thinning intensity and stem size. The biomass volume was 1.5–1.7 times larger than the pulpwood volume for a 13.9 diameter at breast height stand and 2.0–3.5 times larger for a 10.4 diameter at breast height stand. In the field experiment, the harvested volume per hectare of energy-wood was almost twice as high as the harvest of pulpwood. The harvesting productivity (trees Productive harvesting Work Time-hour−1) was 205 in the energy-wood and 120 in the pulpwood treatment. The pulpwood treatment generated a net loss, whereas the energy-wood treatment generated a net income, the average difference being €595 ha−1. We conclude that in birch-dominated early thinning stands, at current market prices, harvesting energy-wood is more profitable than harvesting pulpwood

Compression Processing and Load Compression of Young Scots Pine and Birch Trees in Thinnings for Bioenergy

In many boreal countries forest biomass from dense young stands has great potential to meet growing demands for bioenergy. However, there is currently no costeffective operational system for harvesting such stands. When harvesting, it would be desirable to compress trees and leave some of the foliage and fine branches in the stand in order to reduce extraction of nutrients and improve the harvested material's fuel properties from a reduced ash content point of view. The objectives were to evaluate experimental systems (a boomtip mounted unit for processing bunches, and a small prototype forwarder for compressing loads) in terms of their utility for compressing and partially debranching fresh and stored bunches of Scots pine trees and compressing forwarder loads of fresh Scots pine and birch trees. Processing of fresh bunches resulted in mass losses of about 10% (dbhclass 58 cm; not significant) to 15% (dbhclass 1215 cm; significant) with 35 to 50% reductions in ash contents and increases in bulk and net energy density of about 80 to 160%. Instand storage of bunches before processing generally yielded no significant advantages except for a 10%unit reduction in moisture content. Compression of forwarder loads resulted in 16 (pine) to 32% (birch) increases in load densities, with a significant increase for birch trees. The described techniques facilitate productivity increases of offroad and road transport of tree parts, and a substantial proportion of the ashrich materials such as needles and fine branches are left in the stand. If both tested techniques are applied during the harvesting of young trees the benefits would be substantial

Protein identification and characterization through peptide mass spectrometry

The illicit usage of toxic substances is increasing rapidly around the world, creating a need for comprehensive chemical methods for detecting and quantitating toxic agents that might be used in criminal activities or terror attacks. There are several toxic proteins that could potentially be used in bioterrorism or biocrime. For example, the plant toxins ricin and abrin are readily available, very toxic, and easily produced, and are therefore frequently involved in biocrime incidents. Another threat agent is the extremely poisonous botulinum neurotoxin, which is among the most toxic substances known. Forensic analyses of samples potentially containing these diverse and very toxic agents therefore require analytical methods capable of detecting trace amounts of the target analyte in complex mixtures. This thesis describes the development of new methods for peptide mass spectrometry that offer improved performance in forensic toxin analysis. A galactose affinity method was developed for the enrichment and subsequent analysis of ricin, abrin and botulinum neurotoxin. The method’s applicability was confirmed during a forensic investigation into illegal toxin preparations. Additionally, the investigations generated new information on the structural properties of ricin that will facilitate the forensic matching of samples to sources. Details of botulinum neurotoxin’s sophisticated intoxication mechanisms were determined by using a broad analytical approach to study the importance and heterogeneity of SV2C glycosylation. Overall, the results and procedures presented in this thesis will help to improve analytical capabilities relevant to the detection and prevention of biocrime and bioterrorism. More generally, it provides methodological guidance and useful strategies for researchers in peptide mass spectrometry

Skörd av övergrov salix med skogsbrukets maskiner

Om en salixodling innehåller stammar med en diameter i stubbhöjd (dsh) grövre än 5-7 cm får konventionella direktflisande skördemaskiner tekniska problem. I dagsläget finns det i Sverige arealer med salix som växt sig övergrov. I dessa odlingar kan skörd med skogsmaskiner vara ett alternativ. Syftet med denna studie var att mäta produktiviteten på konventionella skogsmaskinsystem, anpassade för skörd av ”klena” stammar i gallringsskog, vid skörd av övergrov salix, samt att jämföra dessa systems kostnadseffektivitet mot konventionella system för salixskörd. Ett skördare-skotaresystem och ett en-maskinsystem (drivare) studerades vid skörd av normal och övergrov salix. Det normala området innehöll 36 ton torrsubstans (TS) per ha, en diameter i stubbhöjd (dsh) i medeltal och maximalt på 2,7 cm respektive 6,1 cm. Det övergrova området innehöll 56 ton TS/ha, en dsh i medeltal på 3,1 cm respektive 10,0 cm. Jämförande systemanalyser utfördes mot både konventionella och teoretiska salixskördesystem (baserades på litteraturdata) i normal, övergrov och mer övergrov (75 ton TS/ha) salix. Fältstudien visade att typ av odling hade störst effekt på skördarens produktivitet (tonTS/timme) vilken i medeltal blev 56% högre i det övergrova området jämfört mot det normala. Produktiviteten på skotaren påverkas främst av skotningsavståndet. Drivaren hade låg produktivitet som dock ökade med 36% i den övergrova odlingen. Drivaren påverkas också kraftigt av skotningsavståndet. Systemanalysen visade att skördare-skotaresystemet gav ett positivt netto i alla typodlingar, men att drivaresystemet gav ett negativt netto i alla typodlingar. Analysen visar tydligt att konventionella system för salixskörd blir mer kostnadseffektiva i alla typodlingar än skogsmaskinsystemen. Salixdirektflisningssystemet gav högst netto i det normala och övergrova området. Ett teoretiskt salixbuntskördaresystem gav högst netto i det mer övergrova området. Trenden är att systemet med salixdirektflisning och ett teoretiskt system med salixhelstamskörd och direktlastning minskar i kostnadseffektivitet med ökad biomassa/ha, men att skogsmaskinsystemen och salixbuntskördaresystemet ökar i kostnadseffektivitet med ökad biomassa/ha. Skogsmaskiner är i dagsläget inte ett kostnadseffektivt val vid skörd av salix, och kommer förmodligen aldrig att bli det heller. Dock utgör skogsmaskiner ett robust alternativ som alltid fungerar oavsett hur gamla och övergrova salixodlingar har blivit

Genome-wide analysis of chimpanzee genes with premature termination codons

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Premature termination codons (PTCs) cause mRNA degradation or a truncated protein and thereby contribute to the transcriptome and proteome divergence between species. Here we present the first genome-wide study of PTCs in the chimpanzee. By comparing the human and chimpanzee genome sequences we identify and characterize genes with PTCs, in order to understand the contribution of these mutations to the transcriptome diversity between the species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have studied a total of 13,487 human-chimpanzee gene pairs and found that ~8% were affected by PTCs in the chimpanzee. A majority (764/1,109) of PTCs were caused by insertions or deletions and the remaining part was caused by substitutions. The distribution of PTC genes varied between chromosomes, with Y having the highest proportion. Furthermore, the density of PTC genes varied on a megabasepair scale within chromosomes and we found the density to be correlated both with indel divergence and proximity to the telomere. Within genes, PTCs were more common close to the 5' and 3' ends of the amino acid sequence. Gene Ontology classification revealed that olfactory receptor genes were over represented among the PTC genes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results showed that the density of PTC genes fluctuated across the genome depending on the local genomic context. PTCs were preferentially located in the terminal parts of the transcript, which generally have a lower frequency of functional domains, indicating that selection was operating against PTCs at sites central to protein function. The enrichment of GO terms associated with olfaction suggests that PTCs may have influenced the difference in the repertoire of olfactory genes between humans and chimpanzees. In summary, 8% of the chimpanzee genes were affected by PTCs and this type of variation is likely to have an important effect on the transcript and proteomic divergence between humans and chimpanzees.</p

Tentative detection of the gravitational magnification of type Ia supernovae

The flux from distant type Ia supernovae (SN) is likely to be amplified or de-amplified by gravitational lensing due to matter distributions along the line-of-sight. A gravitationally lensed SN would appear brighter or fainter than the average SN at a particular redshift. We estimate the magnification of 26 SNe in the GOODS fields and search for a correlation with the residual magnitudes of the SNe. The residual magnitude, i.e. the difference between observed and average magnitude predicted by the "concordance model" of the Universe, indicates the deviation in flux from the average SN. The linear correlation coefficient for this sample is r=0.29. For a similar, but uncorrelated sample, the probability of obtaining a correlation coefficient equal to or higher than this value is ~10%, i.e. a tentative detection of lensing at ~90% confidence level. Although the evidence for a correlation is weak, our result is in accordance with what could be expected given the small size of the sample.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure