555 research outputs found
European Tax Survey
In order to have a better understanding of the impact of taxation on companies' decisions and activities, and potential costs that may arise from the lack of coordination in this area at EU level, the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General launched a European Tax Survey. Seven hundred companies active in the EU participated in the Survey providing information on a large number of tax compliance related issues. Company responses included quantitative estimates of their compliance costs and opinions on a number of issues related to tax systemsEuropean Union, Taxation, Compliance costs
We Did Start the Fire: r/wallstreetbets, ‘Flash movements’ and the Gamestop Short-Squeeze
In January 2021, Wall Street suddenly faced a challenge from an online community, r/wallstreetbets, which organized a large group of small investors in betting against Wall Street hedge funds. In an instant, the online community came to resemble a social movement nature that brought them comparisons to Occupy Wall Street. To improve understanding of this phenomenon, we studied the Wallstreetbets movement relying on a mixed-methods research design, which combines an unsupervised topic model with in-depth qualitative coding. Our findings outline how Wallstreetbets became a ‘flash movement’, a movement that we define as arising swiftly without former planning or design, through the imbrication of social activities and affordances and constraints of online communities. Our study contributes to (1) the recent interest in spontaneous action in social movements; (2) how social media affordances and constraints affect social movements, and (3) extends methodologies for studying digital social movements
Modelling of changing of dynamic and static parameters of damaged R/C
Dynamic testing for damage assessment as non-destructive method has attracted growing in-terest for systematic inspections and maintenance of civil engineering structures. In this con-text the paper presents the Stochastic Finite Element (SFE) Modeling of the static and dy-namic results of own four point bending experiments with R/C beams. The beams are dam-aged by an increasing load. Between the load levels the dynamic properties are determined. Calculated stiffness loss factors for the displacements and the natural frequencies show differ-ent histories. A FE Model for the beams is developed with a discrete crack formulation. Cor-related random fields are used for structural parameters stiffness and tension strength. The idea is to simulate different crack evolutions. The beams have the same design parameters, but because of the stochastic material properties their undamaged state isn't yet the same. As the structure is loaded a stochastic first crack occurs on the weakest place of the structure. The further crack evolution is also stochastic. These is a great advantage compared with de-terministic formulations. To reduce the computational effort of the Monte Carlo simulation of this nonlinear problem the Latin-Hypercube sampling technique is applied. From the results functions of mean value and standard deviation of displacements and frequencies are calcu-lated. Compared with the experimental results some qualitative phenomena are good de-scribed by the model. Differences occurs especially in the dynamic behavior of the higher load levels. Aim of the investigations is to assess the possibilities of dynamic testing under consideration of effects from stochastic material propertie
Infections Requiring Hospitalization of Injection Drug Users Who Participated in an Injection Opiate Maintenance Program
A retrospective analysis of hospitalizations due to infection in 175 injection drug users was performed for the 3 years before and the period during their participation in an injection opiate maintenance program (mean duration during program, 2.6 years). Skin infections were the main reason for hospitalization. The injection opiate maintenance program did not reduce the incidence of infection leading to hospitalization among the injection drug users studie
Oral hygiene knowledge versus behavior in children: A questionnaire-based, interview-style analysis and on-site assessment of toothbrushing practices
Objectives: Oral hygiene plays an important role in eliminating biofilms and
preventing dental caries. However, the implementation of oral health knowledge
that children learn from their parents and through school dental health programmes
remains poorly studied. This study aimed to investigate oral hygiene knowledge and
its practical utilization in children and young adolescents (CYAs) aged 2–15 years.
Material and methods: This was a questionnaire‐based, interview‐style community
survey and on‐site practical assessment of CYAs' toothbrushing skills conducted during
two 1‐day public science‐promoting events held at a major German university hospital
in consecutive years. CYAs first answered questions on toothbrushing frequency, dental
aids used, and dental care. They subsequently underwent diagnostic staining and
demonstrated their brushing technique and method. CYAs' responses (percentages) to
questionnaire items addressing oral hygiene knowledge and practice, and on‐site
assessment of toothbrushing skills served as the main outcome measures.
Results: Of 244 participating CYAs, 178 (73%) CYAs had no caries experience, the
percentage increasing with age from 5% in 2–5‐year‐olds to 40% in those aged > 10
years. Of 117/244 (48%) indicating that teeth should be brushed three times daily, 80/
117 (68%) self‐reported twice‐daily brushing, 32/117 (27%) reported brushing three
times, and 4/117 (3%) stated doing so only once. Although 131/244 (54%) considered
that teeth should be brushed for 3 min, 77/131 (59%) self‐reported actually doing so
and 41/131 (31%) reported brushing for 2min. Seventeen of 42 (40%) participants
aged > 10 years showed no systematic brushing method, with 21/42 (50%) failing to
clean their teeth completely. Participants aged 6–10 years exhibited the highest
proportion (97/134, 72%) of complete cleaning. One hundred and forty‐six of 244
(60%) of CYAs knew about floss; 63/134 (43%) reported using it. Good adherence to
oral health recommendations (i.e., brushing ≥ 2/day for ≥2min) was observed in 212/
244 (87%) CYAs, the remaining 32/244 (13%) exhibiting poor adherence.
Conclusion: CYAs knew about the importance of oral hygiene and cleaned their
teeth frequently. However, translation of their knowledge into practice showed
deficiencies. Repeated encouragement to put oral health knowledge into practice is
important
Large-Signal RF Modeling with the EKV3 MOSFET Model, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2010, nr 1
This paper presents a validation of the EKV3 MOSFET model under load-pull conditions with high input power at 5.8 GHz, as well as S-parameter measurements with low input power up to 20 GHz. The EKV3 model is able to represent coherently the large- and small-signal RF characteristics in advanced 90 nm CMOS technology. Multifinger devices with nominal drawn gate length of 70 nm are used
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