Taxes and the Structure of Japanese Firms: The Hidden Aspects of Income Taxation

This Article addresses the influence income taxation has had on Japanese firms

Stock Exchange as a Firm: The Emergence of Close Substitutes for the New York and Tokyo Stock Exchanges

Although the importance of well-developed secondary trading markets for securities is widely known, the economic function of stock exchanges is one of the most poorly understood elements of modem economic life. This lack of understanding of the nature and purposes of organized stock exchanges became particularly obvious in the wake of the stock market crash of October, 1987. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of New York Stock Exchange listed securities dropped 508 points, and the New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE ) lost $1 trillion in value. Similar declines affected other world markets, including the Tokyo Stock Exchange ( TSE ). In the wake of this rapid decline in value, the New York Stock Exchange was singled out for blame as though the price at which securities are bought and sold on that market, unlike others, was determined by the market participants themselves, rather than by more fundamental economic factors, such as new information about the firms whose securities are being bought and sold, or changes in macroeconomic conditions. A central premise of this Article is that market reform in the form of new regulation is doomed to failure until the economic functions of organized exchanges are better understood

Supercritical Fluids Extraction of Valuable Compounds from Algae: Future Perspectives and Challenges

Algae (macro and micro) can be used to produce several high–value metabolites to supply industries as cosmetics, additives and pigments, among others. Those metabolites can have physiological and nutritional benefits for human and animal health. However, the availability of high–value metabolites from algae is still unaffordable due to traditional extraction techniques and their requirements of energy and use of pollutant solvents. Recently, green extraction technologies for the extraction of high–value metabolites have become more desirable due to their sustainability and environmental benefits. Supercritical fluids extraction, as green extraction techniques, has been widely applied for extraction of high–value metabolites from algae. Here, the highlight of supercritical CO2 and subcritical water on the extraction of bioactive compounds from macro– and microalgae was presented. The perspective and challenge for using supercritical CO2 and subcritical water on the algae extraction were also concluded

Comparison of Conventional and Ultrasound Assisted Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Curcumin from Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)

Recently, ultrasound assisted supercritical fluid is used for extraction the valuable compounds from a number of plant materials as an alternative to conventional method because it can enhance the extraction rate and yield. Curcumin is an important component of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) with many useful functions to human health. The objective of this study is using ultrasonic assisted supercritical carbon dioxide (USC-CO2) to extract curcumin from turmeric and compared to conventional method. The effect of operating conditions on extraction, including temperature (40 - 60oC), pressure (15 - 25 MPa), extraction time (30 - 120 min), CO2 flow rate (2 - 4 mL/min) and percentage of cosolvent (10 - 20% v/v) were also studied. The result shows that the high extraction yield of 7.17% w/w and curcumin content of 1.69% w/w were achieved at temperature of 50oC, pressure of 25 MPa, extraction time of 90 min, CO2 flow rate of 3 mL/min with 10% cosolvent. Compared to conventional method, USC-CO2 could provide higher curcumin content in extraction yield in a shorter extraction time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravity (TG), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to analyse turmeric undergoing USC-CO2 and conventional extraction and showed that ultrasound could break down the cell walls and remove some functional groups from plant materials, resulting an increase the selectivity of compounds in extraction yield

Pulsed Discharge Plasma in Slug-flow Reactor System for Water Pollutant Removal and Nanoparticle Synthesis

The water pollutants removal and the metal nanoparticles synthesis were demonstrated by the applying high voltage discharge plasma at room temperature. The experiments were performed in continuous system by the flowing liquid and gas phases simultaneously in a glass capillary tube, where various gas types were employed as a gas phase. The optical emission spectroscopy (OES) equipment identified that the reactive oxidation species were obviously observed at each gas type. The generation rate of them can be enhanced significantly by changing the reactor type from straight to helical form. The water pollutants removal rate has order from oxygen > air > nitrogen > argon > helium. Furthermore, the silver or gold nanoparticles can be synthesized by this plasma reactor system. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images indicated that the particle products had spherical morphology with a diameter size smaller than 10 nm. It was deduced that the process presented here is an innovative and applicable in practice, and it can lead to advanced organic compounds degradation and nanoparticles synthesis technology