Background: Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID, was implemented in Swedish law in 2007 and aimed to increase competition of the securities market in order to achieve efficiency and lower transaction costs and to enhance investor protection. Another aim was to increase confidence in the market. After the implementation of MiFID some doubts had been highlighted regarding its intentional effects. This evoked the authors’ interest to examine the directive’s effects and its impact on investors’ trust. Aim: To examine how various participants in the Swedish securities market experienced changes since the implementation of MiFID in 2007, and its impact on the securities market and minor investors' trust. Method: The study applied a qualitative method with a deductive approach to describe, interpret and understand the problem area. To examine what the market participants think about different events following the implementation of MiFID, semi-structured interviews were used. Furthermore, the participants were divided into three categories: investors, regulatory and investment firms, to represent the Swedish securities market. These are represented by the Aktiespararna, Finansinspektionen, Fondhandlarna and Nordea. Result & conclusions: The study indicates that some of the problems in securities market are related to minor investors' unawareness and lack of knowledge as well as critical thinking. Information overload, as introduced by MiFID, tend to generate more confusion among unprofessional investors. Furthermore, the study finds that minor investors do not have monitoring and control possibilities, yet they tend to trust in the investment firms. This trust is based upon a reliance on regulation, regulatory mechanisms, long-term relationships and past experiences, which though at a closer examination shows some flaws. As the result of this the minor investors may have an unsupportive belief that they are protected and are making the best possible investments, which continues to preserve the confidence in the market as well as the trust between investment firms and investors.

The objective of this thesis was to study whether heterocyclic dicationic compounds that are minor groove binders have the ability to inhibit the digestive properties of type II restriction enzymes which bind to the major groove of the DNA. If these compounds do possess the ability to inhibit restriction enzymes, then what factors influence their ability to inhibit the restriction enzymes? The methods used to study the interactions of DNA, compounds, and enzymes are gel electrophoresis, DNA thermal melting, and circular dichroism. The results from this project reveal that the minor grove binding compounds are able to inhibition type II restriction enzymes. The inhibition is heavily influenced by compound structure and the DNA binding sequence of the enzyme.

Diamidines are a class of compounds that target the minor groove of DNA and have antiparasitic and antimicrobial properties. Their mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated, but may include changes in DNA topology. In this study we have investigated such changes using methods of gel electrophoresis including ligation ladders and cyclization assays. We found that topology changes were sequence dependent. Compounds typically caused non-anomalously migrating ATATA sequences to migrate as if they were bent, while A5 sequences that normally migrated anomalously became less so in the presence of certain diamidines. Select compounds induced changes in cyclization efficiency that were also sequence dependent; DB75 significantly abolished cyclization in A5 containing sequences but enhanced it in sequences containing ATATA sites.

SHAPE-DEPENDENT MOLECULAR RECOGNITION OF SPECIFIC SEQUENCES OF DNA BY HETEROCYCLIC CATIONS by YI MIAO Under the Direction of Dr. W. David Wilson ABSTRACT DB921 and DB911 are biphenyl-benzimidazole-diamidine isomers with a central para- and meta-substituted phenyl group, respectively. Unexpectedly, linear DB921 has much stronger binding affinity with DNA than its curved isomer, DB911. This is quite surprising and intriguing since DB911 has the classical curved shape generally required for strong minor groove binding while DB921 clearly does not match the groove shape. Several biophysical techniques including thermal melting (Tm), circular dichroism (CD), biosensor-surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) have been utilized to investigate the interactions between these compounds and DNA. The structure of the DB921-DNA complex reveals that DB921 binds to DNA with a reduced twist of the biphenyl for better fit of DB921 into the minor groove. A bound water molecule complements the curvature of DB921 and contributes for tight binding by forming H-bonds with both DNA and DB921. Structure-affinity relationship studies of a series of DB921 analogs show that the benzimidazole group is one of the key groups of DB921 for its strong binding to the minor groove. Thermodynamic studies show that the stronger binding of DB921 is due to a more favorable binding enthalpy compared to DB911 even though the complex formation with DNA for these compounds are all predominantly entropically driven. DB921 also has more negative heat capacity change than DB911. The initial studies of inhibition of the interaction between an AT hook peptide of HMGA proteins and its target DNA by a set of diamidine AT-minor groove binders using biosensor-SPR technique show that the inhibitory ranking order is consistent with that of binding affinity and linear-shaped DB921 still has excellent inhibitory effects. These heterocyclic cations rapidly inhibit the binding of DBD2 peptide to the DNA and may only block the specific AT binding of the peptide without hindering the non-specific binding interaction. The results of this project have shown that DB921 represents a new novel effective minor groove binder that does not fit the traditional model and is a potential inhibitor for DNA/protein complexes. INDEX WORDS: Molecular recognition, DNA binding, Minor groove binding, Linear shape, Compound curvature, Binding affinity, Binding kinetics, Thermodynamics, Surface plasmon resonance, Isothermal titration calorimetry, Inhibition

This thesis will examine highly rated Minor League baseball players and how they subsequently perform in their Major League careers. Specifically, this study has collected data on over 800 players ranked on the prospect lists of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and John Sickels. Using regression analysis, I have examined the correlation between ranking and future performance, as well as studying other factors like position and age to determine if there are common characteristics to successful prospects.

DNA minor groove binding compounds have had limited therapeutic uses, in part due to problems with sequence specificity. A two-site model has been developed to enhance specificity, in which compounds bind to two short AT sites separated by one or two GC base pairs. Using thermal melting, heterocyclic dications with this capability were tested with various oligonucleotides for binding affinity and specificity. Compounds of interest were further probed using circular dichroism, mass spectrometry, biosensor-SPR, and molecular modeling. Several compounds were found to “jump” a GC base pair, binding to AT sites in the minor groove of DNA with a two-site recognition mode. One compound was also found to recognize a single intervening GC base pair. Compounds with terminal, non-polar amidine extensions were found to have increased DNA binding compared to analogs with terminal amidines. This unique, two-site DNA recognition mode offers novel design principles to recognize entirely new DNA motifs.

During pre-operative planning for hip replacement, the choice of prosthesis can be aided by measurements in x-ray images of the hip. Some measurements can be done automatically but this require robust and precise image processing algorithms which can detect anatomical features. The Trochanter minor is an important landmark on the femoral shaft. In this thesis, three di.erent image processing algorithms are explained and tested for automatic landmark detection on Trochanter minor. The algorithms handled are Active Shape Models, Shortest path algorithm and a segmentation technique based on cumulated cost maps. The results indicate that cumulated cost maps are an e.ective tool for rough segmentation of the Trochanter Minor. A snake algorithm was then applied which could .nd the edge of the Trochanter minor in all images used in the test. The edge can be used to locate a curvature extremum which can be used as a landmark point.

SMA belongs to a class of so-called “smart materials” which possess properties that can be controlled by application of various types of stimuli – stress, temperature, electric field or magnetic field. In particular, SMA is a smart material which undergoes a temperature- or stress-dependent phase transformation giving it the property of remembering its original shape. Once deformed (up to a certain recoverable strain), SMA returns to its original shape upon heating. In this thesis, a study of SMA models and techniques to improve the performance of SMA actuators was carried out. In general, an SMA model is required for 3 main purposes: simulation, analysis and for model-based hysteresis compensation. In this work, the reduced-order form of John Shaw’s partial-differential equation model is chosen for implementation and simulation. The reduced-order form is used because its simpler structure makes it more useful for real-time control applications. The parameters were estimated for the John Shaw model followed by its implementation in MATLAB. From the view of control applications, a limitation of the John Shaw model is the inability to reproduce the so-called ‘minor loop behavior’ which is observed when the material is subject to cycling resulting in incomplete phase transformations. Modeling minor loop behavior is particularly important in closed-loop strain (or position) control applications since achieving a specific target strain between the two (load-dependent) extremes requires partial phase transformation. Herein, the governing equations are modified to include minor loop behavior. This behavior was tested using damped signals which would be expected to trigger minor loops in the actual SMA and reasonable match is observed from the simulations. The use of SMA actuators is limited by the relatively slow response time compared to other smart materials. The conventional current saturation (CS) scheme limits the maximum current into the wire at the manufacturer-specified safe current values in order to protect the wire from damage due to overheating. However, this is a conservative limit on the maximum current and hence, the response is artificially slowed. In order to improve the response time, a model-based temperature saturation (MBTS) scheme was developed, in which current is saturated based on model-predicted temperature. The MBTS scheme allows much higher currents to be applied to the wire, while ensuring that the wire is not damaged. Based on simulations using the reduced-order John Shaw model, it is observed that better tracking occurs using the MBTS scheme in the actuation scheme as compared to the CS scheme.

Phytoremediation as a way to control and lessen nutrient concentrations in landfill leachate is a cheap and environmentally sustainable method. Accumulated nutrients in the plants can then be removed by harvesting and anaerobically digesting the biomass. This study presents two aquatic plants (L. minor (L.) and P. stratiotes (L.)) and one microalgae species (C. vulgaris (L.)), their capacities for growth and nutrient removal in leachate from Häradsudden landfill, Sweden, are investigated. The biogas potential of the two plants is determined via anaerobic digestion in a batch run, followed by a lab-scale reactor run for L. minor only. Results show that growth in leachate directly from the landfill is not possible for the selected species, but at a leachate dilution of 50% or more. Nutrients are removed in leachates with plants to a higher extent than in leachates without, yet the actual amounts do not differ notably between plant species. L. minor proves a better choice than P. stratiotes despite this as growth is superior for L. minor under the experimental conditions of this study. Considering biogas production, L. minor gives more methane than P. stratiotes according to the results from the batch run. The former is however not suitable for large-scale anaerobic digestion unless as an additional feedstock due to practical cultivation issues.

Critics of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice often tend to focus on the central characters but focus in this essay will be on the middle sister Mary Bennet. Author Alex Woloch claims in his book The One vs. the Many that Mary’s main function in the novel is to be a contrast to Elizabeth in order to fulfill her as a character. The purpose of this essay is then to show that Mary is an important character and what it is that makes Mary’s character different from her sisters’. A close reading of the novel has been applied in order to analyze Mary’s character and her function in the novel. The essay will show that Mary could be read as a representation of the women of her time who had more faith in themselves than to rely on men in order to have a secure future.