Abstract Value Added Tax, VAT, is a general consumption tax that is added to almost all consumption of goods and services. Despite the extensive work of harmonization of the VAT system relating to electronic services, it can be difficulties in determining the taxable land, something that could affect the internal market in a negative way. The Swedish companyStardollABwas double taxed on certain electronic services that they provided consumers in theUK. The problems that lead to double taxation must be identified to ensure free competition and free movement within the internal market. The principle of neutrality pervades the whole of the EU VAT system which can be derived from principles of the Treaty, establishing the common market, and the introduction of the VAT Directive. Neutrality is also in the nature of VAT, as the design of the tax is to burden the consumer. Double taxation is contrary to the principle of neutrality. The VAT system is no longer neutral if the double taxation means that the company is burdened with VAT. The problems in this case arise because of gaps in legislation on who is tax duty. Rules are needed for interpretation of whether the operator shall be considered a mediator or not, and if the provision is made in two stages or not. The government gaveStardollABexemption from the obligation to pay VAT on the occasion of new rules, which will take effect in 2015. The legislation states thatSwedenno longer will be the taxable land in similar transactions. After 2015, taxation will be paid in the country where the consumer is located and therefore, only one jurisdictional will determine the taxation. When a transaction only comprises one consumer, then only one law can be applied on determine the taxation. The tax liability is therefore determined on the same VAT rules and the problems should be solved, thus the primary purpose of the rules is considered something else. / Sammanfattning Det svenska bolaget Stardoll AB riskerade att dubbelbeskattas på vissa elektroniska tjänster tillhandahållna konsumenter i Storbritannien då de ansågs skattskyldiga för mervärdesskatt i Sverige trots att de redan belastats av mervärdesskatt i Storbritannien. Betalningen tillhandahölls av konsumentens teleoperatör genom sms, som ansågs skyldig att erlägga mervärdesskatt i Storbritannien för den elektroniska tjänsten. Stardoll belastades indirekt av mervärdesskatten då ett avdrag gjordes på den del som Stardoll erhöll. De mervärdesskatterättsliga problem som leder till dubbelbeskattning måste identifieras för att fri rörlighet på den inre marknaden ska kunna säkerställas. Neutralitetsprincipen genomsyrar hela det EU: rättsliga mervärdesskattesystemet vilket kan härledas utifrån fördragets principer om den gemensamma marknaden samt ur mervärdesskattedirektivet. Neutraliteten ligger även i mervärdesskattens karaktär, då konstruktionen syftar till att belasta konsumenten. Om dubbelbeskattning leder till att företaget belastas av mervärdesskatt är inte längre mervärdesskattesystemet neutralt. Problemen i det aktuella fallet uppstår p.g.a. brister i lagstiftningen avseende vem som är skattskyldig. Tolkningsregler för huruvida operatören ska anses vara förmedlare eller inte behövs för att problemen ska kunna lösas. Regeringen gav Stardoll dispens från skyldighet att erlägga mervärdesskatt med anledning av att bestämmelser, vilka kommer träda ikraft 2015, leder till att Sverige inte längre kommer vara beskattningsland i liknande transaktioner. Då transaktionen endast kan omfatta en konsument blir även endast en lagstiftning tillämplig och därmed avgörs skattskyldigheten utifrån samma mervärdesskatterättsliga bestämmelser och problem torde vara lösta. Ändock kvarstår brister i harmoniseringen då reglerna inte innebär att de olika tolkningarna av lagstiftningen undanröjs.

New high throughput experimental techniques have turned the life sciences into a data-intensive field. Scientists are faced with new types of problems, such as managing voluminous sources of information, integrating heterogeneous data, and applying the proper analysis algorithms; all to end up with reliable conclusions. These challenges call for an infrastructure of algorithms and technologies to supply researchers with the tools and methods necessary to maximize the usefulness of the data. eScience has emerged as a promising technology to take on these challenges, and denotes integrated science carried out in highly distributed network environments, or science that makes use of large data sets and requires high performance computing resources. In this thesis I present standards, exchange formats, algorithms, and software implementations for empowering researchers in the life sciences with the tools of eScience. The work is centered around Bioclipse - an extensible workbench developed in the frame of this thesis - which provides users with instruments for carrying out integrated research and where technical details are hidden under simple graphical interfaces. Bioclipse is a Rich Client that takes full advantage of the many offerings of eScience, such as networked databases and online services. The benefits of mixing local and remote software in a unifying platform are demonstrated with an integrated approach for predicting metabolic sites in chemical structures. To overcome the limitations of the commonly used technologies for interacting with networked services, I also present a new technology using the XMPP protocol. This enables service discovery and asynchronous communication between the client and server, which is ideal for long-running analyses. To maximize the usefulness of the available data there is a need for standards, ontologies, and exchange formats, in order to define what information should be captured and how it should be structured and exchanged. A novel format for exchanging QSAR data sets in a fully interoperable and reproducible form is presented, together with an implementation in Bioclipse that takes advantage of eScience components during the setup process. Bioclipse has been well received by the scientific community, attracted a large group of international users and developers, and has been awarded three international prizes for its innovative character. With continued development, the project has a good chance of becoming an important component in a sustainable infrastructure for the life sciences.

This thesis studies the design and implementation of an ultra-sonic water depth sounder. The depth sounder is implemented in a hand-held smart console used by divers. Since the idea of echo sounding is to measure the flight time between transmitting the signal and receiving the echo, the main challenge of this task is to find a time-of-flight (ToF) estimation for a signal in noise. It should be suitable for this specific application and robust when implemented in the device. The thesis contains an investigation of suitable ToF methods. More detailed evaluations of the matched filter, also known as the correlation method, and the linear phase approach are done. Aspects like pulse frequency and duration, speed of sound in water and underwater noise are taken into account. The ToF-methods are evaluated through simulation and experiments. The matched filter approach is found suitable based on these simulations and tests with signals recorded by the console. This verification leads to the implementation of the algorithm on the device. The algorithm is tested in real time, the results are evaluated and improvements suggested. / Denna rapport behandlar skattning av vattendjup med hjälp av ultraljudspulser och implementation av detta. Djupmätaren implementeras i en handhållen dykarkonsoll. Eftersom grundidén i ekolodning är att mäta tiden mellan att pulsen skickas iväg och att ekot tas emot är en stor del av utmaningen att hitta en lämplig metod för att skatta flykttiden för en signal i brus. Metoden ska passa för detta användingsområde och vara robust. Rapporten tar upp tidigare forskning gjord inom flykttidsestimering. De metoder som utvärderas för implementation är det matchade filtret, också kallad korrelationsmetoden, och linjär fas-metoden. Andra aspekter som avvägs och utreds är pulsfrekvens och pulsvaraktighet, ljudets hastighet och brus under vattnet. Metoderna för att skatta flykttid utvärderas genom simuleringar. Det matchade filtret bedöms vara lämpligt baserat på dessa simuleringar och experiment med data inspelad med konsollen. Denna verifikation leder till att algoritmen implementeras på konsollen. Den implementerade algoritmen testas i realtid, resultaten utvärderas och förbättringar föreslås.

CHAPTER II: Objective: Our aim was to compare the performance of three serological assays in leprosy patients and their household contacts utilizing two quantitative ELISA tests using native PGL-I (PGL-1 ELISA), synthetic ND-O-HSA (ND-O-HSA ELISA), and the semi-quantitative lateral flow test (ML-Flow). Methods: Compare the performance of three immunological assays, PGL-I ELISA, ND-O-HSA ELISA, and ML-Flow were evaluated in 156 leprosy patients and 191 household contacts. Results: The sensitivity results of the PGL-1, ND-O-HSA, and ML-Flow were 68.83%, 63.65%, and 60.65%, respectively. The native and synthetic PGL-I ELISA assays detected antibodies in 22.73%, 31.82% of the paucibacillary (PB) patients, and the ML Flow test did not detect antibodies in this group. The ML-Flow test was able to discriminate patients into PB and multibacillary (MB) forms, while the native PGL-I and ND-O-HSA correlated with the bacillary load and the Ridley-Jopling clinical forms. In household contacts, the native PGL-I, ND-O-HSA, and ML-Flow assays detected seropositivity of 25%, 17%, and 10%, respectively. Conclusions: The use of ELISA and ML-Flow tests are thus recommended as additional tools in the diagnosis and classification of the clinical forms, aiding in prescribing the correct treatment regimen to prevent subsequent nerve damage and disability. CHAPTER III: Host pathogen interactions are mainly mediated by specialized molecules of the cell envelope. One of these essential mycobacterial cell wall components is the lipoarabinomannan (LAM). LAM has immunomodulatory roles, but its heterogeneity may be responsible for the differential immune response in leprosy patients and contacts. The research to structural motifs that could contribute as virulence factors and/or protective epitopes, and thereby derive effective biomarkers for diagnosis, drugs and/ or vaccines against leprosy has been very developed. Therefore, our aim was to develop specific mimetic peptides to this lipoglycan by using Phage Display of a random heptamer peptide library that may recognize a differential response in patients and contacts. We have used the anti-LAM CS-35 monoclonal antibody as a target for three rounds of selection. After sequencing and translation, peptides were pre-validated by ELISA and compared to the synthetic LAM-BSA antigen. The most reactive and repetitive peptide motif (A9) was subsequently tested against serum from 54 leprosy patients and 27 endemic controls by ELISA. The A9 phage-displayed peptide clone presented high levels of IgG antibodies in paucibacillary patients, from which 50% of them presented highly reactive sera. This reactivity has also been detected in tuberculoid, borderline-borderline and lepromatous patients. High levels of IgG1 were most frequent in endemic controls and reactional patients. On the other hand, the IgG profile and its subclasses in patients presented high levels of IgG and IgG2 and low levels of IgG1. The A9 clone presented a significant correlation with the synthetic LAM-BSA, for the IgG1 response. The highly reactive IgG response against the A9 clone was associated with the tuberculoid clinical form diagnosis, and detection of both IgG1 and IgG3 against this clone was associated with protection in endemic controls. CHAPTER IV: Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs), GroES and GroEL, are targets of strong human T-cell response, and a third of the cells responsive to M. leprae, recognize these proteins. Monoclonal antibodies mAbs CS-01 and CS-44 selected mimetic peptides that are ligands of their Fab portions, by phage display technique. Sera from 54 patients, 48 household contacts and 27 endemic controls were submitted to ELISA with B2 and A1 mimetic clones of the GroES and GroEL proteins, respectively, for detection of IgG and its subclasses. Using the mimetic clone of B2 GroES, the ELISA detected IgG antibodies present in sera of patients, contacts and endemic controls. The IgG antibodies were abundant in sera from multibacillary patients, especially in lepromatous (LL). A decline of IgG1 was found in patients and household contacts that became sick with leprosy and a raise of this subclass was present in sera of household contacts that did not develop the disease. With the mimetic clone of GroEL A1, the reactive antibodies were abundant in multibacillary patients, with a correlation with the bacillary load. In this study we observed that IgG antibodies against GroEL and GroES can be detected in the diagnosis of leprosy in serological tests produced with clones mimetics of these proteins. And the subclasses of IgG antibodies to GroES can demonstrate a targeting of antigenic molecules that induce the production of protective antibodies. / CAPÍTULO III: Objetivo: O objetivo do trabalho foi comparar a performance de três testes sorológicos em pacientes e seus contatos domiciliares utilizando dois testes quantitativos ELISA, um com o antígeno PGL-1 nativo (ELISA PGL-1), com o antígeno ND-O-HSA sintético (ELISA ND-O-HSA), e o teste semi-quantitativo do fluxo lateral (ML-FLow). Métodos: Os três testes imunológicos ELISA PGL-I, ELISA ND-O-HSA, e ML-Flow foram realizados utilizando soros de 156 pacientes com hanseníase e 191 contatos domiciliares. Resultados: Os resultados da sensibilidade dos testes ELISA PGL-1, ND-O-HSA e ML-FLow foram de 68.83%, 63.65%, e 60.65%, respectivamente. Os testes ELISA PGL-1 nativo e sintético detectaram anticorpos em 22,73% e 31,82% dos soros de pacientes paucibacilares (PB),e o teste ML-FLow não apresentou reatividade em nenhum soro. O ML-Flow foi capaz de discriminar entre os pacientes com as formas PB e multibacilares (MB), enquanto que o ELISA PGL-1 e ND-O-HSA correlacionaram com a carga bacilar e as formas clínicas de Ridley-Jopling. Em contatos domiciliares, os testes ELISA PGL-1 nativo, ND-O-HSA e Ml-FLow detectaram soropositividade de 25%, 17%, e 10%, respectivamente. Conclusões: O uso do teste ELISA e ML-Flow são recomendados no diagnóstico e classificação das formas clínicas, auxiliando na prescrição do tratamento correto e na prevenção do dano neural e da incapacidade. CAPÍTULO IV: Interação patógeno-hospedeiro é mediada principalmente por moléculas especializadas do envelope celular. Um dos componentes essenciais da parede celular das micobactérias é a lipoarabinomanana (LAM). A LAM tem um papel imunomodulador, mas a sua heterogeneidade pode ser responsável pela resposta imune diferenciada em pacientes com hanseníase e contatos. Espera-se que a pesquisa por motivos estruturais de M. leprae possam contribuir, como fatores de virulência ou epítopos de proteção, e assim, derivar biomarcadores eficazes para o diagnóstico, drogas e vacinas contra a hanseníase. Portanto, nosso objetivo foi desenvolver peptídeos miméticos específicos à LAM utilizando Phage Display de uma biblioteca aleatória de peptídeos heptameros que possam reconhecer uma resposta diferencial em pacientes com hanseníase e contatos. Nós utilizamos o anticorpo monoclonal anti-LAM, CS-35, como um alvo de três rodadas de seleção. Após seqüenciamento e tradução, os peptídeos foram pré-validados por ELISA e comparados com o antígeno sintético LAM-BSA. O motivo peptídeo mais reativo e repetitivo (A9) foi posteriormente testado contra o soro de 54 pacientes com hanseníase e 27 controles endêmicos por ELISA. O clone mimético A9 apresentou altos níveis de anticorpos IgG em pacientes paucibacibacilares (PB), sendo que 50% destes soros foram altamente reativos. Esta reação também ocorreu em pacientes tuberculóides, dimorfo-dimorfo e virchowiano. Controles endêmicos e pacientes reacionais apresentaram altos níveis de IgG1 no soro. Por outro lado, o perfil de IgG e suas subclasses em pacientes apresentou altos níveis de IgG e IgG2 e baixos níveis de IgG1. O clone A9 apresentou uma correlação positiva significativa com o antígeno LAM-BSA sintético para a resposta IgG1. A resposta de IgG altamente reativa contra o clone A9 foi associada com o diagnóstico da forma clínica tuberculóide, e a detecção de ambos, IgG1 e IgG3, contra esse clone foi associado à proteção nos controles endêmicos. CAPÍTULO V: Interação patógeno-hospedeiro é mediada principalmente por moléculas especializadas do envelope celular. Um dos componentes essenciais da parede celular das micobactérias é a lipoarabinomanana (LAM). A LAM tem um papel imunomodulador, mas a sua heterogeneidade pode ser responsável pela resposta imune diferenciada em pacientes com hanseníase e contatos. Espera-se que a pesquisa por motivos estruturais de M. leprae possam contribuir, como fatores de virulência ou epítopos de proteção, e assim, derivar biomarcadores eficazes para o diagnóstico, drogas e vacinas contra a hanseníase. Portanto, nosso objetivo foi desenvolver peptídeos miméticos específicos à LAM utilizando Phage Display de uma biblioteca aleatória de peptídeos heptameros que possam reconhecer uma resposta diferencial em pacientes com hanseníase e contatos. Nós utilizamos o anticorpo monoclonal anti-LAM, CS-35, como um alvo de três rodadas de seleção. Após seqüenciamento e tradução, os peptídeos foram pré-validados por ELISA e comparados com o antígeno sintético LAM-BSA. O motivo peptídeo mais reativo e repetitivo (A9) foi posteriormente testado contra o soro de 54 pacientes com hanseníase e 27 controles endêmicos por ELISA. O clone mimético A9 apresentou altos níveis de anticorpos IgG em pacientes paucibacibacilares (PB), sendo que 50% destes soros foram altamente reativos. Esta reação também ocorreu em pacientes tuberculóides, dimorfo-dimorfo e virchowiano. Controles endêmicos e pacientes reacionais apresentaram altos níveis de IgG1 no soro. Por outro lado, o perfil de IgG e suas subclasses em pacientes apresentou altos níveis de IgG e IgG2 e baixos níveis de IgG1. O clone A9 apresentou uma correlação positiva significativa com o antígeno LAM-BSA sintético para a resposta IgG1. A resposta de IgG altamente reativa contra o clone A9 foi associada com o diagnóstico da forma clínica tuberculóide, e a detecção de ambos, IgG1 e IgG3, contra esse clone foi associado à proteção nos controles endêmicos. / Doutor em Genética e Bioquímica

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:47:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HelidaSS.pdf: 334424 bytes, checksum: 422d5bbc96e55f5ae734f2475813b59f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-15 / Monoidal logic, ML for short, which formalized the fuzzy logics of continuous t-norms and their residua, has arisen great interest, since it has been applied to fuzzy mathematics, artificial intelligence, and other areas. It is clear that fuzzy logics basically try to represent imperfect or fuzzy information aiming to model the natural human reasoning. On the other hand, in order to deal with imprecision in the computational representation of real numbers, the use of intervals have been proposed, as it can guarantee that the results of numerical computation are in a bounded interval, controlling, in this way, the numerical errors produced by successive roundings. There are several ways to connect both areas; the most usual one is to consider interval membership degrees. The algebraic counterpart of ML is ML-algebra, an interesting structure due to the fact that by adding some properties it is possible to reach different classes of residuated lattices. We propose to apply an interval constructor to ML-algebras and some of their subclasses, to verify some properties within these algebras, in addition to the analysis of the algebraic aspects of them

Le but de notre recherche était d’étudier les phénomènes du contact des langues en l’occurrence du sängö, langue nationale de la République Centrafricaine avec le français. L’enjeu était également de tester certaines approches théoriques sur le cas de l’alternance codique sängö-français pratiquée par les locuteurs centrafricains. Le MLF de Myers-Scotton, le modèle 4-M de Myers-Scotton et Jake, les contraintes syntaxiques de Poplack et Gumperz et l’approche interprétative de Gumperz ont été retenues dans cette étude pour l’alternance codique ; les préalables théoriques et les maximes définis par Grice ont été adoptées pour l’analyse thématique du corpus. Cette recherche se situe à la croisée de plusieurs disciplines des sciences humaines et sociales à savoir la Linguistique, la Sociolinguistique, l’Ethnolinguistique, la Pragmatique et la Sémantique. Dans un premier temps, la thèse s’est basée sur la définition des différentes approches théoriques et conceptuelles. Dans un second temps, elle s’est focalisée sur l’analyse des différents phénomènes linguistiques relatifs au contact du sängö avec le français et l’impact de ce contact sur les mots français insérés dans des énoncés sängö ou totalement intégrés au sängö. L’étude s’est ensuite orientée sur les différentes fonctions de l’alternance codique sängö-français et les différentes manifestations de l’alternance codique en l’occurrence les tours de parole.Enfin, cette recherche a également prouvé que l’alternance codique se présente aujourd’hui pour les Centrafricains comme une donne positive et une facilité de l’expression orale. / The aim of our research was to study the phenomenon of language contact of sängö, the national language of the Central African Republic with the French. The challenge was also to test some theoretical approaches to the case of code-switching sängö-french practiced by Central African speakers. The MLF of Myers-Scotton, model 4-M of Myers-Scotton and Jake, Syntactic constraints of Poplack an Gumperz, and Gumperz interpretative approach were adopted in this study on code-switching, while the theoretical prerequisite’s and maxims defined by Grice have been adopted for the thematic analysis of the corpus. This research is at the crossroads of several disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences, namely linguistics, sociolinguistics, ethnolinguistics, semantics and pragmatics. After having described different theoretical and conceptual approaches, this Thesis focused on the analysis of different linguistic phenomena related to sängö contact with the French and the impact of this contact on the French word inserted in sängö statements or fully integrated by sängö. The study then focused on the different functions of code-switching sängö-French and the different manifestations of code switching in the turns speak. To go deep thoughts of bilingual speakers, the corpus has also been submitted to a thematic analysis based on the interpretative approach of Gumperz. Finally, this research has also shown that code switching is seen today by Central Africans as a positive phenomenon that facilitates the enunciation.

Volume rendering (VRT) has been used with great success in studies of patients using computed tomography (CT), much because of the possibility of standardizing the rendering protocols. When using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this procedure is considerably more difficult, since the signal from a given tissue can vary dramatically, even for the same patient. This thesis work focuses on how to improve the presentation of MRI data by using VRT protocols including standardized transfer functions. The study is limited to exclusively examining data from patients with suspected renal artery stenosis. A total number of 11 patients are examined. A statistical approach is used to standardize the volume rendering protocols. The histogram of the image volume is modeled as the sum of two gamma distributions, corresponding to vessel and background voxels. Parameters describing the gamma distributions are estimated with a Maximum-likelihood technique, so that expectation (E1 and E2) and standard deviation of the two voxel distributions can be calculated from the histogram. These values are used to generate the transfer function. Different combinations of the values from the expectation and standard deviation were studied in a material of 11 MR angiography datasets, and the visual result was graded by a radiologist. By comparing the grades, it turned out that using only the expectation of the background distribution (E1) and vessel distribution (E2) gave the best result. The opacity is then defined with a value of 0 up to a signal threshold of E1, then increasing linearly up to 50 % at a second threshold E2, and after that a constant opacity of 50 %. The brightness curve follows the opacity curve to E2, after which it continues to increase linearly up to 100%. A graphical user interface was created to facilitate the user-control of the volumes and transfer functions. The result from the statistical calculations is displayed in the interface and is used to view and manipulate the transfer function directly in the volume histogram. A transfer function generated with the Maximum-likelihood VRT method (ML-VRT) gave a better visual result in 10 of the 11 cases than when using a transfer function not adapting to signal intensity variations.

This report is about how an Internet of Things (IoT) optimization can be done with Machine learning (ML). The IoT- devices in this report are sensors in containers that read how full the containers are. The report contains a case from Sogeti. Were a client can use this optimization to get better routes for their garbage truck, with this solution the garbage trucks will only go to full containers and be able to skip empty or close to empty containers. This will result in less fuel costs and a better environment. This solution can be used for every industry that needs a route optimization. To do this there must first be understanding for what IoT is and what is possible to do with it then there need to be understanding about ML. The report cover these parts and tell how the method Design science (DS) is being used to produce this solution and some information about the method. This project also works agile with iterations under the implementation stage in DS. On the ML part there is an argumentation of a comparison of witch algorithm should be used. There are two candidates: Hill- Climbing and K-means Cluster. For this solution K-means cluster will be the one being used. K-means clustering is an unsupervised algorithm that doesn’t need practice data, it pairs data that are very similar and builds clusters. It will do this with full containers and build clusters with the ones that have similar coordinates so the full containers are close to each other. When this is done the clusters exports to a database and then there is a brief description on how its possible to make a map that makes a route between the containers in the cluster.

This thesis is a comparative study of three computer system simulators. These computer programs are commonly used to test the efficiency and feasibility of new computer architectures, as well for debugging and testing software. With this study, we evaluate the fundamental differences of three simulators: SimICS, SimpleScalar and ML-RSIM. A comprehensive study of simulation techniques is presented, and each evaluated simulator is classified using those premises. Quantification the performance differences using a benchmark suite is made. The results show that the most feature-rich of the simulators also seems to have the highest performance in the group.

This thesis investigates the possibility of porting a neural network model trained and modeled in TensorFlow to a low-power AI inference accelerator for IoT edge computing. A slightly modified LeNet-5 neural network model is presented and implemented such that an input frequency of 10 frames per second is possible while consuming 4mW of power. The system is simulated in software and synthesized using the FreePDK45 technology library. The simulation result shows no loss of accuracy, but the synthesis results do not show the same positive results for the area and power. The default version of the accelerator uses single-precision floating-point format, float32, while a modified accelerator using the bfloat16 number representation shows significant improvements in area and power with almost no additional loss of accuracy.