Business Investment and Employment Tax Incentives to Stimulate the Economy

[Excerpt] According to the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the U.S. economy has been in recession since December 2007. Congress passed and the President signed an economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5), in February 2009. The $787 billion package included$286 billion in tax cuts to help stimulate the economy. Among the tax reductions, many were tax incentives directed to business. The preliminary estimate of third quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is 2.8%; the unemployment rate, a lagging indicator, averaged 9.6% in the third quarter and 10.0% in the fourth quarter of 2009. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expects the economy to continue growing at a modest pace, but predicts that bank lending will remain constrained and the job market will remain weak into at least 2010. To further assist unemployed workers, help business, and stimulate housing markets, Congress passed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-92). The Obama Administration has advocated further business tax incentives to spur investment and employment, especially for small business. The two most common measures to provide business tax incentives for new investment are investment tax credits and accelerated deductions for depreciation. The evidence, however, suggests that a business tax subsidy may not necessarily be the best choice for fiscal stimulus, largely because of the uncertainty of its success in stimulating aggregate demand. If such subsidies are used, however, the most effective short-run policy is probably a temporary investment subsidy. Permanent investment subsidies may distort the allocation of investment in the long run. Employment and wage subsidies are designed to increase employment directly by reducing a firm’s wage bill. The tax system is a frequently used means for providing employment subsidies. Most of the business tax incentives for hiring currently under discussion are modeled partially on the New Jobs Tax Credit (NJTC) from 1977 and 1978. Evidence provided in various studies suggests that incremental tax credits have the potential of increasing employment, but in practice may not be as effective in increasing employment as desired. There are several reasons why this may be the case. First, jobs tax credits are often complex and many employers, especially small businesses, may not want to incur the necessary record-keeping costs. Second, since eligibility for the tax credit is determined when the firm files the annual tax return, firms do not know if they are eligible for the credit at the time hiring decisions are made. Third, many firms may not even be aware of the availability of the tax credit until it is time to file a tax return. Lastly, product demand appears to be the primary determinant of hiring

Effect of high frequency ultrasounds on lycopene and total phenolic concentration, antioxidant properties and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of tomato juice

Tomato juice was subjected to high frequency ultrasounds(378 and 583 kHz)at increasing energy densities (up to 250 MJ/m3). Results relevant to the treatments at high frequency providing an energy density of 250 MJ/m3 were compared with those obtained at 24 kHz delivering the same energy density. Lycopene and total phenolic concentration, as well as the α-glucosidase inhibitory activityof tomato juice, were not affected by ultrasound regardless the frequency and energy density. However, the antioxidant properties were negatively affected by high frequency ultrasounds

On Protected Realizations of Quantum Information

There are two complementary approaches to realizing quantum information so that it is protected from a given set of error operators. Both involve encoding information by means of subsystems. One is initialization-based error protection, which involves a quantum operation that is applied before error events occur. The other is operator quantum error correction, which uses a recovery operation applied after the errors. Together, the two approaches make it clear how quantum information can be stored at all stages of a process involving alternating error and quantum operations. In particular, there is always a subsystem that faithfully represents the desired quantum information. We give a definition of faithful realization of quantum information and show that it always involves subsystems. This justifies the "subsystems principle" for realizing quantum information. In the presence of errors, one can make use of noiseless, (initialization) protectable, or error-correcting subsystems. We give an explicit algorithm for finding optimal noiseless subsystems. Finding optimal protectable or error-correcting subsystems is in general difficult. Verifying that a subsystem is error-correcting involves only linear algebra. We discuss the verification problem for protectable subsystems and reduce it to a simpler version of the problem of finding error-detecting codes.Comment: 17 page

Probing the Density in the Galactic Center Region: Wind-Blown Bubbles and High-Energy Proton Constraints

Recent observations of the Galactic center in high-energy gamma-rays (above 0.1TeV) have opened up new ways to study this region, from understanding the emission source of these high-energy photons to constraining the environment in which they are formed. We present a revised theoretical density model of the inner 5pc surrounding Sgr A* based on the fact that the underlying structure of this region is dominated by the winds from the Wolf-Rayet stars orbiting Sgr A*. An ideal probe and application of this density structure is this high energy gamma-ray emission. We assume a proton-scattering model for the production of these gamma-rays and then determine first whether such a model is consistent with the observations and second whether we can use these observations to further constrain the density distribution in the Galactic center.Comment: 36 pages including 17 figures, submitted to ApJ, comments welcom

THE MECHANICS OF SUBGLACIAL BASALTIC LAVA FLOW EMPLACEMENT: INFERRING PALEO-ICE CONDITIONS

Recent studies of terrestrial glaciovolcanic terrains have elucidated the utility of volcanic deposits as recorders of ice conditions at the time of eruption. Practically all of these investigations, however, have focused upon the associations of volcaniclastic and coherent lava lithofacies at or proximal to the source vent. Very few studies have documented the emplacement of effusion-dominated, basaltic glaciovolcanic eruptions and their distal deposits that more accurately reveal paleo-ice conditions. Both Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii and the Tennena volcanic center (TVC), on Mount Edziza, British Columbia, Canada, preserve records of interaction between coherent lavas and an ice sheet inferred to be associated with the last glacial maximum (LGM). The identification, mapping and description of subglacial TVC lava flows reveals the spatial distribution and characteristics of primary volcanic lithofacies and associated glaciogenic lithofacies, and reveals the processes of the emplacement of the distal lava flows under thick ice. Exposure dating with cosmogenic nuclides proves the most effective technique to temporally constrain the emplacement of these subglacial lavas. This work shows; 1) classification schemes that utilize remotely sensed imagery are locally robust but are not readily viable as identifiers of subglacial lavas in other volcanic terrains, 2) the distribution of primary hydrovolcanic clastic deposits at the TVC are confined to the cone, but coherent pillow lavas including distinctive vertically-oriented and distended pillows are widespread, 3) multiple lobes of massive sheet lavas record high initial magma discharge rates, 4) associated glaciogenic facies that underlie or onlap the TVC lavas indicate active subglacial meltwater drainage at the time of the eruption. Analyses of H2O/CO2 in pillow rim samples give broad constraints for emplacement pressures equivalent to 500-1400 m of overlying ice. No subaerial lava morphologies are found on the cone or in the proximal to distal lithofacies, and the sequence is interpreted as documenting an eruption of basaltic lava flows beneath either the LGM Cordilleran ice sheet or a Younger Dryas expansion of the still-extant Edziza ice cap. To further constrain the age of the eruption exposure dating with cosmogenic chlorine-36 is the most viable method as demonstrated on Mauna Loa explosive deposits

Composition Effects on Kilonova Spectra and Light Curves: I

The merger of neutron star binaries is believed to eject a wide range of heavy elements into the universe. By observing the emission from this ejecta, scientists can probe the ejecta properties (mass, velocity and composition distributions). The emission (a.k.a. kilonova) is powered by the radioactive decay of the heavy isotopes produced in the merger and this emission is reprocessed by atomic opacities to optical and infra-red wavelengths. Understanding the ejecta properties requires calculating the dependence of this emission on these opacities. The strong lines in the optical and infra-red in lanthanide opacities have been shown to significantly alter the light-curves and spectra in these wavelength bands, arguing that the emission in these wavelengths can probe the composition of this ejecta. Here we study variations in the kilonova emission by varying individual lanthanide (and the actinide uranium) concentrations in the ejecta. The broad forest of lanthanide lines makes it difficult to determine the exact fraction of individual lanthanides. Nd is an exception. Its opacities above 1 micron are higher than other lanthanides and observations of kilonovae can potentially probe increased abundances of Nd. Similarly, at early times when the ejecta is still hot (first day), the U opacity is strong in the 0.2-1 micron wavelength range and kilonova observations may also be able to constrain these abundances

Photolytic release of bioactive carboxylic acids from fused pyran conjugates

New ester cages bearing the coumarin (2H-benzopyran-2-one) skeleton with extended π-systems as phototriggers, for glycine and β-alanine, as models of carboxylic acid bifunctional molecules with biological relevance, were evaluated under photolysis conditions at 254, 300, 350 and 419 nm of irradiation in a RPR-100 photochemical reactor. The processes were followed by HPLC-UV detection and 1H NMR with collection of kinetic data. The results showed a correlation between the photolysis efficiency and the increasing extension of the conjugation for both glycine and β-alanine, showing that the 7-aminocoumarin afforded the best results at all wavelengths tested. From a study of the time-resolved fluorescence behaviour, these compounds were also found to exhibit more complex fluorescence decay kinetics. This was attributed to the presence of conjugated and non-conjugated coumarin species.Thanks are due to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QREN-EU for financial support through the Chemistry Research Centre of the University of Minho (Ref. UID/QUI/00686/2013 and UID/ QUI/0686/2016). The NMR spectrometer Bruker Avance III 400 is part of the National NMR Network and was purchased within the framework of the National Program for Scientific Re-equipment, contract REDE/1517/RMN/2005 with funds from POCI 2010 (FEDER) and FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Acridinyl methyl esters as photoactive precursors in the release of neurotransmitter amino acids

An investigation of the use of an azaheterocycle, acridine, as an alternative photochemically removable protecting group for the carboxylic function of neurotransmitter amino acids was carried out. 9-Bromomethylacridine was used in the reaction with glycine, alanine, glutamic acid, β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid, to obtain model ester derivatives, which were irradiated at different wavelengths in a photochemical reactor. The process was followed by HPLC/UV, resulting in the release of the active molecule in short irradiation times. The results obtained using 419 nm irradiation show promise (35-98 min) for practical purposes. The compounds were further characterised via time-resolved fluorescence to elucidate their photophysical properties and determine the decay kinetics.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to the NMR portuguese network (PTNMR, Bruker Avance III 400-Univ. Minho), FCT and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QREN-EU for financial support to the research centre CQ/UM [PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2011 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022716)] and project PTDC/QUI/69607/2006 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007449). FCT - a PhD grant to A.M.P. (SFRH/BD/61459/2009)

The effect of 12C + 12C rate uncertainties on s-process yields

The slow neutron capture process in massive stars (the weak s-process) produces most of the s-only isotopes in the mass region 60 < A < 90. The nuclear reaction rates used in simulations of this process have a profound effect on the final s-process yields. We generated 1D stellar models of a 25 solar mass star varying the 12C + 12C rate by a factor of 10 and calculated full nucleosynthesis using the post-processing code PPN. Increasing or decreasing the rate by a factor of 10 affects the convective history and nucleosynthesis, and consequently the final yields.Comment: Conference proceedings for the Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics IV conference, 8-12 June 2009. 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication to the Journal of Physics: Conference Serie