Phthalates and pharmaceuticals in soil, groundwater, and surface water downgradient of a wastewater soil infiltration system.

Disrupting tree continuity through clearcut forestry can alter the climate sensitivity of future tree growth in northern Sweden

This article presents the results of the Innovation Support Program (ISP), designed to enhance the market readiness of 12 bio-based innovators from six European rural regions: Northern Sweden, Mazovia (Poland), Upper Austria, Pays de la Loire (France), Strumica (Macedonia), and Andalusia (Spain). Over three years, the ISP applied a modular and flexible methodology, beginning with a cross-regional needs analysis to identify knowledge gaps, followed by a call for Expressions of Interest to select promising bio-based solutions, and concluding with tailored support delivered through regional Task Forces. These provided mentoring and capacity-building activities focusing on business modeling, market analysis, and funding opportunities. The program identified market access as a major barrier to scaling up and noted that many solutions followed Social and Solidarity Economy principles, prioritizing social and environmental impact over profit. Through targeted assistance and knowledge exchange, the ISP strengthened local innovation capacity and contributed measurable progress in companies’ Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Positioned within the framework of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the ISP demonstrates how combining regional insights with a structured support framework can effectively accelerate the scaling of bio-based solutions, highlighting the need for iterative, long-term support to sustain regional bioeconomy growth.

As European societies face rising longevity rates and healthier ageing populations, a shift toward a “longevity society” is underway — one that values older adults’ active socio-economic participation. The Nordic countries provide a compelling case study, where the demographic ageing intersects with digitalisation, rural-urban divides, and regional integration. This paper explores how digital health innovations in the Nordics influence equality, quality, and access to healthcare, particularly within the context of the growing silver economy. Through policy analysis and review of empirical studies and strategic documents, it examines national and regional responses to ageing. Rural areas, especially in Finland and northern Sweden, where older populations are overrepresented due to youth outmigration, face particular challenges. In these settings, digital tools — telemedicine, care robots, and cross-border health data systems — are used to enhance accessibility and care standards. Findings reveal that Nordic countries have, over the past decade, advanced digital health and social care strategies responsive to real-time societal needs. These strategies increasingly address not only older adults but also vulnerable groups such as immigrants, Indigenous populations, and people with disabilities. There is also growing cooperation with the Baltic states to develop more resilient, inclusive, and interoperable healthcare systems. The 2025 meeting of the Nordic Council’s Committee for Welfare in Tromsø emphasized the need for a unified ageing strategy. This includes boosting digital inclusion, promoting culturally adaptive care, and supporting older adults in co-designing their care. A draft strategy, currently under consultation, will guide long-term cooperation and is expected to be adopted in late 2025. In conclusion, the Nordic experience demonstrates how inclusive, data-driven digital policies can effectively support ageing societies — offering lessons for broader regional and global application.

Increasing periods of zero-discharge and large fluctuations in discharge are expected in future hydropower operations due to changes in the electricity system, including greater reliance on solar and wind power, as well as increased variability in precipitation driven by climate change. In this study, several types of zero-flow periods were analyzed in a regulated northern river in Sweden. The results highlight different mitigation measures that may be suitable for reducing ecological impacts associated with hydropeaking. The study also evaluates potential improvements that could be achieved by implementing a mean annual low flow instead of zero flow. Overall, the findings demonstrate the value of conducting detailed river-specific analyses to identify effective ecological restoration measures in regulated river systems.

Magmatic dykes are the main pathways for magma through Earth's crust. They are often assumed to be magma-filled fractures that propagate as thin, tapered sheet intrusions through mode I tensile opening at the fracture tip and elastic bending of the host rock along the dyke walls. Here, we present field evidence from northern Sweden, showing that deep-crustal dyke emplacement was, despite high strain rates, associated with significant ductile deformation of the host rocks. On average, 25% of the dyke thickness was accommodated by ductile flow of the immediate host rock. Modelling magma cooling times suggests average ductile strain rates of 10-3 s-1 to 10-6 s-1, i.e. 6 to 10 orders of magnitude faster than typical tectonic ductile strain rates in the middle crust. These results have major implications for understanding ductile crustal strength and the interpretation of geophysical signals used to mitigate geohazards in volcanically active areas.

This article emphasizes the significance of relational concepts in understanding Disaster Management (DM) in rural areas. Specifically, we turn to the concepts of relational place and peripheralization to illustrate how places derive meaning from their relationships with other places and argue for a deeper understanding of how these dynamics influence DM professionals’ experiences of their work and of peripheralization. Despite extensive research on DM, place is often treated as a neutral backdrop rather than as an active agent that shapes professionals’ work. To explore the role of place in DM, we draw on interviews with professionals from four municipalities in northern Sweden, characterized by expansive geographies, declining populations, and a decreasing tax base. By employing the concept of relational place, we show how DM professionals perceive laws and regulations as ill-adapted to their contexts and their work as diverging from broader societal norms. We also illustrate how feelings of peripheralization, understood as a process rather than a static condition, are linked to the political, financial, and social dimensions of DM. Through this article, we aim to broaden the discourse on DM by providing insights into the unique challenges faced in rural contexts, emphasizing how these intersect with professionals’ understandings of place.

Abstract Forest reserves in boreal Scandinavia are primarily established to protect biodiversity. However, they also serve as important reference areas for traditional land use by the indigenous Sami people, a factor often overlooked during reserve creation. In this study, we examined the role of Sami land use in shaping the forest structure of Tjieggelvas, a large forest reserve in northern Sweden that has not been affected by modern forestry. We collected field data on both forest structure and cultural objects—visible remains of human activity—at five sites and analyzed the data using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results revealed noticeable differences between sites, mainly due to human impact. However, there was no link between forest-structure variables associated with old-growth conditions and the density of cultural objects. To arrive at a better interpretation of our findings, we reviewed archival sources from the early eighteenth century onward and interpreted Sami place names. The combination of these data provided a detailed understanding of the cultural history and human influence on this ancient forest. We conclude that the management and designation of forest reserves should more thoroughly incorporate cultural history and values than they currently do. Recognizing cultural heritage enhances the overall value of protected areas, connects the present with the past, and honors the history of indigenous peoples.

ABSTRACT This article discusses frictions related to a datacentre enterprise in a municipality in northern Sweden. These frictions were related to the eco-modernist underpinnings of the enterprise and at the same time contributed to shaping eco-modernism as a concept. The article builds on critical datacentre studies, critiques of eco-modernism and the twin transition, and the concept of friction. The empirical context is ongoing plans for a ‘green’ industrial datacentre enterprise in Östersund, a municipality in northern Sweden, planned to host servers for AI. Two major frictions were found: one concerning the datacentre company and how it negotiated its sustainability profile knowing that its business still required considerable material resources, and the other concerning the resistance that the initiative met from actors in Östersund. I argue that even though the enterprise was framed in eco-modernist terms, the frictions contributed to shaping the universal of eco-modernism in a way that shifted focus from ecological to social sustainability and to discursive legitimisation of sustainability efforts. However, this did not make the business any less resource intensive.

ABSTRACT This work investigates the potential for logging residues (branches and tops that can be extracted during roundwood harvesting) to replace fossil‐based feedstocks and energy use in industry, using Sweden as a case study. National and regional supply–demand balances are calculated and costs for extraction and transportation of logging residues to current and future users are estimated. The results show that there is an excess of unutilized logging residues in northern Sweden (just below 10 TWh/y), while the supply potential is already utilized in the south. In southern Sweden, the use of logging residues for district heating is extensive, while simultaneously, the refinery industry is undergoing a transition to renewable feedstocks. This creates a gap between the regional supply and demand of around 15 TWh/year going into the future. Meanwhile, the middle and northern parts of Sweden could be largely self‐sufficient and rely on regional logging residues to supply the estimated future biomass demands of around 9 TWh/y. Thus, a regional supply–demand imbalance can be expected in the future, where the excess resource is located in the north, while large demands are expected in the south. With current utilization patterns, the costs for logging residue extraction and transportation are around 50% higher in the north than in the south of Sweden, mainly attributable to the shorter transportation distances. To supply refineries with logging residue‐based feedstock from northern Sweden, costs for transportation can be reduced by about 5–10 €/MWh utilizing distributed methanol synthesis before long‐distance ship and train transportation. However, the transportation cost reduction is small compared to the cost of the methanol synthesis step, highlighting that the added value for the refinery of receiving methanol compared to chipped logging residues needs to make up the difference to motivate a supply chain based on distributed methanol synthesis.

BackgroundThe transition from hospital to home represents a pivotal and potentially high-risk phase for older adults, especially within rural contexts where geographical remoteness, limited resources, and decentralized healthcare infrastructure amplify vulnerabilities. Existing literature offers limited insight into the experiences of rural older adults during this transitional process. Therefore, this study aimed to explore older adults’ experiences of transitioning from hospital to home in rural settings and to describe how they felt during the process.MethodsThis qualitative study used open, unstructured interviews to explore older adults’ experiences of hospital-to-home transitions in a rural region of northern Sweden. Nine older adults (aged 69–85) who had recently been discharged from somatic inpatient wards of a county hospital participated. In one interview, the spouse of one of them also participated. Data were analyzed using a six-phase Reflexive Thematic Analysis.ResultsOlder adults’ hospital-to-home transitions were experienced as twofold, involving both a physical transition from hospital to home and an inner transition of self-image. Their experiences related to three interconnected dimensions: organizational, psychological, and social. The themes identified were “Knowing one’s way through the healthcare system,” “Understanding and managing one’s thoughts and emotions,” and “Feeling socially connected.”ConclusionsCare transitions for older adults in a rural context are complex and highly personal; therefore, healthcare professionals must thoroughly assess each individual’s specific circumstances, including their psychological resources and social networks, during care planning.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-025-06780-1.

Abstract. Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important trace gas in the atmosphere. However, its sinks and sources in terrestrial ecosystems remain poorly quantified. Understanding the terrestrial sink and source dynamics is crucial for better assessing the global CO budget. In this study, we investigated CO exchange in an Arctic peatland in northern Sweden to quantify the magnitude and key drivers of fluxes at the site. We measured CO fluxes using the eddy covariance method from August 2022 to September 2024. The study site was characterized by a heterogeneous surface structure with elevated dry palsas surrounded by wetter areas of bog. We found that the peatland was a net CO source during the measurement period, with fluxes ranging from −0.29 to 0.39 nmol m−2 s−1 (25th and 75th percentiles). The fluxes showed a systematic diurnal cycle, with daytime emission and nighttime uptake. Emissions were mainly driven by radiation, suggesting photo-driven production. Soil uptake was dependent on surface wetness, with higher consumption occurring in the dry parts of the peatland, suggesting that oxic conditions may favour CO uptake. We estimated through modelling that annual CO fluxes from the dry parts of the peatland were −32.6 and −17.1 mg CO m−2 yr−1 and from the wet parts 84.0 and 83.4 mg CO m−2 yr−1 in 2022–2023 and 2023–2024, respectively. Despite the relatively small amount of CO released from the peatland, our study suggests that current global models may underestimate the CO source from northern wetlands.

Assessment of overall chemical hazard of runoff from eight roofing materials applying effect-based analysis.

This article focuses on how the idea of Borealism intervened in the establishment of cross-country (XC) skiing as a modern sport in late nineteenth-century Sweden. Borealism is analogous to Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism and refers to an exoticizing discourse, not of the Orient, but of Lapland, the region that covers the greatest part of northern Sweden’s hinterland. The clearest expression of Borealism was the organization of so-called National skiing competitions with Lapland skiers at the center. The propaganda purpose of these competitions was to enable the public to learn the technical skills of skiing from the masters of the North. Although most of them were Sámi, the Swedish skiing elite – referred to here as the ‘Boreal athletes’ – were an ethnically heterogeneous group. That skiers of Lapland without Sámi ancestry, commonly referred to as ‘settlers’, were also promoted as ideals of skiing technique suggests that the Boreal athletes embodied a hybrid cultural identity, in which the categories of ‘Sámi’ and ‘settler’ were intertwined and cross-fertilized. In the spirit of nature romanticism, these masters of skiing were perceived as untainted by civilization; they had acquired their skills through wolf hunting and wilderness living, reflecting a romanticized lifestyle idealized during the age of Borealism. They appeared as outsiders, both admired and exoticized.

Job satisfaction plays a critical role in shaping professional outcomes, as it has been positively associated with enhanced performance and greater motivation. Conversely, insufficient job satisfaction may contribute to higher rates of staff turnover, professional burnout, and intentions to leave the profession. The objective was to investigate job satisfaction among pharmacists educated at Umeå University in Sweden over time and to explore factors affecting job satisfaction. A survey was distributed to pharmacy graduates who had completed web-based pharmacy programs at Umeå University between 2019 and 2023. Questions regarding job satisfaction and factors related to it were included. The response rate was 38%. The results were compared with results from a previous investigation (graduation years 2015–2018) to enable comparisons over time. Compared to findings from the previous survey, job satisfaction was lower in the present study (76.4% vs. 91.4%, p = 0.004). Both greater opportunities for continuing professional development (CPD) and the perception that the knowledge and skills gained during education are beneficial in the current job were associated with high job satisfaction (OR: 5.360; 95% CI: 1.896–15.156 and OR: 3.983; 95% CI: 1.255–12.642, respectively). Understanding factors contributing to job satisfaction can help employers improve retention and work environment.

Introduction Medication-related problems (MRPs) are common among older adults. The global population is ageing and there are health-related challenges linked to ageing in rural areas. Home-living rural older adults often face barriers to access healthcare, like long distances to healthcare services and poor continuity of care. Telepharmacy is the remote provision of pharmaceutical care, and telepharmacy could be of particular importance for rural older adults to improve their access to clinical pharmacy services and reduce the incidence of MRPs. The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a novel telepharmacy service in primary care for home-living older adults in Northern Sweden’s rural areas. The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of the telepharmacy service regarding the identification, classification and resolution of MRPs.Methods and analysisThis study will be conducted as a single-arm interventional study. A total of 100 people ≥65 years will receive the telepharmacy service for 12 weeks. The key principles of the telepharmacy service are to perform medication interviews and follow-up meetings with study participants, to conduct structured medication reviews, to conduct regular electronic medical record reviews and to have interprofessional collaboration with primary care physicians. All meetings will be conducted through video conferencing via a secure virtual care platform. Identified MRPs will be classified, and the acceptance rate of the pharmacists’ recommendations will be evaluated. The results will be presented with descriptive statistics. As secondary objectives, intra-individual changes in participants’ medication adherence, health-related quality of life and beliefs about medicines will be assessed through self-report questionnaires. Statistical analysis will be conducted using two-sided McNemar’s tests. Semi-structured interviews will also be conducted to explore participants’ and healthcare professionals’ experiences and attitudes towards this telepharmacy service.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been granted ethical approval by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (registration number 2022-03819-01 and 2024-08441-02). Participant informed consent is required. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific conferences.Trial registration numberNCT05629936.

Abstract. In recent years severe droughts have significantly impacted the water-dependent sectors including water supply, agriculture, energy, and forestry. This study aims to assess the meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological drought risk in Sweden, with a focus on hazard assessment using a set of indicators, including the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSMI), and Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI). The indicators were computed at time scales of 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months using daily precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and streamflow simulations (1975–2021) from the national S-HYPE hydrological model at about 13 km2 spatial resolution for almost 40 000 sub-catchments. Dry periods were next identified and characterized based on their intensity, duration, and frequency, following this a trend analysis was performed for these indicators and periods. Assessing the spatial similarities in soil moisture anomaly led to the categorization of the Swedish river systems into five clusters further improving the understanding of the identified spatial variability of drought indicators and trends. Our findings showed drier conditions and an increasing frequency of dry periods in central- and south-eastern Sweden. Significant negative trends in these regions, along with increasingly wet conditions in northern and western Sweden, were observed when analysed using the SPEI, SSMI, and SSI. Based solely on precipitation (SPI), similar significant wetter conditions were observed in northern and western Sweden; however, no significant decreasing precipitation trends were found in parts of central-eastern Sweden and Gotland Island. The findings of this study can improve climate services and early warning systems of droughts, better understanding the link to sectoral impacts and guiding mitigation practices and adaptation policies.

Abstract This study explores why social movement actors employ legal tactics, focusing on 11 years of opposition to a mining project in Kallak/Gállok in northern Sweden. Previous research has highlighted contextual opportunities and constraints, resources, and traditions as explanations for the use of legal tactics. Using frame analysis, the study examines how movement actors interpret the factors that shape their tactical choices. The findings suggest that several explanations often interrelated in influencing specific choices, underscoring the importance of exploring movement actors’ motivations holistically. The movement's internal multi‐organizational field emerged as a novel explanatory factor. Actors adapted to the tactics and roles of others in the movement, resulting in a division of labour where some specialized in public protest and others in legal mobilization. Future research should attend to movement actors’ situational interpretations and internal movement dynamics when seeking to understand the use of legal mobilization in social movements.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a severe extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study aimed to externally validate a genetic risk score (GRS) and a combined risk score for predicting the risk of RA-associated PF in an independent cohort of early-RA patients. This study utilized an inception cohort of 1118 patients diagnosed with RA from northern Sweden between 1996 and 2016. Clinical data were systematically collected, and genotyping was performed for 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Statistical analyses, including logistic regression and area under the curve (AUC) assessments, were conducted to evaluate the performance of the GRS and in combination with clinical data as combined risk score in predicting RA-PF development. Of the 1115 patients with complete data, 60 (5.6%) were diagnosed with PF. PF was significantly associated with age, rheumatoid factor positivity, disease activity, and MUC5B (rs35705950) and FAM13A(rs2609255) SNPs. The GRS demonstrated a significant association with RA-PF (odds ratio 2.6, (95%CI 1.6, 4.5), while the combined risk score exhibited superior performance (AUC 0.75, p<0.001) compared to the GRS alone (AUC 0.62). The combined risk score outperformed the GRS in discriminating RA-PF, indicating its potential utility in clinical practice. This study provides external validation of the VARA-ILD-GRS and VARA-ILD combined risk score in an RA cohort, demonstrating their generalizability and effectiveness in identifying high-risk individuals for RA-ILD. The findings support the integration of genetic and clinical data in risk stratification models, which could significantly improve screening strategies for RA patients at risk of developing PF.

Abstract The boundaries of the family Catillariaceae have largely remained untested through phylogenetic methods. Recent studies have led to the transfer of several genera previously classified in Catillariaceae to the newly described family Leprocaulaceae. Despite these changes, the distinction between Catillariaceae, Leprocaulaceae, and Catinariaceae remains ambiguous. To address these uncertainties, we conducted a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis with improved taxon sampling (including the type species of all genera) and a six‐marker dataset, including two newly developed markers. Our results strongly support Catillariaceae as a monophyletic group including the currently accepted genera Catillaria , Catinaria , Halecania , Leprocaulon , Solenopsora , and Speerschneidera . Consequently, we synonymize Catinariaceae and Leprocaulaceae with Catillariaceae, resulting in a revised, morphologically cohesive circumscription. The redefined Catillariaceae includes all Lecanoromycete species characterised by a Catillaria ‐type ascus, paraphyses with thickened brown pigmented caps, and 2‐celled, unpigmented ascospores (in sexually reproducing species). However, our findings question traditional generic circumscriptions in this group, revealing paraphyly in Catillaria , Halecania , Leprocaulon , and Solenopsora . As a step towards resolving these issues, we describe the new genera Caelochroma (for Catillaria atomarioides ) and Halecaniella (for Halecania viridescens ), and resurrect the genera Microlecia (for Catillaria lenticularis ) and Placolecania (for part of Solenopsora not including its type). Several taxonomic challenges persist however, particularly within Leprocaulon and Solenopsora s.l. Additionally, we demonstrate that the genus Placolecis does not belong in Catillariaceae. We describe Halecania abscondita , a new corticolous species from northern Sweden, propose the new combination Catillaria nubila (for C . chalybeia var. chloropoliza ) and designate a lectotype for Lecania alpivaga .