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)

Masquerade, Developing Artworks through Party Culture, and Disdain for the White Cube

Laura McMillian traces her art practice through personal anecdotes, fashion history, art personalities, and traditions of celebration

Invertebrate Diet of Breeding and Nonbreeding Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in Florida

We compared the invertebrate component of the diet of breeding and nonbreeding northern Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) during the breeding season, January through April, in Florida, using pellet analysis. Pellets from breeding adults were collected at active nests and pellets of nonbreeding caracaras were collected from beneath a communal roost. During the breeding season, breeding and nonbreeding caracaras consumed invertebrate prey from a minimum of 61 genera and a total of 33 families from eight orders. Nonbreedingcaracaras consumed greater total numbers of invertebrates, more different prey types, and a greater diversity of invertebrates than did breeding caracaras. Pellets of nonbreeding caracaras contained more invertebrates per pellet, and carrion insects occurred more frequently in pellets of nonbreeding caracaras. Our findings suggest hypotheses regarding the possible role of intraspecific competition in the use of particular habitats and food resources by breeding and nonbreeding caracaras in Florida. Breeding pairs of caracaras are highly territorial and primarily feed nestlings larger-sized vertebrate prey, and field observations indicated that territorial adults can exclude young (nonbreeding) birds from their breeding areas; thus, diet differences may reflect social structure within this population. If pairs of breeding adults exclude conspecifics from important food resources or foraging habitats, nonbreeders may hunt arthropods or rely on carrion by necessity, especially if nonbreeders occur in suboptimal habitat in which other prey are less available

Do Gender Differences Exist in the Academic Identification of African American Elementary School-Aged Children?

The disidentification hypothesis predicts that African-American boys achieve less in school than African-American girls do because boys have less personal investment in doing well academically (i.e., they are disidentified). When do such gender differences emerge? Using self-perception and achievement data from longitudinal studies of children (N = 113) at high-risk for academic problems because they come from low-income families, the authors examined whether elementary school-aged and early adolescent African-American boys are more prone to low achievement and disidentification than African-American girls. Multiple regression analyses indicated no gender differences in reading or mathematics achievement between boys and girls at age 8 or at age 12. At 12, African-American boys’ self-esteem was predicted by academic performance in ways similar to that of African-American girls. Thus, no gender differences emerged in elementary school achievement and no gender-specific disengagement patterns were confirmed among at-risk African-American students

Replacement of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) -225 Solvent for Cleaning and Verification Sampling of NASA Propulsion Oxygen Systems Hardware, Ground Support Equipment, and Associated Test Systems

Since the 1990's, NASA's rocket propulsion test facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Stennis Space Center (SSC) have used hydrochlorofluorocarbon-225 (HCFC-225), a Class II ozone-depleting substance, to safety clean and verify the cleanliness of large scale propulsion oxygen systems and associated test facilities. In 2012 through 2014, test laboratories at MSFC, SSC, and Johnson Space Center-White Sands Test Facility collaborated to seek out, test, and qualify an environmentally preferred replacement for HCFC-225. Candidate solvents were selected, a test plan was developed, and the products were tested for materials compatibility, oxygen compatibility, cleaning effectiveness, and suitability for use in cleanliness verification and field cleaning operations. Honewell Soltice (TradeMark) Performance Fluid (trans-1-chloro-3,3, 3-trifluoropropene) was selected to replace HCFC-225 at NASA's MSFC and SSC rocket propulsion test facilities

Pulsed laser ablation as a tool for in-situ balancing of rotating parts

The balancing of complex rotating systems is a challenging task as it may require repetitive (dis)assembly to enable mass adjustments; thus, developing methods for in-situ dynamic balancing of rotatives is regarded as a key technology enabler. In this context laser balancing with its high flexibility in adjusting its firing frequency (to match that of the rotating part) and pulse energy (to vary the material removal) could offer significant advantages from both precision and cost point of view. In this paper, a laser balancing system is developed to continuously remove material from a target part in a controlled and automated manner. The amount of material ablated can be controlled by an influence coefficient, which is related to the change in vibration amplitude for a predefined amount of pulses at a given operational balancing speed, material, and geometry of the rotative part. The proposed system features a three-layered case-driven programmatic approach to optimize single-plane balancing process duration in a fully automated system. This enables the use of prioritization to avoid misfire and therefore, structural damage to the targeted part. Furthermore, the application allows the component to be balanced to all common balancing grades as specified in the ISO 1940/1 standard. Thus, validation trials involved balancing an Inconel 718 rotative to a preliminarily specified balancing grade by extracting the acceleration signals using an IIR peak filter. A computer simulation encompassing the rotor bearing state space system, a model of the laser and the adapted peak detection algorithm, has been developed and used to validate the trials conducted. Henceforth, a maximum deviation from the desired correction position of less than 1 mm has been recorded. Moreover, it has been shown that the detection and correction of imbalances can be reliably achieved by reducing the vibration level of a rotor from G 22.5 to G 19.5

Two distinct sequences of blue straggler stars in the globular cluster M30

Stars in globular clusters are generally believed to have all formed at the same time, early in the Galaxy's history. 'Blue stragglers' are stars massive enough that they should have evolved into white dwarfs long ago. Two possible mechanisms have been proposed for their formation: mass transfer between binary companions and stellar mergers resulting from direct collisions between two stars. Recently, the binary explanation was claimed to be dominant. Here we report that there are two distinct parallel sequences of blue stragglers in M30. This globular cluster is thought to have undergone 'core collapse', during which both the collision rate and the mass transfer activity in binary systems would have been enhanced. We suggest that the two observed sequences arise from the cluster core collapse, with the bluer population arising from direct stellar collisions and the redder one arising from the evolution of close binaries that are probably still experiencing an active phase of mass transfer.Comment: Published on the 24th December 2009 issue of Natur

Influence of family and friend smoking on intentions to smoke and smoking-related attitudes and refusal self-efficacy among 9-10 year old children from deprived neighbourhoods: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Smoking often starts in early adolescence and addiction can occur rapidly. For effective smoking prevention there is a need to identify at risk groups of preadolescent children and whether gender-specific intervention components are necessary. This study aimed to examine associations between mother, father, sibling and friend smoking and cognitive vulnerability to smoking among preadolescent children living in deprived neighbourhoods. METHODS: Cross-sectional data was collected from 9-10 year old children (n =1143; 50.7% girls; 85.6% White British) from 43 primary schools in Merseyside, England. Children completed a questionnaire that assessed their smoking-related behaviour, intentions, attitudes, and refusal self-efficacy, as well as parent, sibling and friend smoking. Data for boys and girls were analysed separately using multilevel linear and logistic regression models, adjusting for individual cognitions and school and deprivation level. RESULTS: Compared to girls, boys had lower non-smoking intentions (P = 0.02), refusal self-efficacy (P = 0.04) and were less likely to agree that smoking is 'definitely' bad for health (P < 0.01). Friend smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) and boys (P < 0.01), and with refusal self-efficacy in girls (P < 0.01). Sibling smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) but a positive association was found in boys (P = 0.02). Boys who had a smoking friend were less likely to 'definitely' believe that the smoke from other people's cigarettes is harmful (OR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.91, P = 0.02). Further, boys with a smoking friend (OR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.69, P < 0.01) or a smoking sibling (OR 0.45, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.98) were less likely to 'definitely' believe that smoking is bad for health. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that sibling and friend smoking may represent important influences on 9-10 year old children's cognitive vulnerability toward smoking. Whilst some differential findings by gender were observed, these may not be sufficient to warrant separate prevention interventions. However, further research is needed

CEBS—Chemical Effects in Biological Systems: a public data repository integrating study design and toxicity data with microarray and proteomics data

CEBS (Chemical Effects in Biological Systems) is an integrated public repository for toxicogenomics data, including the study design and timeline, clinical chemistry and histopathology findings and microarray and proteomics data. CEBS contains data derived from studies of chemicals and of genetic alterations, and is compatible with clinical and environmental studies. CEBS is designed to permit the user to query the data using the study conditions, the subject responses and then, having identified an appropriate set of subjects, to move to the microarray module of CEBS to carry out gene signature and pathway analysis. Scope of CEBS: CEBS currently holds 22 studies of rats, four studies of mice and one study of Caenorhabditis elegans. CEBS can also accommodate data from studies of human subjects. Toxicogenomics studies currently in CEBS comprise over 4000 microarray hybridizations, and 75 2D gel images annotated with protein identification performed by MALDI and MS/MS. CEBS contains raw microarray data collected in accordance with MIAME guidelines and provides tools for data selection, pre-processing and analysis resulting in annotated lists of genes of interest. Additionally, clinical chemistry and histopathology findings from over 1500 animals are included in CEBS. CEBS/BID: The BID (Biomedical Investigation Database) is another component of the CEBS system. BID is a relational database used to load and curate study data prior to export to CEBS, in addition to capturing and displaying novel data types such as PCR data, or additional fields of interest, including those defined by the HESI Toxicogenomics Committee (in preparation). BID has been shared with Health Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency. CEBS is available at http://cebs.niehs.nih.gov. BID can be accessed via the user interface from https://dir-apps.niehs.nih.gov/arc/. Requests for a copy of BID and for depositing data into CEBS or BID are available at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/cebs-df/