Russia and the World Trade Organization: Will TRIPS Be a Stumbling Block to Accession?

Arbetet som presenteras i denna rapport har utförts på R1K, vilket är en avdelning på Rönnskärsverken, som är en del av New Bolidens koncern. 2007 byggdes ett nytt gassystem med ett flertal nya komponenter. Till detta gassystem fanns bristande information om hur dessa komponenter fungerar och hänger ihop. Detta examensjobb har till syfte att skapa en funktionsbeskrivning i form av en lättläst operatörsmanual, för nya och erfarna operatörer. Informationen till funktionsbeskrivningen har kompilerats från tillverkarmanualer, konstruktionsritningar, informationspärmar, intervjuer samt ABB styrsystem. Bilder har tagits och redigerats, för att ge en illustrativ överblick av fluider och gasers väg genom gassystemet och dess kringutrustning. Information och bilder har sedan sammanställts i en funktionsbeskrivning (Se bilaga 1).The study which is presented in this report has been carried out at R1K, which is a section of the Rönnskär smelter plant. The plant is owned by New Boliden. In the year of 2007 a new gas system containing several new components were built. The operators that were in charge of monitoring the new system were not given sufficient education about the new components and their part in the system as whole. The purpose of this study is to create a function functional description about the system and all its components. The functional description is to be presented in the form of an easy-to-use manual for both experienced and new operators. The manual has been compiled from manufacturer manuals, construction blueprints, scattered operator manuals, knowledge of the ABB operator-system and interviews with various employees. To give the operators and the readers a good visual overview of all the different gas and fluid flows in the system pictures have been taken. All this have been compiled into the operator manual that is the functional description. (See attachment 1)

Quantum computational tensor network on string-net condensate

The string-net condensate is a new class of materials which exhibits the quantum topological order. In order to answer the important question, "how useful is the string-net condensate in quantum information processing?", we consider the most basic example of the string-net condensate, namely the $Z_2$ gauge string-net condensate on the two-dimensional hexagonal lattice, and show that the universal measurement-based quantum computation (in the sense of the quantum computational webs) is possible on it by using the framework of the quantum computational tensor network. This result implies that even the most basic example of the string-net condensate is equipped with the correlation space that has the capacity for the universal quantum computation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Quantum computing on encrypted data

The ability to perform computations on encrypted data is a powerful tool for protecting privacy. Recently, protocols to achieve this on classical computing systems have been found. Here we present an efficient solution to the quantum analogue of this problem that enables arbitrary quantum computations to be carried out on encrypted quantum data. We prove that an untrusted server can implement a universal set of quantum gates on encrypted quantum bits (qubits) without learning any information about the inputs, while the client, knowing the decryption key, can easily decrypt the results of the computation. We experimentally demonstrate, using single photons and linear optics, the encryption and decryption scheme on a set of gates sufficient for arbitrary quantum computations. Because our protocol requires few extra resources compared to other schemes it can be easily incorporated into the design of future quantum servers. These results will play a key role in enabling the development of secure distributed quantum systems

Doctoral Dissertation Research in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT): A Content Analysis

The field of marriage and family therapy (MFT) has enjoyed tremendous growth over the past 60 years. As the charismatic pioneers of MFT strove to gain legitimacy in the early years, the culture of MFT lacked a focus on quality empirical research needed to lend credibility to the field. In the past 20 years, a surge of efficacy and effectiveness research has pointed the field in a positive direction. Doctoral dissertations offer valuable insight into what is being learned by future researchers and suggest in what direction the field is heading. Previous articles voice concern over a gap between researchers producing the research and therapists who should be a vital consumer. A content analysis was performed on all 157 doctoral dissertations from 19 COAMFTE-accredited Ph.D. programs between the years of 2005 and 2008. The sample was gathered through the ProQuest thesis and dissertation database. Dissertations were coded according to research methodology, clinical focus, and whether they were published. Results showed that women consisted of two-thirds (n = 106) of the dissertations finished within the timeframe and that men published on average more than women. Findings also suggest a significant lack of dissertations being published (16.5%; n = 26) with downward trends from 2005 to 2008. Out of the dissertations published, however, the quality was high with a mean impact factor of .940. Trends show an increase in qualitative research and a noticeable lack of process research. Of all the dissertations produced within 2005 and 2008, almost one in five dissertations lacked explicit clinical application in the study. Ways to improve the amount of clinically relevant research are discussed. Suggestions are made as to the role of advisors in the publication process as well as to improve the quantity of dissertations published in COAMFTE-accredited doctoral programs

Do pain-related beliefs influence adherence to multidisciplinary rehabilitation? A systematic review

OBJECTIVES: To understand how pain-related cognitions predict and influence treatment retention and adherence during and after a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. METHODS: Electronic databases including Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Academic Search Complete, and Scopus were used to search three combinations of keywords: chronic pain, beliefs, and treatment adherence. RESULTS: The search strategy yielded 591 results, with an additional 12 studies identified through reference screening. 81 full-text papers were assessed for eligibility and 10 papers met the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this review. The pain-related beliefs that have been measured in relation to treatment adherence include: pain-specific self-efficacy, perceived disability, catastrophizing, control beliefs, fear-avoidance beliefs, perceived benefits and barriers, as well as other less commonly measured beliefs. The most common pain-related belief investigated in relation to treatment adherence was pain-related self-efficacy. Findings for the pain-related beliefs investigated among the studies were mixed. Collectively, all of the aforementioned pain-related beliefs, excluding control beliefs, were found to influence treatment adherence behaviours. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that treatment adherence is determined by a combination of pain-related beliefs either supporting or inhibiting chronic pain patients\u27 ability to adhere to treatment recommendations over time. In the studies reviewed, self-efficacy appears to be the most commonly researched predictor of treatment adherence, its effects also influencing other pain-related beliefs. More refined and standardised methodologies, consistent descriptions of pain-related beliefs and methods of measurement will improve our understanding of adherence behaviours

Transcriptome Analysis of \u3ci\u3eBifidobacterium Longum\u3c/i\u3e Strains that Show a Differential Response to Hydrogen Peroxide Stress

Consumer and commercial interest in foods containing probiotic bifidobacteria is increasing. However, because bifidobacteria are anaerobic, oxidative stress can diminish cell viability during production and storage of bioactive foods. We previously found Bifidobacterium longum strain NCC2705 had signifi- cantly greater intrinsic and inducible resistance to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) than strain D2957. Here, we explored the basis for these differences by examining the transcriptional responses of both strains to sub-lethal H2O2 exposure for 5- or 60-min. Strain NCC2705 had 288 genes that were differentially expressed after the 5-min treatment and 114 differentially expressed genes after the 60-min treatment. In contrast, strain D2957 had only 21 and 90 differentially expressed genes after the 5- and 60-min treatments, respectively. Both strains showed up-regulation of genes coding enzymes implicated in oxidative stress resistance, such as thioredoxin, thioredoxin reductase, peroxiredoxin, ferredoxin, glutaredoxin, and anaerobic ribonucleotide reductase, but induction levels were typically highest in NCC2705. Compared to D2957, NCC2705 also had more up-regulated genes involved in transcriptional regulation and more down-regulated genes involved in sugar transport and metabolism. These results provide a greater understanding of the molecular basis for oxidative stress resistance in B. longum and the factors that contribute to strain-to-strain variability in survival in bioactive food products

Genetic and Physiological Responses of \u3ci\u3eBifidobacterium animalis\u3c/i\u3e subsp. \u3ci\u3elactis\u3c/i\u3e to Hydrogen Peroxide Stress

Consumer interest in probiotic bifidobacteria is increasing, but industry efforts to secure high cell viability in foods is determined by these anaerobes’ sensitivity to oxidative stress. To address this limitation, we investigated genetic and physiological responses of two fully sequenced Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strains, BL-04 and DSM 10140, to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) stress. Although the genome sequences for these strains are highly clonal, prior work showed they differ in both intrinsic and inducible H2O2 resistance. Transcriptome analysis of early stationary phase cells exposed to a sub-lethal H2O2 concentration detected significant (P2O2 stress resistance might be due to a mutation in a BL-04 gene encoding long chain fatty acid-coA ligase. To explore this possibility, membrane fatty acids were isolated and analyzed by GC-MS. Results confirmed the strains had significantly different lipid profiles; the BL-04 membrane contained higher percentages of C14:0 and C16:0, and lower percentages of C16:1n7 and C18:1n9. Alteration of the DSM 10140 membrane lipid composition using modified growth medium to more closely mimic that of BL-04 yielded cells that showed increased intrinsic resistance to lethal H2O2 challenge, but did not display an inducible H2O2 stress response. Results show deliberate stress induction or membrane lipid modification can be employed to significantly improve H2O2 resistance in B. animalis subsp. lactis strains

Multi-Omics strategies for decoding smoke-assisted germination pathways and seed vigour

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The success of seed germination and the successful establishment of seedlings across diverse environmental conditions depends on seed vigour, which is of both economic and ecologic importance. The smoke-derived exogenous compound karrikins (KARs) and the endogenous plant hormone strigolactone (SL) are two classes of butanolide-containing molecules that follow highly similar signalling pathways to control diverse biological activities in plants. Unravelling the precise mode-of-action of these two classes of molecules in model species has been a key research objective. However, the specific and dynamic expression of biomolecules upon stimulation by these signalling molecules remains largely unknown. Genomic and post-genomic profiling approaches have enabled mining and association studies across the vast genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity. Here, we review the background of smoke-assisted germination and vigour and the current knowledge of how plants perceive KAR and SL signalling and initiate the crosstalk with the germination-associated hormone pathways. The recent advancement of ‘multi-omics’ applications are discussed in the context of KAR signalling and with relevance to their adoption for superior agronomic trait development. The remaining challenges and future opportunities for integrating multi-omics datasets associated with their application in KAR-dependent seed germination and abiotic stress tolerance are also discussed