Advanced tracking and data relay experiments study: Multimode transponder experiment equipment

Plans and implementation concepts were developed for a series of experiments utilizing a Multimode Transponder mounted in an aircraft working either through a spacecraft or directly with a ground station which would simulate a TDRSS user working through the TDRSS. The purpose of the experiments is to determine the best modulation and encoding techniques for combating RFI in discreet bands. The experiments also determine the feasibility and accuracy of range and range rate measurements with the various modulation and encoding techniques. An analysis of the Multimode Transponder and ground support equipment is presented, and the additional equipment required to perform the experiments described above is determined

Taxation and regulation of smoking, drinking and gambling in the European Union

Smoking is the single largest cause of avoidable death in the European Union accounting for over half a million deaths each year. One in ten of all 11-year olds have been drunk twice or more times, possibly causing lasting physical and mental harm. Electronic gaming machines are the crack cocaine of gambling. Consumer sovereignty, on the other hand, indicates that people should be allowed to smoke as long as they do not harm others. There is sound medical evidence, furthermore, that a drink each day keeps the doctor away, while recreational gambling can be an enjoyable form of entertainment for many people. These and other salient facts about the harmful and positive effects of smoking, drinking and gambling provide the background for a dispassionate economic analysis of the taxation and regulation of these activities. The main message the studies convey is that it would be unrealistic to rely solely on duty levels and differentiation to curb abusive use. Duty levels do have a clear impact in restraining consumption by children and young adults - an important priority for policy. But complementary policies - including direct regulation and provision of information - also have a meaningful role to play in each of the markets for tobacco, alcohol and gambling.

The Street and Organization Studies

Work and organization increasingly happen in transit. People meet in coffee shops and write emails from their phones while waiting for buses or sitting outdoors on benches. Business meetings are held in airports and projects are run from laptops during travel. We take the street as a place where organizing in transit accumulates. While the organization studies field has been catching up with various related phenomena, including co-working, digital nomadism, and mobile and online communities, we argue that it has overlooked what has historically been the most important site for organizational activity outside of organizations. The street has been both location and inspiration for organizing, whether political, social, or governmental. It is a space of both planning and spontaneity, of silent co-existence and explicit conflict, and therefore offers abundant empirical and methodological opportunities. It is surprising that the street and the experiences it brings with it have remained largely outside the scope of organization studies. We suggest that organization scholars take to the street, and offer recommendations asto how to do so. Specifically, we explore the tensionsthat become apparent when organizing happens in and through the street

Corporation taxes in the European Union: Slowly moving toward comprehensive business income taxation?

This paper surveys and evaluates the corporation tax systems of the Member States of the European Union on the basis of a comprehensive taxonomy of actual and potential regimes, which have as their base either profits; profits, interest and royalties; or economic rents. The current regimes give rise to various instate and interstate spillovers, which violate the basic tenets—neutrality and subsidiarity—of the single market. The trade-offs between the implications of these tenets—harmonization and diversity, respectively—can be reconciled by a bottom-up strategy of strengthening source-based taxation and narrowing differences in tax rates. The strategy starts with dual income taxation, proceeds with final source withholding taxes and rate coordination, and is made complete by comprehensive business income taxation. Common base and cash flow taxation are not favored

Taxing Tobacco in the European Union

Tobacco taxes in the European Union are the highest in the world. These taxes are mainly rationalized as a quid pro quo for the social costs of smoking. This paper argues that the arguments are not as persuasive as is often believed. A more likely reason is that governments are addicted to this lucrative and cheap source of revenue. The high taxes involve trade diversion. In the EU, these aspects are overshadowed by the debate on the most appropriate balance between specific and ad valorem taxation. Southern Member States favor the ad valorem rate which tends to protect their cheap, home-grown tobaccos. Northern Member States have a preference for specific taxation which is more favorable to the exchequer, more effective in reducing the level of tobacco consumption, and accords better with the competition objectives of the internal market

Advanced tracking and data relay experiment study: Multimode transponder experiment

A series of experiments utilizing a multimode transponder mounted in an aircraft working either through a spacecraft or directly with a ground station is studied. The purpose of the experiments is to determine the best modulation and encoding techniques for combating RFI and multipath propagation and to determine the characteristics of VHF and UHF RFI in discreet bands. The experiments would also determine the feasibility and accuracy of range and range rate measurements with the various modulation and encoding techniques

TDRSS multimode transponder program. Phase 2: Equipment development

This report contains a complete description of the TDRS Multimode Transponder and its associated ground support equipment. The transponder will demonstrate candidate modulation techniques to provide the required information for the design of an eventual VHF/UHF transponder suitable for installation in a user satellite, capable of operating as part of a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) systems. Use of geosynchronous TDRS which can serve both low data rate users at VHF and high data rate users at other frequencies has been considered. The effects of radio frequency interference from the earth and of multipath propagation due to reflections from the earth are expected to pose problems for the TDRS system at VHF. Investigations have suggested several modulation techniques that offer promise to overcome these problems

Europe's New Border Taxes

Instead of abolishing internal border controls in 1992, the European Union (EU) replaced them with VAT and statistical requirements that appear to be just as onerous and costly. This paper shows that the compliance costs of the new requirements are on average 5 percent of the value of intra-EU trade of Dutch businesses. Clearly, the costs constitute a (differentiated) border tax that impedes intra-EU trade and violates the Treaty of Rome. The paper analyses the magnitude and determinants of the compliance costs, as well as their effects on intra-EU trade intensity. It is shown that even minor additional compliance costs have a significant negative effect on intra-EU trade

TDRSS telecommunications study. Phase 1: Final report

A parametric analysis of the telecommunications support capability of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) was performed. Emphasis was placed on maximizing support capability provided to the user while minimizing impact on the user spacecraft. This study evaluates the present TDRSS configuration as presented in the TDRSS Definition Phase Study Report, December 1973 to determine potential changes for improving the overall performance. In addition, it provides specifications of the user transponder equipment to be used in the TDRSS