Harmonizing tax policies in Central America

This report proposes an action plan for the rationalization of tax structures for Central America. To harmonize tax policies among Central American nations, the report recommends the following: (a) continuing trade liberalization, by reducing thelevel and dispersion of effective trade protection; (b) shifting the tax system from reliance on trade to reliance on domestic transactions and income; (c) making the value added tax the backbone of the tax system; and (d) improving tax administration. It also recommends; (e) harmonizing taxes on inputs and exempting nontraditional exporters from paying import duties; (f) moving toward coordinating factor incomes to avoid double taxation; (g) eliminating all quantitative import restrictions, prior imports deposits, non-common import tariffs and other restrictions on imports from other Central American Common Market (CACM) members; (h) applying similar principles in designing export taxes on coffee and bananas; and (i) not using differential exchange rates to discriminate against regional trade. If implemented, it is hoped that these reforms, along with other structural reforms, would help spark the latent growth potential in Central American economies.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Regional Integration,Public Sector Economics&Finance

How to improve public sector finances in Honduras

The objectives of a public sector management program should be to use resources more efficiently rationalize public sector operations and reduce financial disequilibrium. This report presents a comprehensive policy program to improve public finances in Honduras. It recommends that Honduran authorities prepare an action plan for improving public sector management. The plan should include the following measures: (a) increase savings; (b) introduce efficiency-saving measures; (c) improve budgeting, debt management and tax collection; (d) standardize accounting practices and properly account for debt service obligations; (e) start external management audits of enterprises; and (f) establish financial targets for, and reduce government transfers to, public enterprises. It also recommends measures to: (g) improve service delivery; (h) implement a well-defined privatization program; (i) prepare and implement a growth oriented and financially feasible public investment program; (j) improve decisionmaking and increase accountability and autonomy in public enterprises; (k) improve coordination of the sector; (l) target subsidies; and (m) improve better financial information on the public sector.Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Stabilization

Mean-field instabilities and cluster formation in nuclear reactions

We review recent results on intermediate mass cluster production in heavy ion collisions at Fermi energy and in spallation reactions. Our studies are based on modern transport theories, employing effective interactions for the nuclear mean-field and incorporating two-body correlations and fluctuations. Namely we will consider the Stochastic Mean Field (SMF) approach and the recently developed Boltzmann-Langevin One Body (BLOB) model. We focus on cluster production emerging from the possible occurrence of low-density mean-field instabilities in heavy ion reactions. Within such a framework, the respective role of one and two-body effects, in the two models considered, will be carefully analysed. We will discuss, in particular, fragment production in central and semi-peripheral heavy ion collisions, which is the object of many recent experimental investigations. Moreover, in the context of spallation reactions, we will show how thermal expansion may trigger the development of mean-field instabilities, leading to a cluster formation process which competes with important re-aggregation effects

Isospin Dynamics in Peripheral Heavy Ion Collisions at Fermi Energies

We present a detailed study of isospin dynamics in peripheral collisions at Fermi energies. We consider symmetric and mixed collisions of (124,112)Sn isotopes at 35 and 50 AMeV to study the isospin transport between the different reaction components (residues, gas and possibly intermediate mass fragments) and, in particular, the charge equilibration in the mixed system. We evaluate the effects of drift terms due to asymmetry and density gradients, which are directly related to the poorly known value and slope of the symmetry energy below saturation density. We verify the importance of an isoscalar momentum dependence of the mean field, which is found to influence the isospin transport since it changes the reaction times. We finally suggest two observables particularly sensitive to the isovector part of the nuclear equation-of-state: the correlation between isospin equilibration and kinetic energy loss for binary events, and the isospin content of the produced mid-rapidity fragments for neck fragmentation events.Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures, Nucl.Phys. A, in pres

J08069+1527: A newly discovered high amplitude, hybrid subdwarf B pulsator

We present our discovery of a new hybrid pulsating subdwarf B star, J08069+1527. The effective temperature and surface gravity of 28,500$\pm$400\,K and 5.37$\pm$0.04\,dex, respectively, place this object inside the instability strip and also among other pulsating hot subdwarfs of a hybrid nature, right next to another fascinating star: Balloon\,090100001. From this proximity, we anticipated this star could pulsate in both high and low frequency modes. Indeed, our analysis of photometric data confirmed our prediction. We detected two peaks in the high frequency region and two other peaks at low frequencies. In addition, the amplitude of the dominant mode is very high and comparable to the dominant peaks in other hybrid subdwarf B stars. Since this star is bright, we performed time-series low resolution spectroscopy. Despite a low signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, we were able to detect the main peak from these data. All our results strongly indicate that J08069+1527 is a high amplitude pulsating hot subdwarf B star of hybrid nature. By analogy to the other pulsating sdB star, we judge that the dominant mode we detected here has radial nature. Future stellar modeling should provide us with quite good constrains as p- and g-modes presented in this star are driven in different parts of its interior.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Nuclear Periphery in Mean-Field Models

The halo factor is one of the experimental data which describes a distribution of neutrons in nuclear periphery. In the presented paper we use Skyrme-Hartree (SH) and the Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) models and we calculate the neutron excess factor $\Delta_B$ defined in the paper which differs slightly from halo factor $f_{\rm exp}$. The results of the calculations are compared to the measured data.Comment: Proceedings of the Xth Nuclear Physics Workshop, Maria and Pierre Curie, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland, Sept 24-28, 2003; LaTex, 4 pages, 3 figure

Probing the Nuclear Symmetry Energy with Heavy Ion Collisions

Heavy Ion Collisions (HIC) represent a unique tool to probe the in-medium nuclear interaction in regions away from saturation. In this report we present a selection of new reaction observables in dissipative collisions particularly sensitive to the symmetry term of the nuclear Equation of State ($Iso-EoS$). We will first discuss the Isospin Equilibration Dynamics. At low energies this manifests via the recently observed Dynamical Dipole Radiation, due to a collective neutron-proton oscillation with the symmetry term acting as a restoring force. At higher beam energies Iso-EoS effects will be seen in an Isospin Diffusion mechanism, via Imbalance Ratio Measurements, in particular from correlations to the total kinetic energy loss. For fragmentation reactions in central events we suggest to look at the coupling between isospin distillation and radial flow. In Neck Fragmentation reactions important Iso-EoS information can be obtained from fragment isospin content, velocity and alignement correlations. The high density symmetry term can be probed from isospin effects on heavy ion reactions at relativistic energies (few AGeV range), in particular for high transverse momentum selections of the reaction products. Rather isospin sensitive observables are proposed from nucleon/cluster emissions, collective flows and meson production. The possibility to shed light on the controversial neutron/proton effective mass splitting in asymmetric matter is also suggested. A large symmetry repulsion at high baryon density will also lead to an "earlier" hadron-deconfinement transition in n-rich matter. The binodal transition line of the (T,\rho_B) diagram is lowered to a region accessible through heavy ion collisions in the energy range of the new planned facilities, e.g. the FAIR/NICA projects. Some observable effects of the formation of a Mixed Phase are suggested, in particular a Neutron Trapping mechanism. The dependence of the results on a suitable treatment of the isovector part of the interaction in effective QCD Lagrangian approaches is critically discussed. We stress the interest of this study in nuclear astrophysics, in particular for supernovae explosions and neutron star structure, where the knowledge of the Iso-EoS is important at low as well as at high baryon density.Comment: 52 pages, 28 figures, topical review submitted to J. Phys. G: Nucl. Phys (IOP Latex

Examine of the Facts of Women and Migration During the Urbanization in the Scale of South-eastern Anatolia Region (Gap), in Turkey

Since the beginning of 1950’s the migration of population from countryside to cities constitutes a subject as an important part of demographic changing on its own. Since the second half of 1970’s, especially domestic migration from the small and medium size cities to big cities, by turning into family migration became dense in the three big metropolises in west. (Ãstanbul, Ankara, Ãzmir). In 1990’s both the migration from east and Southeast Anatolia to other regions and the obligatory migration inside the region have been added to elements which effect movement of population. While this changing, which occurs in the dynamics of domestic migration during the time, does not exist in most of present researches, one of the other absence is social sex viewpoint. In the studies about migration, the lack of social sex viewpoint is not peculiar only to Turkey but also it seems limited in international literature. Present studies show there are important differences between women and men in the point of migration causes, participation to migration process, experiences during this process and effects of migration, attitudes and reactions of immigrants. In the core of these differences there are, collaboration inside the family between woman and man and parallel to this, social roles of woman and man, which described by customs and traditions. Women’ life relating to migration is generally closely related to their situations in family as a wife, a mother or a young girl about to marry. The relations between them and both the places they left and they just came is formed in this base. Consequently, in a migration process, which includes a social and place changing, identity of sex has an important role as much as socio-economic class, culture, ethnic or national identity. G.A.P. Region which is in the Southeast of our developing country has a village-city appearance by the effects of both many side social, physiological, economic and urban destruction which created by terror and fight and generally the feudal structure in the region, extreme poverty, lack of top and underground structure and the political and economic choices which does not mind about neighborhood values. This work has aimed at examine to migration which is one of the most important social fact in the world we live in the context of woman and urbanization and to expose the appearance of women in extent of G.A.P. region in domestic immigration…