Microsoft and the European Union Face Off Over Internet Privacy Concerns

Amidst what appears to be a multi-faceted attack by the European Union on Microsoft, the newest angle is the European Commission\u27s announcement last month that it was considering a formal investigation of Microsoft\u27s .Net Passport data processing system for possible violations of the European Union Data Privacy Directive. This iBrief explores the European Data Privacy Directive and seeks to explain why the European Commission believes .Net Passport may be in violation of its privacy policies and a case for further investigation

Internet of Buoys: An Internet of Things Implementation at Sea

Internet of Things (IoT) applications are emerging in many different areas, including maritime environments. One of the applications in this area is the monitoring of buoys at sea. To realize wireless tracking of buoys, an accurate prediction of the path loss in an open-sea environment is essential. So far, channel measurements at sea have mainly been conducted with antennas placed a couple of meters above the sea surface, which is higher than the buoys themselves. Therefore, we investigated the validity of the published channel models at sea by means of path loss measurements using a LoRa link with a transmitter antenna height of 0.35 m and a base station antenna height of 2.65 m and 5.2 m. Our results show that the round earth loss model is not accurate at these antenna heights. The ITU-R P.2001-3 model and a model by Bullington show a better agreement with our measurements. However, the difference between our two measurement campaigns shows that more investigation is needed on the dependence of the path loss on the sea state. Additionally, the availability of Sigfox, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and The Things Network at sea has been explored. We found that NB-IoT and Sigfox can be used for IoT applications in the tested area at low antenna heights

Costs for soil cultivation and sowing

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att sammanställa maskinkostnader för etableringsmetoderna plöjningsfritt och konventionellt. Vi vill även titta på hur stor kapacitet som behövs på maskinparken för den tänkta gården på 600 ha åker, detta för att hinna etablera grödan inom ett rimligt tidsspektra. Anledningen till att vi valt ett företag på 600 ha är att det är den areal tröskan klarar av att avverka inom rimlig tid. Det medför att vi måste ta en del hänsyn till lägligheten och hur mycket av tiden som är så kallat "tjänligt väder". Vi har använt ett kalkylprogram för att beräkna arbetstid, bränsleförbrukning och maskinkostnad per hektar. I arbetet har vi redovisat hur mycket tid och bränsle man kan spara med ett plöjningsfritt system. Den skillnaden kan på många rena växtolingsgårdar vara en väldigt avgörande orsak vid val av bearbetningsmetod, då det är svårt att få tag på säsongsarbetare och ett ständigt stigande drivmedelspris. Med en tidsbesparing på hela 44% låter det ganska rimligt. The background of this study is to put together machinery costs for two methods of establishment. These two methods are conventional plowing and reduced tillage. We also want to look at the capacity on the different machines for the example farm on 600 ha. The reason for 600 ha is because that's what a combine harvester can harvest in one season, this also involves the timeliness-costs and the probability of good weather. We have used a calculation program to calculate hours of labour, fuel consumption and machinery costs. In this study we show how much time and fuel you can save with reduced tillage. The choice of method can on many crop farms make a big difference when it comes to the problem with seasonal workers and increasing fuel prices.The background of this study is to put together machinery costs for two methods of establishment. These two methods are conventional plowing and reduced tillage. We also want to look at the capacity on the different machines for the example farm on 600 ha. The reason for 600 ha is because that’s what a combine harvester can harvest in one season, this also involves the timeliness-costs and the probability of good weather. We have used a calculation program to calculate hours of labour, fuel consumption and machinery costs. In this study we show how much time and fuel you can save with reduced tillage. The choice of method can on many crop farms make a big difference when it comes to the problem with seasonal workers and increasing fuel prices

Samarbete mellan lantbruksföretag

Nowadays, cooperation is necessary and this study tries to illuminate the possibilities and problems about cooperation in fiction between 7 small/midsize farms in Skåne. Conventional Farming is done with grain and sugarbeets as specialization. Calculation of machine costs have been done and compared in the study, both for the farms in thorough and the fictitious operation companies. Business ratios as depreciation/ha, interest/ha and maintenance/ha have been calculated. In this essay we present a proposal about how a practical implementation can be done. In the proposal there is an example how the distribution of work can be done. Our study also shows that cooperation gives better opportunities if you want to continue doing conventional farming. The social part also has been treated. Many families are divided both physical and mental because of high charge of work. Cooperation gives possibilities to reduce the individual worktime.Samarbete ligger i tiden. I detta arbete försöker vi belysa möjligheter och problem vad gäller ett fiktivt samarbete mellan 7 små/medelstora lantbruk i Skåne. Gårdarna bedriver konventionell växtodling med inriktning på spannmål och sockerbetor. I fallstudien har beräkning av maskinkostnader gjorts och jämförts, både för de ingående gårdarna och för de fiktiva driftsbolagen. Nyckeltal såsom avskrivning/ha, ränta/ha samt underhåll/ha har beräknats. I arbetet ges förslag på hur ett praktiskt genomförande kan gå till. I detta förslag ingår t.ex. hur arbetsfördelningen kan ske. Vårt examensarbete visar också att samarbete ger bättre möjligheter om du vill fortsätta driva konventionell växtodling. Även den sociala delen har behandlats. Många familjer splittras (både fysiskt och psykiskt) bland annat på grund av för hög arbetsbelastning. I ett samarbete ges stora möjligheter att minska den individuella arbetstiden

Nätverk för ingenjörsutbildningar för samverkan vid införande av ny examens- och utbildningsstruktur

I föreliggande arbete beskrivs arbetet med att skapa ett nätverk med det övergripande syftet att stärka svensk ingenjörsutbildning. Under 2007 har nätverket finansierats av NSHU, som tillhandahållit medel för att stödja svenska högskolors arbete med Bolognaprocessen. Nätverket Ingenjörsutbildningarna har under året anordnat ett antal välbesökta workshopar. Ett antal grupperingar som inte tidigare haft regelbundna träffar har därmed skapats. Deltagarnas omdömen har varit positiva. Det är tydligt att det finns ett behov av ämnesbaserade nätverk, och där diskussionerna inte bara handlar om Bolognafrågor utan även om ämnesinnehåll, rekrytering, varumärken med mera. Projektet kan sägas ha startat ett nätverkande mellan ingenjörsutbildningar men det krävs mer arbete för att nå kontinuitet

Nordic responses to Brexit:Making the best of a difficult situation

This policy brief examines how the British decision to withdraw from the EU has influenced the political debates in and foreign policies of the five Nordic states – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. With the exception of Iceland, all these countries had a stated preference for Britain to remain in the EU – not least due to historical ties and the tendency of Britain and the Nordic countries to have similar approaches to European integration. Three general findings can be highlighted: First, Brexit has featured prominently in political debates in all the Nordic countries since the British referendum, and the causes and consequences of the Brexit vote continue to be discussed with vigour. In all the Nordic countries, Brexit has also stirred debates about their current relationships with the EU, prompting EU critics to demand new privileges or opt-outs. Overall, however, the Nordic governments, supported by a stable majority among their populations, have signalled that they wish to preserve their EU membership or current forms of association models, with the access and benefits these provide. Second, for all the Nordic countries, securing good relations with Britain post-Brexit is a key priority, but they have generally indicated that maintaining good relations with the EU must come first. Finally, the Nordic governments are well aware that Brexit could create a vacuum in EU policy-making, perhaps tipping the balance among internal clusters. Britain has been a highly visible member of the ‘Northern’ grouping in the EU, and its absence is likely to be noticed. As the Nordic countries are about to lose what has at times been a powerful ally in EU decision-making, they may have to forge new coalitions to safeguard their interests

Designing Highly Stable Poly(sarcosine)-Based Telodendrimer Micelles with High Drug Content Exemplified with Fulvestrant

Polymeric micelles have been extensively used as nanocarriers for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents, aiming to improve their efficacy in cancer treatment. However, the poor loading capacity, premature drug release, non-uniformity, and reproducibility still remain the major challenges. To create a stable polymeric micelle with high drug loading, a telodendrimer micelle was developed as a nanocarrier for fulvestrant, as an example of a drug that has extremely poor water solubility (sub-nanomolar range). Telodendrimers were prepared by the synthesis of hydrophilic linear poly(sarcosine) and growing a lysine dendron from the chain terminal amine by divergent synthesis. At the periphery of the dendritic block, either 4, 8, or 16 fulvestrant molecules were conjugated to the lysine dendron creating a hydrophobic block. Having drug molecules as a part of the carrier not only reduces the usage of the inert carrier materials but also prevents the drugs from leakage and premature release by diffusion. The self-assembled telodendrimer micelles demonstrated good colloidal stability (cmc < 2 mu M) in buffer and were uniform in size. In addition, these telodendrimer micelles could solubilize additional fulvestrant yielding an excellent overall drug loading capacity of up to 77 wt % total drug load (summation of conjugated and encapsulated). Importantly, the size of the micelles could be tuned between 25 and 150 nm by controlling (i) the ratio between hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks and (ii) the amount of encapsulated fulvestrant. The versatility of these telodendrimer-based micelle systems to both conjugated and encapsulated drugs with high efficiency and stability, in addition to possessing other tuneable properties, makes it a promising drug delivery system for a range of active pharmaceutical ingredients and therapeutic targets.Peer reviewe

Understanding exercise addiction, psychiatric characteristics and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among recreational athletes – An online survey study

BackgroundThe purpose of this paper was to explore maladaptive behaviors among physically active individuals, including exercise dependence and use of anabolic steroids. Both exercise addiction (EA) and use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) correlate to high amounts of exercise and EA have been linked to eating disorders and other mental health problems. MethodsAn internet survey was spread through fitness-related social media. Inclusion criteria were age >= 15 years and exercise frequency >= thrice weekly. Exercise addiction inventory identified those at-risk of EA (rEA). Characteristics of rEA were compared to those not at risk. In a separate analysis, AAS users were compared to AAS-naive individuals. ResultsIn total, 3,029 participants completed the questionnaire. Of these, 11% screened positive for being rEA, and 23% for ED. Factors associated with EA included daily exercise, social phobia, eating disorders and OCD. Risk consumption of alcohol was a negative predictor. Thirty seven participants had taken AAS the last year. These were mainly men, bodybuilders/powerlifters and more often used amphetamines and opioids. DiscussionThis exploratory study supports EA being strongly associated with eating disorders. Identified associations between EA and compulsive or anxiety disorders warrant further research to clarify if these associations arise prior to, together with, or secondary to EA

Massive MIMO goes Sub-GHz: Implementation and Experimental Exploration for LPWANs

Low-Power Wide-Area Networks operating in the unlicensed bands are being deployed to connect a rapidly growing number of Internet-of-Things devices. While the unlicensed sub-GHz band offers favorable propagation for long-range connections, measurements show that the energy consumption of the nodes is still mostly dominated by the wireless transmission affecting their autonomy. We investigate the potential benefits of deploying massive MIMO technology to increase system reliability and at the same time support low-energy devices with good coverage at sub-GHz frequencies. The impact of different antenna configurations and propagation conditions is analyzed. Both actual average experienced array gain and channel hardening are examined. The assessment demonstrates the effect of channel hardening as well as the potential benefits of the experienced array gain. These measurements serve as a first assessment of the channel conditions of massive MIMO at sub-GHz frequencies and are, to the best of our knowledge, the first of its kind

Waveguide structure

A waveguide structure for evanescent wave microscopy and/or spectroscopy, comprising an optically transparent core layer, a lower dielectric cladding layer and an upper dielectric cladding layer arranged on opposite sides of the core layer. The core layer has a refractive index higher than the refractive indices of the cladding layers. The upper cladding layer is made of an organic material. A sample well is arranged on an upper surface of the core layer formed by a cavity in the upper cladding layer, the sample well being adapted to contain a sample medium with one or more sample objects. The core layer is made of a first dielectric inorganic material, and the upper cladding layer has a refractive index which closely matches the refractive index of the sample medium. A method for manufacturing such waveguide structure, and a measurement system comprising the waveguide structure are also disclosed