Tax Systems in the Selected Transition Economies. An overview

The paper discusses the Value Added Tax, Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax and excise tax in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Kyrgyz Republic. It could be argued that the countries of Central Europe are more advanced in their reforms compared with the countries of the Former Soviet Union. In many cases the situation in the FSU still resembles the time of planned economy where enterprises function in an administratively regulated environment. It seems like a lot of political will is needed to overcome stagnancy and change the behavior of economic agents. The paper will concentrate mainly on the so-called state taxes and will not cover local taxes such as real estate and land tax. It will not cover the social insurance contributions and other types of payroll taxes, as they are beyond the scope of this paper. In the first part of the paper, I will try to compare the tax systems from the point of view of budget situation in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, the Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine. In the second part of the paper, some legislative regulations will be presented.tax system, transition countries

Nitrogen and phosphorus remediation of aquatic garden plants in laboratory-scale constructed wetlands.

This research investigated the potential of growing marketable aquatic garden plants that also remediate nursery and greenhouse runoff in a subsurface-flow constructed wetland. The cost of wastewater treatment is offset by the production of revenue-generating horticultural crops. Aquatic garden plants that offer the dual benefits of nutrient remediation and aesthetic value may also be planted in bioretention basins, rain gardens, buffer zones, and filter strips. Fifteen commercially available aquatic garden plants were grown for 8 weeks in a laboratory scale subsurface wetland in a greenhouse and received nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from Hoagland\u27s nutrient solution every two days for eight weeks. The N and P rates (0.39 to 36.81 mg&middotL-1 of N and 0.07 to 6.77 mg&middotL-1 P, respectively), encompassed low to high rates of nutrients found at various points between the discharge and inflow points of other constructed wetland systems currently in use at commercial nurseries. Plant biomass, nutrient recovery, and tissue nutrient concentration and content were measured. Among rhizomatous plants, highest N recovery rate were found in Louisiana Iris hybrid `Full Eclipse\u27, Canna `Bengal Tiger\u27, Canna `Yellow King Humbert\u27, Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott \u27Illustris\u27, Peltandra virginica (L.) Schott, and Pontederia cordata L. `Singapore Pink.\u27 The P recovery rates were similar for the cannas, Louisiana Iris `Full Eclipse,\u27 Peltandra virginica, and Pontederia cordata `Singapore Pink.\u27 Among the fibrous-rooted aquatic garden plants, highest N and P recovery rates were exhibited by Thalia geniculata f. rheumoides Shuey and Oenenathe javanica (Blume) DC. `Flamingo.\u27 Floating plants with the highest N recovery rates were exhibited by water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [Mart.] Solms.) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.). Phosphorus recovery rates were similar for water hyacinth, water lettuce, and dwarf redstemmed parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum [Vell.] Verdc.). To determine the effect of N:P ratio on P recovery, Typha latifolia and Canna `Bengal Tiger\u27 were grown in a greenhouse-based laboratory-scale subsurface constructed wetland system with a 4-day hydraulic retention time for 8 weeks. Plants were supplied with the following N:P ratios: 6:1, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 1:6. Mean total P concentrations ranged from 6.9 mg∙L-1 (6:1) to 252.2 mg&middotL-1 P (1:6); nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) was maintained at a constant mean level of 42.4 mg&middotL-1. Measured endpoints at 20, 40, and 60 d included height, biomass, nutrient recovery/allocation, and nutrient use efficiency. Canna\u3c.italic\u3e and Typha whole plant N:P concentration was linearly correlated with N:P ratio of treatments. For the 1:3 and 1:6 treatments, Canna assimilated 40.7 and 30.6% of supplied P compared to 9.7 and 6.2% for Typha. Although both species exhibited luxury consumption of P, Typha latifolia was nitrogen-limited at the 1:1, 1:3, and 1:6 N:P ratios. The high P shoot and root concentrations of Canna in the 42N:252P treatment&mdash19.8 and 11.6 mg&middotg-1, respectively, were significantly higher than the 3.0 and 4.4 mg&middotg-1 cattail shoot and root P, respectively. These high shoot and root P concentrations for Canna `Bengal Tiger\u27 have not been previously reported. In summary, results of this research showed the differential uptake of N and P by commercially available aquatic garden plants and the ability of some species to recover N and P at levels comparable to traditional constructed wetland plants. Also, the N:P ratio of wastewater influent affects P assimilation and appears to be species-specific in nature

Fiscal Policy in Poland under Transition

Based on statistics provided by the Ministry of Finance and Central Statistical Office, the paper provides an analyses of the economic transition experienced by Poland paying particular attention to the fiscal policy.Poland, Economic Transition, Fiscal Policy

Laboratory Plasma Tests Towards the Production of Simulated Supernova Shock Waves

Supernovae are some of the most powerful explosions that occur in our universe. These explosions generate massive shock waves that span tens of light years in distance. They are responsible for atomic fusion that creates the denser elements, needed for the creation of planets such as our own. The goal of this project was to simulate a supernova on a small scale, in order to study the resultant shock waves and their effects upon the interstellar medium. This research can improve understanding of the impact these events have upon the formation of solar systems and the composition of the interstellar medium itself. In order to simulate a supernova in the lab, two electrodes were fashioned from sputter-coated aluminum and affixed within a scientific vacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber was pumped down, then re-pressurized with helium or argon gas. A 13.56 MHz radio frequency plasma was sparked and maintained using a 120- Watt RF generator and matching network. Characteristic UV-Vis-NIR spectra for argon and helium were recorded as functions of pressure, power, and position in the chamber. An attempt was made to capture high speed images of shock waves during vaporization of a graphite rod in the plasma chamber, but was ultimately unsuccessful

Stellar Masses, Kinematics, and White Dwarf Composition for Three Close DA+dMe Binaries

We determine the mass functions and mass ratios for three close white dwarf plus red dwarf binaries (EUVE J0720-317, 1016-053, and 2013+400). Hubble Space Telescope Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph spectra of the He II λ1640 and C IV λ1550 spectral lines trace the white dwarf orbital motion, and Hamilton Spectrograph echelle spectra (Lick Observatory) and lower dispersion spectra trace the red dwarf orbital motion. The data sets allow us to measure orbital periods and velocities, as well as the white dwarf gravitational redshifts. The red dwarf and white dwarf mass estimates obtained from a combination of independent mass measurements for the white dwarf stars and our new orbital elements help constrain probable evolutionary outcomes. We find that EUVE J0720-317 will probably come into contact within a Hubble time and that the mass transfer will be unstable on a dynamical time. We also conclude that the much lower secondary masses in EUVE J1016-053 and EUVE J2013+400 exclude the possibility of significant interaction in these systems. We also present new helium and carbon photospheric abundance measurements in the three white dwarfs. The white dwarf atmospheric composition may show the effects of accretion of red dwarf mass-loss material onto its surface. Finally, we study the kinematics of the systems, and we also show that the white dwarf in EUVE J1016-053 is part of a quadruple system

The extreme ultraviolet explorer archive

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite was launched successfully at 12:400:00 EDT on June 7, 1992 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The EUVE science payload consists of three scanning telescopes carrying out an all-sky survey in the 70-760A spectral region, and a Deep Survey/Spectrometer telescope performing a deep survey in the 70-250A spectral region. This latter instrumentation will subsequently perform Guests Observer (GO) spectroscopic observations of individual targets. The EUVE public archive opened for business on July 17, 1992. The purpose of the archive is the storage and distribution of EUVE data and ancillary documentation, information and software which is in the public domain. As the mission proceeds, the all-sky survey, deep survey and spectroscopic data will become publicly available through a variety of interfaces to an archive system centered around an optical juke box. In this paper, we describe the current and future contents, the architecture, and the development plans for the archive

Motion compensated interpolation for subband coding of moving images

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-119).by Mark Daniel Polomski.M.S

Discovery of Extreme-Ultraviolet Radiation from the Seyfert Galaxy Ton S180 (=EUVE J0057−223)

We report the detection of intense EUV radiation from the Seyfert 1 galaxy Ton S180. The source EUVE J0057-223, discovered in the Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer all-sky survey, is only 25\u27\u27 away from its optical counterpart, well within the position error circle. We present a complete broadband energy distribution of Ton S180 using infrared (IRAS), optical, ultraviolet (IUE) and X-ray (ROSAT) flux measurements, and we find that the measured EUV flux, corrected for neutral hydrogen and helium absorption in the Galaxy, suggests the presence of a strong EUV to soft X-ray flux excess. We briefly discuss the implications for models of active galaxies

Consumer Horticulture Benefits Housing and Residential Areas

Horticulture and plants can be a benefit to those who live in housing and residential areas by: • Providing aesthetically pleasing and valuable landscapes that increase property value • Providing landscape plants that improve the physical conditions and improve energy efficiency • Improving the quality of life in residential neighborhood