Damned if you do, Damned if you don't – Reduced Climate Impact vs. Sustainable Forests in Sweden

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the potential goal conflict between two of Sweden’s environmental objectives: Sustainable Forests and Reduced Climate Impact – or, more precisely, the conflict between forest conservation and the supply of wood fuel. To accomplish this, we use a forest sector model that includes the suppliers and major users of roundwood. The econometric results, based on a data set that spans 40 years, show that all the own price elasticities have the expected signs. Among the three forestry products, the supply and (long-term) demand of forest fuel seems to be most sensitive to a price change. In a second step, the estimated model is used to simulate the effect of increased forest conservation -- the Sustainable Forest objective -- on the supply of wood fuel. If oil is used as a substitute, Swedish emissions of greenhouse gases will increase by almost 0.92 percent, which indicates a clear conflict with the Reduced Climate Impact objective.Goal conflict; Wood fuels; Forest sector model; Roundwood markets; Forest conservation

The Juridical Status of Privileged Combatants Under the Geneva Protocol of 1977 Concerning International Conflicts

Centralized control and coordination of the connections in a wireless network is not possible in practice. To keep the delay from measure-ment instants to actuating the decisions, distributed control is required. This paper focuses on the uplink (from mobiles to base stations) and dis-cusses distributing the decision of when and when not to transmit data (distributed scheduling) to the mobiles. The scheme, uplink transmission timing, utilizes mobile transmitter power control feedback from the base station receiver to determine whether the channel is favorable or not compared to the average channel condition. Thereby, the battery consumption and disturbing power to other connections are reduced. The algorithm can be described as a feedback control system. Some transient behaviors are analyzed using systems theory, and supported by wireless network simulations of a system with a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) radio interface as in most 3G systems

Incentives vs. Nonpartisanship: The Prosecutorial Dilemma in an Adversary System

The limiting factor in the uplink of all CDMA cellular systems is the relation between uplink noise rise and intended coverage. In link budgets, noise rise is usually simply handled as a constant contribution to the background noise in logarithmic scale, often referred to as interference margin. In practice, however, it is not constant. We model the uplink noise rise as a lognormal distribution, and investigate the impact to link budgets. Simulations and numerical calculations show that the uplink noise rise variance does not critically affect the uplink capacity and coverage. System feasibility and its relation to the uplink load is also discussed. It is shown that approximative load expressions provides an upper bound on the uplink load and therefore they can be used to imply system feasibility. Furthermore, the uplink load expressions provide accurate approximations of the load given that the load is within the practical limits given by the link budgets

The Due-on-Sale Controversy: Beneficial Effects of the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institution Act of 1982

Radio resource management (RRM) in cellular radio system is an example of automatic control. The system performance may be increased by introducing decentralization, shorter delays and increased adaptation to local demands. However, it is hard to guarantee system stability without being, too conservative while using decentralized resource management. In this paper, two algorithms that both guarantee system stability and use local resource control are proposed for the uplink (mobile to base station). While one of the algorithms uses only local decisions, the other uses a central node to coordinate resources among different local nodes. In the chosen design approach, a feasible solution to the optimization problems corresponds to a stable system. Therefore, the algorithms will never assign resources that lead to an unstable system. Simulations indicate that the proposed algorithms also provide high capacity at any given uplink load level

Monoamine related functional gene variants and relationships to monoamine metabolite concentrations in CSF of healthy volunteers

BACKGROUND: Concentrations of monoamine metabolites in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been used extensively as indirect estimates of monoamine turnover in the brain. CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations are partly determined by genetic influences. METHODS: We investigated possible relationships between DNA polymorphisms in the serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2C), the serotonin 3A receptor (HTR3A), the dopamine D(4 )receptor (DRD4), and the dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) genes and CSF concentrations of 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA), and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) in healthy volunteers (n = 90). RESULTS: The HTR3A 178 C/T variant was associated with 5-HIAA levels (p = 0.02). The DBH-1021 heterozygote genotype was associated with 5-HIAA (p = 0.0005) and HVA (p = 0.009) concentrations. Neither the HTR2C Cys23Ser variant, nor the DRD4 -521 C/T variant were significantly associated with any of the monoamine metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that the HTR3A and DBH genes may participate in the regulation of dopamine and serotonin turnover rates in the central nervous system

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Goal conflicts and spillover effects in Swedish environmental policy

This thesis consists of a summary and four appended papers on conflicts in inter-related goals in Swedish environmental policies and projects. Paper I analyses conflicts between two of these goals Reduced Climate Impact and Sustainable Forests or, more precisely, the conflict between conserving forests and supplying forest fuel. This is done with the help of a forest sector model including four actors: forest owners, sawmills, the pulp industry and the heating industry. The parameters of the model are estimated, and then used to simulate effects of additional forest conservation actions on forest fuel supplies. According to the results, protection of an additional four percent of forest land would lead to a decrease in the supply of forest fuel, and can lead to an increase in Swedish emissions of carbon dioxide from non-renewable sources by about 0.9 percent. Paper II examines another goal conflict, between the two Swedish environmental goals maintaining A Rich Diversity of Plant and Animal Life and Increasing Use of Renewable Energy Resources or, more precisely, effects of stump harvests on forest fuel supplies and the abundance of saproxylic beetles in northern Sweden. The analysis uses a model similar to the one described and applied in Paper I, but parameter estimates are derived from regional data. According to the results, large-scale implementation of stump harvests would result in a 3% increase in the use of renewable energy sources in heating plants, but a 5% reduction in abundance of saproxylic beetles on future clear cuts, compared to a scenario with no stump harvests. Paper III describes the wind power park on Smöla, Norway, and examines the conflict between clean energy generation and protection of the island's white-tailed eagle (WTE) population. The paper presents a Resource Equivalence Analysis (REA) addressing the required compensation for damage done to the WTE population. It also contains some general remarks on the practical implementation of REAs. Paper IV considers eutrophication, and the two interconnected sub-goals of nitrogen and phosphorus reduction. The paper maps the set of possible outcomes that a policy maker could choose from, and discusses how their choice could be informed by an environmental index (EI). The paper also discusses the benefits of formulating a priori the eutrophication goal in terms of an EI instead of, as today, in terms of separate nitrogen and phosphorus reduction goals. Finally, it suggests an eutrophication index and discusses how the presented results could have practical value although they are based on very crude data

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