Social safety net and the poor during the transition : the case of Bulgaria

Using data from the 1992 Bulgarian household budget survey, the authors analyze the structure of income in Bulgaria, identifying who the poor are and how they are reached by the social safety net. Their main findings about household incomes: (a) Social transfers provide an extremely large component - 24 percent - of household income per capita. That is roughly on a par with the share in other Eastern European countries but more than 40 percent higher than the share of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. (b) Wage earnings have declined as a source of income, reflecting the counteraction of the state sector. Wage income in Bulgaria has declined to only half the OECD level. (c) Income from self-employment has increased, reflecting the surge in small-scale retail establishments. Income is considerably less concentrated in Bulgaria than in other lower-middle-income countries. The author's main findings about the poor (the bottom 20 percent in terms of household income): The head of household in a poor home tends to be older, a woman, poorly educated, and unemployed. Poor households are not necessarily larger households in Bulgaria, unlike in other developing countries. The sources of income in poor Bulgarian households reflect other findings: (a) The poor depend for more than half their income on social benefits (especially pensions), indicating the importance of the social safety net. (b) The social safety net is not well targeted. Most social benefits are pro-poor, in the sense that they improve income distribution, but many benefits accrue to better-off households. There is substantial scope for better distribution of income. The authors conclude that comprehensive reform of social benefits is needed, focusing on pensions, unemployment benefits, child allowances, and social assistance.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Inequality,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Services&Transfers to Poor,Safety Nets and Transfers

A 120 megacycle self-contained high-frequency titrimeter

The analytical chemist is ever eager to improve and expedite present analytical methods.. In the past ten years considerable interest .has been elicited in the field of high frequency oscillators and their application to analytical chemistry. One of the main reasons for this interest is the uniqueness of the apparatus. No direct contact is made between the measuring instrument and the solution. Credit tor this interest must be given primarily to Jensen and Parrack of Texas A & M University. Their article in 1946 described a simple tuned plate-tuned grid electronic oscillator, operating in the high frequency range. A solution was exposed to t he electromagnetic field or the plate coil. During the titration the electrical characteristics of the solution changed. These changes were reflected in measurements of the electrical constants of the oscillator. Upon analysis the constants clearly showed the end point and yet no physical contact had been made with t he solution. Since the instrument of Jensen and Parraok many modifications have appeared and even entirely new instruments. However they still keep the one common feature: no contact with the solution. In addition to titrations, the instrument has been used to advantage in many other fields of analytical chemistry. After ten years it has clearly established itself as a valuable tool rather than just a laboratory curiosity. The object of this present research was to build an original instrument and test its effectiveness in as many fields as possible

Cell Proliferation and Viability Inhibition by Resveratrol on Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Antioxidants are well-known for their various health benefits. They are able to protect cells from being damaged by free radicals that are produced by vital biochemical processes. It has long been known that antioxidants are important in our everyday health, but their potential as disease preventers and potential therapeutic agents is a relatively new field of study. Resveratrol, a natural polyphenol and well-known antioxidant, is found in plants, fruits, and products derived from them, like red wine. Resveratrol has been shown to have various properties, including antiaging, anti-aggregation of platelets, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. Because of their many health benefits, antioxidants have become a hot topic in cancer research. Oxidative stress, which occurs when there is an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants, has been shown to be a potential cause of cancer development. Our research group tested the effects of resveratrol, vitamins C and E, and the green tea catechin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), on various breast cancer cell lines, though this review will focus on the chemotherapeutic potential of resveratrol. In the experiments, breast cancer MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, BOM 231, and MCF-7-BOM cell lines were treated with various concentrations of resveratrol. A Sulforhodamine B viability assay was used to assess the percent inhibition of resveratrol on each cell line. The experiments showed that resveratrol is an inhibitor of breast cancer cells in a concentration and cell line dependent manner

Use of steel and tantalum apparatus for molten Cd-Mg-Zn alloys

Steel and tantalum apparatus contains various ternary alloys of cadmium, zinc, and magnesium used in pyrochemical processes for the recovery of uranium-base reactor fuels. These materials exhibit good corrosion resistance at the high temperatures necessary for fuel separation in liquid metal-molten salt solvents

Understanding the AMT, and its Unadopted Sibling, the AMxT

U.S. taxpayers are currently required to pay the greater of their liabilities under the regular income tax and their liabilities under the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Despite its unpopularity, the AMT serves the function of permitting Congress to offer tax preferences for certain activities and expenditures while maintaining a progressive tax system. This paper examines this role of the AMT, and explores the possibility of adding an Alternative Maximum Tax (AMxT) that would augment the impact of the AMT. An AMxT limits a taxpayer’s liability to the minimum of the amount due under the regular income tax and the amount due under an alternative regime with the same tax base as the AMT, but higher tax rates. Adopting a coherent AMT/AMxT combination would increase the complexity of the tax system but make it possible to increase the progressivity of the regular income tax while using tax preferences to encourage socially beneficial activities, all without inducing excessive inequities in resulting tax burdens. Although the U.S. Treasury proposed an AMxT when it first advanced its plan for an AMT in 1969, and despite AMxT features of the current U.S. income tax, a comprehensive AMxT has never been enacted

Understanding the AMT, and its Unadopted Sibling, the AMxT

Four million Americans with extensive tax preferences are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). By taxing a broad definition of income, the AMT makes it possible to have a tax system that both encourages certain activities with generous tax preferences and maintains a semblance of distributional equity. The same rationale supports the imposition of an Alternative Maximum Tax (AMxT), which would cap tax liabilities of individuals with very few preference items and thereby afford Congress greater flexibility in designing the income tax. The original 1969 AMT proposal included an AMxT; it is difficult to justify imposing one without the other