Kuwait's tax reformation, its alternatives and impact on a developing accounting profession

Since the discovery of oil, Kuwait has witnessed a vast economic transition which has boosted a significant welfare state. However, in recent years the situation has changed, influencing the state budget and financial resources. The search for sources of income other than oil gave rise to the possibility of imposing taxes in a hitherto tax-free country. The 1955 tax law was applied only to foreign enterprises operating in Kuwait, and since then few attempts have been undertaken to reform it. The purpose of this study is to examine the tax alternatives available to Kuwait, which could increase state revenues, and reduce the level of inequality among the population resulting from the government land purchasing programme adopted in the early sixties. It also aims, through an empirical investigation, to reveal the potential impact of tax reformation on the development of the emerging accounting profession in Kuwait.The determination of the most appropriate tax policy for Kuwait necessitates the examination of the views of those parties most concerned, who are defined in this study as the public, foreign investors, and accounting practitioners. Accordingly, questionnaires were designed, tested, distributed and analysed to reveal attitudes towards tax reformation. In addition, interviews with concerned persons in the country, including tax legislators, officials, and authors, were conducted, so as to further examine these attitudes and other aspects of tax introduction. Based on the findings of this investigation as well as the traditional literature survey, appropriate reforms are suggested, including reformation in the legislative, administrative, and technical considerations of the tax introduction.Moreover, recommendations concerning the development of the accounting profession to accommodate the new tax era are also made, including better organisation of the profession, and its contribution to taxation in Kuwait

Kuwait's tax reformation, its alternatives and impact on a developing accounting profession

Since the discovery of oil, Kuwait has witnessed a vast economic transition which has boosted a significant welfare state. However, in recent years the situation has changed, influencing the state budget and financial resources. The search for sources of income other than oil gave rise to the possibility of imposing taxes in a hitherto tax-free country. The 1955 tax law was applied only to foreign enterprises operating in Kuwait, and since then few attempts have been undertaken to reform it. The purpose of this study is to examine the tax alternatives available to Kuwait, which could increase state revenues, and reduce the level of inequality among the population resulting from the government land purchasing programme adopted in the early sixties. It also aims, through an empirical investigation, to reveal the potential impact of tax reformation on the development of the emerging accounting profession in Kuwait. The determination of the most appropriate tax policy for Kuwait necessitates the examination of the views of those parties most concerned, who are defined in this study as the public, foreign investors, and accounting practitioners. Accordingly, questionnaires were designed, tested, distributed and analysed to reveal attitudes towards tax reformation. In addition, interviews with concerned persons in the country, including tax legislators, officials, and authors, were conducted, so as to further examine these attitudes and other aspects of tax introduction. Based on the findings of this investigation as well as the traditional literature survey, appropriate reforms are suggested, including reformation in the legislative, administrative, and technical considerations of the tax introduction. Moreover, recommendations concerning the development of the accounting profession to accommodate the new tax era are also made, including better organisation of the profession, and its contribution to taxation in Kuwait

Microbial community dynamics and their relationships with organic and metal pollutants of sugarcane molasses-based distillery wastewater sludge

Distillery sludge is a major source of aquatic pollution, but little is known about their microbial community and their association with the organic and metal pollutants. Sugarcane molasses-based distillery is an important industry in India, although the waste is usually treated prior to disposal, the treatment is often inadequate. The adverse effects of the organic and metal pollutants in sugarcane molasses-based distillery sludge on the microbial biodiversity and abundance in the disposal site have not been elucidated. This study aims to address this gap of knowledge. Samples were collected from the discharge point, 1 and 2 km downstream (D1, D2, and D3, respectively) of a sugarcane distillery in Uttar Pradesh, India, and their physico-chemical properties characterised. Using QIIME, taxonomic assignment for the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA was performed. The phyla Proteobacteria (28-39%), Firmicutes (20-28%), Bacteriodetes (9-10%), Actinobacteria (5-10%), Tenericutes (1-9%) and Patescibacteria (2%) were the predominant bacteria in all three sites. Euryechaeota, were detected in sites D1 and D2 (1-2%) but absent in D3. Spirochaetes (5%), Sinergistetes (2%) and Cloacimonetes (1%) were only detected in samples from site D1. Shannon, Simpson, Chao1, and Observed-species indices indicated that site D1 (10.18, 0.0013, 36706.55 and 45653.84, respectively) has higher bacterial diversity and richness than D2 (6.66, 0.0001, 25987.71 and 49655.89, respectively) and D3 (8.31, 0.002, 30345.53 and 30654.88, respectively), suggesting the organic and metal pollutants provided the stressors to favour the survival of microbial community that can biodegrade and detoxify them in the distillery sludge. This study confirmed that the treatment of the distillery waste was not sufficiently effective and provided new metagenomic information on its impact on the surrounding microbial community. It also offered new insights into potential bioremediation candidates

Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Rutile-TiO2 ‎Nano Powder Prepared by Hydrothermal Process ‎

حضر اوكسيد التيتانيوم النانوي نوع روتايل (r-TiO2) بتقنية الحراره المائيه في الأوتكليف، حصل التفاعل بين رباعي كلوريد التيتانيوم ومزيج متكون من ماء لاايوني وايثانول بنسبة (37:) على التوالي. جفف الناتج ولدن عند 400 °م.  التركيب وطوبوغرافية السطح لاوكسيد التيتانيوم تم تشخيصها بواسطة قياسات حيود الاشعة السينية (XRD) ، المجهر الألكتروني الماسح (SEM), مجهر القوة الذرية (AFM) ومطيافية الأشعة تحت الحمراء (FT-IR) والأشعة فوق البنفسجية/المرئية (UV/Visible). تم دراسة تاثير الاوكسيد المخصر على نوعين من البكتريا الغرامية السالبة (Escherichia coli) والموجبة (Staphylococcus aurous ). بينت الدراسة ان اوكسيد التيتانيوم النانوي نوع الروتايل (r-TiO2) له فعالية مضادة للبكتريا ويمكن استخدامه كمضاد بكتيري لمختلف الاغراضRutile titanium dioxide (r-TiO2) Nano powder has been synthesized by hydrothermal method in autoclave. The reaction took place between titanium tetrachloride (TiCI4) and mixture solution consisted of deionized water and ethanol, in the ratio (3:7) respectively. The product has been dried and annealed at 400°C. The structure, morphology and the particle size of the Nano powder were investigated by X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), FT-IR and UV/visible spectroscopy measurements. The effect of r-TiO2 on gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aurous (S. aureus) has been studied. This study showed that rutile TiO2 Nano powder has efficient antibacterial activity, and can use as an antibacterial agent for different purpose

TNF-α induces a pro-inflammatory phenotypic shift in monocytes through ACSL1 : Relevance to metabolic inflammation

Background/Aims: TNF-α-mediated pro-inflammatory phenotypic change in monocytes is known to be implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic inflammation and insulin resistance. However, the mechanism by which TNF-α-induces inflammatory phenotypic shift in monocytes is poorly understood. Since long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 1 (ACSL1) is associated with inflammatory monocytes/macrophages, we investigated the role of ACSL1 in the TNF-α-driven inflammatory phenotypic shift in the monocytes. Methods: Monocytes (Human monocytic THP-1 cells) were stimulated with TNF-α. Inflammatory phenotypic markers (CD16, CD11b, CD11c and HLA-DR) expression was determined with real time RT-PCR and flow cytometry. IL-1β and MCP-1 were determined by ELISA. Signaling pathways were identified by using ACSL1 inhibitor, ACSL1 siRNA and NF-κB reporter monocytic cells. Phosphorylation of NF-κB was analyzed by western blotting and flow cytometry. Results: Our data show that TNF-α induced significant increase in the expression of CD16, CD11b, CD11c and HLA-DR. Inhibition of ACSL1 activity in the cells with triacsin C significantly suppressed the expression of these inflammatory markers. Using ACSL-1 siRNA, we further demonstrate that TNF-α-induced inflammatory markers expression in monocytic cells requires ACSL1. In addition, IL-1b and MCP-1 production by TNF-α activated monocytic cells was significantly blocked by the inhibition of ACSL-1 activity. Interestingly, elevated NF-κB activity resulting from TNF-α stimulation was attenuated in ACSL1 deficient cells. Conclusion: Our findings provide an evidence that TNF-α-associated inflammatory polarization in monocytes is an ACSL1 dependent process, which indicates its central role in TNF-α-driven metabolic inflammation. © 2019 The Author(s).Peer reviewe

The impact of Stieltjes' work on continued fractions and orthogonal polynomials

Stieltjes' work on continued fractions and the orthogonal polynomials related to continued fraction expansions is summarized and an attempt is made to describe the influence of Stieltjes' ideas and work in research done after his death, with an emphasis on the theory of orthogonal polynomials

Power management and control strategies for off-grid hybrid power systems with renewable energies and storage

This document is the Accepted Manuscript of the following article: Belkacem Belabbas, Tayeb Allaoui, Mohamed Tadjine, and Mouloud Denai, 'Power management and control strategies for off-grid hybrid power systems with renewable energies and storage', Energy Systems, September 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 19 September 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12667-017-0251-y.This paper presents a simulation study of standalone hybrid Distributed Generation Systems (DGS) with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). The DGS consists of Photovoltaic (PV) panels as Renewable Power Source (RPS), a Diesel Generator (DG) for power buck-up and a BESS to accommodate the surplus of energy, which may be employed in times of poor PV generation. While off-grid DGS represent an efficient and cost-effective energy supply solution particularly to rural and remote areas, fluctuations in voltage and frequency due to load variations, weather conditions (temperature, irradiation) and transmission line short-circuits are major challenges. The paper suggests a hierarchical Power Management (PM) and controller structure to improve the reliability and efficiency of the hybrid DGS. The first layer of the overall control scheme includes a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) to adjust the voltage and frequency at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) and a Clamping Bridge Circuit (CBC) which regulates the DC bus voltage. A maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller based on FLC is designed to extract the optimum power from the PV. The second control layer coordinates among PV, DG and BESS to ensure reliable and efficient power supply to the load. MATLAB Simulink is used to implement the overall model of the off-grid DGS and to test the performance of the proposed control scheme which is evaluated in a series of simulations scenarios. The results demonstrated the good performance of the proposed control scheme and effective coordination between the DGS for all the simulation scenarios considered.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

N-heterocyclic carbenes reduce and functionalize copper oxide surfaces in one pot

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) are thanked for financial support of this work in terms of operating and equipment grants to CMC and JHH. AJV and MRN thank the Ontario government for OGS fellowships. AJV thanks NSERC for a Vanier Scholarship and also the Walter C. Sumner foundation for additional scholarship support.Benzimidazolium hydrogen carbonate salts have been shown to act as N-heterocyclic carbene precursors which can remove oxide from copper oxide surfaces and functionalize the resulting metallic surfaces in a single step. Both the surfaces and the etching products are fully characterized by spectroscopic methods. Analysis of surfaces before and after NHC treatment by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrates the complete removal of copper(II) oxide. Using 13C-labelling, we determine that the products of this transformation include a cyclic urea, a ring-opened formamide and a bis-carbene copper(I) complex. These results illustrate the potential of NHCs to functionalize a much broader class of metals, including those prone to oxide treatment, greatly facilitating the preparation of NHC-based films on metals other than gold.PostprintPeer reviewe