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The National Mapping Agency in Sweden has conducted an airborne laser scanning (ALS) campaign covering almost the entire country for the purpose of creating a new national Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The ALS data were collected between 2009 and 2015 using Leica, Optech, Riegl, and Trimble scanners and have a point density of 0.5–1.0 pulses/m2. A high resolution national raster database (12.5 m × 12.5 m cell size) with forest variables was produced by combining the ALS data with field data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI). Approximately 11500 NFI plots (10 meter radius) located on productive forest land, inventoried between 2009 and 2013, were used to create linear regression models relating selected forest variables, or transformations of the variables, to metrics derived from the ALS data. The resulting stand level relative RMSEs for predictions of stem volume, basal area, basal-area weighted mean tree height, and basal-area weighted mean stem diameter were in the ranges of 17.2–22.0%, 13.9–18.2%, 5.4–9.5%, and 8.7–13.1%, respectively. It was concluded that the predictions had an accuracy that were at least as good as data typically used in forest management planning. Above ground tree biomass was also included in the national raster database but not validated on a stand-level. An important part of the project was to make the raster database available to private forest owners, forest associations, forest companies, authorities, researchers, and the general public. Thus, all predicted forest variables can be viewed and downloaded free of charge at the Swedish Forest Agency's homepage ( http://www.skogsstyrelsen.se/skogligagrunddata ).

Det brann pa manga hall i Norden under 2018 och flera brander var betydligt storre an normalt. Branderna kravde akuta atgarder och testade bade den nationella beredskapen och det internationella sa ...

Background The majority of patients suffering from a whiplash injury will recover, but some will have symptoms (Whiplash Associated Disorders, WAD) for years despite conservative treatment. Some of these patients perceive neck pain that might come from a motion segment, possibly the disc. In comprehensive reviews no evidence has been found that fusion operations have a positive treatment effect on neck pain in WAD patients. Purpose Our aim was to evaluate the possibility of (a) selecting a subgroup of chronic WAD patients based on specified symptoms possibly indicating segmental pain, and (b) treating said segmental pain through fusion operation based on non-radiological segment localization. The hypothesis was that fusion operation in this selected subgroup of chronic WAD patients could alleviate perceived neck pain. Methods Eligible patients for the study had a traffic accident as the origin for their neck pain, and no previous neck symptoms. Neck pain should be the predominant symptom and the pain origin reported to be in the midline, being dull, aching in character and at sudden movements combined by a stabbing pain in the same area. Forty-nine patients with these specified symptoms were identified among a large number of chronic WAD patients. Those selected had pronounced symptoms for a median of around 50 months and had previously been investigated and fully treated within the ordinary healthcare system without success. No neurological abnormalities were to be found at clinical examination and no specific changes to be seen on X-ray and MRI. The patients were randomized to either cervical fusion operation or multimodal rehabilitation. By using a mechanical provocation test the level/s to be fused were identified. In all but one patient the surgery was performed anteriorly using microsurgical technique and a right-sided Smith-Pedersen approach and plate fixation. The multimodal rehabilitation at the Clinic of Medical Rehabilitation, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, included outpatient treatment for four days a week for six weeks and included treatment by physician, physiotherapists, occupational therapist, psychologists, social-service worker and nurses. Perceived change in neck pain was assessed using the Balanced Inventory for Spinal Disorders questionnaire at the 2-year-follow-up. Results Mean age of the patients was 38 and 40 years (surgery and rehabilitation groups, respectively), the most common type of accident being rear-end collision. At clinical examination muscle tenderness was not an outstanding sign. In most patients the mid-cervical region appeared to be the painful area but one patient localized the pain to C1. At follow-up 67% of the patients in the surgery group and 23% in the rehabilitation group assessed improvements in the ITT analysis. Corresponding proportions in the per protocol analysis were 83% and 12%, respectively. Conclusions The results support the supposition that among patients with central neck pain for long periods of time following a whiplash injury there are some in whom the neck pain emanates from a motion segment, probably the disc, a situation suitable for fusion surgery. Implications Thorough individual symptom evaluation in patients with chronic WAD may identify patients who will benefit from cervical fusion surgery.

Trends in wage–rental ratios figure prominently in the recent literature on factor price convergence and globalisation in the late nineteenth century. Sweden has been described as a free-trade country whose wage–rental ratio exhibited a distinctive upward trend before World War I. This article presents a new land price series that indicates an increase in land rentals and an evolution of the wage–rental ratio more in line with other European protectionist countries. We explore the determinants of the Swedish wage–rental ratio and assess the relative importance of protectionism and changes in Swedish farming’s product mix from crop to animal products.

Det som karaktariserar den yrkesinriktade rehabiliteringen i Sverige ar samarbetet mellan den rehabilitering som bedrivs inom sjukvarden och de yrkesinriktade atgarder som Arbetsformedling. Arbetsmarknadsinstitut och Forsakringskassa kan erbjuda. Dessa senare institutioner ansvarar for praktiska rehabiliteringsinsatser och ekonomisk ersattning till langtidssjukskrivna eller arbetslosa. Okad arbetsloshet staller hogre krav pa samarbete och rehabiliteringens utformning. Rehabiliteringsmedicinska kliniken vid Karolinska sjukhuset forandrar darfor sina rutiner i syfte att battre svara mot de okande kraven.