DISTORTIONARY IMPACTS OF THE 1982 AND 1986 U.S. TAX CODES ON CAPITAL INVESTMENTS: A CASE STUDY OF INVESTMENT IN ORANGE GROVES

The 1980s have been a period of dramatic change for the income tax code in the United States. Although numerous modifications were considered in policy deliberations, two key goals, the reduction of the importance of tax considerations in investment decisions and tax simplification, emerged from the discussion and guided drafting of the 1986 Tax Reform Act. This study examines the importance of tax considerations in investment decisions under the provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and its predecessor, the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. The study then compares the tax liability under these tax codes with a nondistortionary tax scheme. Results indicate that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the distortionary effects of the tax code on capital investment decisions. However, a large portion of the reduction can be attributed to the change in the average tax rate.Agricultural Finance,

Invasive Diseases and Fruit Tree Production: Economic Tradeoffs of Citrus Greening Control on Florida's Citrus Industry

An investment model of Florida oranges was used to evaluate various management strategies for controlling Huanglongbing, or citrus greening, a highly destructive disease. This analysis will enable the Florida citrus industry to make more informed decisions about the economic tradeoffs among current citrus greening management alternatives.Crop Production/Industries,

The "Phantom Costs" of Florida's Citrus Industry

Regulatory compliance, the "phantom costs of production," is an increasingly "fact-of-life" for U.S. agriculture. A survey was developed and implemented to enumerate regulatory compliance costs for Florida's 748,500 acres citrus industry. Complying with 61 production related regulations, 643,757 hours were expended at a total annual cost of over $24.3 million.Crop Production/Industries,

THE COSTS AND BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH ERADICATING CITRUS CANKER IN FLORIDA

A cost-benefit analysis of the on-going eradication of citrus canker in Florida is conducted. Costs include the losses incurred from eradicated groves. Benefits include elimination of the adverse effects of canker on citrus production and marketing.Crop Production/Industries,

Pumilio binds para mRNA and requires nanos and brat to regulate sodium current in drosophila motoneurons

Homeostatic regulation of ionic currents is of paramount importance during periods of synaptic growth or remodeling. Our previous work has identified the translational repressor Pumilio (Pum) as a regulator of sodium current (INa) and excitability in Drosophila motoneurons. In this current study, we show that Pum is able to bind directly the mRNA encoding the Drosophila voltage-gated sodium channel paralytic (para). We identify a putative binding site for Pum in the 3' end of the para open reading frame (ORF). Characterization of the mechanism of action of Pum, using whole-cell patch clamp and real-time reverse transcription-PCR, reveals that the full-length protein is required for translational repression of para mRNA. Additionally, the cofactor Nanos is essential for Pum-dependent para repression, whereas the requirement for Brain Tumor (Brat) is cell type specific. Thus, Pum-dependent regulation of INa in motoneurons requires both Nanos and Brat, whereas regulation in other neuronal types seemingly requires only Nanos but not Brat. We also show that Pum is able to reduce the level of nanos mRNA and as such identify a potential negative-feedback mechanism to protect neurons from overactivity of Pum. Finally, we show coupling between INa (para) and IK (Shal) such that Pum-mediated change in para results in a compensatory change in Shal. The identification of para as a direct target of Pum represents the first ion channel to be translationally regulated by this repressor and the location of the binding motif is the first example in an ORF rather than in the canonical 3'-untranslated region of target transcripts

Demand for Florida fresh specialty citrus

Citrus, demand, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

MSW management strategies for the city of Rome: a comparative assessment

In this paper, on the basis of a detailed characterisation of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the city of Rome, different integrated management strategies regarding both source separation of selected fractions and the treatment and disposal of the residual commingled waste were compared and discussed in terms of achievable material and energy recovery. The main findings of this study, that can be extended to other regions characterised by similar environmental policies and social and economical conditions, showed that source separation percentages cannot realistically exceed certain maximum percentages, particularly when they are addressed at selecting waste fractions for recycling. Regarding the management of the residual commingled waste, thermal treatment of all the fractions for which no further material recovery can be realistically pursued resulted the most convenient strategy in terms of recoverable thermal energy

Editorial - A tailored approach in geriatric oncology: turning a problem into an opportunity for the elderly

No abstract availabl

Analysis of time-profiles with in-beam PET monitoring in charged particle therapy

Background: Treatment verification with PET imaging in charged particle therapy is conventionally done by comparing measurements of spatial distributions with Monte Carlo (MC) predictions. However, decay curves can provide additional independent information about the treatment and the irradiated tissue. Most studies performed so far focus on long time intervals. Here we investigate the reliability of MC predictions of space and time (decay rate) profiles shortly after irradiation, and we show how the decay rates can give an indication about the elements of which the phantom is made up. Methods and Materials: Various phantoms were irradiated in clinical and near-clinical conditions at the Cyclotron Centre of the Bronowice proton therapy centre. PET data were acquired with a planar 16x16 cm$^2$ PET system. MC simulations of particle interactions and photon propagation in the phantoms were performed using the FLUKA code. The analysis included a comparison between experimental data and MC simulations of space and time profiles, as well as a fitting procedure to obtain the various isotope contributions in the phantoms. Results and conclusions: There was a good agreement between data and MC predictions in 1-dimensional space and decay rate distributions. The fractions of $^{11}$C, $^{15}$O and $^{10}$C that were obtained by fitting the decay rates with multiple simple exponentials generally agreed well with the MC expectations. We found a small excess of $^{10}$C in data compared to what was predicted in MC, which was clear especially in the PE phantom.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Proceedings of the 20th International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors (iWorid2018), 24-28 June 2018, Sundsvall, Swede