<p>Banker lånar ut pengar till företag genom så kallade företagshypotek som också är väldigt speciellt för Sverige. Som säkerhet användes då olika tillgångar som varulager, maskiner och kundfordringar. Om företaget sedan gick i konkurs så hade banken rätt att få utdelning på 100 procent av kreditgivningen. Nu har de endast rätt att få tillbaka 55 procent av säkerheten. Andra fordringsägare står nu även högre prioriterade än vad banken gör. Syftet med lagreformen är att minska de onödiga konkurserna i form av exempelvis att leverantörerna inte får sin utbetalning av konkursboet och riskerade att gå omkull själva.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka och beskriva hur bankernas agerande och krav på säkerheter vid kreditgivning till små- och medelstora företag har förändrats efter införandet av nya förmånsrättsregler och lagen om företagsinteckning. Syftet är vidare att undersöka om och hur tillverkande små- och medelstora företags krediter i banken har påverkats på grund av den nya lagen.</p><p>För att besvara syftet med rapporten så genomfördes en kvalitativ undersökning där banker intervjuades. Vidare genomfördes även en kvantitativ undersökning som bestod av en enkätundersökning som var riktad till 250 tillverkande företag i Gnosjö, Gislaved, Värnamo och Vaggeryds kommuner.</p><p>Den nya förmånsrättslagen medför ett flertal större konsekvenser för förhållandet mellan banker och företag. De flesta av dessa konsekvenser är negativa för både banker och företag, då majoriteten av båda parterna tror att banken kommer att kräva mer säkerheter i framtiden för att säkerställa sina lån. För att komma undan detta problem så kommer nya utlåningsformer att öka, framför allt factoring och leasing. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att flera av lagsiftarnas syften med lagen inte kommer att uppfyllas. Den största förväntade positiva effekten av förändringen är att leverantörerna kommer ta en mindre smäll när en kund går i konkurs.</p> / <p>Banks lends money to companies through so called floating charges, which are significant for Sweden. Assets, such as stocks, machines and customer claims are used as collateral. If a company went bankrupt, before the new priority right law was used, the bank was in favour to get the entire loan back. Now, after the law reform, the bank only can insist on getting 55% of the given security. Other creditors are now better prioritised than the banks. The purpose with the law reform is to minimize the unnecessery bankruptencies, for example suppliers that cannot handle the loss when a big customer goes bankrupt.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to emphasize what expected consequenses the new law will have on the bank’s granting of credit to small and medium sized companies and how these effects will affect the companie’s credit support.</p><p>To answer the purpose with this report a qualitative research was made involving interviews with banks. Further a quantitative research, consisting of a inquiry research, addressed to 250 production companies in the Jönköping region was made.</p><p>The new priority right law brings several consequences affecting the relationship between banks and companies. Most of the consequences are negative for both banks and companies, as the majority of both parts believes that the banks will demand more securities in the future to ensure their loans. To solve this, new lending out forms, especially factoring and leasing, will be used.</p><p>The result of this research shows that most of the purposes with the law reform will not be fulfilled. The largest positive expected effect of the change is that the suppliers will take a smaller damage when a customer goes bankrupt.</p>

In the present thesis, we try to compare the classical boolean complexity with the algebraic complexity, by studying problems related to polynomials. We consider the algebraic models from Valiant and from Blum, Shub and Smale (BSS). To study the algebraic complexity classes, one can start from results and open questions from the boolean case, and look at their translation in the algebraic context. The comparison of the results obtained in the two settings will then boost our understanding of both complexity theories. The first part follows this framework. By considering a polynomial canonically associated to a boolean formula, we get a link between boolean complexity issues on the formula and algebraic complexity problems on the polynomial. We studied the complexity of computing the polynomial in Valiant's model, as a function of the complexity of the boolean formula. We found algebraic counterparts to some boolean results. Along the way, we could also use some algebraic methods to improve boolean results, in particular by getting better counting reductions. Another motivation for algebraic models of computation is to offer an elegant framework to the study of numerical algorithms. The second part of this thesis follows this approach. We started from new algorithms for the search of approximate zeros of complex systems of n polynomials in n variables. Up to now, those were BSS machine algorithms. We studied the implementation of these algorithms on digital computers, and propose an algorithm using floating arithmetic for this problem.

Die Kenntnis von Straßensperrungen ist wesentliche Randbedingung bei der privaten Disposition von Fahrten als auch der Entscheidungsfindung von Baulastträgern zu Verkehrslenkungsmaßnahmen. Zur Nutzbarmachung von Sperrinformationen bietet sich zuerst die Etablierung geeigneter Schnittstellen zum administrativen Prozess an. Dass dieser Weg noch nicht breitenwirksam Umsetzung gefunden hat, liegt oft im Aufwand bei der Anpassung komplexer Verwaltungsabläufe und -systeme begründet. Um trotzdem mit einer großen räumlichen Abdeckung und hoher Aktualität Sperrinformationen zu erschließen, wurde ein Ansatz entwickelt, welcher auf der Seite der verkehrlichen Wirkungen von Sperranordnungen ansetzt. Grundlage bilden die Daten von GNSS-basierten Floating Car Systemen. Zur Sperrungsermittlung wird die Befahrungshäufigkeit für Straßenabschnitte ausgewertet. Werden auf einem Abschnitt keine Fahrzeuge mehr erfasst, so wird von einer Sperrung ausgegangen. Dass die so gewonnene Sperraussage mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit mit der Realität übereinstimmt, sind geeignete Parametrierungen der Auswertung zu finden, welche die durch unterschiedliche Verkehrsnachfrage bedingte Befahrungshäufigkeiten der Straßenabschnitte berücksichtigt. Umgesetzt und getestet wurde der Ansatz im Kontext des Dresdner operativen Straßenverkehrsmanagementsystems VAMOS mit seiner Taxi-Floating Car-Komponente. Es konnte aufgezeigt werden, dass in dem für Verkehrsmanagementmaßnahmen relevanten Vorrangnetz mit einer Gesamtlänge von 540 Kilometern für 8 Prozent der Straßenabschnitte die Wirkung von Sperrungen in weniger als 6 Stunden, bei 59 % unter 24 Stunden und bei 79 % in weniger als 72 Stunden registriert werden können. Operative Reaktionen z. B. Warnhinweise auf Informationstafeln oder die Anpassung der kollektiven Zielführung an das spezifische Verkehrslagebild, erscheinen hier möglich. Natürlich können diese Informationen auch der Anreicherung etablierter Informationsflüsse, wie die Versorgung der Landesmeldestellen für den Verkehrswarndienst oder Routing-Dienste privater Service Provider, dienen.

Despite the developments in the last decades, field performance information for short aggregate pier improved ground is needed for future design and to develop a better understanding of the performance of the short (floating) aggregate piers. A full-scale field study was performed to investigate the floating aggregate pier behavior in a soft clayey soil. Site investigations included five boreholes and sampling, four CPT soundings, and SPT and laboratory testing. The soil profile consisted of 8m thick compressible clay overlying weathered rock. Four large plate load test stations were prepared. A rigid steel footing having plan dimensions of 3.0m by 3.5m were used for loading. Four 65cm diameter reaction piles and steel cross beams were used to load the soil in each station. First test comprised of loading the untreated soil up to 250 kPa with increments, and monitoring the surface settlements. Moreover, distribution of settlements with depth is recorded by means of deep settlement gages installed prior to loading. Other three tests were conducted on clay soil improved by rammed aggregate piers. In each station, seven stone columns were installed, having a diameter of 65cm, area ratio of 0.25, placed in a triangular pattern with a center to center spacing of 1.25m. The length of the columns were 3m, 5m in the two station resembling floating columns, and 8m in the last station to simulate end bearing columns to observe the level of the improvement in the floating columns. Field instrumentations included surface and deep settlement gages, and load cell placed on a aggregate pier to determine distribution of the applied vertical stress between the column and the natural soil , thus to find magnitude of the stress concentration factor, n , in end bearing and floating aggregate piers. It has been found that, the presence of floating aggregate piers reduce settlements, revealing that major improvement in the settlements takes place at relatively short column lengths. It has been also found that the stress concentration factor is not constant, but varies depending on the magnitude of the applied stress. The magnitude of stress concentration factor varies over a range from 2.1 to 5.6 showing a decreasing trend with increasing vertical stress.

The sound insulation demands for dwellings and public building has increased over the years as the number of sound sources has grown. From the outside our homes are exposed to noise from cars, trains, airplanes, etc. Noise intrudes from our neighbours and their television and stereo equipments. Also noise from spaces for mechanical services systems tends to become more important due to increasing energy saving demands. This thesis presents new analytical models for predicting the sound reduction index of single or double plate systems. In the single plate case, a theoretical and experimental analysis of the air-borne sound transmission through a single plate is presented. The plate is assumed to be excited by a diffuse sound field and the velocity distribution of the plate is derived from the Kirchoff plate equation in the frequency domain. The resulting Fourier transform is evaluated using residue calculus and the solution is verified numerically. The analytical model is valid for a wide frequency range, both below, above and at the critical frequency. Special interest is paid to the area dependency of the sound reduction index. This technique is further expanded for the double plate case by adding another plate and an intermediate layer which is modelled as a locally reacting spring. The model is valid and continuous through both the mass-spring-mass resonance and the coincidence region. The results from the analytical models show good agreement with measured results in both the single and double plate case. A simplified model is also presented for the sound reduction index of finite size floating floors. The model is valid for two elastic plates with a resilient layer in between where the bottom plate, the load-bearing slab, is assumed to be excited with a diffuse airborne sound field. The top plate and the resilient layer compose the floating floor. The problem is solved for frequencies below, between and above the critical frequencies of the plates. Above the critical frequency of the load-bearing plate, but below that of the floating slab, the main coupling between the plates will occur at the coincidence angle of the load-bearing plate. Above the critical frequency of both plates, the main transmission will occur at the angle of coincidence of each plate. As the plates will interact, the sound insulation improvement will to some extent depend on the properties of the load-bearing slab. It is shown how the sound reduction index depends on the physical parameters and the geometry of the plates. / QC 20101101

A vibration isolator is designed to reduce the vibration and structure borne noise transmitted from a vibratory source, such as machinery and equipment, to the supporting structure. The vibration and structure borne noise transmitted depends upon the dynamic properties of the foundation, the source mounting point and the vibration isolator. Therefore knowledge of the frequency dependent dynamic properties of vibration isolators is a necessary part of the acoustic prediction and control/reduction process. Vibration isolators may be characterised by measuring their four-pole parameters. A measurement procedure is proposed that employs the floating mass method, measures the direct forces and corrects for the errors introduced by the direct force measurement. Compared to the basic method, it extends the frequency limits of measurement in both directions. The development of a novel vibration isolator test facility that implements the proposed measurement procedure is described, and its satisfactory operation is experimentally demonstrated. The vibration isolator test facility is capable of characterizing vibration isolators commonly used in industrial and maritime applications, under service conditions. A method is proposed for measuring the four-pole parameters of a uni-directional asymmetrical vibration isolator under static load. The method is called the two masses method, and is suitable for determining the four???pole parameters of active vibration isolators with feedback control. The method is also applicable to uni-directional symmetrical and bi-directional symmetrical and bi-directional asymmetrical vibration isolators. It may be regarded as a universal method for characterising vibration isolators. Experimental data is presented and the method is validated. Modelling of vibration isolators is complicated by the highly non-linear nature of their rubber elements. The notion of an effective rubber cylinder is proposed to account for the barrelling of rubber elements under static load. Consequently, a general static compression model is proposed that applies to vibration isolators having unfilled and filled rubber elements of regular prismatic shapes. The model predicts the dependence of the four-pole parameters on the compression ratio of the rubber element. The predictions derived from the effective rubber cylinder and general static compression model agree excellently with experimental work of this study and other researchers.

The four novels - The Floating Opera, The End of the Road, White Noise, and Vineland - are representative of the cultural shift away from traditional moral concepts after World War II. Popular culture has increasingly become the guiding force for the continuation of American society, and in Don DeLillo�s White Noise, popular culture and its creation of myth (according to the author�s representation of America) has become embedded in the system and life of contemporary America. John Barth�s novel The End of the Road and its predecessor The Floating Opera are important in any discussion of the role of popular culture and popular mythology in post-war America. They both appear to signal an end to sincere intellectual thought or debate, and the notion of imposing a rational moral world upon the social landscape surrounding the individual. The Floating Opera explores the common tendency of society to avoid difficult intellectual struggles, and the central character and first-person narrator ultimately realises that questions about the nature of existence are of no objective value. In The End of the Road the character Jacob Horner adopts a superficial reflection of pre-existing rules and social conventions. Together these novels reflect much of what is at present understood as the postmodern aesthetic, and are indicative of many of the changes in America that were about to occur. The Floating Opera was published in 1956 and The End of the Road was published in 1958, but they are still highly relevant beyond the period in which they were written. White Noise (1984) portrays a system founded on the Hollywood mythology, and the superficial reflection of pre-existing rules and social conventions found in The End of the Road. The novel revolves around the experiences of the narrator, Jack Gladney, a university lecturer who teaches Hitler studies at Blacksmith College, and his wife Babette. The course which he teaches on Hitler is influenced by Hollywood myth, and the novel portrays a consumer-based society that has lost much of the firm moral basis which traditional religious concepts formerly supplied. The role of television, Hollywood, and the idea of simulation are all explored throughout the novel and are important forces in any examination of post-war American society. Finally, in Vineland (1990) the social upheavals which occurred during the late �60s and early �70s are explored from the perspective of the 1980s. The novel refers to a vast array of images and icons from popular culture, and the brief youth rebellion, in the late �60s, which failed to inspire any final social revolution. The result of this failed social revolution is a landscape of popular culture in modern America, where Godzilla leaves footprints in Japan and popular mythology from television or pulp novels coincides with everyday life. There are references in typical Pynchonesque fashion to those who must necessarily be orchestrating these social and cultural alterations, but they, as specific individuals, remain anonymous or hidden from the scope of the author (although, as in White Noise, there are deliberate references to the CIA and other agencies or departments within the U.S. Federal Government). Vineland is important, therefore, both as an account of the social changes which occurred in America between the late �60s and �80s, and the increasing role of popular culture in America. These four novels form the basis of an exploration of the role of popular mythology and popular culture in post-war America. They form a clear progression, and allow a detailed analysis of the social and cultural changes which contemporary America has undergone since the end of World War II.

Les solutions solides appartenant au système quasi-ternaire BaTiO3-CaTiO3-BaZrO3 (BCTZ) sont des candidates prometteuses pour les piézoélectriques sans plomb. Ce travail de thèse expérimental est consacré à la cristallogenèse et à la caractérisation de différents monocristaux dans le système BCTZ : BaZrO3, CaTiO3 ainsi que les solutions solides Ba1-xCaxTi1-yZryO3 présentant des teneurs en zirconium (Zr) et en calcium (Ca) proches de celles de la composition Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-50(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BZT-50BCT) où les performances piézoélectriques sont exacerbées.Les monocristaux de CaTiO3 et de BaZrO3 ont été obtenus à la fois depuis une solution à haute température par la méthode du flux et à partir de leur phase fondue par la technique de la zone flottante optique. Dans le cas de CaTiO3 obtenu dans un four à image à 1975°C, l'aluminium (Al), le magnésium (Mg) et le baryum (Ba) ont été détectés comme étant les principales impuretés. Les spectres Raman de CaTiO3 sont en bon accord avec les spectres référencés dans la littérature. La croissance cristalline de BaZrO3 est beaucoup plus difficile à cause de son point de fusion très élevé (2700°C). Le flux BaB2O4 a été utilisé avec succès pour faire croitre des cristaux d’environ 150-200μm à 1350°C, soit à la moitié de son point de fusion. Des boules de BaZrO3 de taille centimétrique ont également été obtenues à partir de la phase fondue en four à image. Les impuretés majoritaires telles le strontium (Sr), l’hafnium (Hf), le calcium (Ca) et le titane (Ti) ont été détectées par GDMS et SIMS dans une gamme de concertation atomique de 0.3-0.5%. L’énergie de gap optique est d'environ 4,8 eV et souligne la grande qualité des cristaux de BaZrO3 obtenus en four à image. Les propriétés diélectriques à basse température de BaZrO3 confirment l'absence de transition de phase structurelle. Les études de Raman révèlent que même si BaZrO3 n'a pas de transition de phase à basse température, il présente une transition de phase cubique-quadratique sous haute pression à 11GPa à température ambiante.Dans la deuxième partie de cette thèse, des monocristaux centimétriques de BCTZ ont été obtenus avec succès par la croissance en flux. Les profils de concentrations en Ca et Zr le long des boules indiquent que leurs coefficients effectifs de ségrégation dépendent fortement de leur concentration initiale dans la solution liquide. Ceux-ci évoluent considérablement au cours du processus de cristallogenèse, rendant ainsi la croissance de BCTZ très délicate en vue d’obtenir des compositions constantes et proches de celles de la région de convergence de phases. De plus, une décomposition spinodale a été mise en évidence, indiquant la coexistence de deux solutions solides de compositions proches au sein des cristaux de BCTZ. Les propriétés diélectriques et piézoélectriques des cristaux obtenus ont été déterminées et présentent des caractéristiques allant du ferroélectrique classique au relaxeur. Les mesures diélectriques montrent notamment une double boucle d'hystérésis (PE) anormale qui disparaît après polarisation. / Solid solutions belonging to BaZrO3–BaTiO3–CaTiO3 (BCTZ) pseudo-ternary system are promising candidates for lead-free piezoelectrics. This thesis aims at growing and characterizing various single crystals of the BCTZ system: the end members BaZrO3 and CaTiO3 as well as Ba1-xCaxTi1-yZryO3 solid solution compounds with zirconium (Zr) and calcium (Ca) contents close to Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-50(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 composition (BZT-50BCT) where high piezoelectric performances are expected.CaTiO3 and BaZrO3 single crystals were both grown from high temperature solution by the flux method and from the melt by the optical floating zone technique. In the case of CaTiO3 grown with a mirror furnace at 1975°C, aluminum (Al), magnesium (Mg) and barium (Ba) as main impurities were detected. The Raman spectra of CaTiO3 are in good agreement with the spectra referenced in the literature. The growth of BaZrO3 was more challenging because of its very high melting point (2700°C). BaB2O4 flux was successfully used to produce 150-200 μm-sized BaZrO3 crystals at half its melting point (1350°C) and bulk centimeter-sized BaZrO3 boules were grown from the melt. Sr, Hf, Ca and Ti were detected by GDMS and SIMS as main impurities in the range of 0.3-0.5 at.%. The optical band gap is found to be ~4.8 eV and indicates the high quality of the BaZrO3 crystals grown with mirror furnace. Low temperature dielectric properties of BaZrO3 are displayed and confirmed the absence of structural phase transition. Raman investigations reveal that even though BaZrO3 does not have any phase transition at low temperatures, it exhibits a high-pressure phase transition from cubic to tetragonal at 11GPa at room temperature.In the second part, BCTZ centimeter-sized single crystals have been successfully grown by the top seeded solution growth technique. Ca and Zr content profiles throughout the as-grown boules indicate that their effective segregation coefficients are highly dependent on their initial concentration in the liquid solution. Concentrations evolve substantially during the crystal growth, making the BCTZ crystal growth a tricky issue when a narrow compositions range is targeted, as in the vicinity of the phase convergence region. Furthermore, spinodal decomposition was observed, indicating the coexistence of two solid solutions with close compositions in BCTZ crystals. Dielectric and piezoelectric properties were measured for some crystals, which were found to display a variety of behavior form relaxor to pure ferroelectric. In addition, an abnormal double-like PE hysteresis loop was observed, that was associated to an irreversible effect disappearing upon poling.

Le tristement célèbre Ecran Bleu de la Mort de Windows introduit bien le problème traité. Ce bug est souvent causé par la non-terminaison d'un pilote matériel : le programme s'exécute infiniment, bloquant ainsi toutes les ressources qu'il s'est approprié pour effectuer ses calculs. Cette thèse développe des techniques qui permettent de décider, préalablement à l'exécution, la terminaison d'un programme donné pour l'ensemble des valeurs possibles de ses paramètres en entrée. En particulier, nous nous intéressons aux programmes qui manipulent des nombres flottants. Ces nombres sont omniprésents dans les processeurs actuels et sont utilisés par pratiquement tous les développeurs informatiques. Pourtant, ils sont souvent mal compris et, de fait, source de bugs. En effet, les calculs flottants sont entachés d'erreurs, inhérentes au fait qu'ils sont effectués avec une mémoire finie. Par exemple, bien que vraie dans les réels, l'égalité 0.2 + 0.3 = 0.5 est fausse dans les flottants. Non gérées correctement, ces erreurs peuvent amener à des évènements catastrophiques, tel l'incident du missile Patriot qui a fait 28 morts. Les théories que nous développons sont illustrées, et mises à l'épreuve par des extraits de codes issus de programmes largement répandus. Notamment, nous avons pu exhiber des bugs de terminaisons dues à des calculs flottants incorrects dans certains paquets de la distribution Ubuntu. / The infamous Blue Screen of Death of Windows appropriately introduces the problem at hand. This bug is often caused by a non-terminating device driver: the program runs infinitely, blocking in the process all the resources it allocated for its calculations. This thesis develops techniques that allow to decide, before runtime,termination of a given program for any possible value ​​of its inputs. In particular, we are interested in programs that manipulate floating-point numbers. These numbers are ubiquitous in current processors andare used by nearly all software developers. Yet, they are often misunderstood and, hence, source of bugs.Indeed, floating-point computations are tainted with errors. This is because they are performed within a finite amount of memory. For example, although true in the reals, the equality 0.2 + 0.3 = 0.5 is false in the floats. Not handled properly, these errors can lead to catastrophic events,such as the Patriot missile incident that killed 28 people. The theories we develop are illustrated, and put to the test, by code snippets taken from widely used programs. Notably, we were able to exhibit termination bugs due toincorrect floating-point computations in some packages of the Ubuntu distribution.

The role of streams in the global carbon budget was for a long time neglected, since they were considered passive transporters of carbon from land to sea. However, studies have shown that streams are often supersaturated in carbon dioxide (CO2), making them sources of carbon to the atmosphere. The main sources of stream CO2 are in-stream mineralization of organic matter and transport of carbon from the catchment. The catchment derived CO2 could both be of biogenic (respiration) or geogenic (weathering) origin. Most studies regarding the topic rely on measurements carried out in forest-dominated catchments, while agricultural streams are under-represented. The objective of this study was to examine partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in streams in catchments dominated by agriculture. This was done to increase the knowledge about agricultural influence on stream pCO2, and to provide a basis for planning mitigation strategies for reducing CO2 emissions from the agriculture sector. Sampling was performed in ten streams draining agriculture-dominated catchments around Uppsala, Sweden, from June to November 2017. Measurements of pCO2 were carried out with floating chambers, equipped with CO2 sensors. Nutrients, organic carbon, discharge and different chemical variables were also measured. For correlation tests, the method Kendall’s Tau was used. Catchments were delineated in a geographic information system (GIS) and the CORINE Land Cover dataset was used to examine land use. Stream specific median pCO2 varied from 3000 to 10 000 μatm. In some streams, pCO2 exceeded 10 000 μatm, which was outside of the sensor’s measurement range. Values of pCO2 were high compared to similar studies in forested catchments, which could indicate that occurrence of agriculture in the catchment increases stream CO2. Correlation was found between pCO2 and discharge, with negative correlation in five streams and positive correlation in two. Negative correlation was found between pCO2 and pH and percentage of dissolved oxygen, respectively. No significant correlation was found between pCO2 and fraction of agricultural land use, nutrients or organic carbon. Further studies are needed to examine the sources of CO2, since it is possible that a large part of the CO2 has a geogenic origin. The floating chamber method should be revised to reduce the sensor’s sensitivity to condensation and cold temperatures, and to increase the measuring range.