Optimum Commodity Taxation When Employment Matters

Ramsey\u27s inelasticity rule for optimum commodity taxation has been criticized for indicating tax rates for basic necessities which have lower elasticities of demand than luxury consumption items. However, it is noted that skilful marketing techniques tend to lower the demand elasticities of luxury items so that it is not evident that the Ramsey rule is inequitable. In this paper equity concerns from a macroeconomic viewpoint are introduced, modifying the Ramsey rule approach by including total employment in the decision-maker\u27s utility function. Then it is seen that the relative tax rate of the product which is more labour-intensive in production is lower than under the original Ramsey rule. The weight given by the government to an additional unit of employment relative to additional tax revenue now enters the tax rule specification. It is also observed that when the employment objective is included, the relative tax rates of products such as furniture that are labour-intensive in production will be lower than under the pure Ramsey inelasticity rule

Impact of diesel spill on Acanthus ilicifolius at Mangalavanam

This paper explains the death and drying up of Acanthus ilicifolius population at mud flats of Managalavanam due to the impact of diesel spill

Study and Analysis of Connecting Position on the Vibration Characteristics for Beam

This study proposes an investigation into the effect of stiffeners where local stiffness varies on the vibration characteristics of I beams. The main focus is to finding out the proper perforation for reducing the deflection that is caused by vibration characteristic of the beam. Based on the study, considering a castellated beam with hexagonal opening is taken as an example to locating the stiffeners where the local stiffness is reduced in the beam. The castellated beam with web openings and they gain its advantage due to its increased depth of section by cutting the beam into two pieces and welded it together to make hexagonal web openings. Hence, due to increase in depth of beam, variable load carrying capacity of the beam is getting increased. The increase in depth of castellated beam leads to local residual stresses in web openings and lateral torsional buckling failure when these beams are subjected to loading. There are many modes of failure like shear buckling, flexural failure, and rupture of the welded joint in a web post. In order to avoid all these failures stiffeners were introduced in the hexagonal castellated beam

Novel Scheme for Minimal Iterative PSO Algorithm for Extending Network Lifetime of Wireless Sensor Network

Clustering is one of the operations in the wireless sensor network that offers both streamlined data routing services as well as energy efficiency. In this viewpoint, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has already proved its effectiveness in enhancing clustering operation, energy efficiency, etc. However, PSO also suffers from a higher degree of iteration and computational complexity when it comes to solving complex problems, e.g., allocating transmittance energy to the cluster head in a dynamic network. Therefore, we present a novel, simple, and yet a cost-effective method that performs enhancement of the conventional PSO approach for minimizing the iterative steps and maximizing the probability of selecting a better clustered. A significant research contribution of the proposed system is its assurance towards minimizing the transmittance energy as well as receiving energy of a cluster head. The study outcome proved proposed a system to be better than conventional system in the form of energy efficiency

Get the Most from Your Survey: An Application of Rasch Analysis for Education Leaders

High-quality measurement tools are critical to school improvement efforts. Education researchers frequently employ surveys in order to assess a host of variables associated with school improvement. This article asserts that Rasch modeling techniques enhance the quality of a measurement tool because they comprise elements of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, and because Rasch modeling corrects the erroneous conclusions that result from the errors associated with ordinal response scale data. This article illustrates, with specific attention to the needs of education leaders and researchers, how the Rasch measurement model gauges the usefulness of survey instruments. This study illustrates the benefits of Rasch modeling using the scale that measures teacher external political efficacy (TEPE). Findings show that a set of four items captures this domain well

Is there any relationship between child labour, crime rates and country income per capita?

Child labour exists in varying degrees in virtually all countries aspiring to reach high income status. The prevalence of child labour and associated criminal activities have been portrayed in the 19th century novels of Charles Dickens, perhaps most vividly in the character ‘Fagin’ in the novel ‘Oliver Twist’. It seems clear that the early years of the industrial revolution in Britain gave rise to demand for increased child labour and also provided fertile ground for criminal activities. However, it is also evident from the experience of the high-income countries that the hallowed peaks of the development process witness an end to such activities representing the dark side of income creation. This paper examines whether there is a definite relationship between country income per capita and the prevalence of crime and child labour. The presumption is that as incomes grow there is an increase in the use of child labour as well as in crime, with a tapering- off after a certain income level. This paper presents evidence for such an inverted ‘U’ relationship between child labour and income per capita as well as between the crime index and income. These findings may also throw some light on the puzzle of the sudden fall in U.S crime rates in the 1990s

Novel Bacteria Foraging Optimization for Energy-efficient Communication in Wireless Sensor Network

Optimization techniques based on Swarm-intelligence has been reported to have significant benefits towards addressing communication issues in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). We reviewed the most dominant swarm intelligence technique called as Bacteria Foraging Optimization (BFO) to find that there are very less significant model towards addressing the problems in WSN. Therefore, the proposed paper introduced a novel BFO algorithm which maintains a very good balance between the computational and communication demands of a sensor node unlike the conventional BFO algorithms. The significant contribution of the proposed study is to minimize the iterative steps and inclusion of minimization of both receiving / transmittance power in entire data aggregation process. The study outcome when compared with standard energy-efficient algorithm was found to offer superior network lifetime in terms of higher residual energy as well as data transmission performance

Combining technologies to create bioactive hybrid scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Combining technologies to engineer scaffolds that can offer physical and chemical cues to cells is an attractive approach in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this study, we have fabricated polymer-ceramic hybrid scaffolds for bone regeneration by combining rapid prototyping (RP), electrospinning (ESP) and a biomimetic coating method in order to provide mechanical support and a physico-chemical environment mimicking both the organic and inorganic phases of bone extracellular matrix (ECM). Poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)-poly(buthylene terephthalate) (PEOT/PBT) block copolymer was used to produce three dimensional scaffolds by combining 3D fiber (3DF) deposition, and ESP, and these constructs were then coated with a Ca-P layer in a simulated physiological solution. Scaffold morphology and composition were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled to energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX) and Fourier Tranform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Bone marrow derived human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) were cultured on coated and uncoated 3DF and 3DF + ESP scaffolds for up to 21 d in basic and mineralization medium and cell attachment, proliferation, and expression of genes related to osteogenesis were assessed. Cells attached, proliferated and secreted ECM on all the scaffolds. There were no significant differences in metabolic activity among the different groups on days 7 and 21. Coated 3DF scaffolds showed a significantly higher DNA amount in basic medium at 21 d compared with the coated 3DF + ESP scaffolds, whereas in mineralization medium, the presence of coating in 3DF+ESP scaffolds led to a significant decrease in the amount of DNA. An effect of combining different scaffolding technologies and material types on expression of a number of osteogenic markers (cbfa1, BMP-2, OP, OC and ON) was observed, suggesting the potential use of this approach in bone tissue engineerin

Ergonomic Chair Design For Thermal Comfort Using Phase Change Materials

The metabolism process of humanoids is well designed for emitting the heat constantly. But no heat transfer phenomena occur from the spinal side of the body in sitting posture. The proper heat transfer is arrested in the sitting posture; this makes the human to feel discomfort. The bus drivers are the main victims who face this problem every day and cause of the disease called “hemorrhoid”. This project mainly focused to modify and construct a convenient chilled cushion chair with jam-backed Phase Change Material (PCM) to overcome such problems. This chair absorbs body heat when occupied and discharges while vacant. The stages when liquid change to solid and solid change to liquid occurs nearly by a constant temperature. The chair provides a cooling effect and also a cushioning effect to the occupier. The PCMs are having large latent heat and provide a cooling effect by maintaining nearly by constant temperature to the human body.  The jam-backed chilled cushion chair is invented for improved thermal comfort for the driver for some extended time by the proper temperature that acceptable level of the human. The performance tests are carried out to evaluate the working of the pad