The reform of the European Energy Tax Directive reform : effect on prices

[spa] Para hacer frente a los riesgos relacionados con la contaminación atmosférica, es ampliamente aceptada la necesidad de instrumentos de política encaminados a reducir las emisiones. La intervención tiene por objeto reducir las conductas contaminantes y incentivar una conducta más respetuosa y el uso de tecnologías más eficientes. La Unión Europea cuenta con dos importantes mecanismos económicos para el control de emisiones a escala europea: la directiva sobre los impuestos energéticos, un instrumento de fiscalidad ambiental aprobado en 2003 que afecta el precio de los productos energéticos, y el sistema de comercio de los derechos de emisiones, introducido en 2005, que afecta directamente a la cantidad de emisiones de CO2. En 2011, la Comisión Europea propuso una nueva versión de la directiva sobre los impuestos energéticos. El objetivo principal de la propuesta es aumentar la eficacia del instrumento a través de una mayor presión fiscal sobre los productos energéticos y de coordinar este instrumento de fiscalidad medioambiental con el sistema de comercio de los derechos de emisiones, para establecer una señal de precio de CO2 coherente para todos los sectores. Sin embargo, en mayo de 2012 el Parlamento Europeo bloqueó la propuesta de la nueva versión del impuesto, y el proceso de actualización se detuvo. La preocupación principal parecía ser el efecto de dicha propuesta en la competitividad, en particular para los sectores que serían los más afectados dado el uso intensivo de los productos energéticos, como el sector del transporte. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el efecto que la reforma de la directiva sobre los impuestos energéticos podría tener sobre el nivel de precios, en particular en los países de la Unión Europea donde esta reforma implicaría un aumento de los impuestos energéticos. Utilizando datos del proyecto “World Input-Output Database”, la principal conclusión es que el nuevo sistema de impuestos energéticos tendría un impacto muy bajo sobre los precios. Por lo tanto, dado que los precios no serían fuertemente afectados por la reforma, no habrá inconvenientes para la competitividad y implicaciones en términos de distribución, pero, por otro lado, este resultado también implica una baja capacidad de esta reforma para provocar cambios en el consumo y la producción hacia menos presiones ambientales.

Kakun rakenteen vaikutus pesutulokseen

Tässä työssä tutkittiin suodatukseen vaikuttavien tekijöiden vaikutusta suodatuksessa syntyvän kakun ominaisuuksiin sekä kakun ominaisuuksien vaikutusta syrjäytyspesun tehokkuuteen. Lisäksi määritettiin tärkeimmät suodatusparametrit sekä niiden riippuvuudet suodatusolosuhteista. Toissijaisena tavoitteena oli lisäksi tutkia, miten suodatusolosuhteita ja suodatettavan lietteen ominaisuuksia muuttamalla voidaan vaikuttaa suodatusjakson kestoon. Työn kirjallisuusosassa käsiteltiin aluksi yleisesti kiintoaineen erotusta nesteestä. Tämän jälkeen käsiteltiin yleisimmät suodatustekniikat ja tarkasteltiin yksityiskohtaisemmin painesuodatusta ja varsinkin syntyvän kakun rakenteeseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Lopuksi käytiin läpi kakulle suodatuksen jälkeen suoritettavat jälkikäsittelymenetelmät ja selvitettiin varsinkin syrjäytyspesun tehokkuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä tarkemmin. Kokeellisessa osassa tehtiin koesuodatuksia lietteellä joka sisälsi hienojakoista pigmenttiä. Koesuodatukset tehtiin kahdella eri kankaalla panostoimisella piston press- laboratoriopainesuodattimella johon oli liitetty tiedonkeruuohjelmisto, joka keräsi tiedostoon paineet suodatuskammiossa, kankaan alapuolella ja työsylinterin syöttölinjassa sekä lisäksi männän korkeuden, lietteen lämpötilan ja suodosvaakalukeman. Lietteiden ominaisuuksia seurattiin analysoimalla niiden kiintoainepitoisuuksia, kloridipitoisuuksia, z-potentiaaleja ja partikkelikokojakau-mia siten että jokaisessa suodatuksessa käytetyn lietteen ominaisuudet olivat tiedossa. Suodatusten jälkeen syntyneistä kakuista määritettiin kiintoaine- sekä joissain tapauksissa myös kloridipitoisuudet. Suodatus- ja puristuspaineiden havaittiin vaikuttavan kakkujen huokoisuuksiin ja ominaisvastuksiin selvästi, joskin muutokset olivat melko pieniä. Vaikutus näkyi selvästi myös suodatusten kestoissa ja muutosten havaittiin olevan merkittävän suuruisia. Myös lietteen pH:n havaittiin vaikuttavan merkitsevästi suodatusten kestoihin ja kakkujen ominaisuuksiin. Pesutuloksen ja kakun ominaisuuksien välille löydettiin riippuvuus heikoksi jääneestä pesutuloksesta huolimatta. Myös koesuodatuksissa käytettyjen kankaiden välillä havaittiin selviä eroavaisuuksia.

Effect of pressure on La2(WO4)3 with a modulated scheelite-type structure

We have studied the effect of pressure on the structural and vibrational properties of lanthanum tritungstate La2(WO4)3. This compound crystallizes under ambient conditions in the modulated scheelite-type structure known as the α phase. We have performed x-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements up to a pressure of 20 GPa, as well as ab initio calculations within the framework of the density functional theory. Up to 5 GPa, the three methods provide a similar picture of the evolution under pressure of α-La2(WO4)3. At 5 GPa, we begin to observe some structural changes, and above 6 GPa we find that the x-ray patterns cannot be indexed as a single phase. However, we find that a mixture of two phases with C2/c symmetry accounts for all diffraction peaks. Our ab initio study confirms the existence of several C2/c structures, which are very close in energy in this compression range. According to our measurements, a state with medium-range order appears at pressures above 9 and 11 GPa, from x-ray diffraction and Raman experiments, respectively. Based upon our theoretical calculations we propose several high-pressure candidates with high cationic coordinations at these pressures. The compound evolves into a partially amorphous phase at pressures above 20 GPa.

Inference of Evolutionary Forces Acting on Human Biological Pathways.

Because natural selection is likely to act on multiple genes underlying a given phenotypic trait, we study here the potential effect of ongoing and past selection on the genetic diversity of human biological pathways. We first show that genes included in gene sets are generally under stronger selective constraints than other genes and that their evolutionary response is correlated. We then introduce a new procedure to detect selection at the pathway level based on a decomposition of the classical McDonald-Kreitman test extended to multiple genes. This new test, called 2DNS, detects outlier gene sets and takes into account past demographic effects and evolutionary constraints specific to gene sets. Selective forces acting on gene sets can be easily identified by a mere visual inspection of the position of the gene sets relative to their two-dimensional null distribution. We thus find several outlier gene sets that show signals of positive, balancing, or purifying selection but also others showing an ancient relaxation of selective constraints. The principle of the 2DNS test can also be applied to other genomic contrasts. For instance, the comparison of patterns of polymorphisms private to African and non-African populations reveals that most pathways show a higher proportion of nonsynonymous mutations in non-Africans than in Africans, potentially due to different demographic histories and selective pressures.

Työssä jaksaminen. Case: Lappeenrannan kaupunki

Tämän pro gradu –tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää mitkä tekijät työyhteisössä vaikuttavat työssä jaksamiseen. Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen ja sen empiirinen aineisto on kerätty haastattelemalla työntekijöitä kolmessa Lappeenrannan kaupungin yksikössä. Työssä jaksaminen kuvaa työntekijän suhtautumista työhönsä. Jaksaminen on tärkeää niin työntekijälle, työnantajalle kuin myös yhteiskunnalle. Olennaisiksi jaksamiseen vaikuttaviksi tekijöiksi katsotaan niin työympäristö ja työolot, itse työ ja sen hallinta sekä osaaminen, työyhteisön toiminta ja sen kehittäminen kuin myös henkinen jaksaminen ja oma fyysinen sekä psyykkinen terveys. Tämän tutkimuksen mukaan työntekijät kokivat työn hyvän hallinnan ja omien vaikutusmahdollisuuksien edesauttavan jaksamista. Samoin toimivat ja läheiset suhteet lähimpiin työtovereihin auttoivat kestämään työpaineita ja stressiä.

Raportoinnin kehittäminen yritysjohdon päätöksenteon tueksi - strateginen näkökulma - Case Kit-Sell Oy

Tutkielman päätavoitteena on case -yrityksen yritysjohdon päätöksentekoa tukevan raportoinnin suunnitteleminen ja kehittäminen strategisesta näkökulmasta tarkasteltuna. Raportoinnin suunnittelun teoreettisena viitekehyksenä on käytetty balanced scorecardia. Tutkielman alatavoitteina ovat johtamisen, strategisen johtamisen, päätöksenteon, laskentatoimen, strategisen laskentatoimen ja raportoinnin tarkastelu. Tutkielmassa on käytetty konstruktiivista tutkimusmetodologiaa. Konstruktiivisessa tutkimuksessa tuotetaan teoreettisesti perusteltu ratkaisu käytännön kannalta relevanttiin ongelmaan ja tutkimuksen tuloksen voidaan todeta toimivan käytännössä. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytettiin havainnointia, haastatteluja ja keskusteluja. Todellinen tarve kehittää yrityksen raportointia antoi sysäyksensä tälle tutkielmalle. Vanhat, perinteiset yleisen laskentatoimen raportit koettiin riittämättömiksi apuvälineiksi yritysjohdolle, kun haluttiin suunnata katseita enemmän tulevaisuuden hallintaan sekä muiden osa-alueiden huomioimiseen yritysjohdon päätöksenteon tukemisessa. Lisäksi nykytrendit, kuten pitkän tähtäyksen ja strategisuuden korostuminen, kokonaisvaltaisten ja kaikki osa-alueet huomioivien tunnuslukujen yleistyminen loivat paineita raportoinnin uudistamiselle. Tutkielman tuloksena saatiin aikaan uusia raportoitavia tunnuslukuja tukemaan yritysjohdon päätöksentekoa. Tutkielman tuloksena saadut tunnusluvut sekä niistä laadittavat raportit on tarkoitus saattaa käytäntöön kohdeyrityksessä tutkielmaprosessin jälkeen.

Online drawings for dementia diagnose: in-air and pressure information analysis

In this paper we present experimental results comparing on-line drawings for control population (left and right hand) as well as Alzheimer disease patients. The drawings have been acquired by means of a digitizing tablet, which acquires time information angles and pressures. Experimental measures based on pressure and in-air movements appear to be significantly different for both groups, even when control population performs the tasks with the non-dominant hand.

Kansainvälinen ympäristömarkkinointi: Suomen metsäteollisuuden kansainväliset ympäristöhaastee

Tutkielman päätavoitteena on analysoida Suomen metsäteollisuuden vihreitä markkinoita ympäristösuuntautuneesta näkökulmasta. Erityistä huomiota kiinnitetään siihen, miten ympäristöhaasteet vaikuttavat yritysten toimintaan ja strategisen markkinoinnin suunnitteluun. Tutkielman teoriaosan lähdeaineistona käytettiin muun muassa ympäristömarkkinointia, ympäristönsuojelua, markkinoinnin suunnittelua sekä vihreää kulutusta käsitteleviä tieteellisiä tutkimuksia, kirjallisuutta ja artikkeleita. Empiirisessä osassa tavoitetta lähestyttiin teemahaastattelujen avulla. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että ympäristömarkkinoinnista on tullut kiinteä osa metsäteollisuusyritysten toimintaa ja johtamista. Tämän suuntainen kehitys on johtunut suurelta osin ulkoisista paineista ja ympäristömarkkinointia on pystytty kunnolla hyödyntämään vain joissakin yrityksissä. Ympäristösuuntautuneisuudesta on kuitenkin muotoutumassa merkittävä markkinointisuunnittelun väline kilpailuedun saavuttamiseksi.

The Sottunga-Jurmo shear zone : structure and deformation history of a crustal-scale ductile shear zone in SW Finland

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the structure and the deformation history of a NW-SE trending regional, crustal-scale shear structure in the Åland archipelago, SW Finland, called the Sottunga-Jurmo shear zone (SJSZ). Approaches involving e.g. structural geology, geochronology, geochemistry and metamorphic petrology were utilised in order to reconstruct the overall deformation history of the study area. The study therefore describes several features of the shear zone including structures, kinematics and lithologies within the study area, the ages of the different deformation phases (ductile to brittle) within the shear zone, as well as some geothermobarometric results. The results indicate that the SJSZ outlines a major crustal discontinuity between the extensively migmatized rocks NE of the shear zone and the unmigmatised, amphibolite facies rocks SW of the zone. The main SJSZ shows overall dextral lateral kinematics with a SW-side up vertical component and deformation partitioning into pure shear and simple shear dominated deformation styles that was intensified toward later stages of the deformation history. The deformation partitioning resulted in complex folding and refolding against the SW margin of the SJSZ, including conical and sheath folds, and in a formation of several minor strike-slip shear zones both parallel and conjugate to the main SJSZ in order to accommodate the regional transpressive stresses. Different deformation phases within the study area were dated by SIMS (zircon U-Pb), ID-TIMS (titanite U-Pb) and 40Ar/39Ar (pseudotachylyte wholerock) methods. The first deformation phase within the ca. 1.88 Ga rocks of the study area is dated at ca. 1.85 Ga, and the shear zone was reactivated twice within the ductile regime (at ca. 1.83 Ga and 1.79 Ga), during which the strain was successively increasingly partitioned into the main SJSZ and the minor shear zones. The age determinations suggest that the orogenic processes within the study area did not occur in a temporal continuum; instead, the metamorphic zircon rims and titanites show distinct, 10-20 Ma long breaks in deformation between phases of active deformation. The results of this study further imply slow cooling of the rocks through 600-700ºC so that at 1.79 Ga, 2 the temperature was still at least 600ºC. The highest recorded metamorphic pressures are 6.4-7.1 kbar. At the late stages or soon after the last ductile phase (ca. 1.79 Ga), relatively high-T mylonites and ultramylonites were formed, witnessing extreme deformation partitioning and high strain rates. After the rocks reached lower amphibolite facies to amphibolite-greenschist facies transitional conditions (ca. 500-550ºC), they cooled rapidly, probably due to crustal uplift and exhumation. The shear zone was reactivated at least once within the semi-brittle to brittle regime between ca. 1.79 Ga and 1.58 Ga, as evidenced by cataclasites and pseudotachylytes. In summary, the results of this study suggest that the Sottunga-Jurmo shear zone (and the South Finland shear zone) defines a major crustal discontinuity, and played a central role in accommodating the regional stresses during and after the Svecofennian orogeny.

Cardan Gear Mechanism versus Slider-Crank Mechanism in Pumps and Engines

In machine design we always want to save space, save energy and produce as much power as possible. We can often reduce accelerations, inertial loads and energy consumption by changing construction. In this study the old cardan gear mechanism (hypocycloid mechanism) has been compared with the conventional slider-crank mechanism in air pumps and four-stroke engines. Comprehensive Newtonian dynamics has been derived for the both mechanisms. First the slidercrank and the cardan gear machines have been studied as lossless systems. Then the friction losses have been added to the calculations. The calculation results show that the cardan gear machines can be more efficient than the slider-crank machines. The smooth running, low mass inertia, high pressures and small frictional power losses make the cardan gear machines clearly better than the slider-crank machines. The dynamic tooth loads of the original cardan gear construction do not rise very high when the tooth clearances are kept tight. On the other hand the half-size crank length causes high bearing forces in the cardan gear machines. The friction losses of the cardan gear machines are generally quite small. The mechanical efficiencies are much higher in the cardan gear machines than in the slider-crank machines in normal use. Crankshaft torques and power needs are smaller in the cardan gear air pumps than in the equal slider-crank air pumps. The mean crankshaft torque and the mean output power are higher in the cardan gear four-stroke engines than in the slider-crank four-stroke engines in normal use. The cardan gear mechanism is at its best, when we want to build a pump or an engine with a long connecting rod (≈ 5⋅crank length) and a thin piston (≈ 1.5⋅crank length) rotating at high angular velocity and intermittently high angular acceleration. The cardan gear machines can be designed also as slide constructions without gears. Suitable applications of the cardan gear machines are three-cylinder half-radial engines for motorcycles, sixcylinder radial engines for airplanes and six-cylinder double half-radial engines for sport cars. The applied equations of Newtonian dynamics, comparative calculations, calculation results (tables, curves and surface plots) and recommendations presented in this study hold novelty value and are unpublished before. They have been made and written by the author first time in this study.

Assessing Recent Selection and Functionality at Long Noncoding RNA Loci in the Mouse Genome.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are one of the most intensively studied groups of noncoding elements. Debate continues over what proportion of lncRNAs are functional or merely represent transcriptional noise. Although characterization of individual lncRNAs has identified approximately 200 functional loci across the Eukarya, general surveys have found only modest or no evidence of long-term evolutionary conservation. Although this lack of conservation suggests that most lncRNAs are nonfunctional, the possibility remains that some represent recent evolutionary innovations. We examine recent selection pressures acting on lncRNAs in mouse populations. We compare patterns of within-species nucleotide variation at approximately 10,000 lncRNA loci in a cohort of the wild house mouse, Mus musculus castaneus, with between-species nucleotide divergence from the rat (Rattus norvegicus). Loci under selective constraint are expected to show reduced nucleotide diversity and divergence. We find limited evidence of sequence conservation compared with putatively neutrally evolving ancestral repeats (ARs). Comparisons of sequence diversity and divergence between ARs, protein-coding (PC) exons and lncRNAs, and the associated flanking regions, show weak, but significantly lower levels of sequence diversity and divergence at lncRNAs compared with ARs. lncRNAs conserved deep in the vertebrate phylogeny show lower within-species sequence diversity than lncRNAs in general. A set of 74 functionally characterized lncRNAs show levels of diversity and divergence comparable to PC exons, suggesting that these lncRNAs are under substantial selective constraints. Our results suggest that, in mouse populations, most lncRNA loci evolve at rates similar to ARs, whereas older lncRNAs tend to show signals of selection similar to PC genes.

Thin Film Transistors obtained by Hot-Wire CVD

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films obtained at low temperature (150-280°C) by hot wire chemical vapour deposition at two different process pressures were measured by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS). A crystalline fraction >90% with a subgap optical absortion 10 cm -1 at 0.8 eV were obtained in films deposited at growth rates >0.8 nm/s. These films were incorporated in n-channel thin film transistors and their electrical properties were measured. The saturation mobility was 0.72 ± 0.05 cm 2/ V s and the threshold voltage around 0.2 eV. The dependence of their conductance activation energies on gate voltages were related to the properties of the material.

Neuro-mechanical determinants of repeated treadmill sprints - Usefulness of an "hypoxic to normoxic recovery" approach.

To improve our understanding of the limiting factors during repeated sprinting, we manipulated hypoxia severity during an initial set and examined the effects on performance and associated neuro-mechanical alterations during a subsequent set performed in normoxia. On separate days, 13 active males performed eight 5-s sprints (recovery = 25 s) on an instrumented treadmill in either normoxia near sea-level (SL; FiO2 = 20.9%), moderate (MH; FiO2 = 16.8%) or severe normobaric hypoxia (SH; FiO2 = 13.3%) followed, 6 min later, by four 5-s sprints (recovery = 25 s) in normoxia. Throughout the first set, along with distance covered [larger sprint decrement score in SH (-8.2%) compared to SL (-5.3%) and MH (-7.2%); P < 0.05], changes in contact time, step frequency and root mean square activity (surface electromyography) of the quadriceps (Rectus femoris muscle) in SH exceeded those in SL and MH (P < 0.05). During first sprint of the subsequent normoxic set, the distance covered (99.6, 96.4, and 98.3% of sprint 1 in SL, MH, and SH, respectively), the main kinetic (mean vertical, horizontal, and resultant forces) and kinematic (contact time and step frequency) variables as well as surface electromyogram of quadriceps and plantar flexor muscles were fully recovered, with no significant difference between conditions. Despite differing hypoxic severity levels during sprints 1-8, performance and neuro-mechanical patterns did not differ during the four sprints of the second set performed in normoxia. In summary, under the circumstances of this study (participant background, exercise-to-rest ratio, hypoxia exposure), sprint mechanical performance and neural alterations were largely influenced by the hypoxia severity in an initial set of repeated sprints. However, hypoxia had no residual effect during a subsequent set performed in normoxia. Hence, the recovery of performance and associated neuro-mechanical alterations was complete after resting for 6 min near sea level, with a similar fatigue pattern across conditions during subsequent repeated sprints in normoxia.

Multigene Family Evolution: Perspectives from Insect Chemoreceptors.

Understanding the birth and diversification of multigene families is a fundamental evolutionary problem. I argue for the insect chemoreceptor superfamily as an outstanding model. Although these receptors are currently the preserve of neuroscientists, putative homologous genes exist in diverse animal and plant genomes, implying an ancient origin. Moreover, functional studies suggest that they act as ligand-gated ion channels in both chemosensory and non-chemosensory processes. This family permits synergism of investigations into its structural and regulatory evolution with ecological studies of the selective pressures driving these changes. In addition, sequence divergence in these receptors can be exploited through co-evolutionary and comparative genomics analyses to help to elucidate their 3D structure and signaling mechanisms, and to reveal experimentally-accessible candidate loci to explore the genetic basis of adaptation.

The increase in hydric volume is associated to contractile impairment in the calf after the world's most extreme mountain ultra-marathon

BACKGROUND: Studies have recently focused on the effect of running a mountain ultra-marathon (MUM) and their results show muscular inflammation, damage and force loss. However, the link between peripheral oedema and muscle force loss is not really established. We tested the hypothesis that, after a MUM, lower leg muscles' swelling could be associated with muscle force loss. The knee extensor (KE) and the plantar flexor (PF) muscles' contractile function was measured by supramaximal electrical stimulations, potentiated low- and high-frequency doublets (PS10 and PS100) of the KE and the PF were measured by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and bioimpedance was used to assess body composition in the runners (n = 11) before (Pre) and after (Post) the MUM and compared with the controls (n = 8). RESULTS: The maximal voluntary contraction of the KE and the PF significantly decreased by 20 % Post-MUM in the runners. Hydration of the non-fat mass (NF-Hyd) and extracellular water volume (Ve) were increased by 12 % Post-MUM (p < 0.001) in the runners. Calf circumference (+2 %, p < 0.05) was also increased. Significant relationships were found for percentage increases in Ve and NF-Hyd with percentage decrease in PS10 of the PF (r = -0.68 and r = -0.70, p < 0.05) and with percentage increase of calf circumference (r = 0.72 and r = 0.73, p < 0.05) in the runners. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that increases in circumference and in hydric volume are associated to contractile impairment in the calf in ultra-marathon runners.