Data rescue of historical wind observations in Sweden since the 1920s

Instrumental measurements of wind speed and direction from the 1920s to the 1940s from 13 stations in Sweden have been rescued and digitized, making 165 additional station years of wind data available through the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute&rsquo;s open data portal. These stations measured wind through different versions of cup-type anemometers and were mainly situated at lighthouses along the coasts and at airports. The work followed the protocol "Guidelines on Best Practices for Climate Data Rescue" of the World Meteorological Organization consisting of (i) designing a template for digitization; (ii) digitizing records in paper journals by a scanner; (iii) typing numbers of wind speed and direction data into the template and (iv) performing quality control of the raw observation data. Along with the digitization of the wind observations, meta data from the stations were collected and compiled as support to the following quality control and homogenization of the wind data. The meta data mainly consist of changes in observer and a small number of changes in instrument types and positions. The rescue of these early wind observations can help improve our understanding of long-term wind changes and multidecadal variability (e.g., the "stilling" vs. "reversal" phenomena), but also to evaluate and assess climate simulations of the past. Digitized data can be accessed through the SMHI open data portal: https://www.smhi.se/data, last access: 26 December 2022, and Zenodo repository: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5850264, last access: 26 December 2022, (Zhou et al., 2022).</p

The contribution of large‑scale atmospheric circulation to variations of observed near‑surface wind speed across Sweden since 1926

This study investigates the centennial-scale (i.e., since 1926) variability of observed nearsurface wind speed across Sweden. Results show that wind speed underwent various phases of change during 1926–2019, i.e., (a) a clear slowdown during 1926–1960; (b) a stabilization from 1960 to 1990; (c) another clear slowdown during 1990–2003; (d) a slight recovery/stabilization period for 2003–2014, which may continue with a possible new slowdown. Furthermore, the performance of three reanalysis products in representing past wind variations is evaluated. The observed low-frequency variability is properly simulated by the selected reanalyses and is linked to the variations of different large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns (e.g., the North Atlantic Oscillation). However, the evident periods of decreasing trend during 1926–1960 and 1990–2003, which drive most of the stilling in the last century, are missing in the reanalyses and cannot be realistically modeled through multiple linear regression by only using indexes of atmospheric circulation. Therefore, this study reveals that changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation mainly drive the low-frequency variability of observed near-surface wind speed, while other factors (e.g., changes in surface roughness) are crucial for explaining the periods of strong terrestrial stilling across Swede

Variations of observed near-surface wind speed across Sweden since 1926

Trabajo presentado en el III Encuentro Extremeño de Climatología, celebrado en Badajoz (España) del 29 al 30 de septiembre de 2022

Generalization of a Real-Analysis Result to a Class of Topological Vector Spaces

In this paper, we generalize an elementary real-analysis result to a class of topological vector spaces. We also give an example of a topological vector space to which the result cannot be generalized.Comment: 6 pages, no figure

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Willy Brandt och Berlinfrågan : En studie i kontinuiteten i Brandts politiska tänkande

Willy Brandt is one of the most important charismatic leaders of the postwar era and his Ostpolitik is considered his great political achievement. The Berlin Question can be said to symbolize his political activities. Therefore, by concentrating on this issue I can explore and analyse his political thinking as a whole. My basic assumption in this dissertation is that a politician tends to stick to his beliefs and thus shows continuity in his thinking. If changes do occur they are usually slow and gradual. My first aim is to analyse Brandt’s arguing and reasoning in the Berlin Question in the 1948-1966 time frame. Employing a semantic method, I investigate how his evaluations i.e. his value judgements, and his analyses of various aspects of the Berlin Question are expressed. Next, I study his perceptions, i.e. the conclusions made from his evaluations. These manifest themselves as recommendations and requests to the different actors; the Western Powers, the Soviet Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR. After that I endeavour to analyse the entire semantic structure of Brand’s political thinking. My conclusion is that Brandt’s evaluations and prescriptions are logical and that his reasoning show no contradictions. I finally refer to Brandt’s operational code, attempting to capture his complete sphere of ideas in political matters, and examine whether his reasoning in the Berlin Question is consistent with his political arguing in general. It turns out that most of his arguments in the Berlin Question can also be found in his political expressions in general. My second aim is to investigate whether there is continuity in Brandt’s thinking in the Berlin Question during the years 1948-1974 on the international, national and local levels. I try to establish whether or not Brandt’s perceptions and beliefs change over time and if they do, for what reason. I demonstrate that to a great extent Brandt’s thinking shows continuity on all levels during the entire period. I have noted only three shifts of ideas or accents, and these can be explained by the overwhelming impact of the Berlin Wall on Brandt’s views. The Wall turned out to be a catalyst for a complete revision of foreign policy, and a realization of personal ideas, some of which he had harboured since World War Two. After the establishment of the Wall, Brandt tried to attain a modus vivendi in Berlin in order to ease the inhabitants’ difficult situation. This was partly accomplished by the Passierschein agreement in December 1963, which also pointed to his future Ostpolitik. My third aim is to explore whether Brandt’s experiences from the Berlin years (1948-1966) may have had an impact on his later activities as Foreign Minister (1966-1969) and Chancellor (1969-1974). My theoretical assumption is that a politician is influenced by his historical knowledge and his experiences. It is evident that many of Brandt’s experiences as a local politician in West Berlin influenced his future actions when he attained positions of power in Bonn. They formed his Ostpolitik and there is a clear connection between Brandt’s Berlin period and his Chancellorship in Bonn

Analys och kompletteringar av Landstingets resultat i Öppna jämförelser

Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting presenterade 2007 tillsammans med Socialstyrelsen den andra rapporten med Öppna jämförelser (ÖJ) inom den svenska hälso- och sjukvården. Huvudsyftet med ÖJ är att göra Sveriges hälso- och sjukvård öppen för insyn. Ett andra syfte är att stimulera landsting och kommuner att analysera sin verksamhet, lära av varandra, förbättra kvaliteten och effektivisera verksamheten. Vidare ska kommuner och landsting kunna ta reda på vilka insatser och arbetsmetoder som ger goda resultat genom att de jämför sina prestationer. Underlaget för rapporten består av olika indikatorer inom olika områden som ska ge en bild över hälso- och sjukvårdsläget i Sverige. Indikatorerna består av fyra olika huvudgrupper; medicinska, patienterfarenheter, tillgänglighet samt kostnader. I denna rapport behandlas enbart de medicinska indikatorerna. För varje indikator finns det i Kalmar län en kontaktperson. Denna kontaktperson har ansvar för att kommentera de aktuella resultaten i anslutning till att den årliga rapporten publiceras. Som ett led i Landstinget i Kalmar läns förbättringsarbete gavs eHälsoinstitutet, tillsammans med Folkhälsocentrum uppdraget att tydliggöra och underlätta tolkning av 2007 års ÖJ.Öppna jämförelser i Kalmar läns landstin

Heterogeneity in cost-effectiveness of lifestyle counseling for metabolic syndrome risk groups -primary care patients in Sweden

Abstract Background: Clinical trials have indicated that lifestyle interventions for patients with lifestyle-related cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors (the metabolic syndrome) are cost-effective. However, patient characteristics in primary care practice vary considerably, i.e. they exhibit heterogeneity in risk factors. The cost-effectiveness of lifestyle interventions is likely to differ over heterogeneous patient groups. Methods: Patients (62 men, 80 women) in the Kalmar Metabolic Syndrome Program (KMSP) in primary care (Kalmar regional healthcare area, Sweden) were divided into three groups reflecting different profiles of metabolic risk factors (low, middle and high risk) and gender. A Markov model was used to predict future cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including complications (until age 85 years or death), with health effects measured as QALYs and costs from a societal perspective in Euro (EUR) 2012, discounted 3%. Simulations with risk factor levels at start and at 12 months follow-up were performed for each group, with an assumed 4-year sustainability of intervention effects. Results: The program was estimated cost-saving for middle and high risk men, while the incremental cost vs. do-nothing varied between EUR 3,500 -18,000 per QALY for other groups. There is heterogeneity in the cost-effectiveness over the risk groups but this does not affect the overall conclusion on the cost-effectiveness of the KMSP. Even the highest ICER (for high risk women) is considered moderately cost-effective in Sweden. The base case result was not sensitive to alternative data and methodology but considerably affected by sustainability assumptions. Alternative risk stratifications did not change the overall conclusion that KMSP is cost-effective. However, simple grouping with average risk factor levels over gender groups overestimate the cost-effectiveness. Conclusions: Lifestyle counseling to prevent metabolic diseases is cost-effective in Swedish standard primary care settings. The use of risk stratification in the cost-effectiveness analysis established that the program was cost-effective for all patient groups, even for those with very high levels of lifestyle-related risk factors for the metabolic syndrome diseases. Heterogeneity in the cost-effectiveness of lifestyle interventions in primary care patients is expected, and should be considered in health policy decisions