Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lifetime vs. Annual Perspectives on Tax Incidence

Recent academic research on tax incidence has shifted from an emphasis on static and annual perspectives to examinations of dynamic and lifetime issues. Meanwhile, policy economists are forced to rely on annual data and hence annual analyses. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nature and analysis of lifetime tax incidence, and to compare and contrast this lifetime perspective with the more familiar annual perspective. In our comparison, we find that (1) the lifetime perspective requires much more data over longer periods of time, because results depends critically on the whole shape of the lifetime earnings profile, (2) individuals classified by annual income decile are often reclassified into very different lifetime income deciles, (3) the personal income tax and corporate income tax appear less progressive on a lifetime basis, while consumption taxes appear less regressive on a lifetime basis, and (4) despite the different approaches and the different reasons underlying the incidence of each particular tax, the lifetime incidence of the entire U.S. tax system is strikingly similar to the annual incidence.
Models of U.S. Travel Demand Patterns for the Bahamas

An analysis of survey responses from 6,170 U.S. visitors to the Bahamas suggests that price increases in seven out of eight tourism submarkets would lead to a decrease in tourism. In terms of high (H) versus low (L) season of use, package (P) versus independent (I) travel arrangements, and single (S) versus multiple (M) destination visits, the eight submarkets were HPS, LPS, HPM, LPM, HIM, HIS, LIM, and LIS. Log-linear regression equations of demand and related elasticity values in each of these submarkets describe how trip cost per visitor can influence the total number of expected visitors in each submarket. Study results can help guide future marketing and pricing strategies in both the public and pri vate sector of the Bahamian tourism economy.
Randomized, Controlled Evaluation of Short- and Long-Term Benefits of Heart Failure Disease Management Within a Diverse Provider Network: The SPAN-CHF Trial

Background—Several trials support the usefulness of disease management (DM) for improving clinical outcomes in heart failure (HF). Most of these studies are limited by small sample size; absence of concurrent, randomized controls; limited follow-up; restriction to urban academic centers; and low baseline use of effective medications. Methods and Results—We performed a prospective, randomized assessment of the effectiveness of HF DM delivered for 90 days across a diverse provider network in a heterogeneous population of 200 patients with high baseline use of approved HF pharmacotherapy. During a 90-day follow-up, patients randomized to DM experienced fewer hospitalizations for HF [primary end point, 0.55±0.15 per patient-year alive versus 1.14±0.22 per patient-year alive in control subjects; relative risk (RR), 0.48, P=0.027]. Intervention patients experienced reductions in hospital days related to a primary diagnosis of HF (4.3±0.4 versus 7.8±0.6 days hospitalized per patient-year; RR, 0.54; P<0.001), cardiovascular hospitalizations (0.81±0.19 versus 1.43±0.24 per patient-year alive; RR, 0.57; P=0.043), and days in hospital per patient-year alive for cardiovascular cause (RR, 0.64; P<0.001). Intervention patients showed a trend toward reduced all-cause hospitalizations and total hospital days. On long-term (mean, 283 days) follow-up, there was substantial attrition of the 3-month gain in outcomes, with sustained significant reduction only in days in hospital for cardiac cause. Conclusions—In a population with high background use of standard HF therapy, a DM intervention, uniformly delivered across varied clinical sites, produced significant short-term improvement in HF-related clinical outcomes. Longer-term benefit likely requires more active chronic intervention, even among patients who appear clinically stable.
COMMITMENT DECISIONS IN EU COMPETITION LAW

Introduced into EU competition law by Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003, commitment decisions provide a settlement mechanism for Commission enforcement actions based upon concessions offered by defendant undertakings. The use of negotiated settlements is closely linked with the shift toward a more “regulatory” conception of competition law, however, and thus away from the orthodox antitrust paradigm. This article examines Commission practices to date under the commitment procedure, arguing that the enhanced flexibility and remedial choices available under Article 9 reflect characteristics more usually associated with the regulatory model. In view of the conventional criticisms of antitrust-as-regulation, the article furthermore considers the extent to which these regulatory attributes of the commitment procedure are problematic in practice, given that regulatory competition law does not incorporate the typical safeguards of ordinary regulation. The article concludes that, although the quasi-regulatory nature of commitment decisions is indisputable, its implications are more mixed. The increased effectiveness of Article 9, both as a means of alleviating market problems and of case disposition, must therefore be balanced against certain legitimacy and longer-term efficiency concerns.
On the use of 1D, 2D, and 3D visualisation for molecular graphics

Macromolecular structures have become easily accessible by means of large databases, for example the World Wide Protein Data Bank. Several years ago, existing data in this field of research was rare and demanded for specialists and experts which wasted a lot of time to explore the data. Today, various visualisation techniques, tools, and systems have been designed and developed to support biochemists, chemists, or molecular biologists at certain tasks such as analysing protein functions, exploring ligand-binding sites, or understanding RNA signal and message processing. The intent of this paper is to discuss how 1D, 2D, and 3D representations are typically employed to facilitate some of these tasks. We describe common tasks that involve molecular structures and illustrate how 1D, 2D, and 3D visualisations are currently being used to address these. We discuss the benefits and drawbacks of these concepts in the context of these tasks and propose methods to provide empirical evidence by means of user evaluations.
Signal Transduction of Oncogenic Flt3

Activating mutations of Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) are the most common genetic lesions in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are present in approximately one third of AML patients. The 2 classes of Flt3 mutations are internal tandem duplications in the juxtamembrane domain and point mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain. In normal hematopoietic progenitor cells, Flt3 ligand induces the activation of several downstream signal-transduction mediators, including phosphoinos-itol 3-kinases, Src kinases, mitogen-activated protein kinases, and the phosphorylation of several adaptor proteins. Oncogenic mutations in Flt3 result in ligand-independent constitutive and deregulated activation of these signaling pathways. In addition, however, oncogenic mutations of Flt3 also result in the activation of aberrant signaling pathways, including strong activation of STAT5, induction of STAT target genes, and repression of myeloid transcription factors c/EBP-α and Pu.1. Aberrant activation of these signaling pathways by oncogenic Flt3 may play a critical role in mutant Flt3-mediated leukemic transformation.
Differential apoptosis‐inducing effect of quercetin and its glycosides in human promyeloleukemic HL‐60 cells by alternative activation of the caspase 3 cascade

Flavonoids were demonstrated to possess several biological effects including antitumor, antioxidant, and anti‐inflammatory activities in our previous studies. However, the effect of glycosylation on their biological functions is still undefined. In the present study, the apoptosis‐inducing activities of three structure‐related flavonoids including aglycone quercetin (QUE), and glycone rutin (RUT; QUE‐3‐O‐rutinoside), and glycone quercitrin (QUI; QUE‐3‐O‐rhamnoside) were studied. Both RUT and QUI are QUE glycosides, and possess rutinose and rhamnose at the C3 position of QUE, respectively. Results of the MTT assay showed that QUE, but not RUT and QUI, exhibits significant cytotoxic effect on HL‐60 cells, accompanied by the dose‐ and time‐dependent appearance of characteristics of apoptosis including an increase in DNA ladder intensity, morphological changes, apoptotic bodies, and an increase in hypodiploid cells by flow cytometry analysis. QUE, but not RUT or QUI, caused rapid and transient induction of caspase 3/CPP32 activity, but not caspase 1 activity, according to cleavage of caspase 3 substrates poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) and D4‐GDI proteins, and the appearance of cleaved caspase 3 fragments being detected in QUE‐ but not RUT‐ or QUI‐treated HL‐60 cells. A decrease in the anti‐apoptotic protein, Mcl‐1, was detected in QUE‐treated HL‐60 cells, whereas other Bcl‐2 family proteins including Bax, Bcl‐2, Bcl‐XL, and Bag remained unchanged. The caspase 3 inhibitor, Ac‐DEVD‐FMK, but not the caspase 1 inhibitor, Ac‐YVAD‐FMK, attenuated QUE‐induced cell death. Results of DCHF‐DA assay indicate that no significant increase in intracellular peroxide level was found in QUE‐treated cells, and QUE inhibited the H2O2‐induced intracellular peroxide level. Free radical scavengers N‐acetyl‐cysteine (NAC) and catalase showed no prevention of QUE‐induced apoptosis. In addition, QUE did not induce apoptosis in an mature monocytic cell line THP‐1, as characterized by a lack of DNA ladders, caspase 3 activation, PARP cleavage, and an Mcl‐1 decrease, compared with those in HL‐60 cells. Our experiments provide evidence to indicate that the addition of rutinose or rhamnose attenuates the apoptosis‐inducing activity of QUE, and that the caspase 3 cascade but not free radical production is involved. J. Cell. Biochem. 89: 1044–1055, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
When should a firm use billboard advertising? A conceptual look at differing levels of recall

Billboards are often used because the cost to reach consumers is relatively cheaper than other forms of media. However, just because a billboard ad reaches a consumer does not mean a consumer pays attention to the ad or even processes it. Therefore, in this paper, two constructs are proposed to help managers evaluate the type of product or service they sell and if billboards would be the most effective way of reaching the target audience. A model and matrix outlining the hypothesised differences in billboard advertising are presented.
Drivers of Choice of Management Accounting System Designs in Nigerian Manufacturing Companies

This study explored the factors that influence the choice of management accounting system designsby manufacturing organizations in Nigeria. Factors, with potential to explain management accounting systems designs were identified from two theoretical perspectives. The study argued that factors from both institutional and contingency theory perspectives contribute to explaining the management accounting system (MAS)designs in manufacturing companies in Nigeria; and that technical factors as proposed in the contingency theory perspective should provide greater explanatory power. This is in contrast to the dominant institutional explanations of accounting systems in companies in the developing countries as presented in extant literature. Data from a survey of senior level managers of one hundred and forty four companies were subjected to t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses. The results provided support for the studyâ€™s propositionsuggesting the applicability of the contingency theory perspective to the study of MAS in the Nigerian companies. Based on this persuasion, future studies are needed to examine the relationship between MAS designs and performance of such companies and the interaction effects of identified factors on such relationship, in line with contingency theory propositions.
Prevention of Alcohol Dependence: Strategies for Selective, Indicated, and Universal Prevention

Study of the chronology of criteria of dependence in alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS) can enable us to design strategies for the prevention for ADS, which takes into account primary prevention (indicated, selective, and universal prevention) approaches and aims at reducing the occurrence of ADS. The objective of this work is to study the age-wise and order-wise chronologies of International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision Diagnostic Criteria for Research (ICD-10 DCR) dependence criteria in individuals with ADS. Consecutively admitted and consenting inpatients with ICD-10 DCR diagnosis of ADS were evaluated in a structured interview after detoxification using Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA)-II. The total sample size was 81. The mean ages at the first onset of alcohol use, development of the first criterion, and ICD-10 dependence was 18.72 years (SD: 6.84), 24.33 years (SD: 9.21), and 27.51 years (SD: 9.28), respectively. In age-wise chronology, tolerance, loss of control, and craving were present in 97.53%, 80.24%, and 79%, respectively, of our study sample. In order-wise chronology, either craving (16%) or tolerance (71.6%) was present as the first criterion and the presence of craving (16%), tolerance (21%), or loss of control (18.5%) was observed as the first criterion in 55.5% of the subjects. Indicated prevention may be attempted by enquiring about craving, tolerance, and loss of control and use of anticraving medications or behavioral strategies. Selective prevention by using naltrexone for those genetically inclined and universal prevention by use of “clinical” labeling on alcoholic beverages can also be attempted.
INFLATION STABILIZATION AND NOMINAL ANCHORS

This paper analyzes the choice of a nominal anchor in disinflation programs in chronic inflation countries. Both theory and evidence suggest several conclusions. (i) The recessionary effects associated with disinflation appear in the early stages of money-based programs but only in the late stages of exchange rate-based programs. (ii) Lack of credibility is more disruptive under fixed exchange rates than under floating exchange rates. (iii) Attempting to pursue a disinflationary policy while maintaining a given level of the real exchange rate is likely to be self-defeating. (iv) A high degree of currency substitution favors the exchange rate as the nominal anchor. Copyright 1994 Western Economic Association International.
An empirical study of cost efficiency in the Irish life insurance industry

Contemporary studies of cost efficiency in the insurance industry have predominantly focused on large economies. This paper investigates scale economies and cost efficiency in the Irish life insurance industry by using the translog cost function and distribution-free method. Increasing returns to scale are found in the industry but the magnitude of cost economies varies with firm size. This study indicates that firms with larger market shares are more likely to exhibit cost efficiency. Furthermore, this study shows that bancassurance firms are more cost efficient than other types of insurers in the Irish life insurance industry, which provides new insights into the cost efficiency of bancassurance.
Capital Inside and Out : The Drive to Internalize

Capital moves not only to expand its value while changing its form but also to internalize what is outside capital, which is confronted by two difficulties: commodification and realization. This paper investigates how to overcome these difficulties by taking two examples: labor and money. Both are considered to be outside capital. It is a claim that can make capital internalize what is outside it. The claim on labor power is commodified and the claim to money is created for the realization of more money. Even if the laborer and the banker do not initially own their labor and money, a claim can be set up to allow the capitalist to access nothing, as outside, which will then turn into something profitable, such as labor power and credit money, through the acceptance of the liabilities on offer. To establish these claims is the technique that capital uses to internalize what is outside it.
Examining the ethical predisposition of the next generation of business leaders in China and the Republic of South Africa

This study was undertaken in an effort to determine the attitudes of business students in South Africa and China toward a battery of questionable actions undertaken by anonymous business entities. In general, practices such as the outsourcing of labour and celebrity endorsements met with little opposition on the part of the students. Conversely, actions such as the shipment of unsafe products to overseas markets and a doctor smuggling a potentially beneficial (but illegal) drug across international borders in an effort to help a patient were strongly condemned. A comparison of the means of the 14 scenarios resulted in statistically significant differences for the two countries on eight of the questionable actions. In seven of the eight, the South Africans exhibited stronger opposition (or a lower level of support for) the behaviour of the organization. Furthermore, the grand means for the two countries also favored the RSA as the country with the higher ethical predisposition.
Lactic acid bacteria secrete metabolites retaining anti-inflammatory properties after intestinal transport

Background: Probiotic bacteria have a beneficial effect on intestinal inflammation. In this study, we have examined the effect of lactic acid and commensal Gram positive (+) bacteria conditioned media (CM) on tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) release and the mechanisms involved. Methods: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced TNF-α secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells or the THP-1 cell line was monitored in the presence or absence of bacteria CM obtained from two probiotic strains, Bifidobacterium breve (Bb) and Streptococcus thermophilus (St), and three commensal bacterial strains (Bifidobacterium bifidum, Ruminococcus gnavus, and unidentified Streptococcus). Bb and St bacteria CM were allowed to cross filter grown intestinal epithelial cell monolayers (HT29-19A) to assess intestinal transport of active bacterial products. These products were characterised and their effect on LPS binding to THP-1 cells and nuclear factor κB (NFκB) activation assessed. Results: Dose dependent inhibition of LPS induced TNF-α secretion was noted for both probiotic bacteria CM (64% and 71% inhibition for Bb and St, respectively) and to a lesser extent commensal bacteria CM (21–32% inhibition). Active products from Bb and St were resistant to digestive enzymes and had a molecular mass <3000 Da. Their inhibitory effect was preserved after transepithelial transport across intestinal cell monolayers, mainly in inflammatory conditions. LPS-FITC binding to THP-1 cells and NFκB activation were significantly inhibited by Bb and St CM. Conclusion:B breve and S thermophilus release metabolites exerting an anti-TNF-α effect capable of crossing the intestinal barrier. Commensal bacteria also display a TNF-α inhibitory capacity but to a lesser extent. These results underline the beneficial effect of commensal bacteria in intestinal homeostasis and may explain the role of some probiotic bacteria in alleviating digestive inflammation.
The PAR proteins: from molecular circuits to dynamic self-stabilizing cell polarity

PAR proteins constitute a highly conserved network of scaffolding proteins, adaptors and enzymes that form and stabilize cortical asymmetries in response to diverse inputs. They function throughout development and across the metazoa to regulate cell polarity. In recent years, traditional approaches to identifying and characterizing molecular players and interactions in the PAR network have begun to merge with biophysical, theoretical and computational efforts to understand the network as a pattern-forming biochemical circuit. Here, we summarize recent progress in the field, focusing on recent studies that have characterized the core molecular circuitry, circuit design and spatiotemporal dynamics. We also consider some of the ways in which the PAR network has evolved to polarize cells in different contexts and in response to different cues and functional constraints. Summary: This Review discusses studies that have revealed how the PAR protein network can form and stabilize the asymmetric distribution of its components.
The Pricing Decision in Small Firms: Complexities and the Deprioritising of Economic Determinants

JAMES CURRAN WAS UNTIL RECENTLY Midland Bank Professor of Small Business Studies and director of the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University, England; he continues to be closely associated with the centre and its research. RobinJarvis is Professor of Accounting andJohn Kitching a Research Officer at Kingston University; Geoff Lightfoot, formerly a research student at Kingston University, is now Lecturer in Management at Keele University, England. Price setting by small business owners has previously been analysed mainly in terms of two approaches. The more theoretical has usually taken economic rationality based on profit maximisation as the yardstick to assess owner-managers' decision-making and behaviour. Empirical approaches (often reporting findings from studies with the above starting point) have repeatedly found that the great majority of small business owners employ relatively simple cost-plus pricing. This paper argues that both approaches are inadequate. Theoretical approaches stressing economic rationality and profit maximisation employ a narrow, outdated notion of 'rationality'. Empirical simplification of the processes involved due mainly to the more complex conceptualisation of 'rationality' which broadens the notion and allows other economic and non-economic norms and values to enter into price setting as well as a wider range of goals than profit maximisation. It suggests that older notions of economic rationality and other rationalities are not mutually exclusive but form differing 'logics' which underlie the decisions and behaviours resulting in price setting. Findings drawn from in-depth interviews with small business owners are Contents Summaries 1 3 used to show how a wider conceptualisation of rationality and data on the 'logics' used by small business owners is a complex and widely varying process. The outcomes, prices, are contingent upon a mix of economic and non-economic influences linked to each other in specific 'logics' used by the small business owners. The implications of the more complex conceptual approach and empirical data on price setting in the paper for those who advise small business are drawn out. They indicate that substantial revision is required if the small business owners are to see the advice as realistic and the take-up of such advice is to increase.
El presupuesto público en la gestión eficiente de los municipios

El presente articulo plantea la necesidad de realizar un cambio en el proceso del presupuesto publico colombiano, de manera que permita llevar a la practica los planes de desarrollo elaborados con la participacion ciudadana, pasando de un sistema rigido donde se estimula el gasto a un sistema orientado a resultados que tenga en cuenta los objetivos definidos y el impacto social de cada partida asignada. De esta manera, los municipios colombianos, enmarcados en el proceso de descentralizacion que se ha venido desarrollando en el pais, pueden contar con una herramienta de gestion publica que busque la eficiencia y la eficacia, dinamizando el desarrollo social mediante la optimizacion de costos y gastos, aumentos en la productividad y el mejoramiento de los procesos.