Ståndortsindex och produktion för björk och gran på samma mark

På 11 lokaler där björk och gran vuxit i bestånd intill varandra på likartad mark uppskattades ståndortsindex (SI) för gran och björk med hjälp av brösthöjdsålder och höjd på övrehöjdsträd. På 22 lokaler (11 verkliga, 11 simulerade) uppskattades SI för gran och björk med hjälp av ståndortsegenskaper. Sambandet mellan SI för gran och för vårtbjörk sammanfattas i en tabell där SI G24 motsvarar B23 och SI G36 motsvarar B26. Marker där vårtbjörken kan konkurrera med granen i produktion bör vara friska lågörttyper med markvattenklass S eller K. Hög höjd över havet och nordliga breddgrader har också mer negativ påverkan på björkens än på granens tillväxt. På breddgrad 60-61 ºN  upp till 100 m över havet uppskattas då SI för björk till B24-26 och för gran till G25-27. På de lägre boniteterna (B23/G24) beräknas volymsproduktionen vara likvärdig för vårtbjörk och gran, medan på de högre boniteterna (B26/G36) beräknas granens medelvolyms-produktion vara upp mot dubbelt så hög som för vårtbjörk. Vårtbjörkens torrsubstansproduktion beräknas däremot överstiga den för gran på de lägre boniteterna och uppgå till ca 80% av granens torrsubstansproduktion på de högre boniteterna.  Materialet i studien är begränsat och försiktighet bör iakttagas vid generaliseringar.

The most severe parkinsonian patients are most improved with duodenal levodopa infusion

Objectives:To find variables correlated to improvement with intraduodenal levodopa/carbidopa infusion (Duodopa) in order to identify potential candidates for this treatment. Two clinical studies comparing Duodopa with oral treatments in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease have shown significant improvement in percent on-time on a global treatment response scale (TRS) based on hourly and half-hourly clinical ratings and in median UPDRS scores.Methods:Data from study 1 comparing infusion with Sinemet CR (12 patients, Nyholm et al, Clin Neuropharmacol 2003; 26(3): 156-163) and study 2 comparing infusion with individually optimised conventional combination therapies (18 patients, Nyholm et al, Neurology, in press) were used. Measures of severity were defined as total UPDRS score and scores for sections II and III, percent functional on-time and mean squared error of ratings on the TRS and as mean of diary questions about mobility and satisfaction (only study 2). Absolute improvement was defined as difference in severity, and relative improvement was defined as percent absolute improvement/severity on oral treatment. Pearson correlation coefficients between measures of improvement and other variables were calculated.Results:Correlations (r2>0.28, p<0.05) between severity during oral treatment and absolute improvement on infusion were found for: Total UPDRS, UPDRS III and TRS ratings (studies 1 and 2) and for diary question 1 (mobility) and UPDRS II (study 2). Correlation to relative improvement was found for total UPDRS (study 2, r2=0.47). Figure 1 illustrates absolute improvement in total UPDRS vs. total UPDRS during oral treatment (study 2).Conclusion:Correlating different measures of severity and improvement revealed that patients with more severe symptoms were most improved and that the relation between severity and improvement was linear within the studied groups. The result, which was reproducible between two clinical studies, could be useful when deciding candidates for the treatment.

Analysis of tapping test results in a test battery for advanced PD patients

Objective: To compare results from various tapping tests with diary responses in advanced PD. Background: A home environment test battery for assessing patient state in advanced PD, consisting of diary assessments and motor tests was constructed for a hand computer with touch screen and mobile communication. The diary questions: 1. walking, 2. time in off , on and dyskinetic states, 3. off at worst, 4. dyskinetic at worst, 5. cramps, and 6. satisfied with function, relate to the recent past. Question 7, self-assessment, allows seven steps from -3 ( very off ) to +3 ( very dyskinetic ) and relate to right now. Tapping tests outline: 8. Alternately tapping two fields (un-cued) with right hand 9. Same as 8 but using left hand 10. Tapping an active field (out of two) following a system-generated rhythm (increasing speed) with the dominant hand 11. Tapping an active field (out of four) that randomly changes location when tapped using the dominant hand Methods: 65 patients (currently on Duodopa, or candidates for this treatment) entered diary responses and performed tapping tests four times per day during one to six periods of seven days length. In total there were 224 test periods and 6039 test occasions. Speed for tapping test 10 was discardedand tests 8 and 9 were combined by taking means. Descriptive statistics were used to present the variation of the test variables in relation to self assessment (question 7). Pearson correlation coefficients between speed and accuracy (percent correct) in tapping tests and diary responses were calculated. Results: Mean compliance (percentage completed test occasions per test period) was 83% and the median was 93%. There were large differences in both mean tapping speed and accuracy between the different self-assessed states. Correlations between diary responses and tapping results were small (-0.2 to 0.3, negative values for off-time and dyskinetic-time that had opposite scale directions). Correlations between tapping results were all positive (0.1 to 0.6). Conclusions: The diary responses and tapping results provided different information. The low correlations can partly be explained by the fact that questions related to the past and by random variability, which could be reduced by taking means over test periods. Both tapping speed and accuracy reflect the motor function of the patient to a large extent.

Sociologin, hybriderna och den sociala verkligheten : exemplet kärnavfall

Sociology, hybrids and social reality: the case of nuclear waste The continuing technological transformation of nature means that sociology’s traditional vision of a sharp divide between nature and society is becoming ever harder to defend. Starting from Bruno Latour’s critique of modernity, and Nikolas Rose’s explorations of political power beyond the state, this article presents a framework for analysing the expanding wealth of hybrids of nature and society surrounding us today, and the problems of government they pose. These hybrids confront us with the need to rethink sociology’s conception of ‘the social’. With Latour’s help, the interplay of nature and society can be understood as subject to technical mediation, opening the way for studies of the varying arrangements through which different configurations of nature and society are produced. Rather than alternative social constructions of nature, what sociologists should be at pains to analyse and question are different programmes and strategies for bringing together natural and social forces in durable combinations. In the article, the geological disposal of nuclear waste serves as a useful example for exploring the fruitfulness of the analytical framework put forward. This complex undertaking constitutes just one component in a larger field of technoscientific endeavour that has irrevocably transformed nature while simultaneously re-making society. Addressing this case, we seek to reveal the promise of a sociology that does not bound ‘the social’ in advance, but rather makes the co-production of technology and society one of its most important objects of study.

Simple Question, Complex Answer : Pathways Towards a 50% Decrease in Building Energy Use

Addressing building energy use is a pressing issue for building sector decision makers across Europe. In Sweden, some regions have adopted a target of reducing energy use in buildings by 50% until 2050. However, building codes currently do not support as ambitious objectives as these, and novel approaches to addressing energy use in buildings from a regional perspective are called for. The purpose of this licentiate thesis was to provide a deeper understanding of most relevant issues with regard to energy use in buildings from a broad perspective and to suggest pathways towards reaching the long-term savings objective. Current trends in building sector structure and energy use point to detached houses constructed before 1981 playing a key role in the energy transition, especially in the rural areas of Sweden. In the Swedish county of Dalarna, which was used as a study area in this thesis, these houses account for almost 70% of the residential heating demand. Building energy simulations of eight sample houses from county show that there is considerable techno-economic potential for energy savings in these houses, but not quite enough to reach the 50% savings objective. Two case studies from rural Sweden show that savings well beyond 50% are achievable, both when access to capital and use of high technology are granted and when they are not. However, on a broader scale both direct and indirect rebound effects will have to be expected, which calls for more refined approaches to energy savings. Furthermore, research has shown that the techno-economic potential is in fact never realised, not even in the most well-designed intervention programmes, due to the inherent complexity of human behaviour with respect to energy use. This is not taken account of in neither current nor previous Swedish energy use legislation. Therefore an approach that considers the technical prerequisites, economic aspects and the perspective of the many home owners, based on Community-Based Social Marketing methodology, is suggested as a way forward towards reaching the energy savings target.