The Potential Revenue from Financial Transactions Taxes

This joint report by CEPR and the Political Economy Research Institute (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) gives an estimate of $177-354 billion in revenue that could be raised by taxing financial transactions in the United States.financial taxes, financial transactions, economic crisis, financial crisis

The Potential Revenue from Financial Transactions Taxes

The economic crisis of the last two years has led to serious concerns about the sharp growth in the federal government’s fiscal deficit as well as the government’s overall debt burden as a share of total U.S. GDP. Many analysts also believe that an excessive share of the economy’s resources is being consumed by the financial sector. A financial transactions or trading tax is a policy tool that can address both issues: raising a substantial amount of revenue and reducing the size of financial trading in the U.S. economy relative to the economy’s level of productive activity. This paper calculates the revenue potential from a set of financial trading taxes. It updates an earlier set of calculations, using a similar methodology.

Understanding Individual Experiences of Chronic Illness with Semantic Space Models of Electronic Discussions

Electronic discussion groups provide a convenient forum for individuals to share their experiences of chronic illness. The language use of individual participants, and the way their language shifts over time, may provide implicit indications of important shifts in sense-of-self. This paper relates experience with application of the hyperspace analogue to language (HAL) model for automatic construction of a dimensional model from a corpus of text. HAL is applied to 17 months of discussion on a closed list of 20 women coping with chronic illness. The discussion group was moderated for a focus the phenomenon of "Transition' - how people can learn to incorporate the consequences of illness into their lives. The current phase of research focuses on identification of clusters of words that can represent key aspects of Transition. The HAL models for two participants have been analyzed by experts in Transition to form candidate clusters. These clusters are then used as a basis for contrasting the language usage of an individual participant over time as compared to the entire corpus. We have not yet found a reliable basis for identifying transitions in an individual based on their entries into a discussion forum, although the clusters may have some inherent value for introspection on individual experiences and Transition in general. We report challenges for interpretation of the HAL model related to the correlation of dimensions and the impact of group dynamics

Strong chiral optical force for small chiral molecules based on electric-dipole interactions, inspired by the asymmetrical hydrozoan Velella velella\textit{Velella velella}

Drawing inspiration from a remarkable chiral force found in nature, we show that a static electric field combined with an optical lin$\perp$lin polarization standing wave can exert a chiral optical force on a small chiral molecule that is several orders of magnitude stronger than other chiral optical forces proposed to date, being based on leading electric-dipole interactions rather than relying on weak magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole interactions. Our chiral optical force applies to most small chiral molecules, including isotopically chiral molecules, and does not require a specific energy-level structure. Potential applications range from chiral molecular matter-wave interferometry for precision metrology and tests of fundamental physics to the resolution of enantiomers for use in chemistry and biology

Dimensional and crystallographic fabric development in experimentally deformed synthetic aggregate and natural rocks

Calcite Portland-cement aggregate samples were deformed triaxially at 25 deg. with confining pressures of 200 Mpa. The samples were deformed under experimental approximations of pure shear (dry and wet experimental conditions), transpressional shear and simple shear. The pore fluid pressure during the wet pure shear test was less than 195 MPa. Extensive grain rotation accompanied by twinning of the calcite grains occurred. Optical analyses of calcite crystallographic fabrics have been used to infer the orientation of the maximum principal compressive stress. Stress orientations in the deformed specimens agree well with the externally imposed stresses. A new method has been successfully used to determine the a, orientation. The method uses contouring of the lamellae index associated with the compression direction determined from Turner's Dynamic analysis method. In pure shear, preferred dimensional orientation (PDO) of the calcite grains are produced more efficiently in the presence of a pore fluid pressure. In dry specimens, transpressional shear is more effective in producing a PDO in the calcite grain than either pure shear or simple shear. Grain shape fabrics do not conform to the symmetry of the bulk deformation when extensive rotation of calcite grains is involved. Mean grain alignment is perpendicular to the shortening in pure shear, initially inclined and later parallel to the shear zone wall in transpressional shear, and inclined to the shear zone wall in simple shear. The mean orientation of the grain-alignment fabrics is, therefore, a reliable kinematic indicator under the conditions investigated. Transpressional shear and dry pure shear exhibit higher lamellae indices than either wet pure shear or simple shear. Strain analysis of calcite grains by Robin's method (1977) , the linearization method (Yu and Zheng, 1984) and Harmonic mean method (Lisle, 1977) yields overestimates of the experimental bulk strain in wet pure shear. These methods fail to take into account interparticle motions that occur in the presence of a high pore fluid pressure. The triaxial deformation of the Ancaster oolitic limestone was preformed with a confining pressure of 200 Mpa, a natural strain rate of 10-5/s and at a temperature of 135°C. The samples were deformed under dry and wet experimental conditions. The pore fluid pressure, during the wet test, was less than 60 % of the confining pressure. The deformation process of ooids in the dry experimental test is rigid rotation of the ooid particles. In the case of wet experimental conditions, it appears that the pore fluid pressure produces particulate flow in the fine grained ooid matrix. Due to a viscosity contrast, between ooids and cement matrix, strain analysis on the ooids exhibits an overestimate of strain compared to the experimental bulk strain. This holds true for both wet and dry experimental conditions. Experimental triaxial deformation was conducted on the China Beach sandstone by pure shear for dry experimental conditions. The temperature was held constant at 25°C, with computer controlled natural strain rates of 10-5/s and a confining pressure of 200 Mpa. Mechanical heterogeneities in the grains of the China Beach sample play an important role in the development of cleavage. Altered feldspar grains and lithic fragments deform by ductile processes, while unaltered feldspar and quartz grain deform by rigid rotation and brittle processes. Strain analysis of each grain type in the China Beach sandstone yield a range of strain estimates depending on the deformation process compared to the experimental bulk strain. Comparison of Robin's method, the linearization method and Harmonic mean method suggest that Robin's method generates the best estimates of the bulk experimental strain ratio

Design and specification of a high speed transport protocol

Due to the increase in data throughput potential provided by high speed (fiber optic) networks, existing transport protocols are becoming increasingly incapable of providing reli­able and timely transfer of data. Whereas in networks of the past it was the transmission medium that caused the greatest communications delay, it is the case today that the transport protocols themselves have become the bottleneck. This thesis provides detailed in­ sight into the issues that are affecting the development of the next generation of high speed transport protocols, and includes a formal specification and limited analysis of one such protocol. Through a dissection of transport protocol functions, this thesis illustrates some of the problems which are hindering optimal performance, and demonstrates some of the design considerations of new transport protocols which are providing significant gains in efficiency. Three of the most promising lightweight transport protocol research projects are surveyed to provide a frame of reference for the newly emerging design paradigm: taking advantage of the low error rate of fiber optic media to optimize success, rather than compensate for failure.http://archive.org/details/designspecificat00mcarCaptain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Mastication of Nuts under Realistic Eating Conditions: Implications for Energy Balance

The low digestibility and high satiety effects of nuts have been partly attributed to mastication. This work examines chewing forces and the bolus particle size of nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios) varying in physical properties under different conditions (with and without water, juice, sweetened yogurt and plain yogurt) along with satiety sensations and gut hormone concentrations following walnut consumption (whole or butter). In a randomized, cross-over design with 50 adults (25 males, 25 females; Body Mass Index (BMI) 24.7 ± 3.4 kg/m²; age: 18⁻52 years old (y/o), the chewing forces and particle size distribution of chewed nuts were measured under different chewing conditions. Appetite sensations were measured at regular intervals for 3 h after nut intake, and plasma samples were collected for the measurement of glucose, insulin and Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). The three nuts displayed different particle sizes at swallowing though no differences in chewing forces were observed. Walnuts with yogurt yielded larger particle sizes than the other treatments. Particle size was not correlated with either food palatability or flavor. Fullness sensations were higher after whole nut than nut butter consumption though there were no significant changes in glucose, insulin, or GLP-1 concentrations under any condition. Changing the conditions at swallowing might influence the release of energy from nuts

Scat DNA as a non-invasive method for estimating the abundance of the vulnerable mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus)

Context: Population-monitoring programs often use direct (e.g. live capture or spotlighting) or indirect (e.g. scats sightings) observations to estimate population abundance. Such methods, however, are often inadequate for rare, elusive, or cryptic species due to the difficulty in achieving sufficient encounters or detection rates. The mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus), a small native Australian macropod, listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, is difficult to capture, susceptible to capture myopathy, and not easily sighted in their dense habitat; consequently, the population size cannot always be estimated. The use of molecular markers to identify individual genotypes from non-invasively collected samples is increasingly being used in wildlife conservation and may be an alternative approach for mala. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of non-invasive scat DNA sampling to estimate the population abundance of mala. Methods: A panel of microsatellite markers was developed for the identification of individual mala via profiling of their scats. Scats were systematically collected from a wild mala population located in an 1100-ha fenced reserve in Western Australia. Individual genotypes were determined using the microsatellite markers, and the abundance of mala was estimated using the genotypes with spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) and mark–resight analyses. Key results: The genetic markers proved variable and with sufficient exclusionary power to confidently identify unique individuals (mean locus genotyping error rate: 3.1%). Individual genetic identification from scat sampling, when used with traditional mark–recapture/resight analytical models, provides feasible estimates of population abundance. This is the first reliable abundance estimate of this mala population, suggesting a \u3e70% increase in population size since the initial reintroduction of 64 individuals in 2011–13. Conclusions: Given the inherent difficulties in surveying mala, this approach would be valuable to ensure effective monitoring of the few remaining fenced and island mala populations to prevent further decline of this vulnerable species. Implications: This is the first study to identify species-specific microsatellite markers for mala and use genetic-capture sampling with scat DNA to estimate the abundance of a mala population. The study provides an evaluation of a valuable species monitoring technique that can be applied to other rare, elusive, or cryptic threatened species