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Green liquor dregs (GLD) is an alkaline by-product from the pulp and paper industry with a pH between 10 and 14. Today most of the produced GLD in Sweden is landfilled. As a fine-grained alkaline material, it might be possible to use it for acid-generating mining waste remediation. To increase the utilization, quality characteristics and environmental performance need to be determined. In this study samples were collected 5 times from 16 mills during a period of 2.5 years, and were characterized by analyzing dry matter content, loss on ignition (LOI) 550 °C and LOI 950 °C, elemental analysis, pH, electrical conductivity, and calorific value. The results were then evaluated using multivariate statistics (PCA) as well as being compared to other studies and Swedish till. The results show that even if GLD is heterogenous (both within a mill and between different mills) trends can be seen for samples from most mills. When samples do stand out, it is predominately related to the same four mills. Most of the studied parameters showed characteristics favorable for use as a remediant; however, TOC, sulfur, and some of the elements require further study. In general, this study concludes that GLD can be a viable option for the remediation of small orphaned sulfidic mining sites and thus worthy of further studies on the interaction between GLD and acidic mining waste.Overall, GLD can be a good alternative for cost-effective remediation of smaller orphaned mining sites. It is readily available in large quantities, has the qualities needed for remediation of many orphaned acidic mining sites, and can often be locally sourced near the mining site. The use of GLD for mining site remediation is likely also a more sustainable method compared to traditional remediation methods., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This article aims to compare the pattern of responses obtained by a web-based and a paper-based survey used to investigate the transit safety of travellers in railway stations in Sweden. This aim is achieved by evaluating whether the response and the completion rates change as the surveys progress, assessing the effect of the survey mode on respondents' answers (after controlling for the surveys' internal consistency and differences in the samples), and the potential impact of the order of alternatives in multiple-choice questions on the responses. To carry out the study, a sample of 500 responses was taken from each population and later compared using a series of statistical tests. Findings indicate that despite the surveys' high internal consistency, the prevalence of victimisation, fear of crime, and precautions detected in the web survey was higher than those found in the paper survey. The web survey shows a major drop just after the initial questions, while the paper survey shows a more stable pattern of responses, but was also affected by a single compulsory question that pushed the completion rate down. Finally, the order of alternatives in multiple-choice questions (fixed or random) did not affect the answers given by the respondents, providing a solid base for safety interventions in transit environments, regardless of survey mode. The article concludes by making suggestions for both research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medical student master's theses are often carried out as research projects, and some are published as research papers in journals. We investigated the percentage of master's theses conducted by 5th -year students at the Medical Degree Program at Lund University, Sweden, that subsequently served as the basis for research publications. In addition, we explored both student and supervisor experiences with the publishing process. Methods: A cohort of four semesters of student data covering the period from 2019 to 2020 (n = 446) was searched in PubMed, Embase and the Web of Science to assess whether they had been published as research papers. Surveys were sent to students (n = 121) and supervisors (n = 77) to explore their experiences with the publishing process. Results: We found that 33% (149 of 446) of the students in the 2019–2020 cohort subsequently published their theses, and 50% of these students were listed as first authors. Most students published original research. Students (n = 21) and supervisors (n = 44) reported that the publishing process was time-consuming and that students needed multilevel support from supervisors to achieve successful publication. The publishing process was reported by 79% of the students to have led to additional learning. Most of the papers (126 of 149, 85%) had a clinical or patient-oriented focus. Conclusion: A high percentage of the student publications in which students are listed as first authors require engagement from both students and supervisors. Supervisors play an essential role in supporting students in a successful publication process. Most of the published papers were either clinical or patient-oriented research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doctoral education has been shaped by a continuous interaction between the research community and representatives of the governmental authorities. In Sweden, doctorates were organised into structured educational programmes in 1969. In this study, the development of doctoral education in Medical Radiation Physics at Lund University, Sweden, was analysed over approximately 50 years, in terms of quantitative parameters related to throughput rate and scientific production making up the doctoral theses. Theses from two time periods (1970 to 1999 versus 2001 to 2023) were compared in terms of the total number of full papers (either accepted or in manuscript form), number of accepted full papers and number of accepted full papers as first author. For all three categories of included papers, median values were not significantly different between the two time periods while the variances were significantly smaller for the period 2001 to 2023 (level of significance 0.05). The time between admission and thesis defence decreased with time, according to linear correlation analysis, while the number of supervisors increased. Doctoral theses showed a significantly more uniform composition after a major political reform in 1998. Hence, doctoral education can be described as becoming more efficient and predictable. It is suggested that the primary causes include the introduction of individual study plans and secured personal financial support. The increased efficiency can also be problematised regarding, for example, insufficient independence and limited freedom of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the reference societies of Norway and Sweden embedded in their education policy documents. We examined 4,260 bibliographic references in 19 white papers and green papers prepared for the 2016/2020 renewal of the Knowledge Promotion Reform in Norway and the 2015/2018 Knowledge Achievement Reform in Sweden. In addition, we interviewed 10 policy experts who participated in the preparation of the analyzed policy documents. The results show that the reference societies overall reflect the existing knowledge production and dissemination mechanisms in education policy; however, they significantly differed between Norway and Sweden regarding whether and to what extent they reference knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Specifically, while Norway drew extensively on knowledge from its neighbors, particularly Sweden, Sweden seldom referenced knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Policy actors identified similarity, relevance, accessibility, reform contexts, and institutional arrangements as reasons for (not) referencing neighbors. This study calls for further consideration of the political, social, and cultural embeddedness of the 'socio-logic' to understand implicit reference societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: "The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on service innovation during the past two decades and provide an analysis of sources of publication, citations and authorship using bibliometric analysis techniques (VOSviewer)." This paper aims to assesses the important trends, enhance the academic debate, identify research gaps and propose future directions and a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines 176 articles in English language published from 2002 to 2022 from the Scopus database by adopting the bibliometric technique using VOSviewer software. This paper analyzes the different levels and boundaries of service innovation using bibliometric analysis of "service innovation research" using VOSviewer software. The methodology analyzes the number of citations, co-citations, keywords, authors, journals and countries. Findings: The review of the past 20 years indicates a substantial growth in the number of good research publications on service innovation. The UK, the USA, Sweden and Australia dominate this research area with the most articles published to date under the subject area of "Business management." The review highlighted that most of the studies on service innovation focused on products, companies and processes in the services industry. The most critical factors behind service innovation failure are improper management and lack of knowledge. The citation analysis revealed various research implications and directions for the future. Research limitations/implications: This study focuses only on service innovation and excludes research on performance management and control. Thus, future studies may explore this area of research in future studies. Only research articles were analyzed; conference papers, reports, manuals and white papers from practice were excluded. Research implications indicate that future studies on service innovation would be essential for organizational excellence, not process excellence. Originality/value: This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current status and essential trends of research on service innovation. This study identifies the research gaps and provides a clear research agenda for understanding the various elements of service innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the management learning during a long-term crisis like a pandemic. The paper addresses both what health-care managers have learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the management learning is characterized. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a qualitative case study carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic at two different public hospitals in Sweden. The study, conducted with semi-structured interviews, applies a combination of within-case analysis and cross-case comparison. The data were analyzed using thematic deductive analysis with the themes, i.e. sensemaking, decision-making and meaning-making. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by uncertainty and a need for continuous learning among the managers at the case hospitals. The learning process that arose was circular in nature, wherein trust played a crucial role in facilitating the flow of information and enabling the managers to get a good sense of the situation. This, in turn, allowed the managers to make decisions meaningful for the organization, which improved the trust for the managers. This circular process was iterated with higher frequency than usual and was a prerequisite for the managers' learning. The practical implications are that a combined management with hierarchical and distributed management that uses the normal decision routes seems to be the most successful management method in a prolonged crisis as a pandemic. Practical implications: The gained knowledge can benefit hospital organizations, be used in crisis education and to develop regional contingency plans for pandemics. Originality/value: This study has explored learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and found a circular process, "the management learning wheel," which supports management learning in prolonged crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present findings from an initial phase of a more extensive study focussed on ways in which prospective mathematics teachers negotiate meaning from mathematics teacher education situations. The focus of this paper is on the language of one mathematics teacher educator and specifically the interpersonal aspects from one mathematics teacher education lecture in Sweden for prospective upper-primary school teachers. We draw on the enactivist view of cognition as a theoretical basis for a methodology we develop that utilises Systemic Functional Linguistics as an analytical tool for studying language-in-use. We exemplify our interpretations through a series of extracts from the mathematics education lecture. This initial phase of our study has exposed several important questions about how participating in an initial teacher education situation may contribute to the development of teacher identities, questions we raise throughout our analyses to provoke further investigation as part of our future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use conflicts are intensifying in Northern Sweden due to the increasing global demand for resources coupled with the green transition. In line with this, a thorough understanding of land use conflicts in the area is becoming necessary as economic activities expand and newer ones are developed. Hence, this paper aims to provide a systematic literature review of research on land use conflicts specific to Northern Sweden, focusing on various economic activities such as forestry, mining, tourism, energy sector and reindeer husbandry. Additionally, we aim to determine lessons learned and suggested ways forward based on a systematic review. We used Scopus and Web of Science on June 2023 and through descriptive statistical analysis of 33 articles, we summarized research trends and gaps. We found three main typologies of conflicts and five main themes of suggested ways forward. Recommendations agree that there should be a broader understanding of the underlying interests of the stakeholders; and there should be an inclusive, more participatory approach to discussing potential solutions, not to create an agreement but to come to an understanding. Beyond academic insights, the findings hold practical relevance for shaping effective land use policies. This paper offers valuable lessons that extend beyond the local context, informing broader discussions and policy considerations for sustainable land management in the larger Arctic setting, where similar challenges and resource demands are unfolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In writing of the economies of abandonment of late liberal globalization, Elizabeth Povinelli also points to the potential for SPACES OF OTHERWISE, those spaces of "curiosity and risk, potentiality and exhaustion" which open possibilities for more ethical becoming and the emergence of new forms of sociality and social life (2012. The will to be otherwise/the effort of endurance. South Atlantic Quarterly 111(3). 453–475: 454). This Special Issue aims to contribute to an expanded, southernized sociology of language and sociolinguistics by exploring what role sociolinguistics can play in thinking through and with these spaces. It brings together a set of papers from southern contexts rarely represented in sociolinguistic research (Crimea, Mozambique, Palestine) spaces of grim endurance where suffering is chronic rather than catastrophic, and a study of the metaphorical south in the north, where migration imperatives land people in situations of precarity, in this case, Sweden. An illuminating invited commentary offers a novel perspective on the key theme QUASI-EVENT threading across all the papers. In exploring the construction of spaces of otherwise, authors use the southern concept of Linguistic Citizenship that construes language as a site of political struggle. This framing offers an alternative approach to a politics of language where potentialities for otherwise can be attended to. The papers show how, through acts of Linguistic Citizenship, participants bring potential worlds into existence, however fleetingly. From the chronicling of these 'quasi-events' emerges a sociolinguistics of potentiality, one which contributes to an understanding of what enables some emergent forms of life to endure and others not. The sociolinguistics of potentiality is an invitation to listen beyond and within 'noise' to those who inhabit discounted bodies and speak unvalued languages, to move beyond 'community' and 'selfhood' to becoming otherwise with others in projects of world-building, simultaneously prompting research which seeks to be 'ethically otherwise'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the perception of real teamwork and sustainable quality culture as well as success factors for achieving a sustainable quality culture within an organisation, focusing on top management teams (TMTs). An additional purpose is to explore the relationship between real teamwork and sustainable quality culture. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-methods design focusing on TMTs was used. Four TMTs were open-sampled and located in different parts of Sweden. The data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions between April 2022 and December 2022. Follow-up meetings were thereafter held with the participants. A meta-analysis was conducted of the data from the four TMTs. Findings: Two overarching conclusions of this study were: to follow the developed methodology can be one way to increase TMTs' abilities for real teamwork alongside a sustainable quality culture, and the results also showed the importance of a systems view, emotional commitment and continuous improvement for improving real teamwork and creating a sustainable quality culture. Practical implications: Practical implications were suggestions on how to increase the TMTs' abilities for real teamwork alongside a sustainable quality culture. A deepened understanding of real teamwork and a sustainable quality culture was also achieved by the participants. Originality/value: The novelty of this paper is the use of a new methodology for assessing teamwork and sustainable quality culture. To the authors' knowledge, no similar research has previously been performed to investigate teamwork alongside a sustainable quality culture, focusing on TMTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The wild boar (Sus scrofa) was extinct in Sweden when a few animals established in the 1970s. Over the past 35 years, the species has made a substantial comeback. In this paper, we analyse wild boar population growth using three indices of population size. We also map the legislative decisions and research prompted by the expanding population. We discuss to what extent, in the eyes of the state, the view of wild boar and the management focus has shifted over time, from a perceived pest (eradication) to scarce (conservation), overabundant (reduction/control) or somewhere in between (sustainable management). Results: Wild boar harvest started in the early 1990s with a few hundred animals annually and peaked at 161,000 in 2020/2021. The distribution now comprises most of southern Sweden. Analyses of harvest and traffic accidents involving wild boar showed that the population grew exponentially until 2010/2011, after which the increase levelled off. Thus, logistic growth models showed the best fit for the full study period. We recorded 38 legislative decisions or commissions to government agencies regarding wild boar. The first decision in 1981 was to eradicate the free-ranging population. In 1987 however, the parliament decided that wild boar is native to Sweden and should be allowed in restricted extent. Later decisions mainly concerned hunting regulations and hunting methods as direct means to increase harvest and regulate the population. Another topic, increasing in importance over time, was to facilitate the use of wild boar meat to indirectly stimulate harvest. A local outbreak of African swine fever in 2023 necessitated a stamping out strategy in the affected area. We found 44 scientific papers regarding the present free-ranging population. Topics include movements and feeding patterns, hunting, reproduction, and population development. Conclusions: The state historically regarded wild boar as a pest to be eradicated. This changed with the decision that wild boar should be allowed in restricted extent, suggesting a conservation approach. In response to population growth, the focus shifted to means facilitating sustainable management and, lately, reducing growth. The story of wild boar in Sweden illustrates attempts to mitigate conflicts and balance interests in wildlife management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of wavelet theory with a focus on structural damage detection. A new example of the application of operational modal analysis (OMA) techniques to a concrete railway arch bridge located over the Kalix river in Lingforsen, Sweden is presented. Results from the OMA techniques are used for finite element model (FEM) updating of this concrete railway arch bridge. Further, a new case study for sensor placement on Her0ysund bridge located in Nordland, Norway to conduct OMA is discussed in detail. Moreover, artificial intelligence algorithms that can be useful for addressing the problem of missing data sets in structural health monitoring technologies are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The digital age requires people of all ages to communicate and organise their lives through digital technologies. The project EQualCare investigates how the growing population of older people living alone is managing this transition, how it shapes their (non-)digital social networks and what changes on a local level need to be brought about. This paper aims to give insight into the process of participatory action research (PAR) with older people in the community across four countries and reflects on experiences made by academic and co-researchers. Design/methodology/approach: Following the emancipatory underpinnings of PAR, which aims to reduce inequalities through collaboration and co-design, EQualCare involved nine teams of co-researchers across Finland, Germany, Latvia and Sweden making older people the centre of policy development. Co-researchers were involved in formulating research aims, collecting data, reflecting on data, formulating and disseminating recommendations for local policy stakeholders. Findings: Co-researchers' motivation to invest considerable time and effort was driven by a desire to create a more equal future for older people living alone. Moreover, they were keen to involve marginalised older people and became frustrated when this proved difficult. Power dynamics played a role throughout the process but became productive as roles and responsibilities were renegotiated. Doing PAR with older people can be emotionally challenging for co-researchers when negative feelings around ageing are encountered. Originality/value: The paper advances understanding on the process of PAR in ageing research by reflecting on the social, cultural and political contexts of doing PAR with diverse sets of older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the competition between two charge point operators at the same site for future battery electric long-haul trucks. The charge point operators are located along one of the busiest highways in Sweden. The investigation is carried out using an agent-based model where trucks select charge point operators based on charging prices and the length of any queues, while charge point operators adjust their prices and number of chargers to improve their profitability. The study aims to predict conditions for trucks and charge point operators in a future public fast-charging market. Our findings indicate the potential for a well-functioning future public fast-charging market with small queuing problems, high utilisation, and reasonable prices for public fast charging. Assuming a price for electricity of EUR 0.08/kWh and a minimum profit margin of EUR 0.001/kWh for charge point operators, the findings indicate that the price level outside rush hours will be low, approximately EUR 0.1/kWh. The prices during rush hours will likely be much higher, but it is harder to predict the value due to uncertainties of how charge point operators will act in the future market. Still, from the model result, the price during rush hours is suggested to be just above EUR 0.5/kWh, with an average charging price of around EUR 0.15/kWh. It also seems likely that it is profitable for charge point operators to build enough chargers so that charging queues are short. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a fossil-free energy matrix may require large quantities of hydrogen gas, which could be stored efficiently in underground lined rock caverns (LRCs). Since the consequences of failure can be catastrophic, the LRC design needs to have a small failure probability. However, the current deterministic design practice for LRCs limits the possibility to stringently address geotechnical uncertainties. In this paper, a reliability-based design tool is presented for LRCs. The adaptive directional importance sampling (ADIS) method, which requires a relatively small number of samples, is used with a 3D finite element (FE) model to evaluate small probabilities of failure. An illustrative example based on the LRC in Skallen, southwestern Sweden, demonstrates the implementation and applicability of the developed design tool. The considered uncertainties are related to the geological conditions and the steel lining. The results show that the reliability of this LRC design meets the expected safety requirements. Considering different geological conditions with correlations, at least "good" quality rock mass is needed for the LRC design. An additional sensitivity analysis is performed to study the potential influence of corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement, showing that the LRC design could meet safety requirements for a lower category of the weld quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes three important contributions: to research on media and gender equality, specifically through the lens of gender equal sports coverage; to understanding the lived experiences of women in public service sports broadcasting, and to gender-sensitive public discourse and policy debates concerning the relationship between media and sport. In it, we examine industry attempts to achieve gender equal coverage in public service broadcasting (PSB) in Ireland and Sweden. The paper draws on a three-way dialogic exchange between the authors who, together, have sizeable professional and personal experiences of public service sports broadcasting, sports participation (from amateur to elite levels), and of voluntary sports coaching and administration. This novel exchange also responds to calls for greater insights into women's engagements with media. The paper concludes by considering current issues for PSBs in relation to gender equal coverage and suggesting potential future lines of enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational choice models predict that, ceteris paribus, countries with higher dispersion of skill will have higher market labour income inequality. However, an extended conclusion from empirical research is that cross-country variations in dispersion of skill explain little of the variation in income inequality. This paper identifies factors related to production and organization technologies that moderate the relationship between dispersion of skill and dispersion of income in occupational choice equilibrium outcomes and that, if not properly accounted for, can bias the results of the empirical studies that explain dispersion of income as a function of dispersion of skill. In particular, comparing equilibrium outcomes from occupational choices in economies that differ in the distribution of skill and in the efficiency of supervision hierarchies, the paper can explain why the US and Sweden have similar labour productivity, but income inequality is higher in the US than in Sweden, and why productivity is lower and income inequality is higher in Spain than in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In democracies, elections in which voters elect their leaders and hold them accountable are the most important part of the democratic process. This study is about the people who work on the frontline of democracy and who play a major role in elections, namely poll workers. Surprisingly little is known about how poll workers evaluate elections, and we provide a detailed analysis of poll workers' views of how elections work in Sweden. We do this by reporting and analysing the results from a survey conducted among poll workers in Sweden shortly after the 2022 election. The results show that although many types of polling station-related problems were rare, some problems occurred to a greater extent than we expected. It is also clear that many of the problems had a negative impact on the poll workers' evaluations of the quality of the voting process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low or even zero carbon dioxide emissions will be an essential requirement for energy supplies in the near future. Besides transport and electricity generation, industry is another large carbon emitter. Hydrogen produced by renewable energy provides a flexible way of utilizing that energy. Hydrogen, as an energy carrier, could be stored in a large capacity compared to electricity. In Sweden, hydrogen will be used to replace coal for steel production. This paper discusses how the need for electricity to produce hydrogen will affect the electricity supply and power flow in the Swedish power grid, and whether it will result in increased emissions in other regions. Data of the Swedish system will be used to study the feasibility of implementing the hydrogen system from the power system viewpoint, and discuss the electricity price and emission issues caused by the hydrogen production in different scenarios. This paper concludes that the Swedish power grid is feasible for accommodating the additional electricity capacity requirement of producing green hydrogen for the steel industry. The obtained results could be references for decision makers, investors, and power system operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its potential economic and environmental benefits, intercropping adoption remains limited in Europe. Drawing upon the Transtheoretical Model, this paper views adoption decision as stages of behavioural change. The paper aims to investigate socioeconomic, behavioural, and policy factors associated with stage of change in intercropping adoption in Sweden. Exploratory factor analysis and generalized ordered logit regression were performed on data from a nation-wide farmer survey conducted in 2021 with 388 usable replies. Results show that farmers with better knowledge of intercropping, a higher evaluation of financial benefits and ease of intercropping, and ley growers were more likely to progress to higher stages of the adoption process. Farmers who have higher perceived seed separation costs, a lower education level, and are older tend to remain at lower stages. Perceived environmental benefits of intercropping, household income, and instrumental values of farming could turn non-adopters into either potential adopters or actual adopters. We found no significant association between policy support and stage of change in intercropping adoption. Policy implications aimed at fostering intercropping adoption were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many workers, including older ones, experienced changes at work during the COVID-19 pandemic, among which was a sudden increase in the use of digital technologies. This paper aims at understanding older workers' satisfaction with digital technology-related changes at work during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Nordics. Based on novel survey data collected in Sweden in 2020-2021, we analyzed the experience with digital technology-related changes at work and modeled the (dis)satisfaction with such changes among older workers (aged 50+). Our findings show that groups of older, less educated, reporting concurrent workload changes and digital technologyrelated difficulties had an increased likelihood of being dissatisfied with digital technology-related changes at work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results have implications for the theoretical understanding of late working life and for the redefinition of working life policies and age management strategies in times of work digitalization of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the persistence of shocks on non-renewable and renewable energy consumption for 15 leading countries by renewable energy consumption, over the period 1980–2018. For this aim, we apply Christopoulos and Leon-Ledesma (J Int Money Finance 29(6):1076–1093, 2010) Fourier ADF unit root test which structural breaks are included by using a trigonometric function to allow for smooth temporary mean changes rather than jump functions. In application, we do not need to specify the numbers, locations and the forms of the structural breaks a priori. The results give that shocks on non-renewable energy consumption per capita are persistent for 13 countries except Sweden and the United States; shocks on renewable energy consumption per capita are persistent for 12 countries except Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Overall, we conclude that persistent policy implications on non-renewable energy consumption are more effective tool than transitory policy stances for 13 countries except Sweden and the United States whereas persistent policy implications on renewable energy consumption are more effective for 12 countries except Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In other words, since the energy consumption returns to its trend path quickly, any policy will not be effective on non-renewable energy consumption for Sweden and the United States, and also on renewable energy consumption for Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous funding literature, ample attention has been devoted to the consequences of competition for project grants. These consequences tend to be fueled by status distinctions among grants, but scant attention has been directed toward how such distinctions are constructed. My aim with this paper is to develop new knowledge about the ways in which scientists ascribe meanings that construct status distinctions among grants. Employing qualitative data and a Bourdieu-inspired field perspective, I analyze how early-career scientists in Sweden attributed meanings that constructed and distinguished the status of European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants (StGs) and Swedish Research Council (SRC) Reserve Grants (RGs), which were otherwise closely connected by common evaluation procedures and equivalent monetary amounts. My findings show how scientists – despite having received equivalent monetary amounts – ascribed starkly different meanings to ERC StGs and SRC RGs, building on perceptions of minimal, yet competition-grounded and expert-sanctioned, divisions introduced by panelists among top-graded applicants during the ERC's evaluations. These divisions were amplified when scientists recast StGs as 'prizes' and RGs as 'consolations'. Such recasting was largely unaltered by acknowledgments that ERC StGs generated much more administrative burdens and economic troubles than SRC RGs. Those burdens and troubles were approached by StG and RG recipients alike as the cost of status, and they believed universities adopted a similar approach. I use my findings to propose contributions, policy implications, and future inquiry avenues suggesting evaluation procedures may play a larger role than monetary amounts for the construction of status distinctions among grants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Two ethical challenges of nursing home nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden are discussed in this paper. Background: Historically, the nurse's primary concern is for the person who is ill, which is the core of nurses' moral responsibility and identity. In Sweden, person-centered care is generally deemed important in nursing older nursing home residents. Objective: To chart moral responsibilities of nursing home nurses in two cases involving older residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Methods: We used Margaret Urban Walker's framework for moral responsibilities and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) code of ethics for nurses (2021) for our normative analysis. Ethical considerations: Written and verbal consent was obtained before the interviews, and information was given that participation was entirely voluntary and possible to cancel at any time before the work was published. The Swedish Ethical Review Agency gave an advisory opinion stating that there were no ethical objections to this research project (Dnr. 2020-05649). Findings: Case #1: a palliative older nursing home resident who was coercively tested for COVID-19, and case #2: a COVID-19–infected resident with dementia who was isolated using sedation. The decision that was finally made in the respective case was analyzed in the light of either consequentialist/utilitarian or non-consequentialist/deontological reasons. Discussion: Empowerment of nurses as moral agents is required for the application of practical wisdom in the balancing of different care relationships (responsibilities), moral identities (professional virtues), and competing moral values. This requires resources and opens possibilities for profound ethical reflection in nursing education and at work. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the moral and professional responsibility of nursing home nurses to deliver person-centered care was sometimes problematically abandoned in favor of a more utilitarian manner of ethical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant 'sand in the wheels' view holds that entrepreneurship is strongly inhibited by corruption. Challenging this, the 'grease the wheels' view maintains that corruption might increase entrepreneurship in highly regulated economies. We extend the basic predictions of these theories by examining entrepreneurs' start-up decisions, as well as their location choices, in a seemingly low-corruption environment: Swedish municipalities. Combining a validated index of corruption perceptions in local government with population data on new entrepreneurs, nested logit models reveal that even in a low-corruption setting such as Sweden, perceptions of corruption can deter latent entrepreneurs. We also find that a minority of entrepreneurs relocate from their home municipalities to establish their start-ups elsewhere. Surprisingly and contrary to expectations, these relocating entrepreneurs often relocate from relatively low-corruption municipalities to others that are more corrupt. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed. Plain English Summary: The effect of corruption in local government is often overlooked in entrepreneurship research. This paper finds that even in one of the world's least corrupt countries—Sweden—local government corruption discourages the will to start new firms. Most scholars agree that corruption discourages people from starting new firms. However, a few studies have lately suggested that corruption—under specific circumstances—may actually increase entrepreneurship when bureaucracies are highly regulated and inflexible. This paper delves deeper into the salience of these contradictory views by studying municipalities in Sweden. This low-corruption country is highly regulated with an efficient but, at times, rigid bureaucracy. Using a combination of survey and business register data, we find that even in this low-corruption environment, corruption decreases the rate of entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, though, a minority of entrepreneurs relocate from their relatively low-corruption home municipalities to establish their start-ups in others that are more corrupt. An important implication of our findings is that even in the world's least corrupt countries, active anti-corruption strategies need to be upheld, and this is particularly pertinent at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three closely related COVID-19 outcomes of incidence, intensive care (IC) admission and death, are commonly modelled separately leading to biased estimation of the parameters and relatively poor forecasts. This paper presents a joint spatiotemporal model of the three outcomes based on weekly data that is used for risk prediction and identification of hotspots. The paper applies a pure spatiotemporal model consisting of structured and unstructured spatial and temporal effects and their interaction capturing the effects of the unobserved covariates. The pure spatiotemporal model limits the data requirements to the three outcomes and the population at risk per spatiotemporal unit. The empirical study for the 21 Swedish regions for the period 1 January 2020–4 May 2021 confirms that the joint model predictions outperform the separate model predictions. The fifteen-week-ahead spatiotemporal forecasts (5 May–11 August 2021) show a significant decline in the relative risk of COVID-19 incidence, IC admission, death and number of hotspots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient teamwork is crucial to provide optimal health care. This paper focuses on teamwork between Anaesthesiologists (ANES), Certified Registered Nurse Anaesthetists' (CRNA) and Critical Care Registered Nurses (CCRN) working in challenging environments such as the intensive care unit (ICU) and the operating room (OR). Conflicts are common between physicians and nurses, negatively impacting teamwork. Social hierarchies based on professional status and power inequalities between nurses and physicians plays a vital role in influencing teamwork. Foucault was a famous thinker especially known for his reasoning regarding power/knowledge. A Foucauldian perspective was therefore incorporated into this paper and the overall aim was to explore CCRN/CRNA perception of knowledge/power in teamwork with ANES. Methods A mixed-method approach was applied in this study. Data was collected using a web-based questionnaire containing both closed-end and open-ended questions. A total of 289 CCRNs and CRNAs completed the questionnaire. Data analysis was then conducted through five stages as outlined by Onwuebugzie and Teddlie; analysing quantitative data in SPSS 27.0 and qualitative data with a directed content analysis, finally merging data together in ATLAS.ti v.23. Results The result reveals a dissonance between quantitative and qualitative data; quantitative data indicates a well-functioning interdisciplinary teamwork between CCRN/CRNA and ANES - qualitative data highlights that there are several barriers and inequalities between the two groups. Medicine was perceived as superior to nursing, which was reinforced by both social and organisational structures at the ICU and OR. Conclusion Unconscious rules underlying current power structures in the ICU and OR works in favour of the ANES and biomedical paradigm, supporting medical knowledge. To achieve a more equal power distribution between CCRN/CRNAs and ANES, the structural hierarchies between nursing and medicine needs to be addressed. A more equal power balance between the two disciplines can improve teamwork and thereby reduce patient mortality and improve patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospital to home transfers for older people require effective communication, coordination and collaboration across multiple service settings. Rural Nursing Theory and the Beyond Periphery model explain why this is particularly difficult in rural areas, but there are few examples of how rural services respond. This paper presents a case study of the district of Tärnaby in the inland north of Sweden. Data are drawn from interviews with health and care staff in Tärnaby, observations, and experiences of the researchers. Data were analyzed thematically, with four main themes emerging – role clarity, communication, geography, and understanding of the rural context. Responses to challenges included increasing opportunities for communication between service providers and improving documentation. The paper concludes that informal "workarounds" run the risk of further disconnecting rural service settings from "the city". Rather, the aim needs to be to improve contextual understanding through formally incorporating "the rural" in service design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, small village communities in the Arctic have developed several strategies to ensure their survival. Along the Torne River, some fishing communities have produced specific architectures, landscapes, and social strategies to support their communities and survive for centuries. However, depopulation, aging, climate change, and the expansion of the extraction industry are threatening these villages. The hypothesis is that traditional fishing villages situated alongside rivers possess architectural, urban, and social attributes that can enhance outdoor activities linked to water and green spaces and enable the long-term social sustainability of Arctic villages. The innovative approach of the paper involves combining a mapping methodology of green and blue infrastructure with the architectural, urban, social and historical values of a place to identify design strategies for improving attractiveness demonstrating its efficacy, particularly in small, local-scale villages. The paper investigates the villages of Kukkola and Korpikylä taken as emblematic examples and explores the architectural and landscape value in relation to the green–blue infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Sweden, Indigenous Sámi reindeer pastoralists must find effective ways to improve ecological conditions conducive to natural pasture-based reindeer pastoralism in a rapidly changing environment. In particular, they must challenge the conventional climate policy agenda of the dominant economic and political actors. This paper seeks to contribute to the emergence of a social movement that can push for reforms towards such improvements. Theoretically, we combine a theory of hegemony and counter-hegemonic politics, and the contentious politics approach to social movement theory, to discuss how meaningful reforms could be achieved by assembling a broad social coalition. Empirically, we examine 10 years of data from a public media outlet that reports on Sámi issues to show what demands are being made, who is making them, and the reforms and changes in social relations that they imply. The analysis identifies current coalitions and demand clusters. We discuss potential opportunities for a new reform agenda and actor constellations, with a focus on rural and Indigenous cultures and livelihoods, in relation to a broader environmental movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds some light on the consequences of a carbon tax increase to achieve the national goal for carbon emissions. By use of a spatial computable general equilibrium model, STRAGO, the main purpose of the paper is to illustrate the effects on sectors in the economy and regions in Sweden from a climate scenario, by estimating expected substitution effects from a predetermined reduction in emissions. The climate scenario implies a gradual increase in the current carbon tax until the goal for the reduction in emissions has been reached. Doubling the carbon tax rate is expected to reduce the total consumption of fossil fuels by 18%, and in terms of reduced emissions and total welfare, the results are of the same order of magnitude as in previous Swedish studies. At the regional level, the effect on production is largest in Region West, as the production of petroleum and a large part of manufacturing is concentrated to this region. In terms of regional welfare, the northern regions, Upper-north in particular, lose more than central regions, which reflects differences in both industrial structure and carbon intensity, due to different transportation expenditures. The impact on welfare in northern regions is however mitigated by the substitution from fossil fuels to biofuels, as production of biofuels is concentrated to these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unequal divisions of paid work and care among new parents contribute to increasing inequalities. One explanation for this is joint utility maximization and the benefits of partners (temporarily) specializing in paid work and care. This paper examines the (dis)advantages of specializing compared to dividing tasks more equally by studying whether differences in specialization between same-sex and different-sex couples lead to differences in household earnings after entering parenthood. Using register data from Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden and examining first-time parents, we show that female couples have a more equal within-couple income development during the transition to parenthood than different-sex couples do. However, we find no differences in household income (including or excluding social transfers) between the two types of couples. Although a more equal task division may be preferred from an individual perspective, our results show no evidence of a "best strategy" when it comes to maximizing household income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swedish Quality Registry for Pain rehabilitation (SQRP) is a well-established clinical registry for adult patients with complex chronic pain conditions. SQRP registers patient-reported outcome measures from a majority of specialist chronic pain units/departments in Sweden. Up to four International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10) diagnoses can be registered in SQRP. The aim of the paper is to describe how we envision the new chronic pain category MG30 in ICD-11 can be used in SQRP. We envision that the first diagnosis in SQRP shall always be a MG30 diagnosis, which will ensure broad implementation of ICD-11 in Swedish pain care. However, at first glance, there seems to be specificity problems with ICD-11 codes that might impair their useability in SQRP or other registries. But ICD-11 offers more than meets the eye. First, the entries at the level of the so-called foundational layer have unique resource identifiers (URI) that can be used to enhance specificity. Second, ICD-11 contains numerous extension codes that can be combined with the MG30 codes - for instance, concerning the anatomical location of pain. Third, to enrich the description of the clinical concept at hand, it is possible to create clusters of stem codes. These three options are briefly discussed. We conclude that the full potential of the MG30 category can be better exploited in registries such as SQRP if foundational codes, extension codes, and/or clustering of stem codes are used to enhance diagnostic specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs the aspirations‐capabilities framework to explore the intricate interplay between choices and constraints shaping migrants' settlement patterns, with a particular emphasis on the often‐overlooked aspect of educational attainment. Using Swedish register data containing information about migrants' educational level, this paper examines and typifies the initial residential sorting patterns of migrants arriving in Sweden in the period 2000–2014. Employing multinomial logistic regression to understand how migrant sorting takes place, the results show a clear distinction in settlement patterns, with higher educated migrants being more likely to settle in metropolitan areas, and lower educated migrants ending up in rural areas, even when controlling for region of origin and purpose of migration. Nordic and African migrants, resettled refugees, older migrants, and migrant families with younger children are most likely to live in sparsely populated areas. The paper concludes that these trends exacerbate existing patterns of spatial polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to a qualitative understanding of rescaling and its impact on planning strategies and governance relations across scales. By investigating the effects of rescaling for the old scale 'left behind' – through the case of public transport planning in Sweden – this paper illustrates how rescaled tasks continue to engage the scale 'left behind' (and is a source of 'tensions'), long after a rescaling process has taken place. Through the lens of rescaling, three main points of discussion are highlighted in the paper: Firstly, processes of rescaling are intertwined with policy layering, and can as such be a source of both 'good and evil' for the continued planning on the scale 'left behind'. Secondly, this calls for an increased geographical sensitivity in research when investigating the effects of rescaling, as the formal and practical outcomes of rescaling can be spatially unequal for planning bodies with similar formal mandates on the same scale. Thirdly, the development of governance relations and 'tensions' between new and old scales, are by no means static in time nor space, and calls for increased dialogue across planning scales to aid in the transition of responsibilities from the old to the new scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: In this paper, we investigated which socioeconomic and demographic groups first adopted digital primary care video consultations when they became accessible to the entire population in Sweden. Methods: We analysed data on all patients (378,000) who had a consultation with the largest provider of digital healthcare in Sweden – Kry – in the first years of national availability of the service, 2016–2018. We studied their income, education, demographics, and diagnosis backgrounds using matched registry data. Moreover, to compare users and non-users of digital primary care, we used data on all physical primary care users in one Swedish region: Skåne. Results: We found that this digital primary care was first used by young and higher-income adults, but not far from half of adult users had incomes below the national median. Digital care patients were more educated than the general population, reflecting that urban inhabitants were more likely than rural inhabitants to be users. First-generation immigrants were less represented among digital care users than in the population. However, second-generation immigrants with two foreign parents were slightly over-represented. The prevalence of some chronic diseases in pre-digital secondary (specialist and hospital) healthcare data among digital care users was similar to the population adjusted for age. Studying all physical primary care users in Skåne region, young digital care users had more primary care diagnoses and previous in-person primary care appointments than non-users, while the pattern was reversed for older users. Conclusions: When digital primary care became nationally available, younger, urban and more educated patients were the first to adopt the new technology. Regarding medical history, young users of digital care had a higher previous disease burden than young non-users, suggesting that these digital services were first adopted by young people with high primary care needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well‐being is rarely considered in studies of residential segregation. This paper explores the spatial distribution of well‐being and its relationship to various forms of residential segregation. External well‐being indices are obtained for Swedish individuals through register data. The mean well‐being of 13 scales of bespoke neighbourhoods is classified into 12 clusters. Similar to previous findings, a strongly polarised pattern of neighbourhood well‐being is found. Neighbourhood well‐being is found to strongly correlate with more traditional measures of segregation. Areas in cities found in more traditional segregation studies have lower well‐being. Half of the working population lives in areas that have homogenised levels of well‐being; 14% live in a well‐being‐deprived neighbourhood. Low‐scoring areas are deprived in most well‐being dimensions, while middle and high‐scoring neighbourhoods vary in the domains they excel in. The paper is one of the first to connect segregation studies to explore the causes of the spatial sorting of well‐being. Moreover, it is one of the few that explores well‐being on scales below the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the critical need for advanced real-time vehicle detection methodologies in Vehicle Intelligence Systems (VIS), especially in the context of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for data acquisition in severe weather conditions, such as heavy snowfall typical of the Nordic region. Traditional vehicle detection techniques, which often rely on custom-engineered features and deterministic algorithms, fall short in adapting to diverse environmental challenges, leading to a demand for more precise and sophisticated methods. The limitations of current architectures, particularly when deployed in real-time on edge devices with restricted computational capabilities, are highlighted as significant hurdles in the development of efficient vehicle detection systems. To bridge this gap, our research focuses on the formulation of an innovative approach that combines the fractional B-spline wavelet transform with a tailored U-Net architecture, operational on a Raspberry Pi 4. This method aims to enhance vehicle detection and localization by leveraging the unique attributes of the NVD dataset, which comprises drone-captured imagery under the harsh winter conditions of northern Sweden. The dataset, featuring 8450 annotated frames with 26,313 vehicles, serves as the foundation for evaluating the proposed technique. The comparative analysis of the proposed method against state-of-the-art detectors, such as YOLO and Faster RCNN, in both accuracy and efficiency on constrained devices, emphasizes the capability of our method to balance the trade-off between speed and accuracy, thereby broadening its utility across various domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an emergent field of writings on financialized landlords' undertaking of apartment renovations as an investment strategy and its effect on housing inequalities. Seldom do these studies contextualize these tendencies within countries' specific housing policy traditions. Therefore, through a qualitative case study in a neighbourhood in Sweden, this paper aims to uncover how private landlords undertake renovations as an investment strategy and its effect on tenants and, in turn, on the hybrid character of a universal housing system. It finds that renovations enable landlords to extract value from the built environment while tenants experience rising rents, a lack of information, poor property maintenance, and apprehension. Hence, I argue that renovations represent an investment strategy that serves to undermine the traditional social right to housing within a universal housing policy context. The paper thus furthers knowledge on how the situatedness of financialization tendencies entails their translation through and transformation of housing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugee entrepreneurs can make a significant contribution to sustainable growth and development in host countries. However, comprehensive comparative studies of refugee entrepreneurial motivations are scarce, particularly in the absence of a theoretical framework on entrepreneurship motivation that is suitable for such contexts. This is a research topic that is increasingly of interest to scholars and policymakers working with refugee workforce integration, particularly in light of forecasted increases in global forced displacement over the next years. This paper tests and extends newly constructed entrepreneurship motivation measures, comparing person-related factors and the perceptions of environmental-related factors for Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in Sweden and Germany. The results indicate that their motivations differ between the two countries with respect to market conditions, the educational environment, dissatisfaction, and know-how. However, refugee entrepreneurs in both countries have similar levels of entrepreneurial ambition and attitude and are motivated by similar perceptions of social environments and cultural norms. This paper identifies how entrepreneurship motivation differences could be considered by governments to better shape and inform host countries' programs and policies to improve refugee entrepreneurship and subsequent integration. Plain English Summary: Syrian refugees in Germany and Sweden differ in their motivation to pursue entrepreneurship, as evidenced by our comparative study, emphasizing the role of country context in shaping refugees' perception of environmental factors that influence their entrepreneurial motivation. We find that Germany-based refugee entrepreneurs are more motivated by market structures and educational offerings, have more know-how, and were less prone to negative motivation resulting from experiencing dissatisfaction (e.g. due to discrimination or lack of opportunities) compared with Sweden-based refugee entrepreneurs. The results emphasize the importance of policy reforms and initiatives that provide financial, administrative, and legal assistance to refugee entrepreneurs as they start and establish their businesses, as well as specialized entrepreneurship training and education programs. We call for future research on inter-country evaluations of institutional differences and migrant integration programs as well as trans-border exchange of lessons learned and success stories, particularly in-light of prognosed increases in global forced displacement over the next years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates the need for participatory recordkeeping to promote the right of children and young people placed in Swedish residential care homes to record-making, to facilitate access to a complete record of their placements. It is further through record-making that the experiences of the placed individuals can be used to inform practice and policymaking. Currently, the placed individuals' experiences of the residential homes are captured at the discretion of the residential homeowners and the social workers. A rights-based archival and recordkeeping paradigm would promote the design of records management systems with the children and the young people at the center and hence allow them to participate in the record-making processes which would give them a voice. Currently, records from the placed individuals, the residential care homeowners and the parents/guardians are sent to the municipalities through electronic and physical channels and in different formats such as SMS, audio files, and paper documents. These records are captured in the Integrated Children System (ICS), according to the guidelines of the National Board for Health and Welfare and at the discretion of the social workers. The authors therefore argue that recordkeeping systems should give all the involved stakeholders a right to independently participate in the record-making or the documentation process with the placed individuals at the center. It is the totality of the captured records that should give the placed individuals a complete record of their experiences of the placements. It should be the basis upon which the quality of care is assessed and improved. Two case studies were used to access the information management environment. The placed children should have a right to access all the records captured in the recordkeeping system to give them an understanding of their lives in the present and the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]