ALBERT

Notes: This paper studies the relationship between volatility of industry-specific shipments and real earnings. In an efficiency wage theoretical framework I show that wage premiums for the risk of unemployment depend on the value of the worker’s outside offer net of his/her mobility costs. Empirically it is shown that wage premiums for the risk of unemployment markedly vary in a cross section of workers. The main finding is that market volatility changes the return to skill such as labor market experience and education. Its impact markedly varies across occupation groups, with managers receiving returns to labour market experience that significantly increase with product market volatility.

Notes: Analyses the supply chains of the FMCG and the durable goods in Italy and shows particular methods of management, points of considerable development (manufacturing postponement) and the general lack of scale economics. Postponement is a practice that is being increasingly diffused to meet better the need to manage the complexity of the growing variety of products in hand. The development of the postponement practice in Italy is determined by the specific characteristics of the industrial and distributive structure and of the suppliers of services. It may be seen that postponement is particularly suited to the Italian industrial structure if flexibly realised as it does not specifically require scale economics.

Notes: Reliable models are required to assess the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems. Precise and independent data are essential to assess this accuracy. The flux measurements collected by the EUROFLUX project over a wide range of forest types and climatic regions in Europe allow a critical testing of the process-based models which were developed in the LTEEF project. The ECOCRAFT project complements this with a wealth of independent plant physiological measurements. Thus, it was aimed in this study to test six process-based forest growth models against the flux measurements of six European forest types, taking advantage of a large database with plant physiological parameters.The reliability of both the flux data and parameter values itself was not under discussion in this study. The data provided by the researchers of the EUROFLUX sites, possibly with local corrections, were used with a minor gap-filling procedure to avoid the loss of many days with observations.The model performance is discussed based on their accuracy, generality and realism. Accuracy was evaluated based on the goodness-of-fit with observed values of daily net ecosystem exchange, gross primary production and ecosystem respiration (gC m−2 d−1), and transpiration (kg H2O m−2 d−1). Moreover, accuracy was also evaluated based on systematic and unsystematic errors. Generality was characterized by the applicability of the models to different European forest ecosystems. Reality was evaluated by comparing the modelled and observed responses of gross primary production, ecosystem respiration to radiation and temperature. The results indicated that: Accuracy. All models showed similar high correlation with the measured carbon flux data, and also low systematic and unsystematic prediction errors at one or more sites of flux measurements. The results were similar in the case of several models when the water fluxes were considered. Most models fulfilled the criteria of sufficient accuracy for the ability to predict the carbon and water exchange between forests and the atmosphere. Generality. Three models of six could be applied for both deciduous and coniferous forests. Furthermore, four models were applied both for boreal and temperate conditions. However, no severe water-limited conditions were encountered, and no year-to-year variability could be tested. Realism. Most models fulfil the criterion of realism that the relationships between the modelled phenomena (carbon and water exchange) and environment are described causally. Again several of the models were able to reproduce the responses of measurable variables such as gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration and transpiration to environmental driving factors such as radiation and temperature. Stomatalconductance appears to be the most critical process causing differences in predicted fluxes of carbon and water between those models that accurately describe the annual totals of GPP, ecosystem respiration and transpiration.As a conclusion, several process-based models are available that produce accurate estimates of carbon and water fluxes at several forest sites of Europe. This considerable accuracy fulfils one requirement of models to be able to predict the impacts of climate change on the carbon balance of European forests. However, the generality of the models should be further evaluated by expanding the range of testing over both time and space. In addition, differences in behaviour between models at the process level indicate requirement of further model testing, with special emphasis on modelling stomatal conductance realistically.

Notes: Analysis of the SiC–SiC joint and its brazing mixture has been performed using a Raman spectroscopy microprobe technique. A careful mapping of the sample clearly shows the spatial distribution of the chemical species close to and within the joint. A different distribution of the 4H and 6H α-SiC polytypes, grown during the brazing process, was observed inside the joint. Furthermore, identification of the bands related to the Nowotny phase was also possible.

Notes: knox genes encode homeodomain-containing transcription factors that are required for meristem maintenance and proper patterning of organ initiation. In plants with simple leaves, knox genes are expressed exclusively in the meristem and stem, but in dissected leaves, they are also expressed in leaf primordia, suggesting that they may play a role in the diversity of leaf form. This hypothesis is supported by the intriguing phenotypes found in gain-of-function mutations where knox gene misexpression affects leaf and petal shape. Similar phenotypes are also found in recessive mutations of genes that function to negatively regulate knox genes. KNOX proteins function as heterodimers with other homeodomains in the TALE superclass. The gibberellin and lignin biosynthetic pathways are known to be negatively regulated by KNOX proteins, which results in indeterminate cell fates.

Notes: The decline in above-ground net primary productivity (Pa) that is usually observed in forest stands has been variously attributed to respiration, nutrient or hydraulic limitations. A novel model is proposed to explain the phenomenon and the co-occurring changes in the balance between foliage, conducting sapwood and fine roots. The model is based on the hypothesis that a functional homeostasis in water transport is maintained irrespective of age: hydraulic resistances through the plant must be finely tuned to transpiration rates so as to avoid extremely negative water potentials that could result in diffuse xylem embolism and foliage dieback, in agreement with experimental evidence. As the plant grows taller, allocation is predicted to shift from foliage to transport tissues, most notably to fine roots. Higher respiration and fine root turnover would result in the observed decline in Pa. The predictions of the model have been compared with experimental data from a chronosequence of Pinus sylvestris stands. The observed reduction in Pa is conveniently explained by concurrent modifications in leaf area index and plant structure. Changes in allometry and shoot hydraulic conductance with age are successfully predicted by the principle of functional homeostasis.

Notes: [Auszug] To the editor Dantuma and colleagues have recently proposed the use of engineered green fluorescent proteins as substrates for the quantification of the ubiquitin/proteasome-dependent proteolytic system in living cells. Because of the critical involvement of this pathway in many essential ...

Notes: Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been used to study thegrowth of He bubbles in a martensitic steel for fusion reactors. The samples had been homogeneously implanted at 523 K with 400 appm He, then subjected to thermal annealing at temperatures up to 1248 K. Suitable reference samples, submitted solely to identical thermal treatments, were also measured. The He bubble volume distribution functions obtained show that a dense population of bubbles 10 Å or less in size is accompanied by a secondary distribution of bubbles one order of magnitude larger, as expected after post-implantation annealing. These results are discussed in terms of background subtraction and available Q-range.