Impact of melt rheology on zein foam properties

Zein, the main protein fraction in maize, is left as a by-product from bio-ethanol production. The protein has been investigated as a material for a long time, but mainly in the form of films. In contrast, foamed zein is presented in this article. Zein foams may perhaps be used, e.g. as trays for biodegradable food packages or as scaffolds for tissue engineering. A batch method for manufacturing solid foams was successfully developed, the foams being manufactured by evaporation of solvent from zein resins. In order to be suitable for foam formation, a resin must possess gas-retaining properties, which can be predicted by extensional rheology. The presence of plasticizer in some of the resins decreased their extensional viscosity, and this in turn affected the foaming process. Although all the resins displayed strain-hardening behaviour, there was coalescence of pores in all the foams. Insufficient extensional viscosity resulted in the collapse of pore walls during foam expansion. Structure analysis showed, e.g. that most pores were elongated along the main axis of the mould in which the foams were manufactured. The plasticizer content in the resins had no significant effect on the mechanical properties of the foams

Destinationslandsprincipen och ursprungslandsprincipen -en studie av det EU-rättsliga mervärdesskattesystemet samt de förslag framlagda för dess förbättring

EU:s mervärdesskattesystem är idag uppbyggt kring destinationslandsprincipen, vilket innebär att försäljning till annat land inom EU inte påläggs någon skatt. Mervärdesskatt upptas istället i destinationslandet. Detta var till en början tänkt som en övergångs-ordning. Den slutliga ordningen för mervärdesbeskattningens vidkommande var tänkt att baseras på ursprungslandsprincipen, där skatt läggs på även vid gränsöverskridande köp i det land där varan säljs från eller där tjänsten utförs, dvs. dess ursprungsland. Det har gått över 25 år sedan idén först framlades, men ingen förändring har ännu skett. I ljuset av detta stillestånd bestämde sig kommissionen 2011 för att lägga om rodret och istället satsa på att förbättra den rådande destinationslandsprincipen. Denna övergångsordning skall nu istället få permanent status. Denna uppsats syftar att analysera dessa två principer. Detta inte endast utifrån ett juridiskt perspektiv, utan även ekonomiska och politiska aspekter har vägts in i framställningen. Enligt min uppfattning skulle ursprungslandsprincipen, åtminstone på ett principiellt plan, vara det mest gynnsamma för EU. Ett införande av denna skulle innebära att nationell och intraeuropeisk handel skulle vara underkastad samma systematik. Dessutom skulle mervärdesskattekedjan upprätthållas vilket skulle stävja de bedrägerier som idag är vanligt förekommande vid gränsöverskridande handel. Dock har mervärdesskatterna inte nog harmoniserats, samt inte tillräckliga garantier ställts för ett clearing-system mellan medlemsländerna, för att detta i dagsläget skall kunna bli en realitet. Jag utvärderar och analyserar även det nuvarande mervärdesskattesystemet utifrån de största problem detta idag medför: neutralitetsbrist, höga administrativa kostnader och dess öppenhet för karusellbedrägerier. Dessutom analyserar jag de problemen som omgärdar undantaget för skatteplikt för finansiella tjänster. Jag sluter mig här till att det nuvarande systemet på flera punkter är mycket bristfälligt. Dessutom är de förslag till lösningar EU framlagt enligt mig av mycket kortsiktig karaktär. Eftersom destinationslandsprincipen är den idag rådande principen har jag analyserat denna utifrån dess faktiska verkningar och de problem den innebär för stater och företag. Ursprungslandsprincipen kan av givna skäl inte analyseras utifrån hur de de facto fungerar. Istället behandlas denna princip utifrån de fördelar ett införande skulle kunna medföra, samt varför det mött sådant motstånd bland EU:s medlemsländer. Detsamma gäller de övriga förslag framlagda i doktrin jag valt att analysera: VIVAT, CVAT och RTVAT.The European VAT system is built around the destination principle, which means that intra-community sales are exempt from taxation. Instead VAT is collected in the buyers member state. This system is in fact an interim system, and according to art. 402 of the VAT directive must be replaced by a system based on the origin principle. This would mean that VAT is also levied on intra-community sales by the sellers state, i.e. where the services or goods has its origin. In the 25 years since this proposal was first made by the European Commission, it have failed to convince the European Council of its advantages. In the light of this, the European Commission 2011 decided to change their aim, and are now instead working to improve the current VAT system. This thesis aims to analyze these two principles. Not only from a judicial point of view, but also from a political and economic perspective. It is my belief that the origin principle on paper is the vastly superior principle. If this system where to become a reality, it would mean that national and intra-community sales would work in the same systematic way. It would also mean that the VAT chain would be sustained, which would solve the problem the European Union has with MTIC-fraud. Unfortunately it is currently not a political possibility, since the VAT rates are not sufficiently harmonized, and fiscal guarantees for a clearing-house mechanism have not been made. This thesis also evaluates the current VAT system and the complications that it results in, such as a lack of neutrality, high administrative costs for states and business´ and its vulnerability to MTIC-fraud. I also examines the tax exemption for financial services. I conclude that the current destination principle-based system is inadequate, and the suggestions put forward by the European Commission to amend it often are very short-sighted. The current VAT system is analyzed based on the actual results it causes states and business´. The origin principle has never been introduced, and hence can not be analyzed in this way. This part of the thesis instead aims to conclude which benefits it could have on the European Union and its member states. This also applies to the other suggestions this thesis aims to examine: VIVAT, CVAT and RTVAT

Wendelius teckningar föreställande Esters historia. En kommentar till Bengtsson och Vahlne samt en nytolkning av de så kallade Gripsholmstavlorna

Title: Wendelius’ Drawings Depicting the Story of Esther. A Comment on Bengtsson and Vahlne with a New Interpretation of the so called Gripsholm PaintingsA few drawings at the Royal Library in Stockholm have aroused considerable debate among Swedish art historians (figs. 2, 3, 5, 6 & 7). According to sources contemporary with their production in 1722, they reproduce large paintings kept at Gripsholm castle representing the story of king Erik XIV. Twentieth-century art historians have suggested a number of alternative iconographies, mostly alternative sequences of Swedish history or classical motifs. The drawings have been addressed recently in ICO by Herman Bengtsson and Bo Vahlne. The present article argues that the motifs are from the Book of Esther. The claim is supported by the juxtaposition of two scenes representing a woman before a throne and a triumphal scene (Esther before Ahasuerus & Mordecai’s triumph), the bright yellow dress of the female protagonist (a common symbol for her Jewishness) and her swooning before the throne. Comparisons are made with the Alfta hanging representing Esther (fig. 1) and a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi (fig. 4). The iconography of the drawings is based on Catholic sources, suggesting they were produced in Poland in the 1540s and could have come with Catherine Jagelleonica’s entourage to Åbo and then to Gripsholm in the early 1560s

Enabling adaptive pedestals in predictive transport simulations using neural networks

We present PEdestal Neural Network (PENN) as a machine learning model for tokamak pedestal predictions. Here, the model is trained using the EUROfusion JET pedestal database to predict the electron pedestal temperature and density from a set of global engineering and plasma parameters. Results show that PENN makes accurate predictions on the test set of the database, with R (2) = 0.93 for the temperature, and R (2) = 0.91 for the density. To demonstrate the applicability of the model, PENN is employed in the European transport simulator (ETS) to provide boundary conditions for the core of the plasma. In a case example in the ETS with varied neutral beam injection (NBI) power, results show that the model is consistent with previous studies regarding NBI power dependency on the pedestal. Additionally, we show how an uncertainty estimation method can be used to interpret the reliability of the predictions. Future work includes further analysis of how pedestal models, such as PENN, or other advanced deep learning models, can be more efficiently implemented in integrating modeling frameworks, and also how similar models may be generalized with respect to other tokamaks and future device scenarios

CSR: Bridging business and development for sustainability : a case study of CSR implementation at coffee houses as enabler for sustainable development and livelihood among small-scale produsers

Masteroppgave development management- Universitetet i Agder 2010A prerequisite for achievement of sustainable development is economical growth (NorwegianGovernment, 2008-2009). Today an increasing number of corporations in the Western world implement the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (NorwegianEmbassyMexico, 2010a; NorwegianGovernment, 2008-2009). Accountability theories suggests that CSR initiatives increases transparency and accountability of a company, which again increases its legitimacy (Bendell, 2000; Utting, 2005). CSR is makes ―(…) companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (EU Commission, 2001, p. 6 in Kalstad 2006, p. 10). Fairtrade is a concept which cutting back on middlemen, making a larger degree of the surplus stay with the producer, providing an averagely higher price, a higher degree of life security, and possibly a more sustainable livelihood among rural poor in the South (Aranda, 2002; Bacon, 2004; Boersma, 2002; Jaffee, 2007; Murray, 2003; Ronchi, 2002; Wise, 2005). To reach out Fairtrade is dependent on manufacturers to sell their product. Is Fairtrade sustainable, in the manner that the corporations will continue to sell certified coffee? When CSR is realized through Fairtrade involvement, does it contribute to sustainable development? Several studies documents Fairtrade‟s effect, and CSR too, though not interlinked. When so; do they interact as an alternative to aid, contributing to sustainable livelihood, creating a mutual partnership between international and local actors? The empirical investigation is based on a case study of five Coffee Houses in Norway, and the members of MICHIZA, a small-scale coffee producer cooperative in Oaxaca, Mexico. In addition a literature study has been carried out. All corporations have a CSR strategy, and are either selling or have sold Fairtrade certified coffee. They are selling the certified coffee due to demand, though also as part of their CSR strategy, operating more environmental and social responsible. The corporations have realized that selling certified coffee is more sustainable for all parties, and they profit on it, being able to maintain quality and production in the long run which if not organic produced threathens to deploy the soil creating an environmental threathening production. Selling Fairtrade coffee may easily be part of the corporations CSR strategies; and the production will persist, due to a mutual benefit. MICHIZA‟s members are producing Fairtrade certified organic coffee. Being organized in MICHIZA has contributed to improve life, a more sustainable livelihood, though not at all areas, and not sufficiently. The corporations realize this, though handle by having a variety of different development projects, though not necessary directed towards the coffee producers. Fairtrade however have contributed to MICHIZA‟s members improved living conditions, and more sustainable livelihood and development. CSR may be implied as development enabler; economical growth is a prerequisite for sustainable development. When economical investment is mutual beneficial it is more likely to be maintained. CSR realized through Fairtrade creates an environment for sustainability, and some corporations have realized the mutual dependency for assurance of future production, and sale. And not atleast does the producers, corporations and consumers of coffe all benefit on it