Embodied Carbon in Buildings - investigating drivers and barriers for the Swedish construction industry to address Embodied Carbon, and necessary policy support as deemed by the industry

Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential for us humans to curb climate change. Around a fifth of the anthropogenic GHG emissions stem from the construction sector. Much come from energy used for space and water heating within buildings, but an increasing proportion comes from the manufacturing of the building materials and is virtually embodied within buildings. This is called Embodied Carbon (EC). This thesis explores how industry addresses EC through posing three questions. These are 1) what actors within the industry address EC and how, 2) what are the drivers and barriers to address EC and 3) what policy support industrial actors perceive necessary for addressing EC to become business-as-usual. Through a literature review and semi-structured interviews, and with the aid of the theoretical framework of Technological Innovation Systems (TIS), it is found that a few actors throughout the industry are working with EC. This is done by conducting life-cycle assessments of buildings to form an image of where emissions originate. Some actors have started to use this tool to explore alternative designs and materials for the building. The drivers of this development are the green building certification systems as their inclusion of considerations of EC push actors to develop capabilities to address it. Identified barriers are lack of knowledge of ways to address EC and as well as lacking knowledge of the EC within the specific building materials. The complexity of the issue is seen as a barrier as it renders it difficult to find a coherent way of calculating EC. That residential buildings does not use certification to the same degree, thus missing out of the driving force they have is also seen as a barrier. It is found that the actors see that policy support is necessary. National regulative instruments are currently not perceived as a way forward, while informative instruments such as certification systems are preferred. As these are industry-owned, the thesis finds that Green Public Procurement is a good tool to increase the demand for certified buildings, thus pushing the market

Public Authorities, Biogas Syd and Agency within Transitions

With climate change gathering pace and increasingly foreboding predictions of the effects it will bring, the question of how to achieve a fast-paced transition towards a sustainable society is gaining increased awareness and importance. One debate centers on agency, and whether primarily public authorities can govern such a transition successfully. Theory on transitions suggests that they are often only achieved with the assistance of a strategic intermediary organization that plays a governance role. In this thesis, the strengths and weaknesses of a strategic intermediary to foster a transition are evaluated. The chosen case study is Biogas Syd (BGS) in Scania, Sweden, and its work to promote biogas development in the region. BGS is perceived partly as an agent of the public authorities in Scania, due to the public authorities' involvement and funding of the organization. The functions BGS performs are extracted through a coding process based on interviews with representatives from five organisations working closely with the BGS, in addition to BGS itself. These functions are then subjected to a deeper theoretical analysis, drawing on the multi-level perspective coupled with spatial proximities to evaluate their contribution to fostering a transition. It is found that BGS strengthen some processes vital in niche development, but lack connection to the national and local political levels

Rapid culture and identification: a practical method for early preliminary laboratory diagnosis of sepsis

ABSTRACTThis study describes the development of a method for rapid preliminary species identification of bacteria from positive blood culture vials. The method yielded preliminary identification results for 496 (92%) of 541 positive blood cultures within 5 h. The method was capable of identifying the most frequently isolated bacteria (i.e., Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Enterococcus spp.) to the species level. The method can be established easily, with a materials cost of 2–5 Euros per sample

Lovgivning, innhold og organisering av tannhelsebehandling for sosialt svake grupper i befolkningen

Source https://www.tannlegetidende.no/journal/2021/2/m-938/Lovgivning,_innhold_og_organisering_av_tannhelsebehandling_for_sosialt_svake_grupper_i_befolkningen.Formålet med denne artikkelen er å beskrive behandlingssystemene for tannhelse i fire nordiske land, både på generell basis, men først og fremst blant sosialt vanskeligstilte grupper. Alle disse landene tilbyr gratis tannbehandling for barn og ungdom, men tilbudet varierer når det gjelder voksne. Voksne i Norge må betale fra egen lomme. I Danmark blir de grunnleggende utgiftene dekket, skjønt bare delvis. I Finland blir kostnadene subsidiert av offentlige tannhelsetjenester, men tilgangen til dette er begrenset. I Sverige må voksne selv betale inntil et visst terskelbeløp, mens høyere behandlingskostnader blir subsidiert. I tillegg har alle nordiske land flere andre støttesystemer for tannbehandling for sosialt vanskeligstilte grupper. I alle land har disse systemene opp gjennom årene utviklet seg til et lappeteppe av ulike typer subsidier. Disse systemene er i ferd med å bli, eller er allerede blitt revidert med større eller mindre endringer