Resolving Legal Uncertainty: The Unfulfilled Promise of Advance Tax Rulings

Advance tax rulings allow taxpayers to achieve certainty about the tax consequences of contemplated transactions, and are thus considered indispensable in the modern world of tax administration and compliance. After providing empirical evidence of tax law uncertainty, which should give rise to a demand for advance tax rulings, the article shows that advance tax rulings are in fact infrequently used. To explain this counterintuitive finding the article analyzes the taxpayers' strategic considerations when deciding whether to request an advance tax ruling. The strategic disadvantages of applying for an advance tax ruling are shown usually to outweigh the strategic advantages of such a request. Since the same strategic considerations apply when taxpayers decide whether to request an advance pricing agreement - a new procedure for resolving transfer pricing disputes - this analysis also explains why, despite considerable attention from scholars and practitioners in recent years, advance pricing agreements have been infrequently used, and are therefore unlikely to resolve the transfer pricing problem - probably the most significant problem in modern international taxation

A pilot study of operating department practitioners undertaking high-risk learning: a comparison of experiential, part-task and hi-fidelity simulation teaching methods

Health care learners commonly rely on opportunistic experiential learning in clinical placements in order to develop cognitive and psychomotor clinical skills. In recent years there has been an increasing effort to develop effective alternative, non-opportunistic methods of learning, in an attempt to bypass the questionable tradition of relying on patients to practice on. As part of such efforts, there is an increased utilisation of simulation-based education. However, the effectiveness of simulation in health care education arguably varies between professions (Liaw, Chan, Scherpbier, Rethans, & Pua, 2012; Oberleitner, Broussard, & Bourque, 2011; Ross, 2012). This pilot study compares the effectiveness of three educational (or ‘teaching’) methods in the development of clinical knowledge and skills during Rapid Sequence Induction (RSI) of anaesthesia, a potentially life-threatening clinical situation. Students of Operating Department Practice (ODP) undertook either a) traditional classroom based and experiential learning, b) part-task training, or c) fully submersive scenario-based simulated learning

Game Theory and the Structure of Administrative Law

How should administrative agencies choose among the different policymaking instruments at their disposal? Although the administrative law literature has explored this question with respect to the instruments of adjudication and rule making, it has failed to appreciate two other powerful instruments at agencies\u27 disposal: advance ruling and licensing. Taking these four policy-making instruments into consideration, this Article provides a general theory to guide agencies in selecting the most suitable policy-making instrument in different policy environments. To do so, the Article utilizes a new game-theoretic framework, focusing on two central dimensions of policy-making instruments in particular: timing and breadth. This framework provides two valuable implications. First, it highlights two key administrative challenges that are underappreciated by the academic literature: the holdup and leniency problems. And second, the framework shows that administrative agencies are underutilizing two powerful policy-making instruments, namely, licensing and advanced rulings. I argue that these two instruments are valuable across areas of law

The holistic discourse and formalising education of non-medically qualified acupuncturists and homeopaths in England : an in depth, qualitative study

The 'holistic discourse' is a central identification mark of acupuncture and homeopathy practice. The term holism reflects much of the critique of biomedicine as reductionist, dualistic and oppressive, and, as such, has been used to distance these therapies from conventional medicine. However, in recent years, acupuncturists and homeopaths in the UK have become increasingly engaged in professionalisation, including the formalisation of their education. These efforts to move closer to the mainstream call into question the role of holism in the representation of acupuncture and homeopathy practice. The overarching aim of this research study is to explore the way that Non Medically Qualified (NMQ) acupuncturists and homeopaths in England, as part of their efforts to professionalise and formalise their educational structures, negotiate holistic concepts that are embedded in their theory, practice and discourses. The thesis firstly considers the meanings that the two practitioner groups attach to the rather fluid concept of 'holism'. It then moves on to examine how the holistic discourse is negotiated during the process of formalising education including the teaching of courses in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The thesis is the product of an in-depth, qualitative inquiry. Several data sets were used in this research: (1) Twenty-five in-depth interviews with acupuncturists and homeopaths in London and the South of England, including practitioners who are school principals and lecturers; (2) Participant observation of teaching a research methods unit in a BSc (Hons) Acupuncture in a private school for Chinese medicine; (3) A review of practitioners' professional websites, of professional bodies' educational and practice documents, and of 27 acupuncture and homeopathy course syllabi; and (4) Two non-participant observations of a day in an acupuncture practice and a day in a homeopathy practice. The findings from this research study show that NMQ acupuncturists and homeopaths still make frequent use of the term 'holism' as part of the representation of their practice. Nevertheless, their holistic discourse appears to be mostly focused on individuals and their immediate environment, a discourse which can be described as 'wider self' holism, with little awareness of the relationships of patients with their broad environment, these relationships being described as 'wider world' holism. Crucially, the holistic discourse which is interwoven in acupuncture and homeopathy's philosophy, theory and practice, is a dynamic discourse, influenced by political and societal factors surrounding these therapies, as well as by the dynamics within the therapies themselves. This research study demonstrates the way practitioners 'narrow’ and 'expand’ their holistic narratives and practices according to the challenges that they face during the process of professionalising and formalising their education, as well as in relation to their consumers' expectations. This research study suggests that the way by which practitioners often negotiate the tension that exists between increasing formalisation and the unique nature of their expert knowledge, can be described as 'pragmatic holism’ through which practitioners try and make gains from the formalisation process, without losing their holistic approach and appeal. Furthermore, the entrance of HEIs to the teaching of acupuncture and homeopathy courses seems to have accentuated some of the tensions that are part of the formalisation process, but it may also offer opportunities to increase practitioners' critical reflectivity in relation to their holistic discourses and practices and to expand their wider world holistic awareness.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Simple meteor scatter out-station antennas

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, infulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Johannesburg, 1989T his dissertation examines simple Meteor Burst Communication (M B C) out-starioL * i-^nas. The eSect o f illum ination gain, beam w idth and orientation was studied using computer ^vr.t-iation. Sim ilarly, the performance o f M B C links using a half-wave dipole, a quarter-wave rnonopole, a square loop, a long w ue and a 5-elements Yagi-Uda antennas was determined. The performance o f these links are related to the antennas’ sky i l l umination. This investigation provides designers some bench-mark results which indicate the role played by the antennas ’ radiation patterns in M B C. A value system was formulated to provide practical and electrical trade-offs fo r m obile andmanpack antennas in the meteor scatter environment. Simulated results indicate that simple antennas cause degraded communications due to their reduced size and complexity. The conclusion is that the directional master station should provide adequate sky illumination. I t is recommended that the results obtained be validated by measurements and further work concentrate on master station antennas

The Advantage of Using International Multimodel Ensemble for Seasonal Precipitation Forecast over Israel

This study analyzes the results of monthly and seasonal precipitation forecasting from seven different global climate forecast models for major basins in Israel within October–April 1982–2010. The six National Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) models and the ECMWF seasonal model were used to calculate an International Multimodel Ensemble (IMME). The study presents the performance of both monthly and seasonal predictions of precipitation accumulated over three months, with respect to different lead times for the ensemble mean values, one per individual model. Additionally, we analyzed the performance of different combinations of models. We present verification of seasonal forecasting using real forecasts, focusing on a small domain characterized by complex terrain, high annual precipitation variability, and a sharp precipitation gradient from west to east as well as from south to north. The results in this study show that, in general, the monthly analysis does not provide very accurate results, even when using the IMME for one-month lead time. We found that the IMME outperformed any single model prediction. Our analysis indicates that the optimal combinations with the high correlation values contain at least three models. Moreover, prediction with larger number of models in the ensemble produces more robust predictions. The results obtained in this study highlight the advantages of using an ensemble of global models over single models for small domain