Reform of Financing of Municipalities in Slovenia

The article presents a comparison of the Slovenian Financing of Municipalities Act, which had been in force since April 20062, and the new act, which entered into force on 1st January 20072.The main question asked is how the changed formula for calculating the appropriate expenditure and the capitation introduced affect the financing of municipalities. The primary hypothesis is that the change introduced would positively affect the share of own revenues in the appropriate expenditure of the majority of municipalities, that the influence of financial equalisation would decrease and that the financial independence of municipalities would increase. Concurrently, the extent of municipal financial surpluses that have not been regulatory treated until this change would decrease. The results, presented in this article, confirm the suggested hypothesis that was proven by past data and a simulation of the new situation.appropriate expenditure, financial equalisation, capitation, municipality diversity index surplus, Slovenia.

Waldschmidt constants for Stanley-Reisner ideals of a class of Simplicial Complexes

We study the symbolic powers of the Stanley-Reisner ideal $I_{B_n}$ of a bipyramid $B_n$ over a $n-$gon $Q_n$. Using a combinatorial approach, based on analysis of subtrees in $Q_n$ we compute the Waldschmidt constant of $I_{B_n}$.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

The use of artificial neural networks in adiabatic curves modeling

Adiabatic hydration curves are the most suitable data for temperature calculations in concrete hardening structures. However, it is very difficult to predict the adiabatic hydration curve of an arbitrary concrete mixture. The idea of modeling adiabatic temperature rise during concrete hydration with the use of artificial neural networks was introduced in order to describe the adiabatic hydration of an arbitrary concrete mixture, depending on factors which influence the hydration process of cement in concrete. The influence of these factors was determined by our own experiments. A comparison between experimentally determined adiabatic curves and adiabatic curves, evaluated by proposed numerical model shows that artificial neural networks can be used to predict adiabatic hydration curves effectively. This model can be easily incorporated in the computer programs for prediction of the thermal fields in young concrete structures, implemented in the finite element or finite difference codes. New adiabatic hydration curves with some other initial parameters of the concrete mixture can be easily included in this model in order to expand the range of suitability of artificial neural networks to predict the adiabatic hydration curves. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved