The Taxation of Income from Capital in the United States, 1980-86

Tax rules have changed almost yearly in the United States since 1980. In particular, the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 reduced marginal tax rates and shortened depreciation lifetimes, while the Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced marginal tax rates, repealed the investment tax credit, and lengthened depreciation lifetimes.

Tax Evasion and the Allocation of Capital

The efficiency cost of capital misallocations between the corporate sector and the noncorporate sector is typically measured using statutory tax differences. Corporate-source income tax compliance is high because of third party reporting, however, while noncorporate rental income tax compliance is low. Differential evasion thus exacerbates statutory differences and enlarges the efficiency cost. To measure this effect, we build a numerical general equilibrium model where households simultaneously choose portfolios of risky assets and fractions of income to report.

Vibro-impact attachments as shock absorbers

The use of vibro-impact (VI) attachments as shock absorbers is studied. By considering different configurations of primary linear oscillators with VI attachments, the capacity of these attachments to passively absorb and dissipate significant portions of shock energy applied to the primary systems is investigated. Parametric studies are performed to determine the dependence of energy dissipation by theVI attachment in terms of its parameters.Moreover, non-linear shock spectra are used to demonstrate that appropriately designed VI attachments can significantly reduce the maximum levels of vibration of primary systems over wide frequency ranges. This is in contrast to the classical linear vibration absorber, whose action is narrowband. In addition, it is shown that VI attachments can significantly reduce or even completely eliminate resonances appearing in the linear shock spectra, thus providing strong, robust, and broadband shock protection to the primary structures to which they are attached

X-Type Interface for Management of Multidomain Multitechnology Networks

The specification and implementation of Xcoop interfaces has received great attention in the last few years. In fact, the appropriate design of this system component is a key aspect for efficient and seamless co-operative management. In this context it is worth mentioning the EURESCOM P408 project and the standards of the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) in Europe and the ITU-T and Telemanagement Forum related work worldwide. The Xcoop specification presented in this paper, produced as part of the results of the project MISA co-funded by the Commission of the European Union, is a step ahead in the evolution of this system interface. Distinguished from preceding works, this one allows interactions between management systems independently to the underlying network technology, ATM, SDH or hybrid. This is achieved by defining appropriate functionality and an information model, indeed, where the specific characteristics of ATM and SDH resources are abstracted and merged in common classes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Synthesis and Characterization of Greener Ceramic Materials with Lower Thermal Conductivity Using Olive Mill Solid Byproduct

In the current research, the valorization of olive mill solid waste as beneficial admixture into clay bodies for developing greener ceramic materials with lower thermal conductivity, thus with increased thermal insulation capacity towards energy savings, is investigated. Various clay/waste mixtures were prepared. The raw material mixtures were characterized and subjected to thermal gravimetric analysis, in order to optimize the mineral composition and maintain calcium and magnesium oxides content to a minimum. Test specimens were formed employing extrusion and then sintering procedure at different peak temperatures. Apparent density, water absorption capability, mechanical strength, porosity and thermal conductivity were determined on sintered specimens and examined in relation to the waste percentage and sintering temperature. The experimental results showed that ceramic production from clay/olive-mill solid waste mixtures is feasible. In fact, the mechanical properties are not significantly impacted with the incorporation of the waste in the ceramic body. However, the thermal conductivity decreases significantly, which can be of particular interest for thermal insulating materials development. Furthermore, the shape of the produced ceramics does not appear to change with the sintering temperature increase

Movement-based subgrouping in low back pain: synergy and divergence in approaches

Background Classification systems for low back pain (LBP) aim to guide treatment decisions. In physiotherapy, there are five classification schemes for LBP which consider responses to clinical movement examination. Little is known of the relationship between the schemes

Transformation of Industrial By-Products into Composite Photocatalytic Materials

The transformation of both calcareous and siliceous Greek power station by-products (lignite ashes) into novel composite materials with photocatalytic properties for environmental application was investigated. Particularly, a comparison between the development of coated ceramic substrates and the modification of ash surfaces is attempted. Specifically, a) the sintering process (1000 °C, 2 h) of both fly and bottom ash (either calcareous or siliceous) for their conversion into compacted ceramic substrates coated with TiO2 slurry and then further thermally treated (500 °C, 1 h) to acquire TiO2 film consistency onto the ceramic substrate and b) the process of TiO2 precipitation on lignite ash surfaces in acidic solution after neutralization, and estimation of the TiO2 percentage, are compared. The microstructures obtained were examined by XRD and SEM-EDX analysis. Vickers microhardness was also determined for the ceramic microstructures, with satisfactory results (up to 356HV). The energy gap measurements of the coatings were found to be between 3.02eV and 3.17eV, which is located between the energy gap of anatase (3.23eV) and rutile (3.02eV). The coating mass was about 0.059 g/cm2. The photocatalytic activity under visible and UV irradiation was investigated in aqueous solutions of methylene blue and methyl orange organic dyes, with encouraging results. A main advantage of the processes proposed is the immobilization of TiO2 onto largely available secondary resources, which can lead to production of value-added ‘green’ photocatalysts for the treatment of industrial effluents in the framework of circular economy