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Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
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Description:
 def scan_file(self, this_file):
 """ Submit a file to be scanned by VirusTotal :param this_file: File to be scanned (32MB file size limit) :return: JSON response that contains scan_id and permalink. """

        params = {'apikey': self.api_key}
        try:
            if type(this_file) == str and os.path.isfile(this_file):
                files = {'file': (this_file, open(this_file, 'rb'))}
            elif isinstance(this_file, StringIO.StringIO):
                files = {'file': this_file.read()}
            else:
                files = {'file': this_file}
        except TypeError as e:
            return dict(error=e.message)

        try:
            response = requests.post(self.base + 'file/scan', files=files, params=params, proxies=self.proxies)
        except requests.RequestException as e:
            return dict(error=e.message)

        return _return_response_and_status_code(response)