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.
2008
Abstract
A major challenge in studies on the environmental fate of nanoparticles is to detect their presence and distinguish them from natural nanoparticles and the large variety of amorphous materials present in environmental media. Neutron activation of mineral particles enables the production of radio-labelled NPs without surface modification, and enabling both localisation and quantification within a matrix or organism. The method is extremely sensitive, allowing detection at parts per billion or lower. Thus, any such labelled NP can be detected in individual fractions or compartments in soil or sediments (associated to clay, colloids, humic material, etc) or localized within organisms and their specific tissues following dissection (fish gills, digestive tract, liver, brain, etc) or by autoradiography. An added advantage of gamma-emitting radionuclides is that they do not need separation from the matrix for counting, thus uptake and extraction can be followed on live animals. Thus time-course experiments in vivo may be conducted to study metabolism and exposure, two aspects that are currently lacking in the body of ecotoxicological knowledge about ENPs. This paper will report some of the conditions, advantages and experimental opportunities of using neutron activation as a tool to study ENPs in environmental samples, with demonstration of the application of the technique in studies on Ag and Co nanoparticle uptake and metabolism in the earthworm Eisenia fetida.
Authors
Peder Gjerdrum Anna BarszczAbstract
The present research concerned selected characteristics of knottiness of large-dimensioned spruce timber (of trees with the minimum breast-height diameter of 40 cm over bark) from three stands, over one hundred years old, located in south-eastern Norway. Fourteen sample trees were felled and measured, and knots which occurred in them were classified into three categories of healthiness and three categories of tightness with the surrounding wood. Sound and tight knots were dominant in the timber under analysis. All categories varied significantly in relation to average diameters, relative diameters (related to stem thickness at the points where the knots occurred) and the relative height of location along merchantable boles. The researches analysed the significance of relations of diameters or relative diameters of knots with the relative height of their location along merchantable boles...
Authors
Petter Nilsen Line Tau StrandAbstract
The present paper deals with C and N storage in soil and vegetation, litter fall and CO2 efflux from the soil 32-33 years after early thinning in a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand in order to evaluate the effect of thinning regime on C sequestration. At 22 years old, the stand was reduced from 3190 to 2070, 1100 and 820 trees per hectare in four replicates. The N2070 treatment represents the recommended start density in practical forestry, while the other represent a moderate to large reduction in tree number at the present stand age. Aboveground biomass was estimated from single tree measurements of diameter and height based on allometric functions. Litter fall was collected during one and a half years and soil respiration was measured on five occasions during one summer. Ground vegetation was mapped and sampled for biomass, C and N determination. A significant decrease in aboveground tree (including stump-root system) C storage of 27% and 22% due to thinning was found in the N820 and N1100 treatments, respectively, compared to the N2070 treatment. Ground vegetation C storage was little affected by treatment, while litter fall C showed a non-significant decrease in the N820 and N1100 treatments compared to the N2070 treatment. Soil respiration was significantly lower in parts of the summer in the N2070 treatment compared to the N820 treatment. The reason for this is still unexplained since no differences in soil temperature, soil moisture or litter fall chemistry was found between the treatments. No significant treatment effects on humus and mineral soil C storage could be detected. With the present soil variability, the time period of 32 years is probably too short to detect soil C differences due to thinning. The N storage followed the same pattern as for C. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
Peder Gjerdrum Mauro BernabeiAbstract
The grain direction along an arbitrary radius is known to change at a constant rate during the life-span of a tree. A wide variety of professions involve in analysing and understanding GA, included searching new technology for automated detection and significance for wood application. The objective of the study presented in this paper has been to identify a joint, three-dimensional model for grain angle in stems of Norway spruce. Five possibly large spruce trees, DBH at least 40 cm and height ca. 30 m, were sampled near Ås, Norway. 10 cm thick transverse discs were extracted at intervals of ca 5 m along the stem, split through the pith along the north-south diameter with a blunt knife, and grain angle and cambial age observed at regular intervals of 15 mm along the north radius. Pith observation was set to zero; left-handed (clock-wise) angles were denoted as positive, and vice versa. A The grain direction along an arbitrary radius is known to change at a constant rate during the life-span of a tree. A wide variety of professions involve in analysing and understanding GA, included searching new technology for automated detection and significance for wood application...
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Harald Kvaalen Øystein JohnsenAbstract
It has been shown previously that height growth and bud phenology are influenced by the temperature during zygotic embryogenesis in Picea abies.To test whether this phenomenon operates within individual plants, clones produced through somatic embryogenesis were used. Seeds were from a full-sib family produced in both a cold (outdoor) and a warm (inside a glasshouse) environment. Embryogenic clones derived from mature zygotic embryos from both crossing environments were cultured at 18, 23 and 28 during the proliferation and embryo maturation steps.After the second growing season in a glasshouse, plants from the warm seed production environment were taller and had significantly later bud set. For the first time, it is also shown that plants are influenced by the in vitro temperature during somatic embryo development. The warmer the temperature, the later the plants formed terminal buds. The differences were similar to those produced by a provenance separation of 4-6 degrees of latitude.The results indicate that there exists a mechanism in P. abies that operates during embryo development and adjusts the timing of bud set in accordance with the temperature conditions in which the mother tree lives. This in turn counteracts negative effects of gene flow among populations located along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Tannin-enriched extracts from raspberry, cloudberry and strawberry were analysed by liquid chromatography"mass spectrometric (LC"MS) techniques. The raspberry and cloudberry extracts contained a similar mixture of identifiable ellagitannin components and ellagic acid. However, the strawberry extract contained a complex mixture of ellagitannin and proanthocyanidin components that could not be adequately resolved to allow identification of individual peaks. Nevertheless, the negative ESI-MS spectra obtained by direct infusion mass spectrometric (DIMS) analysis described the diversity of these samples. For example, the predominance of signals associated with Lambertianin C in cloudberry and Sanguiin H6 in raspberry tannin extracts could be discerned and the diversity of signals from procyanidin and propelargonidin oligomers could be identified in the strawberry extract. The dose response for the main ellagitannin-derived signals in the raspberry tannin sample revealed a saturation effect probably due to ion suppression effects in the ion trap spectrometer. Nevertheless, DIMS spectra of whole berry extracts described qualitative differences in ellagitannin-derived peaks in raspberry, cloudberry and strawberry samples. In addition, positive mode DIMS spectra illustrated qualitative differences in the anthocyanin composition of berries of progeny from a raspberry breeding population that had been previously analysed by LC"MS. This suggests that DIMS could be applied to rapidly assess differences in polyphenol content, especially in large sample sets such as the progeny from breeding programmes.
Abstract
Alpha-cypermethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid, is used as an insecticide in agricultural settings and is increasingly replacing organophosphates and carbamates because of lower application rates and lower toxicity to mammals. Because very little is known about the acute and chronic toxicity of this compound for soil-living organisms, the present study investigated acute and sublethal toxicity of alpha-cypermethrin for four terrestrial invertebrate species in an agricultural soil from Norway. Bioassays with the earthworm Eisenia fetida, the potworm Enchytraeus crypticus, the springtail Folsomia candida, and the land snail Helix aspersa were performed according to slightly modified versions of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris, France) or International Organization for Standardization (Geneva, Switzerland) guidelines and resulted in median lethal concentrations of greater than >1,000 to 31.4 mg/kg and sublethal no-observed-effect concentrations of 2.51 to 82 mg/kg. A high acute to chronic ratio was found, especially in the earthworms. Interspecies differences in sensitivity may be explained by differences in exposure and differences in metabolization rate. When based on measured pore-water concentrations, terrestrial species overall appear to be approximately one order of magnitude less sensitive than aquatic species. Effect assessments conducted according to European guideline for risk assessment of pesticides reveal that assessments based on acute toxicity tests are not always conservative enough to determine environmentally safe concentrations in soil. Mandatory incorporation of sublethal toxicity data will ensure that in regions with temperate climate, the effects of pesticides on populations of soil-living organisms are unlikely.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered