Julkaisuarkisto

Increasing electricity demand from data centres, industrial applications, electric vehicles and domestic heating is creating pressure to develop electricity systems in many parts of the world, but especially in Western countries. In response to challenges such as grid congestion, interconnection queues and climate-related hazards, network operators, municipalities and entrepreneurs are turning their attention to local solutions. Positive energy districts (PEDs) are emerging as a prominent new organisational model to implement these solutions. The main objective of a PED is to achieve net-zero emissions on an annual basis, which requires investments in local energy production and its flexible use. However, their success is not guaranteed, as they must overcome the 'liability of newness'. PEDs require strong policy support and a shared understanding among diverse stakeholders, who often have conflicting business objectives and interests. This article examines the legitimation processes of four distinct frontrunner PED projects in Finland and qualitatively analyses the challenges associated with their legitimation. Drawing on the ecosystem literature on legitimacy, we categorise legitimation efforts into identity creation, discursive legitimation and performative legitimation. The qualitative case analysis reveals that the primary legitimation challenges facing PEDs can be distilled into four identity-creation dilemmas: (1) differentiation versus conformity in relationships with energy incumbents; (2) holistic versus focused scope; (3) top-down versus bottom-up governance; (4) balancing timescales and uncertainties through stability versus innovation. This paper contributes to the literature in two main ways. First, it explores the challenges that PEDs face in legitimising themselves. Second, it compares legitimation dynamics across industrial and residential PED contexts. The findings enhance our understanding of PED creation processes and can inform the development of more effective policy support to facilitate their diffusion.

Introduction: Cardiac organ damage (OD) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, limited knowledge exists on cardiac OD in young patients with cryptogenic ischaemic stroke (CIS).

Aim: To explore prevalence and covariates of cardiac OD in patients with CIS compared to controls participating in the SECRETO study.

Methods: We analysed data from 427 patients with CIS aged <50 years and 361 age- and sex-matched controls. OD was defined as presence of abnormal left ventricular (LV) geometry (LV hypertrophy or concentric remodelling) or left atrial enlargement (LAE) assessed by echocardiography, using sex-specific threshold values.

Results: Compared to controls, patients had higher prevalences of obesity and tobacco smoking, patent foramen ovale (PFO) (52% vs. 25%) and abnormal LV geometry (12% vs. 7%, all p < 0.01), while presence of LAE did not differ. In multivariable analyses, CIS was associated with presence of abnormal LV geometry (odds ratio 1.86 [95% confidence interval 1.09-3.20], p=0.024). In separate multivariable analyses in patients only, obesity was associated with both abnormal LV geometry and LAE (both p < 0.01), and higher systolic blood pressure only with presence of abnormal LV geometry (p < 0.001). No significant association with PFO was found.

Conclusion: In young patients with CIS participating in the SECRETO study, abnormal LV geometry was more prevalent compared to age- and sex-matched controls and associated with presence of higher blood pressure and obesity. The results point to the importance of blood pressure and weight control in CIS to prevent progression of cardiac OD and recurrent cardiovascular events.

Invasive species have long been acknowledged as potentially severe dangers to native ecosystems. Although some work has also been done with empirical food webs, more information is still needed to shed light on the cascading effects of invasive species in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we used an extended niche approach to generate artificial food webs with multiple trophic species and variable parameters. We extended the niche approach by adding several age groups for the top trophic species (fish) to generate food web structures resembling those found in natural environments. Finally, we added an invader species with randomized parameters to each web. We used allometric trophic network (ATN) modelling to simulate 200 years of species biomass changes with and without the invader in the ecosystem. Fish biomasses and old age groups changed the most, with a response that was often a decline in the biomass. The change was predicted by food web depth (the number of feeding levels from the primary producers to the top predators in the ecosystem) and by the magnitude of ecosystem-level changes caused by invasion. Both the properties of native species and the invader, such as the trophic level and direct centrality (specialist/generalist feeding) and indirect centrality (cascading effects), affected the outcome. High Jaccard's similarity between the invader and the native species also predicted a negative impact on the top fish predators.

Climate and land use change are major threats to biodiversity. Hari et al. quantify their combined impacts on future terrestrial vertebrate diversity, revealing pronounced regional differences and potential mitigating or exacerbating effects under different scenarios, underscoring the need for transformative climate and land use actions to halt biodiversity loss.