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Abstract Soils require the application of biochar to improve degradation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of a field experiment on soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil moisture content in Karagwe, Tanzania. Seven years ago, a field experiment was conducted using a Latin rectangle design with four replications. The treatments included carbonization and sanitation (CaSa) and carbonization and standard compost (CaSt), which were compared to control Andosols (CoA). A total of 96 soil samples were collected to determine SOM, SOC, and soil moisture content. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that soil samples from the CaSa-treated soil had an increase in SOM content of 17.3%, an increase in stored SOC content of 10.0%, and an increase in soil moisture content of 6.3%. Compared with those in CoA, the CaSt-treated soil showed increases in SOM, SOC, and soil moisture of 14.4%, 8.4%, and 4.0%, respectively. Therefore, all treatments improved soil properties, with CaSa proving more effective in enhancing SOM, SOC, and soil moisture content compared to CaSt and CoA. In conclusion, CaSa is recommended for its sustainable ability to enhance Karagwean soil over time.

Given the escalating climate crisis, the task of integrating novel carbon dioxide removals into the European Union’s climate policy is urgent and long overdue. Here, we argue that there is a window of opportunity for responding now, and put forward a solution.

Soil management is a strategy for improving soil suffering from problems such as low pH, nutrient deficiency, and erosion. The study evaluated the effects of human urine (HU), biogas slurry (BS), standard compost (StC), animal manure (AM), and synthetic fertilizer (SF) in comparison with no soil fertility management (NFM) on soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil organic carbon (SOC), soil moisture content, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) in the Karagwe district, a Northwestern Tanzania. Four household farms representing each soil amendment type were selected for soil sampling. A total of 192 soil samples were collected and air-dried. After laboratory analysis, BS-enriched soil had the highest pH (6.558), CEC (23.945 cmol+/kg), SOC (5.573%), soil moisture (5.573%), N (0.497%), P (247.130 mg/kg), K (3.036 cmol+/kg), Ca (18.983 cmol+/kg), Mg (4.076 cmol+/kg), Na (2.960 cmol+/kg), and Cu (12.548 mg/kg). Similar soil properties were lower in NFM than in the other soils. The soil properties on the chosen farms did not differ significantly depending on the sampling zone for each organic fertilizer. Therefore, the result indicates that all evaluated organic fertilizers improved soil health compared to NFM, but BS and HU fertilizers led to relatively better soil health improvements than StC, AM, and SF.

Objective In Sweden, an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening programme was gradually implemented from 2009 to reduce the incidence of rupture and thereby mortality. AAA screening introduces a variety of unintended, but generally unavoidable, harms, e.g. stress and worry. Such psychosocial consequences have previously only been investigated with generic measures. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe and compare the psychosocial consequences in men with a screening detected AAA to men with a normal screening result after they participated in the Swedish national AAA-screening programme using a validated psychometric instrument. Material and methods This study was a cross-sectional survey. Data were originally collected to validate the COS-AAA and has previously been published in details. The Consequences of Screening in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (COS-AAA) questionnaire was sent to 250 men with a screening detected AAA and 500 with a normal screening result who were randomly selected from a Swedish population-based screening register. Results In total, 158 (63%) men with a screening detected AAA and 275 (55%) men with a normal screening result completed the COS-AAA. We found that men with a screening detected AAA reported negative psychosocial consequences to a greater extent in 10 of 13 COS-AAA Part 1 scales, all statistically significant except three (behaviour, sleep and negative experiences from examination). For COS-AAA Part 2, there was a statistically significant difference between groups in four of five scales. Conclusions Men diagnosed with a screening detected AAA, reported more negative psychosocial consequences compared to men with a normal result. Screening for abdominal aorta aneurism (AAA) introduces intended benefits and unintended harms. Adequate measures are necessary to determine the balance between them.Key points: This study applied a condition-specific questionnaire with high content validity and adequate psychometric properties to measure psychosocial consequences in men participating in AAA screening. We found that men with a screening detected AAA reported more negative psychosocial consequences than men with a normal aorta size. The risk of negative psychosocial consequences is important to include in the decision making on whether to participate in screening or not.

Abstract In this paper, we propose a distributed algorithm for sensor network localization based on a maximum likelihood formulation. It relies on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm where the computations are distributed among different computational agents using message passing, or equivalently dynamic programming. The resulting algorithm provides a good localization accuracy, and it converges to the same solution as its centralized counterpart. Moreover, it requires fewer iterations and communications between computational agents as compared to first-order methods. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated with extensive simulations in Julia in which it is shown that our method outperforms distributed methods that are based on approximate maximum likelihood formulations.

Paris Agreement-compatible emissions pathways produced by integrated assessment models (IAMs) often rely on large amounts of carbon dioxide removals, especially afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). These pathways feature prominently in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to the extent that the IAMs have been granted an interpretative privilege at the interface between climate science, economics, and policymaking. The privilege extends to and influences climate governance, including governance of BECCS. This paper contributes to recent debates about the role of the IPCC, and its framing of BECCS, at the science-policy interface. By analyzing all BECCS-related expert review comments and author responses on the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, the paper shows that boundary work influences the representation of BECCS by authors referring to: (1) a limited scope or capacity; (2) a restrictive mandate; (3) what constitutes legitimate science, and; (4) relativizing uncertainties. The responses to the review comments indicate a significant degree of compliance on behalf of the authors. Yet, the revisions do not seem to go to the heart of the unease that runs through many of the reviewer comments, i.e., that BECCS seems to be presented as a viable CDR technology at grand scale. While several revisions serve to clarify uncertainties surrounding BECCS, some fundamental aspects of the critique are deflected, through the boundary work identified. What the analysis reveals, beyond a dissatisfaction among many reviewers with the focus on integrated assessment modeling, the associated pathway literature, and analysis of BECCS, is a disagreement about how model results should be interpreted and communicated. While acknowledging the herculean task of the IPCC and the efforts to improve the pathway literature that the SR1.5 triggered within the IAM communities, we argue that the identified boundary work also risks entrenching rather than problematize dominant framings of the feasibility of BECCS. Such entrenchment can counteract the ambition of opening up the scientific work of the IPCC to include more diversity in the process of drafting reports, and arguably also influence the governance of CDR.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered a key mitigation technology in most 1.5–2.0°C compatible climate change mitigation scenarios. Nonetheless, examples of BECCS deployment are lacking internationally. It is widely acknowledged that widespread implementation of this technology requires strong policy enablers, and that such enablers are currently non-existent. However, the literature lacks a more structured assessment of the “incentive gap” between scenarios with substantive BECCS deployment and existing policy enablers to effectuate BECCS deployment. Sweden, a country with progressive climate policies and particularly good preconditions for BECCS, constitutes a relevant locus for such examinations. The paper asks to what extent and how existing UN, EU, and Swedish climate policy instruments incentivize BECCS research, development, demonstration, and deployment in Sweden. The analysis is followed by a tentative discussion of needs for policy reform to improve the effectiveness of climate policy in delivering BECCS. Drawing on a tripartite typology of policy instruments (economic, regulatory, and informational) and the ability of these instruments to create supply-push or demand-pull, the article finds that: (1) no instruments create a demand-pull to cover operational expenditure; (2) economic instruments provide partial support for research and the capital expenditure associated with demonstration, and; (3) regulatory instruments provide partial clarity on environmental safeguards and responsibilities. A few regulatory barriers also continue to counteract deployment. The article concludes that the existing policy mix requires considerable reform if BECCS is to contribute substantially to the Swedish target for net-zero emissions. Continued effort to dismantle regulatory barriers must be complemented with a strong demand-pull instrument that complements the current focus on supply-push incentives. If unreformed, the existing policy mix will most likely lead to substantial public expenditure on BECCS research, development, and demonstration without leading to any substantial deployment and diffusion.

The paper covers the public debate on BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) between 2008 and 2018. Through a qualitative analysis of around 800 feature articles, editorials, and opinion pieces published in English, German, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian in news media and debates sections of scientific media, we highlight conspicuous aspects of the debate and relate them to the theoretical concept of post-normal science. We find that the debate is characterized by an emphasis on values, scientific uncertainty and the integrity of science, premised on a pervading sense of urgency. To a significant extent, the debate can be understood as a “normal” view of science questioning what it perceives to be unscientific model-based climate scenarios, and the scenarios, in turn, can be seen as a response to post-normal circumstances. The urgency permeating the debate provides conditions for open debate about ethical and epistemological uncertainty. The debate goes through a period of polarization – corroborating findings from previous studies on the climate science debate after COP21 – between an intense critique of BECCS inclusion in climate scenarios and reluctant acceptance thereof. Towards the end of the studied period, emphasis shifts towards reluctant acceptance, indicating that post-normal debate may only occur as a temporary state always tending towards new consensus.

Abstract Background In interview studies, men under surveillance for screening-detected abdominal aortic aneurysms have reported ambivalence towards this diagnosis: the knowledge was welcomed together with worries, feelings of anxiety and existential thoughts about life’s fragility and mortality due to the diagnosis. Previous surveys about health-related quality of life aspects among men under surveillance for screening-detected aneurysm have all used generic patient-reported outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to extend the core-questionnaire Consequences of Screening for use in abdominal aortic aneurysm screening by testing for comprehension, content coverage, dimensionality, and reliability. Methods In interviews, the suitability, content coverage, and relevance of the core-questionnaire Consequences of Screening were tested on men under surveillance for a screeningdetected abdominal aortic aneurysm. The results were thematically analysed to identify the key consequences of abnormal screening results. Item Response Theory and Classical Test Theory were used to analyse data. Dimensionality, differential item functioning, local response dependency and reliability were established by item analysis, examining the fit between item responses and Rasch models. Results The core-questionnaire Consequences of Screening was found to be relevant for men offered regular follow-up of an asymptomatic screening-detected abdominal aortic aneurysm. Fourteen themes especially relevant for men diagnosed with a screening-detected abdominal aortic aneurysm were extracted from the interviews: ‘Uncertainty about the result of the ultra sound examination’, ‘Change in body perception’, ‘Guilt’, ‘Fear and powerlessness’, ‘Negative experiences from the examination’, ‘Emotional reactions’, ‘Change in lifestyle’, ‘Better not knowing’, ‘Fear of rupture’, ‘Sexuality’, ‘Information’, ‘Stigmatised’, ‘Self-blame for smoking’, ‘Still regretful smoking’. Altogether, 55 new items were generated: 3 were single items and 13 were only relevant for former or current smokers. 51 of the 52 items belonging to a theme were confirmed to fit Rasch models measuring fourteen different constructs. No differential item functioning and only minor local dependency was revealed between some of the 51 items. Conclusions The reliability and the dimensionality of a condition-specific measure with high content validity for men under surveillance for a screening-detected abdominal aortic aneurysm have been demonstrated. This new questionnaire called COS-AAA covers in two parts the psychosocial experience in abdominal aortic aneurysm screening.

Objective: There is a presumption that hospital readmission rates amongst persons aged ≥65 years are mainly dependent on the quality of care. In this study, our primary aim was to explore the association between 30-day hospital readmission for patients aged ≥65 years and socioeconomic characteristics of the studied population. A secondary aim was to explore the association between self-reported lack of strategies for working with older patients at primary health care centres and early readmission. Design: A cross-sectional ecological study and an online questionnaire sent to the heads of the primary health care centres. We performed correlation and regression analyses. Setting and subjects: Register data of 283,063 patients in 29 primary health care centres in the Region Örebro County (Sweden) in 2014. Main outcome measure: Thirty-day hospital readmission rates for patients aged ≥65 years. Covariates were socioeconomic characteristics among patients registered at the primary health care centre and eldercare workload. Results: Early hospital readmission was found to be associated with low socioeconomic status of the studied population: proportion foreign-born (r = 0.74; p

Objective: To explore general practitioners’ (GP) experiences of dealing with requests for the renewal of weak opioid prescriptions for chronic non-cancer pain conditions. Design: Qualitative focus group interviews. Systematic text condensation analysis. Setting and subjects: 15 GPs, 4 GP residents and 2 interns at two rural and two urban health centres in central Sweden. Main outcome measures: Strategies for handling the dilemma of prescribing weak opioids without seeing the patient. Results: After analysing four focus group interviews we found that requests for prescription renewals for weak opioids provoked adverse feelings in the GP regarding the patient, colleagues or the GP’s inner self and were experienced as a dilemma. To deal with this, the GP could use passive as well as active strategies. Active strategies, like discussing the dilemma with colleagues and creating common routines regarding the renewal of weak opioids, may improve prescription habits and support physicians who want to do what is medically correct. Conclusion: Many GPs feel umcomfortable when prescribing weak opioids without seeing the patient. This qualitative study has identified strategic approaches to deal with that issue.Key points Opioid prescription for chronic non-cancer pain is known to cause discomfort, feelings of guilt and conflicts for the prescribing doctor. From focus group interviews with GPs we found that to deal with this: • Doctors can use active strategies, such as confronting the patient or creating common routines together with their colleagues, or… • They can use passive coping strategies such as accepting the situation, handing over the responsibility to the patient or choosing not to see that there is a problem. • Opportunities for doctors to discuss prescription routines may be the best way to influence prescription habits.

Biochar may contribute to both agricultural productivity and atmospheric carbon dioxide removal. However, despite the many potential upsides of adding biochar to amend carbon-depleted soils in sub-Saharan Africa, deployment is largely lacking. This paper explores the socio-economic factors that can explain tendencies to avoid action. Based on a survey of 172 farming households, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions in the Mbeya and Songwe regions of Tanzania, which were targeted for a biochar aid program in 2014, several socio-economic drivers behind the continued use of biochar deployment were identified in this follow-up study. A key deployment driver was the increased crop yields, perceived to be the result of adding biochar to soils, increasing yields from 1 metric ton per hectare to 3 metric tons per hectare. Food security and family income were cited as the main reasons to engage in biochar production and use. Climate change mitigation and increased resilience were other key reasons that motivated adoption. In terms of socio-economic factors, farmers with low education and income, the majority being males aged 40–60 years, contributed to low adoption rates in the study area. Respondents often cited the alternative usage of biochar feedstocks, lack of government involvement or extension services, traditions, and farming customs as the main constraints limiting biochar deployment.

Cooperative broadcasting is a promising technique for robust broadcast with low overhead and delay in mobile ad hoc networks. The technique is attractive for mission-oriented mobile communication, where a majority of the traffic is of broadcast nature. In cooperative broadcasting, all nodes simultaneously retransmit packets. The receiver utilizes cooperative diversity in the simultaneously received signals. The retransmissions continue until all nodes are reached. After the packet has traveled a specific number of hops out from the source, denoted as reuse distance, the source node transmits a new broadcast packet in the time slot used for the previous broadcast packet. If the reuse distance is too small, interference causes packet loss in intermediate nodes. In the literature, a reuse distance of three is common. With an analysis based on a realistic interference model and real terrain data, we show that a reuse distance of at least four is necessary to avoid packet loss in sparsely connected networks, especially for high spectral efficiencies. For frequency hopping, widely used in military systems, we propose a novel method. This method almost eliminates interference for a reuse distance of three, increasing the throughput by 33% compared to systems with a reuse distance of four.

The MAX IV storage rings, currently under construction in Lund, Sweden, will use third harmonic cavities operated passively to lengthen the bunches and alleviate collective instabilities. These cavities are an essential ingredient in the MAX IV design concept and are required for achieving the final design goals in terms of stored current, beam emittance, and beam lifetime—such performance challenges are in fact common to all recent ultralow emittance storage ring designs and harmonic cavities are currently under consideration in several laboratories. In this paper, we report on parametric studies comparing different harmonic cavity settings in terms of the resulting bunch length, peak bunch density, and incoherent synchrotron frequency spread for the MAX IV 3 GeV ring. The equilibrium longitudinal bunch density distribution was calculated by establishing a self-consistent equation for the bunch form factor, describing the bunch shape. The calculations are fully self-consistent in the sense that not only the amplitude but also the phase of the waves excited by the beam in the harmonic cavity were assumed to be a function of the bunch shape, which allowed us to explore a wide parameter range not restricted to the region close to the conditions for which the first and second derivatives of the total rf voltage are zero at the synchronous phase. Our results indicate that up to a factor 5 increase in rms bunch length is achievable with a purely passive system for the MAX IV 3 GeV ring while keeping a relatively large harmonic cavity detuning, thus limiting the unavoidable Robinson antidamping rate from the fundamental mode of a passively operated harmonic cavity to values below the synchrotron radiation damping rate. The paper is complemented by results of measurements performed in the MAX III storage ring, which showed good agreement with calculations following the fully self-consistent approach.

Multi-model ensemble simulations for the marine biogeochemistry and food web of the Baltic Sea were performed for the period 1850–2098, and projected changes in the future climate were compared with the past climate environment. For the past period 1850–2006, atmospheric, hydrological and nutrient forcings were reconstructed, based on historical measurements. For the future period 1961–2098, scenario simulations were driven by regionalized global general circulation model (GCM) data and forced by various future greenhouse gas emission and air- and riverborne nutrient load scenarios (ranging from a pessimistic ‘business-as-usual’ to the most optimistic case). To estimate uncertainties, different models for the various parts of the Earth system were applied. Assuming the IPCC greenhouse gas emission scenarios A1B or A2, we found that water temperatures at the end of this century may be higher and salinities and oxygen concentrations may be lower than ever measured since 1850. There is also a tendency of increased eutrophication in the future, depending on the nutrient load scenario. Although cod biomass is mainly controlled by fishing mortality, climate change together with eutrophication may result in a biomass decline during the latter part of this century, even when combined with lower fishing pressure. Despite considerable shortcomings of state-of-the-art models, this study suggests that the future Baltic Sea ecosystem may unprecedentedly change compared to the past 150 yr. As stakeholders today pay only little attention to adaptation and mitigation strategies, more information is needed to raise public awareness of the possible impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems.