Public procurement as an industrial policy tool an option for developing countries?

So far, only 40 countries have joined WTOÿs Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), from the developing world only some East Asian (Hong Kong [China], South Korea, Singapore) economies and ten Eastern European countries are parties to the agreement. This article sets out to answer two interrelated questions: is it advisable for developing countries to use public procurement efforts for development, and should more developing countries join the GPA? We survey key arguments for and against joining the GPA, and by adopting the framework of public procurement for innovation, we argue that government procurement should not be seen only as an indirect support measure for development, but also as a direct vehicle for promoting innovation and industries and, thus, growth and development. We also show that using public procurement for development assumes high levels of policy capacity, which most developing countries lack. In addition, we show how the GPA as well as other WTO agreements make it complicated for the developing countries to benefit from public procurement for innovation. As a result, the article suggests that the developing countries could apply a mix of direct and indirect (so-called soft) publicprocurement- for-innovation measures. In order to do this, developing countries need to develop the policy capacity to take advantage of the complex and multi-layered industrial policy space still available under WTO rules.

Java Virtual Machine Multi-debugger Proxy Server

Java platvorm ei koosne mitte ainult abstraktsest masinast,Java virtuaalmasinast (JVM), vaid sisaldab ka nutikaid tööriistu töötavaterakendustega suhtlemiseks. Seda funktsionaalsust käsitleb Java platvormi siluriarhitektuur (JPDA). JPDA kasulikkust piirab asjaolu, et ühe JVM-i külge onkorraga võimalik ühendada ülimalt üks silur, mis teeb aga paljud silumise võttedvõimatuks. Selle töö eesmärgiks on luua puhverserver, mis eemaldaks antud piirangu nii, et puhverserver ühenduks ise virtuaalmasinaga ning lubaks endaga ühendada mitu silurit. Selline puhverserver võimaldab ühte JVM-i siluda mitmest eri arvutist korraga.The Java platform provides not only a highly performant abstractcomputing machine, the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), but also containssophisticated tools for interfacing with running applications. This functionality isspecified in the Java Platform Debugger Architecture (JPDA). JPDA has alimitation of not being able to attach multiple debuggers to a single JVM whichmakes many debugging workflows and use cases impossible to accomplish. The purpose of this paper is to get rid of this limitation by creating a proxy server which would connect to the JVM and then allow multiple debuggers to connect to it. Such proxy server would allow the JVM to be debugged from multiple remote computers at the same time

Apikaalne periodontiit: levimus ja etiopatogeneetilised aspektid

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsiooneApikaalne periodontiit (AP) on hamba juurekanalisüsteemis paikneva bakterpõletiku tagajärjel tekkinud kahjustus hambajuuretipu ümbruses. AP tekib enamasti kaugelearenenud hambakaariese tagajärjel ning sellega kaasnev hambajuuretipu ümbruse kudede häving on radioloogiliselt nähtav. AP on maailmas laialt levinud haigus, mille esinemist seostatakse vanuse, soo, teiste hambahaiguste, hambaravikvaliteedi ja indiviidi sotsiaalmajandusliku seisundiga. Käesoleva doktoritöö eesmärgiks oli välja selgitada AP levimus Eestis ning seda põhjustavad ja soodustavad faktorid. Selleks viidi läbi 3 suuremat uuringut. AP levimuse hindamiseks vaadeldi 6552 patsiendi radioloogilisi uuringuid, kus hinnati kõikide hammaste seisukorda. AP diagnoositi üle pooltel uuritavatest ja haigusel leiti tugev seos eelnevalt teostatud hambahaiguste ja -ravi kvaliteediga. Haigestumise risk oli oluliselt madalam kvaliteetse hambaravi korral. Mikrobioloogiliseks uuringuks koguti proove 12 hamba juurekanalist, eraldati DNA ja tuvastati bakteri liigid. Mikroobikooslused olid indiviiditi erinevad ja mitmekesised, kuid domineerisid anaeroobsed bakterid. Avastati mitmeid raskesti kultiveeritavaid ja seni juurekanalitest avastamata mikroobiliike. Eelnevast võib järeldada, et kuna AP’d põhjustavad väga paljud mikroobid, siis spetsiifiliste mikrobioloogiliste analüüside teostamine juurekanalisüsteemist ei ole mõistlik ja raviprotsess tuleb suunata kõikide mikroobide ja nende koosluste vastu. Oksüdatiivse stressi (OxS) markerite määramiseks kasutati 86 patsiendi sülge ja juurekanali sisaldust. OxS esines nii kõikide uuritud juureravi vajavate hammaste juurekanalis kui ka kogu organismis. Tervetel inimestel seevastu olid OxS tasemed madalad. Märkimisväärseks osutus OxS seos hambavalu ja hamba juuretipu ümbruse luu hävinguga. Seega on OxS tähtis mehhanism juurekanali põletike korral.Apical periodontitis (AP) is an inflammatory disease around the apex of a tooth root that is caused by infection in root canal system. AP can be considered a sequela of advanced dental caries, and it is radiologically visible as hard tissue destruction around the apex of the tooth root. AP is a widespread condition all around the world and its prevalence is associated with age, gender, level of previous dental diseases and treatment and socioeconomic status of the region. The general aim of the present thesis was to clarify the prevalence, determining factors and etiopathogentic aspects of AP among Estonian population. To clarify the prevalence of AP we analyzed radiographs of 6552 patient, we described and evaluated all teeth and their status. AP was diagnosed over half of the patients and we found a strong correlation between AP and previous dental diseases as well as the quality of previous dental treatment. The prevalence of AP was considerably lower in patients with high quality dental treatment. Microbial samples were collected from 12 root canals, DNA was isolated and the bacteria were characterized. The communities were individually different but anaerobic bacteria predominated as the rule. We discovered several hard to cultivate and even some not yet discovered spices from root canals. Therefore, the microbiological analysis of the root canal content in case of endodontic pathologies is meaningless, and the treatment measures must be directed against wide spectrum of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. To measure oxidative stress (OxS), the saliva and root canal samples of 86 patients were analyzed. OxS levels were elevated in patients with endodontic pathologies compared to healthy subjects. OxS appeared to be an important pathogenetic mechanism in several endodontic pathologies being significantly associated with essential clinical markers like dental pain and bone destruction area around the apex of the tooth

Kas veekeskkond on antibiootikumiresistentsuse allikas, vahelüli või lõpp-punkt?

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Antibiootikumide avastamisega muudeti paljude haiguste ja raviprotseduuride tulemusi paremuse poole, surmahaigusest sai „külmetushaigus”. Esialgne joovastus, mis kuulutas lõppu bakteriaalsetele infektsioonidele, on tänaseks muutunud suureks mureks kiirelt tekkiva ja leviva resistentsusega nende samade ravimite vastu, mis neid ravima peaks. Kiire resistentsuse tekke ja leviku taga on antibiootikumide laialdane kasutamine nii meditsiinis, veterinaarias, loomakasvatuses ja põllumajanduses. Kuigi me seostame resistentsust meditsiini ja inimkeskkonnaga ning antibiootikumide kasutuselevõtuga inimkonna poolt, siis resistentsus on looduslikus keskkonnas olnud olemas juba miljoneid aastaid. Sellest tulenevalt on ka viimasel ajal üha rohkem tähelepanu hakatud pöörama uurimustele, mis püüavad välja selgitada kas ja kuidas resistentsus looduses on seotud resistentsusega inimkeskkonnas. Antud väitekirjas keskendun ma loodusliku kultiveeritava antibiootikumiresistentse bakteripopulatsiooni kirjeldamisele. Milline on liigiline koosseis ja millistele antibiootikumidele resistentsust esineb. Leidsin, et paljud bakterid uuritud populatsioonis olid resistentsed mitmele antibiootikumile ja esines huvitav ning tugev korrelatsioon erinevate antibiootikumide resistentsuste vahel, mis võiks tähendada, et vastavad geenid esinevad samal mobiilsel elemendil või resistentsus on vahendatud sama väljutuspumba poolt. Teadmine, mis suunas resistentsusgeenid liiguvad, kas loodusest „haiglatesse” või vastupidi, on puudulik. Sellest tulenevalt oli üheks väitekirja osaks uurida millist mõju avaldab reoveepuhastusjaamade heitvesi allavoolu jäävale looduskeskkonnale seoses antibiootikumide resistentsusega. Selleks määrasime uurimisrühmaga kvantitatiivselt mitme resistentsusgeeni esinemissageduse reovees ja heitvees. Reoveepuhastusjaamu peetakse resistentsuse levikus ja ülekandumises olulisteks keskkondadeks, kuid meie tulemused seda ei kinnita. Heitvees olevate resistentsusgeenide arvukus ei olnud suurem kui reovees, samal ajal suhteline arvukus võrreldes bakteriarvukusega ka oluliselt ei vähenenud.The discovery and usage of antibiotics has changed the outcome for many diseases and operations for the best. The early excitement of defeating infectious diseases has turned to worries about the wide spread of resistance to antibiotics and their treatment. The wide usage of antibiotics in medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, and aquaculture is the main culprit for this wide and fast dissemination of resistance through the world. Although, antibiotic resistance causes problems in human related settings, resistance itself has not emerged with the use of antibiotics by man. Resistance has existed in the environment for millions of years and lately more and more attention is turned to finding out if and which connections there exist between the environmental and human related resistomes, which is the collection of known, unknown, and potential antibiotic resistance genes. In connection to this I have described in my research a cultivatable population of antibiotic resistant bacteria from the river Suur-Emajõgi. I found that many of the bacteria were resistant to more than one antibiotic and I also saw interesting and statistically significant correlations between different resistances which can hint at a mobile element or an efflux pump. I also found a resistance gene from the environment that is related to resistance genes in the medical settings. Since the knowledge of which way the resistance genes might move, from the natural environment to the human environment or vice versa, is not whole, I look in my research how wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) might influence the environments after purification. For this I measured quantitatively the copy numbers for several resistance genes in sewage and treated outgoing water and measured the differences between these two. The results showed that WWTP might not be a hot-spot for antibiotic resistance gene accumulation and increase

Kirikuõpetuslikke vaateid Eesti teoloogias: Harald Põllu vabakiriku kava

Veiko Vihuri, Ecclesiological views in Estonian theology: Harald Pold’s concept of a Free Church.The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed in 1917-1919 as a Free Folk Church. In the 1920‘s there were three main theological currents in the Estonian church: Liberal “Protestants”, Conservative Lutherans, and the Ecclesiastical-Confessional Movement. The leader of the conservatives was Harald Põld, dean of the Eastern Harju Deanery. The conservatives and the liberals defended the principle of an independent congregation, as against the view of a unified church held by the Consistory and the Ecclesiastical-Confessional Movement. Harald Põld fiercely ciritcized the concept of a Free Folk Church, which in his opinion would make the church too nationalistic and excessively dependent on the state. Põld supported a congregationalist church order, inviting congregations to join his Free Synod. His main concern was to guarantee orthodox Lutheran teaching in the church. As a theologian, Harald Põld represented the viewpoints of new orthodoxy and pietism

Relativistic entanglement of single and two particle systems

One of the defining features of quantum theory is entanglement, the notion that quantum systems can display correlations that are impossible from the classical point of view. In quantum information theory entanglement has come to be recognised as a physical resource that enables new technologies that perform information processing tasks which are beyond the limits of the classical realm. It has been realised only recently that entanglement is dependent on the frame of reference in both inertial and accelerated systems. In this thesis, we investigate the relativistic entanglement of massive spin-1=2 particles in inertial frames by focussing on the dependence of entanglement on the geometry of the underlying boost scenario. We first explore the ‘qubit’ of the relativistic setting: a single particle with spin and momentum, with momentum given by a Gaussian distribution. We study the system in a variety of different boost scenarios, analysing the behaviour of entanglement from a geometric point of view. The spin-spin entanglement of two particle systems is then surveyed for many different discrete product and entangled momenta, with the spins in the Werner state. We also extend the analysis to continuous momentum states and study them in a variety of geometries. The results obtained from the analysis of discrete states are applied to continuous states, leading to a better understanding of the behaviour of entanglement. We lastly discuss the common view according to which Lorentz boosts leave the total entanglement of the state invariant

Porvoo ja Meissen: kaks olulist sammu anglikaani ja luterlike kirikute suhetes

Porvoo and Meissen: Two Important Steps in the Relationship between Lutheran and Anglican Churches. By Veiko VihuriThe paper is an introduction to the developments connected with two ecumenical documents: “Meissen Common Statement” and “Porvoo Common Statement”. The article is also meant as an introduction to the dialogue between Anglicans and Lutherans. These documents represent a significant advancement towards the visible unity of the two churches, but it is not the end of the process. There are many possibilities still to be used in order to turn these formal documents into practical cooperation

Entanglement and nonlocality of a single relativistic particle

Recent work has argued that the concepts of entanglement and nonlocality must be taken seriously even in systems consisting of only a single particle. These treatments, however, are nonrelativistic and, if single particle entanglement is fundamental, it should also persist in a relativistic description. Here we consider a spin-1/2 particle in a superposition of two different velocities as viewed by an observer in a different relativistically-boosted inertial frame. We show that the entanglement survives right up to the speed of light and that the boosted observer would see single-particle violations of Bell's inequality. We also discuss how quantum gates could be implemented in this way and the possible implications for quantum information processing.Comment: 4 page

Myxomycetes of the island of Saaremaa, Estonia

Forty three species and infraspecific taxa of myxomycetes were recorded in different ecotopes of the Saaremaa island, the West Estonian Archipelago, during the 17th Symposium of the Baltic Mycologists and Lichenologists in 2008. Among them, thirteen species were found for the first time in Estonia: Arcyria abietina, Comatricha ellae, Craterium leucocephalum, Diderma effusum, Didymium nigripes, Echinostelium apitectum, Licea minima, L. operculata, Physarum robustum, P. viride, Stemonaria irregularis, Stemonitopsis amoena, and Trichia munda.