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This thesis deals with the energy policy of the Russian Federation and its role within the Russian foreign policy towards the countries of the former Soviet Union. It focuses in particular on the Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom. The thesis inquires into Gazprom's relation to the Russian foreign policy and examines how and to what extent Russia uses Gazprom as a tool for enforcement of its political interests. It also analyses the implications of the Gazprom's acitivities in the postsoviet countries for the energy security of the European union.

This thesis presents an analysis of trends in world and foreign trade of Kazakhstan. It contains the main indicators characterizing the degree of product and geographic diversification of Kazakhstan's exports and imports. The thesis analyses the features, character and prospects of expansion of foreign economic relations of Kazakhstan, issues of strategic partnership, and trends shaping the model of the regional economy within the boundaries of the Eurasian Economic Space.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka queeridentitet. Då identitet generellt sett avser något en individ söker sig till för känslan av samhörighet, men även förankring i sitt egna jag, så kan identitet även vara ett uttryck för foglighet till en samhällelig förväntan. Queer manifesterar sig till det motsatta – en identitet som går emot samhällets förväntan av vad en individ bör anta för typ av identitet. Valet om queeridentitet i denna studie framför en normativ identitet gör att begreppet queer åskådliggör komplexiteten om hur identitet kan ta sig i uttryck, och även hur identiteten skapar konfliktartade känslor och en inre friktion av att söka, acceptera och sedan förankra sin identitet och tillhörighet. Studien antar en kvalitativ ansats varvid fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts. Resultatet visar på att queeridentiteten är svår att definiera, även för individer som själva åberopar identiteten, men samtidigt görs tydliga anspråk på normkritik och dekonstruktion om vad identitet är och bör vara. Identiteten blir tydlig när den kontextualiseras till en omvärld, när den interagerar och handlar i ett socialt sammanhang, men svår att konkretisera när den isoleras inför individen själv.

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In this work, a study of a recent approach in the design of light-driven molecular motors is presented. The approach involves enabling part of the motor to obtain aromatic-like properties through photoexcitation, and is found to significantly facilitate the rotary motion by reducing the barriers normally present in the excited-state potential energy surfaces of rotary motors.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / In this thesis we describe the synthesis of several carbonyl complexes of molybdenum and tungsten, compounds (Cl-ClO). The compounds Cl- C4 are zero valent carbonyl complexes containing N-base ligands prepared by following a common synthetic procedure. Compounds Cl and C2 were metal pentacarbonyl of 3-(1-methylpyrrolidin-2-yl) pyridine while C3 and C4 are metal tetracarbonyl complexes of 3, 5- dimethylpyrazole, (M=Mo, W). The compounds C5-C10 are divalent metal carbonyl complexes. Compounds CS and C6 were 3,5-dimethylpyrazole dibromotricarbonyl metal complexes prepared from the dibromotetracarbonyl metal dimers at room temperature while the compounds C7 and C8 were cyclopentadienyl halogenoaryltricarbonyl complexes prepared from the cyclopentadienyl metal dimers. Compounds C9 and ClO were prepared from cyclopentadienyl metal dimers by reacting the [CpM(C0)3r anion with CCl4 to obtain [CpM(C0)3Cl] and further reacted with 3-(1- methylpyrrolidin-2-yl) pyridine. All the compounds, Cl-ClO, were characterized by the standard analytical techniques such as FTIR, 1H, 13C NMR; and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Compound C4 was characterized by X-ray crystallography. The structure is depicted as having a distorted octahedral geometry around the metal centre. The compounds Cl-ClO were then tested towards the epoxidation of selected cyclic and straight chain alkenes. The substrates used were cis-cyclooctene (Cyg), 1-octene (C8) cyclohexene (Cy6), 1-hexene (C6) and styrene (Sty). The epoxidation reactions were carried out at a temperature of 55 °C using tertbutylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as the oxidant and dichloroethane (DCE) as the solvent. The metal carbonyl complexes were pre-activated by first reacting them with the oxidant TBHP to obtain the metal-oxo complexes which are the active compounds for epoxidation reactions. The products were analyzed using GC techniques. The compounds, Cl-ClO showed a promising activity towards epoxidation reactions owing to the high conversions obtained by these compounds. For example, conversions of 81% (1-octene), 90% (cis-cyclooctene) were obtained by compound C5, 87% (cis-cyclooctene-compound C3, 95% (cis-cyclooctene-compound · C7) and 69% (ciscyclooctene- compound C4) for an average period of 24 h. The divalent metal carbonyl complexes showed a higher activity but with poor selectivity towards the expected epoxides compared to the zero valent metal carbonyl complexes.

Peptidyl-prolyl isomerization is an important post-translational modification of protein because proline is the only amino acid that can stably exist as cis and trans, while other amino acids are in the trans conformation in protein backbones. This makes prolyl isomerization a unique mechanism for cells to control many cellular processes. Isomerization is a rate-limiting process that requires a peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase (PPIase) to overcome the energy barrier between cis and trans isomeric forms. Pin1, a key PPIase in the cell, recognizes a phosphorylated Ser/Thr-Pro motif to catalyze peptidyl-prolyl isomerization in proteins. The significance of the phosphorylation-dependent Pin1 activity was recently highlighted for isomerization of ATR (ataxia telangiectasia- and Rad3-related). ATR, a PIKK protein kinase, plays a crucial role in DNA damage responses (DDR) by phosphorylating hundreds of proteins. ATR can form cis or trans isomers in the cytoplasm depending on Pin1 which isomerizes cis-ATR to trans-ATR. Trans-ATR functions primarily in the nucleus. The cis-ATR, containing an exposed BH3 domain, is anti-apoptotic at mitochondria by binding to tBid, preventing activation of pro-apoptotic Bax. Given the roles of apoptosis in many human diseases, particularly cancer, we propose that cytoplasmic cis-ATR enables cells to evade apoptosis, thus addicting cancer cells to cis-ATR formation for survival. But in normal DDR, a predominance of trans-ATR in the nucleus coordinates with a minimal level of cytoplasmic cis-ATR to promote DNA repair while preventing cell death; however, cells can die when DNA repair fails. Therefore, a delicate balance/equilibrium of the levels of cis- and trans-ATR is required to ensure the cellular homeostasis. In this review, we make a case that this anti-apoptotic role of cis-ATR supports oncogenesis, while Pin1 that drives the formation of trans-ATR suppresses tumor growth. We offer a potential, novel target that can be specifically targeted in cancer cells, without killing normal cells, to significantly reduce the adverse effects usually seen in cancer treatment. We also raise important issues regarding the roles of phosphorylation-dependent Pin1 isomerization of ATR in diseases and propose areas of future studies that would shed more understanding on this important cellular mechanism.

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