The diploma thesis focuses on environmental taxation of road motor vehicles in EU countries. Firstly, the thesis deals with negative external effects of transport which are the reason for the existence of the environmental taxes. Secondly, tools used for regulation of negative external effects in the area of environmental protection including environmental tax reform are described. Subsequently, the thesis presents legislation for taxation of road transport in the European Union and analyses the road motor vehicle taxation in the EU member states with regard to environmental aspects. Moreover, the systems of taxation of ownership of road motor vehicles in selected countries of the European Union (Denmark, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden) are described and the levels of taxation of cars and trucks in the Czech Republic and in selected countries of the European Union are compared. The thesis also includes a proposal for taxation of road motor vehicles in the Czech Republic with regard to the environmental impacts of road transport.

<p></p><p>The study deals with one of the critical aspects of the Road Departure Mitigation System. The first part of the study finds out what all color combinations and patterns represent the US roadside curbs, what should be the range of Radar Reflectivity values, and LiDAR Reflectance bounds that a surrogate curb should satisfy. The later part of the thesis illustrates methods and steps on how to mimic the extracted properties, design a surrogate curb as per federal standards, and then develop a surrogate curb.</p><br><p></p>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The frequency and magnitude of floods in the midcontinental United States have increased in recent decades due to changing precipitation patterns as global temperatures rise. These trends pose major social and economic risks to the region, which is home to tens of millions of Americans and a global agricultural center. It is therefore critical to understand if current fluvial dynamics are within the scope of past fluvial-climate relationships, or if they represent a novel response to recent climate and land-use changes. Presented is a 1600-year-long flood frequency record for the moderately sized (~29,400 km2 watershed) White River, Indiana. Flood frequencies were determined using 14C-based sediment accumulation rates at Half Moon Pond, an oxbow lake on the lower White River’s floodplain. Comparison with regional paleoclimate data shows that White River flooding was frequent when atmospheric circulation resembled the negative mode of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection, particularly during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (950-1250 CE) and the Current Warm Period (last ~150 years). During these times, the regional climate was dominated by warm-season precipitation originating from the Gulf of Mexico. Conversely, White River flooding was less frequent during the Little Ice Age (1250-1800 CE) when cold-season precipitation from the North Pacific/Arctic dominated (+PNA-like conditions). The pre-1790 CE White River flood history was antiphased with reconstructed Ohio River flood frequencies from southern Illinois. This dynamic is consistent with discharge in small to moderate sized watersheds being sensitive to rainstorm runoff and large watersheds being sensitive to snowmelt runoff. After 1790 CE, flooding frequencies of both river systems increased to their highest levels, despite a shift to -PNA-like conditions. This change was likely due to extensive Euro-American land-clearance, which increased runoff/erosion by reducing evapotranspiration, interception, and infiltration. While the White River responded strongly to climatic conditions in the past that were similar to present conditions (-PNA-like conditions), recent land-use practices have amplified the effects of the current hydroclimate. Since a warming climate is expected to increase regional average precipitation and extreme rainfall events, and that landscape modifications have lowered surface resilience to hydroclimate events, flooding will likely become more frequent in the coming decades.

This manuscript is composed of three chapters.In the first chapter, I analyze the impact of key European Central Bank’s unconventional monetary policy announcements on inflation expectations, measured by Euro Area five-year Inflation Linked Swap rates five years ahead, since the aftermath of the crisis. I control for market liquidity and uncertainty measures, change in oil price shock and macroeconomic news. The results show that the impact of the European Central Bank’s announcements has been positive during the period under observation. Along the line of the expansionary monetary policy measures implemented, the agents have been revising upwards their long term inflation expectations. This means that the unconventional monetary policy measures were effective. In the second chapter, co-authored with Claudia Pacella, we construct a Bayesian vector autoregressive model with three layers of information: the key drivers of inflation, cross-country dynamic interactions, and country-specific variables. The model provides good forecasting accuracy with respect to the popular benchmarks used in the literature. We perform a step-by-step analysis to shed light on which layer of information is more crucial for accurately forecasting euro area inflation. Our empirical analysis reveals the importance of including the key drivers of inflation and taking into account the multi-country dimension of the euro area. The results show that the complete model performs better overall in forecasting inflation excluding energy and unprocessed food over the medium-term. We use the model to establish stylized facts on the euro area and cross-country heterogeneity over the business cycle. In the third chapter, using confidential firm-level data from the National Bank of Belgium, I document the heterogeneous response of firms’ markups to the 2008 financial crisis. Overall, markups increased in the aftermath of the crisis and the effect was larger for highly financially constrained firms. I show that standard heterogeneous-firm models, featuring monopolistic competition and variable markups, are unable to replicate these patterns. I then introduce endogenous demand shifters which respond to firm investment in market share (e.g. quality). I show that the interaction of an increase in the cost of procuring inputs combined with an endogenous quality downgrading can rationalize the observed changes in firm-level markups. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

La quantification des impacts sanitaires et climatiques des aérosols nécessite de pouvoir quantifier précisément leur concentration, leur composition chimique et leur distribution en taille. Parmi les nombreux aérosols émis par les activités anthropiques et naturelles, les émissions de feux de végétation et leur transport sont encore très incertains. Ce travail de thèse vise à améliorer la caractérisation de ces feux, afin de mieux les représenter par modélisation. Afin de couvrir différents types de feux, l’étude portera à la fois sur des analyses de cas en Euro-Méditerranée et en Australie. L’analyse porte tout d’abord sur les informations nécessaires afin de calculer un flux d’émissions de feux : les surfaces brulées et les hauteurs d’injection sont quantifiées par analyse d’observations satellitaires. Les observations MODIS permettent de montrer que la végétation brûlée en Europe est principalement constituée et en moyenne de surfaces agricoles (70%), tandis que les feux de savane et de maquis dominent en Australie (50% et 40%). Au sein de cette moyenne, de très fortes hétérogénéités spatiales sont relevées, avec, par exemple, des feux de forêt représentant 13% au Portugal et 65% au Sud-Est de l’Australie du total observé. A partir d’observations MISR et CALIOP, il est montré que les hauteurs d’injection sont principalement près de la surface et vers 2000 m d’altitude pour les deux régions. Les plus grandes différences d’injection sont relevées au delà de 4000 m avec 4,6-6,4% des émissions en Europe et 8,9-11% en Australie... / To determine the health and climatic impacts of aerosols, the quantification of their precise concentrations, their chemical composition and their size distribution is needed. Among the several aerosols emitted from anthropogenic and natural activities, fire emissions and their transport are still a concern. This work aims to improve the characterization of these fires, to allow a better representation in models. To cover different types of fires, the study focuses on case studies in the Euro-Mediterranean region and in Australia. First, the information needed to compute fire emission fluxes is analyzed: the burnt area and injection heights are quantified using satellite observations. MODIS observations shows that the burnt area in Europe is mainly composed, on average, of cropland (70%), whereas savannah and shrubland fires are preponderant in Australia (50% and 40%). However, strong spatial heterogeneities are noticed, with by example forest fires representing 13% of the total observed burned area in Portugal and 65% in South-West of Australia. Using MISR and CALIOP observations of plume heights, it is shown that injection heights are mainly concentrated near the surface and at about 2000 m of altitude for the two regions. The highest differences are noticed above 4000 m, with 4,6-6,4% of emissions in Europe and 8,9-11% in Australia...

The Czech Republic has been regarded as a little troublemaker of the EU due to its Eurosceptic stances. This phenomenon was distinct in the 2000s regardless of the state's position, whether it was just an EU candidate or already a member state. Around the time, President Vacláv Klaus and his political party (ODS), as Czech leadership, contributed to promoting the Eurosceptic governments towards the EU. It could be seen as strange that such a trait was revealed both in the midst of preparations to join the EU and after its accession when it is the proper time to present a cooperative attitude. Thus, this thesis speculates that the skeptical national identity of the Czech Republic has been constructed throughout history, particularly about 450 years from the Bohemia Kingdom to Czechoslovakia (1525~1971), and affected then Czech domestic politics to formulate the official Eurosceptic positions towards the several EU integration matters (constitutional, security, and monetary integrations). In this context, this master's thesis aims to find an objective correlation that Czech identity had an influence on then Czech Euroscepticism. This way, this thesis expects to advance knowledge concerning Czech identity and its relevance to European politics.

demand for truck transportation is increasing and in the shadow the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions. In many parts of the world the majority of the transportation of goods is done by long-haulage trucks. More than 60% of all goods transported in Brazil are made by trucks (André Luiz Cunhaa, 2011). Therefore, it is critical to find solutions and actions on how to reduce the CO2 footprint.This thesis presents an evaluation of the knowledge and perceptions of sustainability among truck drivers and long-haulage freight transport companies in Brazil. For this, surveys to drivers and with a combination of surveys and interviews to logistics companies were done. The surveys and interviews covered energy and environmental related questions such as eco-driving, alternative fuels, fuel reductions actions, emissions, engine efficiency and the EU emissions standards.It has been found that only slightly more than half of the truck drivers have education in eco-driving despite that eco-driving is considered as the strongest action for reducing fuel consumption. In addition, many drivers do not know the benefits with eco-driving. However, this lack of knowledge among the drivers is in contrast known by the logistic companies. All logistics companies stated that eco-driving can decrease the fuel consumption by 10%, based on experience. The results are also an indication that there is a connection between companies with profit and eco-driving education. For companies with profit, 70% of the truck drivers have been educated in eco-driving, whereas companies with economic loss only 50% of the truck drivers are educated eco-driving . Another finding is that around half of the driver does not know the difference between the European emissions standards, again in contrast to the logistic companies management were all contacted knew the difference, i.e. emissions. This potentially indicates a lack of knowledge exchange between the management in logistic companies and the truck drivers.In addition to eco-driving, the drivers and logistics companies consider driving outside peak hours and the use of connectivity as strong actions for reducing their fuel consumption. Increasing the load capacity and custom made truck was not a frequent answer when asking how the drivers think they can reduce their fuel consumption. A result is also that one third of the logistic companies have been considering switching from petroleum diesel to alternative fuels.Both the truck drivers and the logistic companies know that the currently used trucks are not a sustainable transportation mode. They see the lack of economic incentives as the highest barrier for a more environment friendly transportation system and not the technology needed.In order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the long-haulage sector, more drivers must be educated in eco-driving and the knowledge has to be increased regarding among other the benefits with eco-driving and the difference between the Euro standards. Decreasing the amount of empty trips is also an approach that should receive more attention. / Efterfrågan på lastbilstransporter ökar och därmed utsläppen av koldioxid. I många delar av världen görs majoriteten av godstransporter av lastbilar. Mer än 60% av alla gods som transporteras i Brasilien utförs av lastbilar (André Luiz Cunhaa, 2011). Därför är det viktigt att hitta lösningar och åtgärder för att minska koldioxidavtrycket från sektorn.Denna uppsats presenterar en utvärdering av kunskapen och uppfattningarna om hållbarhet hos de lastbilsförare och godstransportföretag i Brasilien. För detta genomfördes enkätutdelning till förare och med en kombination av enkätutdelning och intervjuer hos logistikföretagen. Undersökningarna och intervjuerna omfattade energi- och miljörelaterade frågor som eco-driving, alternativa bränslen, bränslereducerande åtgärder, CO2 utsläpp, motor effektivitet och EU: s utsläppsnormer (Euro 1-5).Det har visat sig att endast drygt hälften av lastbilschaufförerna har utbildning i eco-driving trots att eco-driving anses vara den starkaste åtgärden för att minska bränsleförbrukningen. Däremot vet många förare inte fördelarna med eco-driving. Denna brist på kunskap bland förarna är däremot känd av de logistiskföretagen ledning. Samtliga logistikföretag uppgav att eco-drivning kan minska bränsleförbrukningen med 10%, baserat på erfarenheter. Enkätresultaten visar också en indikation på att det finns en koppling mellan företag med vinst och eco-driving. För företag med vinst har 70% av lastbilschaufförerna utbildats i eco-driving, medan företag med ekonomisk förlust där endast 50% av lastbilschaufförerna är utbildade eco-driving. Ett annat resultat är att ungefär hälften av föraren inte känner till skillnaden mellan de europeiska utsläppsnormerna, i motsats till logistiskföretagens ledning där alla kontaktade visste skillnaden, det vill säga utsläpphalten. Detta indikerar en brist på kunskapsutbyte mellan ledningen i logistikföretag och lastbilsförarna.Förutom eco-driving ser både lastbilschafförerna och logistikbolagen körning utanför rusningstraffiken samt användning av connectivity som starka åtgärder för att minska bränsleförbrukningen. Att öka lastkapaciteten och custom made trucks var inte ett vanligt svar när enkäten frågade hur förarna tror att de kan minska sin bränsleförbrukning. Ett resultat är också att en tredjedel av de logistiskbolagen har övervägt att byta från petroleumdiesel till alternativa bränslen.Både lastbilsförarna och logistikföretagen vet att de för nuvarande använda lastbilarna inte är hållbart ur ett miljöperspektiv. De ser bristen på ekonomiska incitament som det högsta hinderet för ett miljövänligare transportsystem och inte brist på teknik.För att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser från långdistanssektorn måste fler förare utbildas i eco-driving och kunskapen måste ökas, bland annat med fördelarna med eco-driving och skillnaden mellan Euro-normerna. Att minska antalet tomma resor är också ett tillvägagångssätt som bör uppmärksammas mer.

This study’s aim and purpose was to analyze how the Swedish tabloid Sportbladet portrayed the Swedish women’s and men's national teams in soccer under two different championships, 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020. A thematic content analysis was used as the method to analyze 65 different articles from Sportbladet. 22 articles from 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 43 articles from UEFA Euro 2020. The research questions for this study were:Q1: How is the Swedish women's national soccer team portrayed during the 2023 Women's World Cup by Sportbladet? Q2: How is the Swedish men's national soccer team portrayed during UEFA 2020 by Sportbladet?Q3: What differences can be seen in how the two national teams are portrayed? The findings of the study were similar to prior studies in the field of sports and gender. The result of this study reveals that there still is more reporting about male soccer but a new finding our study made was that it is starting to equal out. A large number of the articles about the women’s national team were about performance-irrelevant aspects, such as relationships on and off the field. There were also articles of how players took a stand on different social issues such as equality. The Swedish men’s national team was portrayed as still having a higher value and prestige by receiving more coverage. There were also more articles about performance- relevant aspects such as preparation, success and honor. Unlike the Swedish women’s national team, the men’s team received much more criticism by Sportbladets writers. The largest difference in the portrayal of the two national teams was that the women’s national team portrayed more with more performance-irrelevant aspects while the men's national team was portrayed with their performance. The men’s national team were also portrayed more as strong individuals, while the women were portrayed largely as not being as strong and needing male guidance. A noticeable difference was also how the success was illustrated, the Swedish women's national team were praised a lot as a group while the male players were praised for their individual performances. A contribution from this study was that the only articles about sexism, such as looks and clothing, were directed towards the men, which goes against what previous studies have found.

In this masters thesis the aim was to investigate a part of Sturegallerian in Stockholm to be reconstructed. The reconstruction did implicate that openings were to be established in an already existing masonry wall. Reconstruction of an old masonry building entails certain difficulties due to the lack of knowledge regarding the building methodology of the existing structure. The purpose of the project was to analyze the effects of a desired reconstruction. A further purpose was to identify the effect with a suggested steel amplifier. In addition it was of interest to see how different modeling strategies would effect the results and discuss what modeling strategy that was most preferred for this project. For the project the specific wall structure was established in the finite element method software, named Räumlich Finite Element Method, as well as a model with the reconstructions established. A comparison of the existing structure with the reconstructed leads to a better understanding of the characteristics of the structure and the specific loads acting on the structure. Further, two different modeling strategies were assigned: one with an isotropic material model and the other as an orthotropic. The models were evaluated for the Ultimate Limit State as well as the Serviceability Limit State to verify the critical behaviours. The models were analyzed for the specific limit states: the deformations, internal forces and the axial stresses. Further, the suggested steel amplifiers were implemented in the reconstructed models to be able to analyze the effects. When the steel amplifiers were assigned to the reconstructed models, the same limit states were analyzed for the deformations and for the internal forces. The conclusion of this project was that an orthotropic material model is best suited for masonry structures. The steel amplifiers were implemented in the orthotropic material model and were further analyzed in the Finite Element software. With the steel amplifiers one could see that the deformations decreased and were still lower than the maximum deformation. One could see that the compression stresses within the masonry wall decreased with the implemented steel amplifiers. The utilization ratio for the steel amplifier was established in Colbeam. The result of stresses, deformations, utilization ratio and stresses within the structure resulted in that this type of amplifier was considered as applicable for this project. / I denna masteruppsats var syftet att undersöka en del av Sturegallerian i Stockholm som skulle rekonstrueras. Rekonstruktionen innebar att öppningar skulle tas upp i den redan befintliga murade väggen. Ombyggnation av en gammal murad byggnad medför vissa svårigheter på grund av den begränsade mängden kunskap om den befintliga konstruktionens byggnadsmetodik. Syftet med projektet var att analysera effekterna samt förmågan att etablera den önskade rekonstruktionen. Ett ytterliggare mål var att identifiera effekterna med en föreslagen stålförstärkare för strukturen. Dessutom var man intresserad av att se hur olika modelleringsstrategier skulle påverka resultaten och diskutera vilka modelleringsstrategier som var att föredra för projekt som detta. För projektet fastställdes den specifika väggstrukturen i mjukvaran för finita elementmetoden, kallad Räumlich Finita Element Method, samt en modell med de etablerade rekonstruktionerna. Genom att jämföra den befintliga strukturen med den rekonstruerade, medförde det en bättre förståelse av strukturens beteende med de specifika belastningar som verkar på strukturen. Modellerna tilldelades två olika modelleringsstrategier: den ena etablerades med en isotrop materialmodell och den andra som ortotrop. Modellerna utvärderades för brottgränstillstånd och bruksgränstillstånd för att verifiera de kritiska beteendena. För de specifika gränstillstånden analyserades deformationerna, inre krafter samt axiella spänningar. Vidare implementerades de föreslagna stålförstärkningarna i de rekonstruerade modellerna för att kunna analysera effekterna för: deformationer, interna krafterna och spänningar. Vidare så implemenderades stålförstärkningar i ombyggnationen för att analysera effekter. När stålförstärkningarna var implementerade kunde en analys av deformationerna och de interna krafterna utföras. Slutsatsen av detta projekt var att en ortotrop materialmodell var bäst lämpad för murverk. Stålförstärkarna implementerades i materialmodellen, analyserades i Finita Element programmet. Med stålförstärkningarna kunde man se en minsking i deformationerna och att de var lägre än de maximalt tillåtna deformationerna. Tryckspänningarna minskade i murverksstrukturen med hjälp av de implementerade stålförstärkningarna. Utnyttjandegraden för stålförstärkningarna fastställdes i Colbeam. Resultaten av deformationerna, utnyttjandegraden samt spänningarna i strukturen resulterade i att denna typ av stålförstärkning bedömdes vara lämplig för detta projekt.

Le prolongement du processus de communautarisation va certes avoir des conséquences sur le plan extérieur de l'Union européenne. La reconnaissance des décisions tierces par le juge français sera désormais influencée par l’application des principes et valeurs européens. La présente étude mettra l'accent sur le sort des conditions exigées, en France, pour les décisions tierces. Le rôle du juge d'exéquatur sera déterminant pour illustrer la transition de la pratique juridictionnelle. En effet, c'est le pouvoir de celui-ci qui va déterminer le sort de cette pratique envers les décisions émanant des États tiers. Outre les conventions élaborées dans le cadre européen, la convention de Bruxelles du 27 septembre de 1968 et le règlement européen n° 44/2001, ainsi que le règlement Bruxelles II, Bruxelles II bis et les accords de partenariat, ne seront pas à l'abri de notre recherche. Autrement dit, nous voulons mesurer le développement du droit international privé européen, notamment en termes d'entraide judiciaire, sur le plan extérieur. Le but est de donner au droit européen une dimension universelle. / The extension process of communitarisation will certainly have implications outside the European Union. Recognition of third decisions by the French judge will now be influenced by the application of European principles and values. This study will focus on the fate of the conditions required in France for the third decisions. The role of the judge will determine exequatur to illustrate the transition from legal practice. Indeed, it is the power of it will determine the fate of this practice to decisions from other States. In addition to the conventions developed in the European context, the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 and this Regulation No. 44/2001 (also Brussels II and Brussels II bis) and the partnership agreements, will not be immune to our research. In other words, we want to measure the development of European private international law, particularly in terms of mutual legal assistance on the outside. The goal is to give the European international private law a universal dimension.