DEATH TAXES ON COMPLETED TRANSFERS INTER VIVOS

The subjection of transfers inter vivas to the death tax under each of the above categories has been based upon the proposition that, for a transfer inter vivas properly to be subject to the death tax, it must bear some reasonable relationship to transfers at death either by will or under the law relating to intestacy. This rule has been applied both in problems of statutory construction and in problems of constitutionality. The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Helvering v. Bullard seems to have abandoned this test for the inclusion of transfers inter vivas within the scope of the death tax, so far as the federal death tax is concerned. It is the purpose here to study the present status of the law relating to death taxes upon transfers inter vivas, with particular reference to the taxation of such transfers complete when made, as upheld by this Supreme Court decision

Signatures of Radiation Reaction in Ultra-Intense Laser Fields

We discuss radiation reaction effects on charges propagating in ultra-intense laser fields. Our analysis is based on an analytic solution of the Landau-Lifshitz equation. We suggest to measure radiation reaction in terms of a symmetry breaking parameter associated with the violation of null translation invariance in the direction opposite to the laser beam. As the Landau-Lifshitz equation is nonlinear the energy transfer within the pulse is rather sensitive to initial conditions. This is elucidated by comparing colliding and fixed target modes in electron laser collisions.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Persistent random walk on a one-dimensional lattice with random asymmetric transmittances

We study the persistent random walk of photons on a one-dimensional lattice of random asymmetric transmittances. Each site is characterized by its intensity transmittance t (t') for photons moving to the right (left) direction. Transmittances at different sites are assumed independent, distributed according to a given probability density Distribution. We use the effective medium approximation and identify two classes of probability density distribution of transmittances which lead to the normal diffusion of photons. Monte Carlo simulations confirm our predictions.Comment: 7 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Performance and selection of winter durum wheat genotypes in different European conventional and organic fields

Sustainability is a key factor for the future of agriculture. Productivity in agriculture has more than tripled in developed countries since the 1950s. Beyond the success of plant breeding, the increased use of inorganic fertilizers, application of pesticides, and spread of irrigation also contributed to this success. However, impressive yield increases started to decline in the 1980s because of the lack of sustainability. One of the most beneficial ways to increase sustainability is organic agriculture. In such agro-ecosystem-based holistic production systems the prerequisite of successful farming is the availability of crop genotypes that perform well. However, selection of winter durum wheat for sub-optimal growing conditions is still mainly neglected, and the organic seed market also lacks of information on credibly tested winter durum varieties suitable for organic agriculture

Rotation of a spheroid in a simple shear at small Reynolds number

We derive an effective equation of motion for the orientational dynamics of a neutrally buoyant spheroid suspended in a simple shear flow, valid for arbitrary particle aspect ratios and to linear order in the shear Reynolds number. We show how inertial effects lift the degeneracy of the Jeffery orbits and determine the stabilities of the log-rolling and tumbling orbits at infinitesimal shear Reynolds numbers. For prolate spheroids we find stable tumbling in the shear plane, log-rolling is unstable. For oblate particles, by contrast, log-rolling is stable and tumbling is unstable provided that the aspect ratio is larger than a critical value. When the aspect ratio is smaller than this value tumbling turns stable, and an unstable limit cycle is born.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Validation of a new tribological test bench for lightweight hydraulic components

The presented paper deals with tribological contacts in “lightweight” hydraulic pumps. One approach for the mass reduction of hydraulic systems is the material substitution. According to this strategy, steel-components are replaced with polymeric material or hybrid design components. The consequences of this material substitution are tribological changes of the contact pairings. Hence, there is research necessary on the tribological behavior of the specific contacts between polymers or hybrid components. For the characterization of these tribological contacts, a test bench was developed. With this test bench the analysis of the tribological behavior of the contact between cylinder and control plate in the axial piston variable pump is possible. A description of the modeling and a validation of the test bench are presented in the this paper. The result is, the test bench indicates good measurement result quality. In addition a cooling system is necessary to guarantee a constant test fluid temperature

Self-energy of a scalar charge near higher-dimensional black holes

We study the problem of self-energy of charges in higher dimensional static spacetimes. Application of regularization methods of quantum field theory to calculation of the classical self-energy of charges leads to model-independent results. The correction to the self-energy of a scalar charge due to the gravitational field of black holes of the higher dimensional Majumdar-Papapetrou spacetime is calculated exactly. It proves to be zero in even dimensions, but it acquires non-zero value in odd dimensional spacetimes. The origin of the self-energy correction in odd dimensions is similar to the origin the conformal anomalies in quantum field theory in even dimensional spacetimes.Comment: 9 page

Observation of light dragging in rubidium vapor cell

We report on the experimental demonstration of light dragging effect due to atomic motion in a rubidium vapor cell. We found that the minimum group velocity is achieved for light red-shifted from the center of the atomic resonance, and that the value of this shift increases with decreasing group velocity, in agreement with the theoretical predictions by Kocharovskaya, Rostovtsev, and Scully [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 86}, 628 (2001)].Comment: 4 pages 4 figures, submitted to PR

Temperature Profiles in Hamiltonian Heat Conduction

We study heat transport in the context of Hamiltonian and related stochastic models with nearest-neighbor coupling, and derive a universal law for the temperature profiles of a large class of such models. This law contains a parameter $\alpha$, and is linear only when $\alpha=1$. The value of $\alpha$ depends on energy-exchange mechanisms, including the range of motion of tracer particles and their times of flight.Comment: Revised text, same results Second revisio