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Welcome to Arstotzka, in this game you play as a passport inspector at the border to the newly conquered land of Kolechia. The game Papers, please is named after the phrase your character says to everyone trying to get access to the country of Arstotzka. The gameplay is a simple point-and-click game within the simulation category of video games, a simulation of a bureaucratic job which consists of checking documentation. The gameplay is not a fantasy nor is it escapism, so in what way is this a compelling game? Papers, please tackle something larger than enjoyable gameplay with satisfying graphics, it tackles the story of how an entire totalitarian state is being upheld by regular people. People just like you and me.

One way that examinees can gain an unfair advantage on a test is by having prior access to the test questions and their answers, known as preknowledge. Determining which examinees had preknowledge can be a difficult task. Sometimes, the compromised test content that examinees use to get preknowledge has mistakes in the answer key. Examinees who had preknowledge can be identified by determining whether they used this flawed answer key. This research consisted of three papers aimed at helping testing programs detect examinees who used a flawed answer key. The first paper developed three methods for detecting examinees who used a flawed answer key. These methods were applied to a real data set with a flawed answer key for which 37 of the 65 answers were incorrect. One requirement for these three methods was that the flawed answer key had to be known. The second paper studied the problem of estimating an unknown flawed answer key. Four methods of estimating the unknown flawed key were developed and applied to real and simulated data. Two of the methods had promising results. The methods of estimating an unknown flawed answer key required comparing examinees’ response patterns, which was a time-consuming process. In the third paper, OpenMP and OpenACC were used to parallelize this process, which allowed for larger data sets to be analyzed in less time.

The Paradise Papers represent one of the largest public data leaks comprising 13.4 million con_dential electronic documents. A dominant theory presented by Neal (2014) and Gri_th, Miller and O'Connell (2014) concerns the use of these offshore services in the relocation of intellectual property for the purposes of compliance, privacy and tax avoidance. Building on the work of Fernandez (2011), Billio et al. (2016) and Kou, Peng and Zhong (2018) in Spatial Arbitrage Pricing Theory (s-APT) and work by Kelly, Lustig and Van Nieuwerburgh (2013), Ahern (2013), Herskovic (2018) and Proch_azkov_a (2020) on the impacts of network centrality on _rm pricing, we use market response, discussed in O'Donovan, Wagner and Zeume (2019), to characterise the role of offshore services in securities pricing and the transmission of price risk. Following the spatial modelling selection procedure proposed in Mur and Angulo (2009), we identify Pro_t Margin and Price-to-Research as firm-characteristics describing market response over this event window. Using a social network lag explanatory model, we provide evidence for social exogenous effects, as described in Manski (1993), which may characterise the licensing or exchange of intellectual property between connected firms found in the Paradise Papers. From these findings, we hope to provide insight to policymakers on the role and impact of offshore services on securities pricing.

Au cours des années comprises entre 1744 et 1763, le monde atlantique connaît deux guerres majeures. La France et ses colonies américaines sont impliquées dans une lutte acharnée contre l’Empire britannique. Les deux puissances rivales misent alors largement sur la guerre de course. Au-delà des conséquences commerciales et militaires évidentes, la guerre de course perturba aussi les communications transatlantiques. En effet, la prise d’un navire signifiait le plus souvent la perte des lettres qu’il transportait ou, dans le meilleur des cas, leur saisie, interrompant du même coup l’acheminement maritime du courrier. Les archives des Prize Papers, conservant des lettres et autres documents saisis par des corsaires britanniques, incarnent bien cette réalité. On y trouve notamment de nombreuses lettres françaises interceptées dans ces circonstances. Considérant que l’intérêt historique de ce fonds d’archives mérite d’être davantage souligné, cette recherche analysera donc certaines de ces correspondances françaises trouvées au sein des Prize Papers. À travers celles-ci, nous tenterons de reconstituer le système de communication transatlantique français et de ses acteurs en temps de guerre. Nous nous pencherons d’abord sur l’histoire de la constitution de ce fonds d’archives bien particulier, avant de présenter les pratiques de communication employées par les correspondants transatlantiques et les façons dont la guerre a pu les affecter. Il sera ensuite question des informations elles-mêmes qui furent véhiculées dans ce contexte si difficile. / Between 1744 and 1763, two major wars shook the Atlantic world. France and her colonies struggled against the British empire. Both belligerents made considerable use of privateers. Beyond its obvious commercial and military consequences, this form of maritime warfare disrupted transatlantic communications. The letters carried by a prize were often lost or, at best, were confiscated, interrupting postal communications. The Prize Papers archives, which contain letters and other documents confiscated by British privateers, embody this reality. The collection includes numerous intercepted French letters. Many of them will be analyzed here, by way of showing the potential of this collection for the study of the French transatlantic communications system and its main actors in wartime. The constitution of this very special archive is presented first. Correspondents’ transatlantic communications practices as they evolved in wartime are analyzed next. Finally, the types of information transmitted in this difficult context are the subject of the last part of the thesis.

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to examine how the Swedish tabloid press represent women refugees in the news coverage of the european refugee crisis.  The main question was: How are women refugees represented in the tabloid press news stories about the refugee crisis? To approach our question we used a critical discourse analysis. We examined a total of 17 news stories published during the first two weeks in September 2015, all of them published in Aftonbladet, Expressen, GT or Kvällsposten. During the analysis a total of four discursive themes emerged: The strong refugee woman, the weak refugee woman, the invisible refugee woman and the refugee woman as a mother figure. Three of our themes – the weak refugee woman, the invisible refugee woman and the refugee woman as a mother figure – are examples of how old ideologies about refugees and women still are present in the Swedish evening papers of today. These constructions  are based on myths and historical stereotypes.  Even though the refugee woman commonly are described as weak, subordinated and inactive, she can also be described as strong and independent – the strong refugee woman. This, the fourth theme, differs from the traditional stereotypes.

Introduction : La présence des moisissures et de leurs mycotoxines dans les matrices complexes de papiers est peu étudiée. Notre travail a porté sur la recherche de mycotoxines sur les papiers patrimoniaux altérés par le foxing et les papiers peints moisis issus de logements dont les habitants ont été diagnostiqués comme porteurs de symptômes allergiques et du syndrome des bâtiments malsains. Objectifs : Identifier les espèces fongiques de ces deux types de supports papiers et y déterminer la production de métabolites fongiques. Matériels et Méthodes : Le foxing a été caractérisé par des techniques pluridisciplinaires (physiques, biologiques, bioanalytiques, tests de cytotoxicité). Les métabolites fongiques dans les extraits hydro-organiques de ces papiers ont été recherchés et identifiés par spectrométrie de masse afin d'évaluer s'ils pouvaient être reliés aux espèces fongiques détectées par microbiologie. Puis le risque toxique de ces extraits de papiers a été évalué sur un modèle cellulaire in vitro. Résultats : Pour le foxing, nous avons pu en exclure une origine métallique et montrer que les micro-organismes présents dans celui-ci sont essentiellement des espèces fongiques. Pour les papiers peints, des pics relatifs à des métabolites fongiques ont été retrouvés. Grâce à l'ensemencement individuel d'espèces fongiques sur papier peint et à l'aide de la MS2, nous avons pu relier les composés de m/z 401 et 487 à S. chartarum. Les tests de cytoxicité ont montré une augmentation significative de la cytotoxicité des cellules A549 avec certains papiers peints moisis par rapport au papier peint témoin. Les cellules A549 ont montré une surexpression du TNF-α, de l'IL-8 et du CYP 1A1, après contact avec ces mêmes papiers peints. Discussion-Conclusion : Nous n'avons détecté aucune mycotoxine dans le foxing excluant ainsi d'éventuels liens entre inhalation de mycotoxines émanant de vieux manuscrits et symptomatologie respiratoire. Pour les habitants des logements et leurs symptômes respiratoires, il est difficile de les relier à une espèce fongique donnée ou à un métabolite donné, bien que S. chartarum ait pu être mis en cause. Ces premiers résultats doivent être confirmés par des études ultérieures / Introduction: Little study has been carried out on the presence of fungi and their mycotoxins in complex paper matrices. Our work has focused on finding mycotoxins on heritage paper altered by the foxing and wallpapers from moldy homes whose residents have been diagnosed with symptoms of allergies and sick building syndrome. Objectives: To identify the fungal species of these two types of paper and to determine the production of fungal metabolites. Materials and methods: The foxing has been characterized using multi-disciplinary technics (physical, biological, bioanalytical, cytotoxicity assays). The fungal metabolites in the hydro-organic extracts of these papers were sought and identified by mass spectrometry to assess whether they could be related to fungal species detected by microbiology. The toxicological risk of wallpaper extracts was then evaluated on model in vitro cells. Results: For the foxing, we could exclude a metal origine and we showed that the microorganisms present are mainly fungal species. For wallpapers, fungal metabolites were found. By seeding individual fungal species on wallpaper and using MS2, we were able to link the compounds of m/z 401 and 487 to S. chartarum. Cytotoxicity tests showed a significant increase in cytotoxicity of A549 cells with moldy wallpaper in comparison with the control wallpaper. A549 cells showed an overexpression of TNF-α after contact with these wallpapers as well as a significant overexpression of IL-8 and CYP 1A1.Discussion-Conclusion: We detected no mycotoxin in foxing, thus excluding possible links between inhalation of mycotoxins from old manuscripts and respiratory symptoms. For people in their homes and respiratory symptoms, it is difficult to draw any relationships to a given fungal species or a metabolite although S. chartarum has been implicated. These initial results should be confirmed by further study

This graduation theses bring some drafts of methodical papers in the connection with the evacuation of the people, decontamination station and activities when decontamination of people and equipment. To further Explore the places which are intended for decontamination in the emergency planning zones from the point of view of the ACR in locations for the nuclear power plant Temelín.

Loin d’être une simple enveloppe pour notre corps, la peau constitue une frontière mécanique, physique, chimique et immunologique d’une remarquable efficacité. Cette fonction est en grande partie assurée par la couche la plus superficielle de la peau, appelée stratum corneum. Néanmoins, dans la vie de tous les jours, le frottement répété de la peau contre des surfaces textiles peut engendrer l’apparition de sensations d’inconfort et d’irritation cutanée. En particulier, en période de rhume, les frottements à répétitions des mouchoirs en papier sur le nez fragilisent la peau et peuvent provoquer des irritations parfois douloureuses. Ce travail vise à répondre aux attentes des consommateurs en termes de confort à l’usage des papiers en cellulose. Pour cela, l’étude a été décomposée en deux grands axes. Actuellement, le confort à l’usage est évalué par des panels sensoriels couteux, chronophages et surtout subjectifs. La première partie a donc été dédiée à l’objectivation des qualités tactiles des papiers en cellulose grâce au développement d’un dispositif expérimental. La seconde s’est intéressée à l’interaction entre la peau et les papiers, et au potentiel effet « irritant » lors du frottement répété. Cette étude a été menée sur un panel de volontaires in vivo et avait pour but de trouver une méthode capable de reproduire le frottement répété de papiers en cellulose en laboratoire, dans un temps limité et avec des paramètres de frottement bien contrôlés. Dans le but de quantifier la qualité sensorielle des papiers en cellulose, nous avons développé un système de doigt artificiel capable de mimer le comportement du doigt humain. Ce dispositif permet de mesurer le coefficient de frottement à l’interface doigt/papier et les vibrations générées lors du toucher. D’une part, nos résultats ont montré que les vibrations générées étaient un bon indicateur de la douceur du papier en cellulose. D’autre part, nous avons démontré que le coefficient de frottement était relié à la pilosité surfacique du papier. Ces résultats majeurs nous ont permis d’avoir une méthode quantitative de la qualité tactile des papiers. Il s’agit d’une méthode simple, rapide et reproductible qui a tout son intérêt pour l’industrie papetière qui, jusque-là utilisait des panels sensoriels onéreux et chronophage pour évaluer la qualité sensorielle de ses papiers. Dans une seconde grande partie, nous avons étudié l’irritation cutanée induite par le frottement de papiers en cellulose de différentes douceurs sur un panel de 59 volontaires. Cette partie a nécessité le développement de deux dispositifs expérimentaux. Tout d’abord, un biotribomètre rotatif a été développé pour reproduire le frottement répété de papier contre la peau. L’avantage de ce dispositif est qu’il permet de contrôler les paramètres de frottement (force normale appliquée sur la peau, vitesse de frottement et durée du test). Pour évaluer les réactions cutanées et l’endommagement du stratum corneum, nous avons développé un système d’indentation sans contact capable de mesurer les propriétés mécaniques de la peau. Les résultats ont montré que l’irritation de la peau induite par le frottement répété de papier était plus importante pour des papiers moins doux. Cette irritation est visible à travers une augmentation de la perte insensible en eau de la peau, de la rougeur et du flux sanguin et une diminution de ses propriétés mécaniques. / Far from being a mere envelope around our bodies, the skin forms a mechanical, physical, chemical and immunological barrier. This protective task falls in large part in the outermost layer, the stratum corneum. However, in our daily lives, the repeated friction of cellulose tissues against the skin surface may induce discomfort feelings and cutaneous reactions. In particular, during colds, the repeated friction of tissues could compromise the skin around the nose and induce painful irritation. This work is about meeting consumer needs in terms of softness and user comfort of cellulose tissues. To this end, the study was decomposed into two main parts. The first part was devoted to the quantification of the tactile quality of the tissues. The second one was interested in the skin/tissue interaction and the potential irritant effect during the repeated friction. In order to quantify the sensorial quality of tissues, we developed an artificial finger that mimics the human touch. This device enables the measurement of the friction coefficient of the tissue against the skin surface, and the evaluation of the generated vibrations. On one hand, the results showed that the vibrations were a good indicator of the softness of a tissue. In another hand, we showed that the friction coefficient was related to the surface texture of the tissue. These key results allowed us to have a rapid, simple and reproducible method to evaluate the tactile quality of a tissue. This method is very useful for the paper industry which was previously using expensive and time-consuming sensorial panels. In the second part of the thesis, we studied the cutaneous reactions induced by the repeated friction of tissues with different softnesses. This study was performed in vivo, on 59 volunteers of the laboratory. Two innovative devices were developed. First, an in vivo rotary tribometer was developed to reproduce the repeated friction of the tissue onto the skin. The advantage of this device is the full control of the friction parameters such as the applied normal force, the sliding velocity and the duration of the test. In order to evaluate the cutaneous reactions, we developed a contactless indentation device which is able to measure the mechanical properties of the skin. The results showed that the cutaneous reactions were higher when the paper was unsoft. The cutaneous irritation was visible through the increase of the trans-epidermal water loss, the redness and the blood flow of the skin and through the decrease of its mechanical properties. Beyond the findings, during the thesis, we developed new innovative and effective methods to characterise the tactile quality of tissues and evaluate the cutaneous reactions induced by the repeated friction of them on the skin.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T19:30:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Micheline Reinaux de Vasconcelos.pdf: 1294055 bytes, checksum: 0c968b02b63369426fdbcf39cecc07bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work deals with the Protestant press in Brazil, covering the Baptist and Presbyterian s printed production, between the year 1837 and 1930. Firstly, we introduce the Protestant press production, namely, the multiplicity of ways in which it manifested itself, and the interests which it tried to serve. Following this, we tackle its diffusion, which includes the printing centers, and the ways of distribution used by editors. The perusal of these sources demonstrates that they were engaged in the struggle for the Brazilian religious spaces, but also as a doctrinal teaching tool for those converted to Protestantism. Being present since the early Protestant missionaries undertakings in the country, the circulation of those printed texts starts with the beginning of systematic distribution of Bibles and leaflets by the Bible Societies foreign institutions in Brazil. This is therefore, the initial milestone of our study. The final line is the year 1930, because in the following years the nature of relationship between the Brazilian political and religious fields was changed, mainly due to the fact that the National State and the Catholic Church became closer again. Finally, the studying of such press circulation warrants proposing that the Protestant printed papers and press were so deeply related to the building of Protestantism in the Brazilian territory, that we can therefore assure that the establishment of this press was a constitutive piece of a Protestant culture in Brazil / O presente trabalho aborda os impressos e a imprensa protestante no Brasil, entre os anos de 1837 e 1930, abrangendo as denominações presbiteriana e batista. Primeiramente, busca-se indicar a sua produção, ou seja, a multiplicidade de formas em que se apresentava e a que fins almejava servir. Em seguida, aborda-se a sua difusão, que contempla os centros editoriais e as formas de distribuição utilizadas pelos editores. A pesquisa dessas publicações demonstra que foram empregados na disputa pelo espaço religioso brasileiro, mas também como instrumentos de ensino doutrinário destinado aos conversos. Presentes desde as primeiras iniciativas de missionação protestante no país, a circulação destes textos tem seu ponto de partida com o início da distribuição sistemática de Bíblias e folhetos pelas sociedades bíblicas entidades estrangeiras no Brasil. Este é, portanto, o marco inicial do estudo. O ponto de chegada é o ano de 1930 devido a que nos anos subseqüentes altera-se a natureza das relações entre os campos religioso e político brasileiros, sobretudo, pela reaproximação entre a Igreja católica e o Estado nacional. O estudo da circulação de tais impressos permite, enfim, propor que os impressos e a imprensa protestantes estiveram de tal maneira imbricados à formação do protestantismo no país, a ponto de poder-se afirmar que a formação desta imprensa foi parte constitutiva de uma cultura protestante no país