Missing Trader Fraud in the EU

Nollbeskattningen av gemenskapsinterna förvärv i kombination med uppskjuten betalning av moms har möjliggjort karusellbedrägeri med moms på den EU-interna marknaden. Följaktligen har medlemsstaterna drabbas av utebliven moms som inte redovisas av ”missing traders”, samtidigt som den oskyldige affärspartnern till en ”missing trader” behåller sin rätt att återfå moms, vilket skapar en förlust för staten i fråga som får betala tillbaka moms som aldrig inkommit. Dessutom kan en momskarusell i teorin snurra oändligt många gånger och när en karusell upptäcks har personerna bakom företaget som begår bedrägeriet oftast sedan länge försvunnit. Medlemsstaterna har försökt stoppa sina momsförluster genom att vända sig mot den oskyldige parten i transaktionskedjan, med avsikt att hålla denne ansvarig för den uteblivna momsen. Detta har dock EU-domstolen satt stopp för vid ett antal tillfällen. Domstolen har nämligen genom sina avgöranden skyddat den oskyldige parten som varit i god tro och därmed upprätthållit de grundläggande rättsprinciperna, främst principerna om rättssäkerhet och proportionalitet. Handel med utsläppsrätter har drabbats hårt av momsbedrägeri de senaste åren, mestadels med anledning av det höga värdet på utsläppsrätterna och det höga tempot med vilket handel på onlinebörser sker. EU har den senaste tiden implementerat temporära lösningar för att stoppa bedrägeri på nämnda marknad, men problemet med momsbedrägeri i stort kvarstår. På grund av de politiska komplikationerna med att skapa en helt harmoniserad intern marknad inom EU, vilket annars är det mest effektiva sättet att stoppa bedrägeri med momskaruseller inom Unionen, så debatteras och undersöks andra lösningar inom hela EU. Den mest realistiska lösningen är momsbetalning i realtid, vilket innebär att momsen genom tekniska lösningar betalas samtidigt som en transaktion genomförs. På så sätt slipper företag hantera moms, skattemyndigheten mottar momsen direkt och eftersom ingen moms är i händerna på någon annan än kompetent myndighet är möjligheterna till bedrägeri utraderade.The zero-rating of intra-Community acquisitions in combination with the deferred payment of VAT has made it possible to employ carousel fraud with VAT on the internal EU market. Not only are the tax authorities in the different Member States losing out on VAT that is not accounted for by missing traders, but the innocent parties in business with the missing traders retain a right to refund VAT, leaving the tax authority with a loss when refunding VAT that was never collected. Moreover, the carousel can theoretically keep turning an infinite amount of times and when a carousel is discovered, the people behind the company committing fraud are usually long gone. Member States have been trying to stop the loss of VAT by turning on the innocent party of the business chain, intending to hold them liable for the missing VAT. However, this has been stopped by the ECJ on a number of occasions, as the Court in its judgments has protected the innocent party in good faith and thus upholding the fundamental principles of law, primarily the principles of legal certainty and proportionality. The market for emission rights trading has been the primary target for VAT fraud in the last few years, mainly due to the high value of the emission rights and the fast pace of the trading on online exchange bourses. The EU has of late implemented temporary solutions in order to hinder the fraud on this market, yet the issue of VAT fraud as a whole remains to be solved. Due to the political complications of creating a completely harmonised internal market within the EU, the otherwise most effective way of ending the VAT carousel fraud within the Union, other solutions are debated and investigated throughout the EU. The most prominent idea is real-time VAT collection, using technological solutions to collect VAT right when a purchase is concluded. That way, companies are relieved of the VAT compliance burden, the tax authority will receive VAT right away and since no VAT is ever in the hands of anyone else than the competent authority, fraud is effectively stopped

Поток-зависимая вазодилатация плечевой артерии у лиц с псориатическим артритом и псориазом

КРОВЕНОСНЫХ СОСУДОВ РАСШИРЕНИЕПЛЕЧЕВАЯ АРТЕРИЯАРТРИТ ПСОРИАТИЧЕСКИЙПСОРИА

Kontrolltaxering med stöd av drönare hos Norra Skogsägarna

Varje år framställer Norra Skogsägarna ett stort antal skogsbruksplaner som måste uppfylla bestämda kvalitetskrav. Målet med studien är att med stöd av en drönare monterad med kamera utveckla kvalitetssäkringen av de skogsbruksplaner Norra Skogsägarna framställer. Målet ska uppnås genom att undersöka och utveckla en inventeringsstrategi för en drönarbaserad metod. Materialet som användes var tredimensionella vegetationsmodeller från fotogrammetiskt berarbetade bilder över små (cirkulära, 10 m radie) och stora (kvadratiska, 80m x 80m) fältinventerade provytor. Med hjälp av metriker hämtade ur punktmolnen skapades regressionsmodeller för grundytevägd medelhöjd, grundytevägd diameter, volym och grundyta. Tre olika inventeringsdesigner testades, obundet slumpmässigt urval, stratifiering och Local Pivotal Method. Local Pivotal Method var den design som presterade bäst vid korsvalidering med lågt provyteantal för att skatta grundytevägd medelhöjd, grundytevägd diameter, volym och grundyta. Med en regressionsmodell byggd på 20 provytor hade grundytevägd medelhöjd, grundytevägd diameter, volym och grundyta ett relativt RMSE på 12,3 %, 10,8 %, 21,0 %, respektive 15,0 %. Resultaten visar att det är möjligt att med stöd av en drönare effektivisera kvalitetssäkringen för att täcka större områden samtidigt som man kan reducera antalet fältmätta provytor.Every year the forest owner association Norra Skogsägarna produces a large amount of forest management plans that must meet certain quality standards. The aim of this study is to develop the quality assurance of the forest management plans with the help of a drone mounted with a camera. The aim will be fullfilled through research and development of an inventory design based on information extracted from drone images. Photogrammetric processing of images across small (circular, 10 meter radius) and large (squared, 80m x 80m) plots paired with field surveys accounted for the material in the study. Using metrics extracted from point clouds, regression models for basal area weighted mean height, basal area weighted mean diameter, volume and basal area were created. Three different survey designs were tested, independent random sampling, stratification and the Local Pivotal Method. The Local Pivotal Method was the inventory design with the best performance at low numbers of field surveyed plots to predict basal area weighted mean height, basal area weighted mean diameter, volume and basal area. A regression model based on 20 field surveyed plots revealed that the relative RMSE for basal area weighted mean height, basal area weighted mean diameter, volume and basal area was 12.3 %, 10.8 %, 21.0 % and 15.0 % respectively. The results show that it is possible to efficiently use a drone for quality assurance to cover larger areas while the number of field measured plots can be reduced

Jordart och markfuktighets inverkan på trädets stabilitet under stormen Hilde 2013

Storm är den absolut vanligaste skadeorsaken på skog. Det handlar om höga värden för skogsägare samt för samhället. Forskningen inom området har ökat sedan 60-talet men ännu finns kunskapsluckor inom området. Målet med denna studie var att förstå hur markens egenskaper påverkar ett skogsbestånds känslighet för storm. 2013 svepte stormen Hilde in över Sveaskogs marker kring Lycksele kommun. Genom data från Sveaskog har vi kunnat studera hur bestånden drabbats av stormen och kombinerat det med data om markens egenskaper i form av markfuktighet och jordart. Eftersom det saknades markdata från ett stort antal avdelningar, skapades en egen marfuktighetskarta och jordartskartan hämtades från Lantmäteriet. Vår hypotes var att en större andel skog skulle blåst omkull på fuktiga avdelningar där jordarten dominerades sediment eller torv. I de inledande analyserna använde vi enbart Sveaskogs data. Markfuktighet visade högst förklaringsgrad och lägst p-värde, men vi kunde inte visa på ett signifikant samband. För materialet vi kompletterat själva med inventeringar kunde inte något signifikant samband hittas. För att göra analyserna mer tillförlitliga behövs fortsatta studier där markfuktighet och jordart är säkerställt i fält. Det finns ytterliga faktorer som borde tas med i analyserna eftersom de kan påverkar stormkänsligheten, exempelvis tid sedan gallring och det rumsliga läget.Storm is the most common cause of damage to forests. It contains high value for forest owners, as well as for society. Research about storm damage in forests has increased lately but there is still a knowledge gap in the area. The purpose of our study was to evaluate if soil properties affect stand vulnerability to storm. In 2013, the storm Hilde swept over Lycksele municipality. With data provided from Sveaskog we were able to study how the stands were affected by the storm and due to properties (soil moisture and soil type). In the absence actual of soil data from several stands, we created an own soil moisture map and a soil map was obtained from the National Land Survey. Our hypothesis was that stands with high soil moisture or located on sediment would be the most damaged ones. In the initial analyzes our own inventoried soil data was excluded. Soil moisture showed the highest degree of explanation and lowest p-value. However we could not find any significance or high degree of explanation in any of the factors, either with or without our own inventoried soil moisture and soil type. To make the analysis more reliable further studies are required, where soil properties is ensured in the field. There are other elements that should be included in the study since they can affect storm sensitivity of a stand. For example, recently performed thinning or if there are any adjacent clear-cuts

Plasma beam dumps for the EuPRAXIA facility

Beam dumps are indispensable components for particle accelerator facilities to absorb or dispose beam kinetic energy in a safe way. However, the design of beam dumps based on conventional technology, i.e., energy deposition via beam–dense matter interaction, makes the beam dump facility complicated and large in size, partly due to the high beam intensities and energies achieved. In addition, specific methods are needed to address the radioactive hazards that these high-power beams generate. On the other hand, the European Plasma Research Accelerator with eXcellence in Application (EuPRAXIA) project can advance the laser–plasma accelerator significantly by achieving a 1–5 GeV high-quality electron beam in a compact layout. Nevertheless, beam dumps based on the conventional technique will still produce radiation hazards and make the overall footprint less compact. Here, a plasma beam dump will be implemented to absorb the kinetic energy from the EuPRAXIA beam. In doing so, the overall compactness of the EuPRAXIA layout could be further improved, and the radioactivity generated by the facility can be mitigated. In this paper, results from particle-in-cell simulations are presented for plasma beam dumps based on EuPRAXIA beam parameters

Resonant excitation of plasma waves in a plasma channel

We demonstrate resonant excitation of a plasma wave by a train of short laser pulses guided in a preformed plasma channel, for parameters relevant to a plasma-modulated plasma accelerator (P-MoPA). We show experimentally that a train of N≈10 short pulses, of total energy ∼1J, can be guided through 110mm long plasma channels with on-axis densities in the range 1017-1018cm-3. The spectrum of the transmitted train is found to be strongly red shifted when the plasma period is tuned to the intratrain pulse spacing. Numerical simulations are found to be in excellent agreement with the measurements and indicate that the resonantly excited plasma waves have an amplitude in the range 3-10GVm-1, corresponding to an accelerator stage energy gain of order 1GeV

Elongation of very long-chain (>C24) fatty acids in Clarias gariepinus: Cloning, functional characterization and tissue expression of elovl4 elongases

Elongation of very long-chain fatty acid 4 (Elovl4) proteins participate in the biosynthesis of very long-chain (>C24) saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (FA). Previous studies have shown that fish possess two different forms of Elovl4, termed Elovl4a and Elovl4b. The present study aimed to characterize both molecularly and functionally two elovl4 cDNA from the African catfish Clarias gariepinus. The results confirmed that C. gariepinus possessed two elovl4-like elongases with high homology to two previously characterized Elovl4 from Danio rerio, and thus they were termed accordingly as Elovl4a and Elovl4b. The C. gariepinus Elovl4a and Elovl4b have open reading frames (ORF) of 945 and 915 base pairs, respectively, encoding putative proteins of 314 and 304 amino acids, respectively. Functional characterization in yeast showed both Elovl4 enzymes have activity towards all the PUFA substrates assayed (18:4n-3, 18:3n-6, 20:5n-3, 20:4n-6, 22:5n-3, 22:4n-6 and 22:6n-3), producing elongated products of up to C36. Moreover, the C. gariepinus Elovl4a and Elovl4b were able to elongate very long-chain saturated FA (VLC-SFA) as denoted by increased levels of 28:0 and longer FA in yeast transformed with elovl4 ORF compared to control yeast. These results confirmed that C. gariepinus Elovl4 play important roles in the biosynthesis of very long-chain FA. Tissue distribution analysis of elovl4 mRNAs showed both genes were widely expressed in all tissues analyzed, with high expression of elovl4a in pituitary and brain, whereas female gonad and pituitary had the highest expression levels for elovl4b

Physiological roles of fatty acyl desaturases and elongases in marine fish: Characterisation of cDNAs of fatty acyl delta6 desaturase and elovl5 elongase of cobia (Rachycentron canadum)

In the present paper, we investigated the expression of fatty acyl desaturase and elongase genes in a marine teleost, cobia, a species of great interest due to its considerable aquaculture potential. A cDNA was cloned that, when expressed in yeast, was shown to result in desaturation of 18:3n-3 and 18:2n-6, indicating that it coded for a Δ6 desaturase enzyme. Very low desaturation of 20:4n-3 and 20:3n-6 indicated only trace Δ5 activity. Another cloned cDNA enabled elongation of 18:4n-3, 18:3n-6, 20:5n-3 and 20:4n-6 in the yeast expression system, indicating that it had C18-20 and C20-22 elongase activity. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis confirmed that it was homologous to human ELOVL5 elongase. However, the cobia Elovl5 elongase also had low activity toward C24 HUFA. The cobia Δ6 desaturase had a preference for 18:3n-3, but the elongase was generally equally active with both n-3 and n-6 substrates. Expression of both genes was 1-2 orders of magnitude greater in brain than other tissues suggesting an important role, possibly to ensure sufficient docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) synthesis in neural tissues through elongation and desaturation of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3)

Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acid Synthesis in Atlantic Salmon: Characterization of ELOVL5- and ELOVL2-like Elongases

Fish species vary in their capacity to biosynthesize the n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids that are crucial to the health of higher vertebrates. The synthesis of LC-PUFA involves enzyme-mediated fatty acyl desaturation and elongation. Previously, a cDNA for an elongase, now termed elovl5a, had been cloned from Atlantic salmon. Here we report on the cloning of two new elongase cDNAs: a second elovl5b elongase, corresponding to a 294 aa protein, and an elovl2-like elongase, coding for a 287 aa protein, characterized for the first time in a non-mammalian vertebrate. Heterologous expression in yeast showed that the salmon Elovl5b elongated C18 and C20 PUFA, with low activity towards C22, while Elovl2 elongated C20 and C22 PUFA with lower activity towards C18 PUFA. All three transcripts showed predominant expression in the intestine and liver, followed by the brain. Elongase expression showed differential nutritional regulation. Levels of elovl5b and particularly of elovl2, but not of elovl5a, transcripts were significantly increased in liver of salmon fed vegetable oils (VO) compared to fish fed fish oil (FO). Intestinal expression showed a similar pattern. Phylogenetic comparisons indicate that, in contrast to salmon and zebrafish, Acanthopterygian fish species lack elovl2 which is consistent with their neglible ability to biosynthesise LC-PUFA and to adapt to VO dietary inclusion, compared to predominantly freshwater salmonids. Thus the presence of elovl2 in salmon explains the ability of this species to biosynthesise LC-HUFA and may provide a biotechnological tool to produce enhanced levels of LC-PUFA, particularly DHA, in transgenic organisms