Cette thèse concerne les possibles définitions et intégrations de l'idée de « zone à attractivités fiscales » dans les documents concernant les paradis fiscaux, vieux problème devant lequel les chercheurs bloquaient depuis longtemps. Ici le problème est repris d'une toute autre façon en particulier dans le traitement des taux d'imposition, et dans des comparaisons des régimes fiscaux de chacun des pays du Proche Orient. Tout cela nous a conduit à introduire le concept de notation fiscale. Nous le faisons en tenant compte autant que possible de tout critère possible qui nous permette de déduire théoriquement une notation générale. Il ressort de cela que dans une comparaison avec plusieurs pays du Proche Orient le Liban n'est pas, théoriquement du moins, une soi-disante « zone à attractivité fiscale »... Cela conduit à introduire une approche relativisée dans une tentative de définition scientifique des paradis fiscaux. C'est ainsi qu'on peut considérer qu'à chaque instant peuvent naître un ou plusieurs paradis fiscaux en fonction des changements de critères ou de leurs modalités. L'intérêt de cette approche est de permettre de considérer une définition plus scientifique des paradis fiscaux. Empiriquement, nous avons mis en place une importante enquête auprès de 300 personnes, englobant des contrôleurs fiscaux, des employés de banque et des gens d'entreprises. Nous en déduirons que la notion de paradis fiscal est loin de pouvoir s'appliquer au Liban et que ce ne serait en fait qu'une légende. / This thesis aims at defining and integrating the ‘zone of fiscal attractions' notion within the framework of Tax Havens, an old problem in front of which the investigators have not reach any solution since longtime before. Over here, the problem is considered from another angle, namely the treatment of tax rates, hence a comparison of fiscal regimes for each country of the Near-East was necessary to be able to deduce a fiscal notation. Taking into consideration every possible criteria which allows us to deduce theoretically a general notation, Lebanon, through the comparison between several countries of the Near-East, is not supposedly a “zone of fiscal attraction” theoretically…this leads us to introduce the approach of the relativity which has served to define scientifically the Tax Haven. For this reason, one or several Tax Haven can be created each and every moment with the changes incurred in the criteria and variables. The interest of this approach is to enable us to define scientifically the idea of Tax Haven. Empirically, an important questionnaire carried on fiscal controllers, bank employees, and firm employees, to demonstrate that the idea of Lebanon as a Tax Haven, is only a legend. This has been deduced through a group of 300 interviewed people.

L'ordre public économique sociétaire est défini comme l'ensemble des règles de droit impératif et de principes d'ordre public qui jouent un rôle dans la structuration et l'organisation juridique des sociétés et la limitation de la liberté des particuliers dans cette structuration et organisation; les sociétés sont vues dans cette perspective comme les expressions juridiques des entreprises, organisations socio-économiques impliquant une multiplicité d'intérêts, mais aussi comme des « lieux » d'organisation du pouvoir privé économique, ne pouvant par conséquent être laissées absolument au jeu de la liberté contractuelle, notamment pour ce qui concerne les formes sociétaires les plus développées. Sous le terme français de montages on peut par contre regrouper des efforts de l'autonomie privée d'exploiter au maximum les marges de liberté en droit des sociétés, des efforts qui souvent se meuvent vers les limites du licite ou même poursuivent des finalités sans aucun doute illicites. Les montages peuvent être définis dans leurs rapports avec l'ordre public économique sociétaire, comme des efforts des particuliers d'aménager des effets de règles de cet ordre public, de contourner l'application normale de ces effets ou même d'instrumentaliser des blocs de règles de cet ordre public à des finalités atypiques ou même illicites. Les montages peuvent consister à des actes sociétaires de droit organisationnel (statuts, décisions des organes sociaux) ou à des actes relevant du droit des contrats (contrats de la société avec ses associés ou dirigeants, pactes entre associés - notamment actionnaires- ou des associés avec des tiers); ils peuvent aussi instrumentaliser les sociétés au delà de leur finalité type légale de constituer des formes juridiques d'entreprises-entités autonomes (ainsi les groupes de sociétés) ou même au-delà de toute utilisation comme formes juridiques d'entreprises. Il en résulte le besoin d'étudier les différents montages rencontrés dans la pratique des deux pays sous comparaison et l'attitude de leurs droits à l'égard de ces montages, en examinant les mécanismes de base du droit français et du droit grec pour le partage du licite et d'illicite, l'application de ces mécanismes dans la prise en compte des montages et les mécanismes de sanction des montages illicites. / The economic public order of the legal entities of commercial law (companies, partnerships,entities with limited liability of their members) is the total of mandatory rules and mandatory principles which act in the legal organization and structuring of the above entities and put the limits of the freedom of the individuals in this domain. ln this perspective, the entities of commercial law are seen as the legal expressions of the enterprises, socioeconomic organizations implicating a multitude of different interests, but also "places" of the private economic power, which cannot be totally abandoned in the domain of contractual freedom, especially regarding the most developed forms of such entities. The french term "montages" expresses on the contrary the endeavor of the individuals and of their autonomy to exploit to the maximum the margins of freedom let by the law of the entities of commercial law, moving often toward the limits between the legal and the illegal or even pursuing ends beyond doubt illegal. These montages can be defined in their relationship with the economic public order of the entities of commercial law, as the efforts of the individuals to adjust the normal effects of this public order, or to evade these effects, or to manipulate sets of rules of this public order to serve ends atypical or even unlawful. The montages can be acts of organizational law (acts of constitution, decisions of the organs of the entities of commercial law) or acts of the law of contracts (contracts of the entity with its members or directors, contracts between the members of the entities - especially shareholders-, contracts between these members and persons exterior to the entity) ; they can also use and manipulate the entities of commercial law themselves beyond their destination to be legal forms of enterprises-autonomous economic unities (especially this is the case in the groups of legal entities of commercial law) or even beyond any use as legal forms of enterprises. The result of these considerations is the need to study the different montages found in the practice of the two countries under comparison and examine the attitude of their laws toward those montages, by the examination of their basic mechanisms of distinction between the lawful and the unlawful and of the application of these mechanisms on the different montages and by the study of the mechanisms of sanction of the unlawful montages.

Steel hollow section members filled with concrete have been frequently used in recent construction industry as columns and beams and beam-columns because of their superior performance and constructability. Previous research demonstrated that such system has large energy absorption capacity which is critical in the event of an earthquake. By filling steel RHS with concrete, the failure of the steel shell due to local buckling can be delayed and the ductility of the concrete core can be improved as a result of the confinement of the steel shell. This type of composite section may be used in various structures including frames of high rise buildings, bridges, offshore structures, cast-in-situ piles in foundation etc. Design methods for concrete-filled steel tubular sections are recommended in a number of code of practices. Due to the significant differences in the material properties between normal strength concrete and high strength concrete, there is a need to study the behaviour of composite sections with higher strength concretes. The study emphasises ultimate strength, ductility, post-failure strength reserve and interface bond. It also emphasises ductility and post-failure strength of the composite beams due to the brittle behaviour of higher strength concretes when compared to normal strength concrete. Spreadsheet graph were used to present the results such as load versus strains, load versus deflections etc. In this thesis analytical study is presented on the calculation of ultimate moment of resistance of the concrete-filled RHS beams. Among the main considerations of the derivation, the steel portion was assumed either elastic-perfectly plastic or perfectly plastic and concrete carries no strength in the tensile zone. At the interface both full bond and partial bond were assumed for comparison. Efforts were also made to calculate the midspan deflections of the composite beams. Simple analytical expressions derived from this study can be coded to a prgrammable calculator or in a small spreadsheet program for design use. Finite element studies were carried out by using a proprietorship software package ANSYS. In the analysis of concrete-filled, three types of elements with large deformation and nonlinear capabilities were used. A plastic shell element, a solid concrete element with cracking and crushing capabilities, and a nonlinear spring contact element were used to model the steel shell, the concrete core and the interface respectively. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study examines different meanings attached to and practices adopted during Swedish local consultation processes on offshore wind power projects. It analyses the role played by those processes in a democratic planning context, as well as the ways in which they are implemented. It also identifies overarching process models. The study is informed by theories on democracy, planning, participation, communication, and media. The empirical material comprises three case studies, each examining experiences of local consultation processes for wind power projects that led to differences in local reception. Methodologically, the study triangulates analyses of semi-structured interviews, documents and news articles. The results show that, in a Swedish context, the role of local consultation processes is to create legitimacy and trust in the process and planning decisions. The complex dynamics become evident in the different forms of participation, knowledge generation, and communication employed during the consultation. This is shown to be the result of various democratic and planning attitudes to locally-situated interests and knowledge, which in turn lead to differing views on local understanding for and acceptance of project proposals. The study develops three schematic models that correspond to different types of consultation processes. An important conclusion is that the content and form of local consultation processes depends on the agency of several actors on different scales. They are not simple pre-designed by project planners, but the result of a far more complex interaction between a host of local actors, including officials, local media, and local communities. The categorisation of different local consultation processes could contribute to awareness about the implications of various ways of working with large-scale projects from local perspectives. / I den här avhandlingen undersöks lokala förankringsprocesser med ett särskilt fokus på havsbaserade vindkraftsprojekt. Diskussionen uppehåller sig vid frågor om förankringsprocessens roll i en svensk planeringskontext, samt hur olika utformningar av processen kan påverka det lokala mottagandet. Studien visar att förankringsprocesser ytterst handlar om legitimitet och tillit. I praktiken förekommer en stor variation, komplexitet och dynamik i lokala förankringsprocesser. Det yttrar sig bland annat genom olika former av deltagande, kunskapsbyggande och kommunikation. Centralt i resonemangen är demokratiska och planeringsmässiga förhållningssätt till platsbundna intressen och kunskaper. På så sätt tydliggörs skillnader i synen på förståelse och lokal acceptans avseende ett projektförslag. Genom studien urskiljs också tre schematiska förankringsmodeller som belyser sådana skillnader. Förståelse för lokala förankringsprocesser har betydelse inte minst avseende påverkan på lokal acceptans för storskaliga projekt.

Substantial benefits can be achieved through the adoption of lean type thinking earlier at the design stage to create more viable products. A complex design cannot be easily leaned out in production; therefore, the production of affordable and sustainable products requires effective lean design considerations at the conceptual level. The research presented in this thesis investigates and demonstrates the application of lean design for product enhancement. The aim of the research was to develop a novel lean design framework that would support the generation of product design with attributes such as maximise value, manufacturable, and operable with minimum waste and resources ensuring avoidable harm is eliminated. The framework consists of a systemised process which is organised in to phases and activities that provides a unique practical manner to lean out a design. The construction of the framework initiated with an extensive literature review and proceeded with an industrial field study which consisted of 34 interviews with 11 manufacturing companies in Europe. The findings were amalgamated to generate a lean design definition and principles which would form the foundations of the framework. A real-life industrial case study of an offshore oil/water separator was used to validate the framework. In conclusion, the lean design framework provides the necessary means by which a lean design can be achieved. As a result a functionally viable and enhanced design that is cheaper to manufacture through controlling waste and eliminating avoidable harm occurrence can be realised with minimal effort. The research makes the following contributions: (1) identification of essential elements in lean design, (2) generation of a lean design definition and principles, (3) Lean Design Framework development and (4) illustrative guidelines based on the framework to be used by designers in realising a lean product design.

Low-frequency, long-range sound propagation over a seasurface has been calculated using a wide-angel Cranck-NicholsonParabolic Equation method. The model is developed toinvestigate noise from off-shore wind turbines. Thecalculations are made using normal meteorological conditions ofthe Baltic Sea. Special consideration has been made to a windphenomenon called low level jet with strong winds on rather lowaltitude. The effects of water waves on sound propagation have beenincorporated in the ground boundary condition using a bossmodel. This way of including roughness in sound propagationmodels is valid for water wave heights that are small comparedto the wave length of the sound. Nevertheless, since only lowfrequency sound is considered, waves up to the mean wave heightof the Baltic Sea can be included in this manner. The calculation model has been tested against benchmarkcases and agrees well with measurements. The calculations showthat channelling of sound occurs at downwind conditions andthat the sound propagation tends towards cylindrical spreading.The effects of the water waves are found to be fairlysmall. Keywords:wind turbine noise, off-shore wind power,long-range sound propagation, parabolic equation, scattering,water waves / QC 20110617

Plus de 70 % de la surface terrestre est recouverte par les mers et océans. Nombre de phénomènes tectoniques parmi les plus dévastateurs ont par ailleurs lieu en environnement océanique. On peut citer en exemple les zones de subduction, pouvant générer des mégaséismes associés à des tsunamis dévastateurs (Sumatra en 2004, Tohokuen 2011), mais aussi les failles décrochantes sous-marines. Dans de nombreux cas, les méthodes de géodésie spatiale ne permettent pas de discriminer entre un comportement bloqué ou asismique, les instruments étant situés trop loin de la zone potentiellement déformée par le processus tectonique. Il faut alors mettre au point de nouvelles techniques qui permettent de prolonger les réseaux d’observation classiques au large afin de cartographier la déformation sur l’intégralité de la zone. Cette thèse s’intéresse à deux méthodes de géodésie fond de mer permettant d’aider à l’évaluation du risque sismique. La première est la distancemétrie relative acoustique, avec comme zone d’application effective la mer de Marmara. Nos premiers résultats laissent supposer un comportement bloqué au niveau du segment de la faille nord-anatolienne immergé devant İstanbul. La seconde zone d’étude considérée est la subduction antillaise. L’échelle de travail nécessite une localisation des points observés dans un référentiel global. Nous étudions les phénomènes océaniques à considérer et détaillons une méthodologie dite GNSS/A (pour Acoustique), consistant en des interrogations acoustiques depuis une plateforme de surface précisément positionnée par GNSS, pour une future expérience de positionnement absolu au large de la Guadeloupe. / More than 70 % of the Earth surface is covered by seas and oceans. Several tectonic phenomena, among the most devastating, take place in ocean environment. For example, the subduction zones, which can generate mega-earthquakes associated with devastating tsunamis (Sumatra in 2004, Tōhoku in 2011), but also the underwater strike-slip faults. In many cases, methods of space geodesy cannot discriminate between a blocked or aseismic behavior, because the instruments are located too far from the area potentially deformed by the tectonic process. Thus, it is necessary to develop new techniques to extend conventional observation networks off-shore to map the deformation in the entire area. This thesis focuses on two seafloor geodesy methods, in order to assess the seismic risk evaluation. The first is the relative acoustic ranging, with an efective deployment of the Marmara Sea area. Our early results suggest a locked state at the segment of the North Anatolian fault of İstanbul. The second area considered is the Caribbean subduction. The working scale requires localization of the observed points in a global reference frame. We study ocean processes to consider, and detail a GNSS/A (Acoustic) methodology, consisting of acoustic interrogations from a precisely GNSS positioned surface platform, for a future absolute positioning experience of Guadeloupe.

I studien ställs frågan hur den historiska förordningen ”produktplakatet” från 1700-talet ska tolkas i ett modernt juridiskt perspektiv. Produktplakatet reglerar än idag ett förbud för utländska redare att bedriva sjöfart på svenska vatten. En sådan aktivitet kallas för cabotage, vilket är franska och betyder ’kustfart’. Produktplakatets lydelse och den praktiska tillämpningen av förordningen genom behörig myndighet skiljer sig åt på olika sätt. Den största skillnaden är att produktplakatet, enligt ordalydelsen, endast förbjöd främmande att transportera varor mellan svenska orter. Tillämpningen idag har kommit att innebära ett förbud för utlandsflaggade fartyg att bedriva kommersiell sjöfart över huvud, så länge som det sker mellan två punkter inom Sveriges territorialvatten. I studien görs först en tolkning av vad produktplakatet, och den svenska regleringen av cabotage, innebär. I studien framkommer att produktplakatet sannolikt har tolkats alltför brett. Vid beaktande av vad produktplakatets skyddssyfte var, och vad den faktiska lydelsen var i förordningen, tar jag ställning för att de tjänster som borde avses i förordningen endast utgör transporter av gods. I förlängningen, med tanke på sjöfartens utveckling till att alltmer omfatta transporter av människor, anser jag dock att en utvidgning från lydelsen är rimlig och nödvändig med anledning av skyddssyftet. Vidare anser jag att det är en alltför långtgående tolkning att produktplakatet ska anses omfatta alla resor som företas inom svenskt territorialvatten, enär ordalydelsen är att resorna ska företas mellan två olika orter. Orter bör, enligt min mening, tolkas som ’hamnar’ eller liknande fasta uppbyggnader där ett fartyg kan lägga till. Tolkningarna innebär vissa avsteg från behörig myndighets tolkning av förordningen. Inom EU-rätten finns en motsvarande reglering av cabotage, som har syftet att öppna upp den inre marknaden. Således har den nationella bestämmelsen och den gemenskapsrättsliga bestämmelsen olika utgångspunkter. Det EU-rättsliga begreppet cabotage har också vållat stora tillämpningsproblem, men med hjälp av praxis kan några slutsatser dras med viss säkerhet. Det EU-rättsliga begreppet tar sikte på sjötransporttjänster, som i huvudsak består av transporter av människor eller gods inom ett EU-land. De tjänster som inte har huvuddrag gemensamt med sådana transporter är sannolikt inte cabotagetjänster enligt EU-rätten.  Vid en komparation mellan det EU-rättsliga begreppet och det nationella begreppet framkommer ett antal skillnader. De största skillnaderna finns mellan svensk myndighetspraxis och EU-domstolens praxis. Det faktum att det finns skillnader i definitionerna, strider inte i sig mot gemenskapsrätten. Det kan ändock finnas skäl till att tolka den nationella rätten i ljuset av EU-rätten, speciellt i ett så säreget fall som med produktplakatet. En sådan tolkning skulle främst innebära att sjötransporttjänster, vars huvudsakliga syfte inte är att transportera människor eller personer, troligen inte skulle anses vara cabotagetjänster. Vidare skulle det med största sannolikhet finnas en begränsning i den resa som är föremål för cabotage; resan måste gå mellan hamnar och/eller en fastare konstruktion inom landets territorialvatten och/eller på landets kontinentalsockel.

The growing demand for hydrocarbon fluids, and the future expectation of insufficient onshore reserves, is driving the exploration and development of off-shore oil and gas fields. A significantly increasing number of the new fields are situated in deep water, placing significant constraints on the application of conventional platform (sea surface) systems. This has, by necessity, generated the rapid growth of sub-sea processing technology. / An integral part of a novel sub-sea natural gas dehydration project is the need to design and develop a communications, monitor and control system that is extremely reliable within a harsh marine environment. The off shore gas gathering and processing facility will be unmanned, therefore the entire ongoing operation of the sub-sea facility, and any sea surface equipment, will be dependent on the proper functioning of the communication system. System redundancy and low power consumption are also important issues. / The continuous bi-directional transmission of information between the field and shore-based control centres, together with the complexity of any maintenance / repair missions requires an extremely highly reliable system. The prospect of false alarms must be maintained at an absolute minimum. / Within this thesis the history and development of ocean based communications up to current state-of-the art technology is reviewed. Based on the unique and demanding requirements of the sub-sea gas processing facility, detailed recommendations are made for both a primary and back-up communication systems that meet the given criteria of being robust and having very low power requirements.

Thesis (MFamMed)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / Background: Coronary heart disease is a global public health problem. Formerly considered rare in sub-Saharan Africa, evidence has shown that urbanization and the adoption of more affluent and sedentary lifestyle in subpopulations of this region, may result in increased prevalence. One such subpopulation is workers in the Nigerian petroleum industry and this study examines their risk factors for coronary heart disease. In addition the study compares the risk profile of onshore and offshore workers. Method: This is a descriptive cross sectional study undertaken to determine the level of risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease in two groups of male workers of the petroleum industry in Nigeria; the onshore and the offshore workers. Four hundred workers were randomnly selected and invited to participate, with a desired sample size of 234. The data was collected by using an electronic questionnaire to explore life style factors like exercise, diet, and smoking that predispose to this disease. Anthropometric indices included body mass index, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio. Biochemical tests included lipid profile and fasting blood glucose. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was also recorded. The prevalence of known hypertension and diabetes as well as the metabolic syndrome were determined. The questionnaire data was analysed and compared with the chi-square test using the software, Epi-info 2008 Windows Version 3.5.1 and the means of the continuous variables were determined and compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: 121 onshore and 110 offshore workers participated. Overall the cardiovascular risk profile of onshore versus offshore workers in the oil industry was worse. Onshore workers had increased waist circumference,; though there was no significant difference in the Waist-Hip Ratio, increased rates of metabolic syndrome, diabetes and hypertension and were less physically active. Dietary differences were less marked, but more beef and chicken were consumed by onshore while more fish was consumed by offshore workers. Conversely the offshore workers had a higher BMI and lower levels of protective HDL. Overall, in this population, the BMI and the umber of diabetics were higher and the HDL lower than the country figures. Conclusion The obesity profile of the two groups was comparable to that of the Western nations and could become worse. This also reflects the fact that within Nigeria there are sub-populations with cardio-metabolic profiles that depart significantly from the national average. This is most probably due to dietary factors and poor exercise habits and calls for intervention through health promotional activities / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nie beskikbaar