Bryggning mellan SCSI och SATA samt implementering av en styrenhet för SATA på en Virtex-5

Companies and authorities of today often handle large amount of data, not unusually with a restricted content which should be kept secret from outsiders. One way of accomplish this is to encrypt stored data in real time. For this a hardware solution is ideal since it can be independent, fast enough, and easily added to already existing systems. This report is a starting point to achieve this with two of the most common mass storage standards SATA and SCSI in focus. It is based on the task to develop a FPGA based SATA controller and investigate the possibility to ”speak” SCSI with SATA devices. The working process has involved theoretical studies, system design, test driven development using simulations and hardware tests and technical investigation. The thesis resulted in a SCSI-to-SATA translation investigation pointing out difficulties and presenting a translation model. A SATA host was also implemented in VHDL on a Virtex-5 FPGA that can execute a number of SATA commands on different devices. Simulations performed shows that the total latency reaches one μs/32 bits in the SATA host and that should not be much of a problem for most applications in a possible bridge solution.

Kontrollerad alkoholkonsumtion, en möjlighet för en del alkoholberoende personer : En litteraturstudie om kontrollerat drickande

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att genom en litteraturstudie vidare utforska området kontrollerat drickande. Olika behandlingsmetoder för alkoholberoende kräver olika behandlingsmål. Ett vanligt behandlingsmål är helnykterhet. Ett antagande bland många är att helnykterhet är det enda tänkbara målet för alkoholberoende personer. Ett antagande som är utbrett än idag. Bakgrunden till detta resonemang är att alkoholberoende ses som en livslång och kronisk sjukdom. Kontrollerat drickande har varit och är ett kontroversiellt ämne. Tidigare forskning har identifierat faktorer eller prediktorer kopplade till utfallet av kontrollerat drickande. En framträdande prediktor har exempelvis varit alkoholberoendets svårighetsgrad. Senare forskning verkar också ge stöd till att beroendegraden har betydelse för möjligheten att uppnå ett kontrollerat drickande. Dock så har två presenterade studier med uppföljningsperioder under ett år inte hittat detta samband. Andra prediktorer är en hög alkoholkonsumtion innan behandling och alkoholism inom familjen. Det verkar dock som att vissa alkoholberoende personer kan reducera sin alkoholkonsumtion och uppnå ett kontrollerat drickande. Dessutom kan en kontrollerad konsumtion upprätthållas vid uppföljningsperioder på ett år eller mer. Dessa resulta diskuteras vidare i detta examensarbete.The aim of this thesis is to research and explore the subject of controlled drinking further through a literature review. Different treatments for alcohol use disorders require different treatment goals. Some dictate that abstinence is the only feasible goal among people suffering from alcohol use disorders. This assumption appears to be prevalent still today. Behind this reasoning is the assumption that alcoholism is a lifelong and chronic disease. Controlled drinking sparked a lot of controversy during early research on the subject. Past research has identified factors, or predictors, associated with controlled drinking outcome. One emerging predictor has been the severity of dependence. According to subsequent research, the severity of dependence appears to be a predictor of success with controlled drinking. On the other hand, two studies obtained, with shorter follow up periods during one year, did not find this association. Other predictors that have been identified are past alcohol use and a family history of alcoholism. It still appears that some individuals suffering from alcohol use disorders can reduce their drinking to moderate drinking and maintain it through follow up through one year and more. These findings are further discussed in this thesis

EU-Russia Energy Scenarios to 2025 - Energy Security and Political Risk Management

The objective of this essay is to map the possible future scenarios of energy relations between the European Union (EU), the world’s biggest energy market, and Russia, the world’s largest producer. The security of energy supply is essential to the functioning of the EU. Energy security, therefore, is a highly politicized subject that has divided European capitals for decades and will, ceteris paribus, continue to do so during decades to come. The EU therefore needs to understand in which directions the energy relationship to Russia might evolve and what political risks might be associated with these directions. To be able to meet this challenge I have utilized the scenario-based methodology employed by Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) in the making of the ‘Global Scenarios to 2025’. I analyze the current state of relations and research the overall trends and critical uncertainties forming the future. This leads me to present three plausible and contrasted futures which describe complex trade-offs between state, market and community forces and what implications they may have on EU’s energy security. The scenarios can be used as a tool to understand energy security during the coming 15 years

"Ryggen fri"

A number of corporate scandals have characterized the beginning of the 21st century, including the company Enron in which the shareholders lost large amounts of money through the accounts had been manipulated for several years. In Gothenburg officials made private purchases, which the municipality payed for the invoices. These events have led to the concept of internal control being more important today, to prevent scandals like these. Internal control is an integrated process within the organization that aims to ensure that the goals adopted by the council are metThe study aims to increase the understanding of institutional structures that affect the process of internal control in public organizations, by describing the work with internal control, identify institutional mechanisms in municipal organization and establish an analytical model for the essay. This essay is based on a deductive approach in which existing theories are used to understand a specific event. Moreover, an operator approach is used in the study, which aims to create an understanding of the processes and relationships that constructs reality. The study is based on a case study on a smaller Swedish municipality in Norrbotten, where 14 interviews were conducted. The final result shows that there is currently no uniform internal control within the organization and no clear understanding of internal control implications. In some parts of the organization they worked on the basis of unconscious structures that can be linked to internal control. The staff that previously worked in the private sector had a greater understanding of internal control and it’s purpose. Administrations which mainly were governed by laws and regulations, where those who worked more with internal control, even if it were unconsciously.Validerat; 20120917 (anonymous

En studie av ekonomiska sanktioner - Försvarbart utrikespolitiskt verktyg eller irrationell galenskap

Den här uppsatsen mål är att undersöka om ekonomiska sanktioner är ett försvarbart utrikespolitiskt medel. Sanktioners effektivitet utreds genom en kvantitativ studie av sanktioner utfärdade av FN och en kvalitativ studie av fallet Sydafrika. Uppsatsen konstaterar att ekonomiska sanktioner är ineffektiva och kostsamma och går därefter över till att diskutera dem i normativ analys och försöker sedan utreda vilka fördelar som kan identifieras och erbjuder konstruktiv kritik av ekonomiska sanktioner. En positiv faktor som identifieras är den psykologiska påverkan som sanktioner har på en inhemsk motståndrörelse för att visa omvärldens stöd. Slutligen konstateras att smarta sanktioner och vapenembargon kan vara komplimenterande åtgärder, men inte uppfyller sina mål utan hård bevakning

Design Thinking in Business Innovation

Med globaliseringen har världen snabbt förändrats och designerns roll är inte längre lika självklar. Vi har tittat på hur man kan expandera begreppet design och utnyttja designerns kvalitéer inom nya områden. Magisterexamensarbetet "Design Thinking in Business Innovation" syftar till att undersöka hur man kan utnyttja designyrkets kreativa och innovativa processer inom affärsutveckling. I vårt exjobb har vi jobbat med ett av Storbritanniens ledande vitvaruföretag, GDHA, och har tillsammans med marknadsföringsstudenter från Stockholms Universitet tagit fram affärsstrategier för hur de kan agera på en framtida marknad. Kombinationen av kreativt tänkande och traditionell affärsutveckling genererade nya innovativa koncept med syfte att utifrån företagets förutsättningar stärka dess konkurrenskraft och skapa nya affärsmöjligheter. "Design Thinking in Business Innovation" resulterade i en ny arbetsmetod samt tre koncept som visualiserar resultatet av en kreativ affärsutvecklingsprocess. Dessa koncept sträckte sig från konventionell produktutveckling för differentiering till utveckling av nya försäljningskanaler samt en helt ny affärsidé som bygger vidare på GDHAs kärnverksamhet. Koncepten konkretiserades i form av en modell av ett kylskåpskoncept, samt tre stycken animerade kortfilmer.Som ett resultat av vårt exjobb har vi startat Remotel, ett design kontor som fokuserar på affärsutveckling genom användarorienterad research, kreativa processer och visuell kommunikation (mer info på www.remotel.se).The world is undergoing change and the disintegration of the old economy is becoming evident. Production is moving to low cost countries and competition is growing fierce. In order to stay competitive, companies around the world recognises the need to become more innovative. In order to achieve this it is imperative to balance and compliment the linear business thinking that still rule the managerial body. Leading research in this area suggest that the key to innovation in business development lies within the creative thinking of the design field. This paper describes a joint master degree project that seeks to test these theories and develop methods and protocols to put them into practice. So the question is, what happens when one use industrial  design as a tool to innovate business in the Creative Economy? The research group consists of four industrial designers from Konstfack, University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm and four marketing students from School of Business, Stockholm University. During the project we applied action research and introspection in a case study where new business strategies where formulated for a live company as our empirical base. The process proved more difficult but also more rewarding than initially anticipated and resulted in several new potential strategies for the company while providing valuable insight and experience in interdisciplinary team work in this field. This paper presents suggestions to how design thinking and business thinking can be combined in the process of developing business strategies and accentuates some of the skills and qualities that inherently drive this process. The collaboration investigates the synergy between designers and business managers and illustrates the potential in combining these competences to find new ways to create, re-define and develop businesses in the creative economy

Regulation of mitogen-induced lymphocyte DNA synthesis by human interferon of different origins

Human fibroblast and leukocyte interferons were found to suppress lymphocyte mitogenesis induced by optimal doses of phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A. In certain situations (low doses of mitogen and/or low doses of interferon), however, interferon significantly enhanced mitogenesis. In experiments using varying concentrations of interferon, dose-response curves with different slopes were obtained for fibroblast and leukocyte interferons. The effect of interferon was apparently exerted during early stages of the lymphocyte cell cycle. There was no inhibitory effect of interferon if the lymphocytes were washed with medium before being exposed to mitogen. Interferon increased the binding of radiolabeled mitogens to cells. The results suggest that the immunological effects of interferon are consequences of actions on lymphoid cells. Fibroblast and leukocyte interferons seem to have different modes of action, or to bind differently to target cells. Possible mechanisms for the suppressive and enhancing effects of interferons on lymphoid cells are discussed

Interferon production in glia and glioma cell lines

Interferon (IF) was produced in glia and glioma cell lines in titers comparable to those produced by human fibroblasts. It was inducible by both Sendai virus and polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid. "Superinduction" resulted in up to 500-fold-higher titers of IF. The IF appeared to be of the fibroblast type, as revealed by experiments using heat treatment, assay of antiviral activity in heterologous cell lines, and neutralization with specific antisera. Since large amounts of IF may easily be produced with glioma cell lines, such cells may be suitable for mass production of IF

What Have We Learned About Cues to Deception? A Survey of Expert Opinions

Researchers have accumulated a substantial body of empirical work studying observable behaviors that might distinguish truth tellers from liars—that is, cues to deception. We report a survey of N = 50 deception cue experts—active researchers on deception—who provided their opinions on three issues: (1) What cues distinguish between truthful and deceptive statements? (2) What moderators influence the magnitude and direction of cues to deception? (3) What explanatory mechanisms of deception cues are best supported by research? The experts displayed agreement on few issues. Expert opinion on cues to deception, potential moderators, and explanatory mechanisms is mixed and often conflicting. The single issue on which more than 80% of experts agreed was that gaze aversion is not generally diagnostic of deception. This lack of consensus suggests that substantial work remains to be done before broad agreement can be established. It follows that any practical recommendation advocating the use of a specific deception cue cannot be widely representative of expert opinion