bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Flattening the Effective Marginal Tax Rate Structure in Australia: Policy Simulations Using the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator
Authors: Creedy John , Kalb Guyonne , Kew Hsein 
Published: June 2003

AbstractThis article uses the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator to examine the effects of a reduction in the means‐tested benefit taper, or withdrawal, rates in Australia to 30 per cent. That is, all taper rates of 50 per cent and 70 per cent in the March 1998 benefit system are reduced to 30 per cent, while leaving all basic benefit levels unchanged. This change is therefore expected to ‘flatten’ the tax structure by reducing the high marginal tax rates applying to those with relatively low incomes and increasing the marginal tax rates of medium incomes. Simulations in which all individuals are assumed to remain at their pre‐reform labour supply levels are compared with behavioural simulations in which the majority of individuals are free to adjust the number of hours worked. The results reflect only the supply side of the labour market. The database used is the 1997‐98 Survey of Income and Housing Costs, so that weekly incomes are based on the financial year 1997‐98. The comparison shows that, for sole parents, accounting for behavioural effects of the reform results in a lower estimated expenditure for government, whereas for couples, accounting for behavioural effects results in a higher estimated expenditure.
The Social and Economic Performance of Australia's Large Regional Cities and Towns: Implications for Rural and Regional Policy
Authors: Stimson R. , Baum S. , O'Connor K. 
Published: June 2003

Australia's large regional cities and towns display wide variation in how they are adjusting to the socio‐economic transitions occurring in Australia. That variation is exposed using a multi‐variate model analysing performance on a range of socio‐economic variables over the decade 1986 to 1996 for 122 cities and towns with populations of 10 000 and above at the 1996 census. Those places are classified into seven clusters of community performance reflecting opportunity/vulnerability, and their spatial patterns are mapped. The resulting framework is then used to show how the recent geography of the socio‐economic performance of the large regional cities and towns has a distinctive selectivity and contributes to opportunity in some places and the vulnerable performance of others. The influence of that selectivity can be seen in the mismatched geographic patterns evident from an analysis of shares of national population and employment change, investment in non‐residential construction, levels of welfare dependency, and the ratio between household income tax generation and transfer benefits received. The paper uses the insights drawn from that analysis to pose questions suggesting the need to rethink national policy perspectives for addressing change in non‐metropolitan Australia.
Heavy Metals in Sediments of the Upper Hawkesbury‐Nepean River
Authors: Simonovski Jim , Owens Chris , Birch Gavin 
Published: June 2003

There is little published information on heavy metals in surficial sediments of the upper Hawkesbury‐Nepean River in central New South Wales, Australia. In the current investigation, the fine fraction (<62.5 µm) of 90 sediment samples taken from this section of the river was analysed by flame‐Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy for nine heavy metals (Ag, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu Co, Fe, Ni and Mn) to determine background and enrichment. Sediment in the upper Hawkesbury‐Nepean River is not heavily polluted by heavy metals. Maximum enrichment over background for Ni and Ag, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu and Mn is 3x, 5.7x, 6x, 6.7x, 12x and 13.6x, respectively. Mean heavy metal concentrations for this, the upper section of the river, are about half the mean values for the Hawkesbury River between Windsor and Broken Bay in the lower, estuarine section of the river. The highest Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations (214, 108 and 334 mg kg−1, respectively) occur in surficial sediments in Peachtree Creek at Penrith and the Nepean River near Jacksons Lane, Castlereagh. These metal concentrations are possibly associated with industrial activity at Penrith. Two of the six sewage treatment plants on the upper Hawkesbury‐Nepean River are associated with high metal concentrations (Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn) in sediments, that is, the West Camden and Penrith sewage treatment plants. Other possible sources of heavy metals are coal mining and washing which occurs at several places in the upper catchment. The highest Cd, Co and Fe concentrations (1.7, 27.6 mg kg−1 and 4.81%, respectively) were found in sediments 400 m downstream of the Nepean Dam and the highest concentrations of Ni and Mn (54 and 790 mg kg−1, respectively) were located in sediment from the Nepean River at Moresby Hill Road Bridge, near Robertson and at the Avon Dam Road Bridge. The source of these metals is unknown.
Modernising Old Labour?
Authors: Shaw Eric 
Published: June 2003

Books reviewed:John O'Farrell, Things Can Only Get BetterPhilip Gould, The Unfinished Revolution: How the Modernisers Saved the Labour PartyColin Hay, The Political Economy of New LabourJ. E. Mortimer, Life on the LeftGeorge Soros, The Crisis of Global CapitalismNatasha Walter, The New FeminismJohn Tusa, Art Matters: Reflecting on CultureDavid Seawright, An Important Matter of Principle: The Decline of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist PartyPeter Hall, Cities in Civilisation: Culture, Innovation and the Urban OrderTamar Liebes and James Curran (eds), Media, Ritual and IdentityAlan Wilkinson, Christian Socialism: Scott Holland to Tony BlairYasmin Alibhai‐Brown, True Colours: Public Attitudes to Multi‐Culturalism and the Role of the GovernmentThomas Blom Hansen, The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India
The Effects of Consumption Variability on Saving: Evidence from a Panel of Muscovite Households**
Authors: Guariglia Alessandra , Kim Byung‐Yeon 
Published: June 2003

AbstractDue to the high uncertainty characterizing them, transition economies provide an extraordinary opportunity to test the precautionary saving hypothesis. This paper represents an attempt to exploit this opportunity. We use a panel of 2,346 Muscovite households, over the 12 months of 1996, to construct two time‐varying measures of consumption growth variability, which we use as proxies for households’ perceived uncertainty. We then regress household saving on these uncertainty variables using a GMM‐system estimator. We find that both uncertainty measures generally have a positive and statistically significant effect on saving. This result, which is robust to the use of different measures of saving, supports the precautionary saving hypothesis.
Does Tax Evasion Affect Occupational Choice?*
Authors: Parker Simon C. 
Published: June 2003

AbstractThis paper presents a novel micro‐econometric procedure that identifies the extent to which occupational choices are distorted by opportunities for tax evasion. Previous studies claim to have found significant and substantial effects, but analysis and replication of their methods reveals that they generate conflicting and misleading results. The paper then implements the new procedure using several British micro‐data sets. A thorough empirical investigation reveals that occupational choice between self‐employment and paid employment is not robustly related to pecuniary factors in general, and is invariant to tax avoidance and evasion opportunities in particular.
Tax Discounting in a High‐debt Economy*
Authors: Pozzi Lorenzo 
Published: June 2003

AbstractThis paper estimates a consumption function for Belgium that allows for government debt discounting and for the overall discounting of the future (reflecting the consumers’ planning horizon or precautionary savings). It also allows for substitutability or complementarity effects from government expenditures. Results suggest that consumers do take into account (future) government activity. Ricardian Equivalence is rejected however, since we cannot reject a relatively short planning horizon or a precautionary savings motive for the consumers. We use bootstrapped distributions for inference since the instrumental variables estimators used may have non‐standard distributions. This procedure also helps to tackle potential endogeneity and sample size problems.
Resources at Marriage and Intrahousehold Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa*
Authors: Quisumbing Agnes R. , Maluccio John A. 
Published: June 2003

AbstractWe test the unitary versus collective model of the household using specially designed data from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa. Human capital and individual assets at the time of marriage are used as proxy measures for bargaining power. In all four countries, we reject the unitary model as a description of household behaviour, but fail to reject the hypothesis that households are Pareto‐efficient. In Bangladesh and South Africa, women's assets increase expenditure shares on education, while in Ethiopia it is men's assets that have this effect. These increases have different implications for boys and girls across countries, however.
Feminism and Military Gender Practices: Israeli Women Soldiers in “Masculine” Roles
Authors: Sasson‐Levy Orna 
Published: June 2003

Women's military service is the focus of an ongoing controversy because of its implications for the gendered nature of citizenship. While liberal feminists endorse equal service as a venue for equal citizenship, radical feminists see women's service as a rei•cation of martial citizenship and cooperation with a hierarchical and sexist institution. These debates, however, tend to ignore the perspective of the women soldiers themselves.This paper seeks to add to the contemporary debate on women's military service the subjective dimension of gender and national identities of women soldiers serving in “masculine” roles. I use a theory of identity practices in order to analyze the interaction between state institutions and identity construction. Based on in‐depth interviews, I argue that Israeli women soldiers in “masculine” roles shape their gender identities according to the hegemonic masculinity of the combat soldier through three interrelated practices: (1) mimicry of combat soldiers’ bodily and discursive practices; (2) distancing from “traditional femininity”; and (3) trivialization of sexual harassment.These practices signify both resistance and compliance with the military dichotomized gender order. While these transgender performances subvert the hegemonic norms of masculinity and femininity, they also collaborate with the military androcentric norms. Thus, although these women soldiers individually transgress gender boundaries, they internalize the military's masculine ideology and values and learn to identify with the patriarchal order of the army and the state. This accounts for a pattern of “limited inclusion” that reaf•rms their marginalization, thus prohibiting them from developing a collective consciousness that would challenge the gendered structure of citizenship.
Mixed H2/H∞ Control for State-Delayed Linear Systems and a LMI Approach to the Solution of Coupled AREs
Authors: Aliyu M. D. S. 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
In this paper, the state-feedback mixed H2/H∞ control problem for state-delayed linear systems is considered. Sufficient conditions for the solvability of this problem are given in terms of the solution to a pair of algebraic Riccati equations similar to the nondelayed case. However, these Riccati equations are more difficult to solve than those arising in the pure H2, H∞ problems, and an alternative approach is to solve a pair of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs).
Robust Stability and H∞ Control of Discrete-Time Jump Linear Systems With Time-Delay: An LMI Approach
Authors: Boukas E. K. , Liu Z. K. 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
This paper considers the class of discrete-time jump linear systems with time-delay and polytopic uncertain parameters. The problems of delay-independent robust stability, stabilization and H∞ control are cast into the framework of linear matrix inequality (LMI) and thus solved by LMI Toolbox of Matlab. By extending the system state, the system with time-delay is converted into a higher dimension Markov jump system without time-delay, and thus can be handled as a standard jump linear system with uncertain parameters. Numerical examples are provided to show the usefulness of the theoretical results.
Dynamics of Microbial Communities on Marine Snow Aggregates: Colonization, Growth, Detachment, and Grazing Mortality of Attached Bacteria
Authors: Kiørboe Thomas , Tang Kam , Grossart Hans-Peter , Ploug Helle 
Published: June 2003

ABSTRACTWe studied the dynamics of microbial communities attached to model aggregates (4-mm-diameter agar spheres) and the component processes of colonization, detachment, growth, and grazing mortality. Agar spheres incubated in raw seawater were rapidly colonized by bacteria, followed by flagellates and ciliates. Colonization can be described as a diffusion process, and encounter volume rates were estimated at about 0.01 and 0.1 cm3h−1for bacteria and flagellates, respectively. After initial colonization, the abundances of flagellates and ciliates remained approximately constant at 103to 104and ∼102cells sphere−1, respectively, whereas bacterial populations increased at a declining rate to >107cells sphere−1. Attached microorganisms initially detached at high specific rates of ∼10−2min−1, but the bacteria gradually became irreversibly attached to the spheres. Bacterial growth (0 to 2 day−1) was density dependent and declined hyperbolically when cell density exceeded a threshold. Bacterivorous flagellates grazed on the sphere surface at an average saturated rate of 15 bacteria flagellate−1h−1. At low bacterial densities, the flagellate surface clearance rate was ∼5 × 10−7cm2min−1, but it declined hyperbolically with increasing bacterial density. Using the experimentally estimated process rates and integrating the component processes in a simple model reproduces the main features of the observed microbial population dynamics. Differences between observed and predicted population dynamics suggest, however, that other factors, e.g., antagonistic interactions between bacteria, are of importance in shaping marine snow microbial communities.
Identification and Characterization of Coenzyme B
12
-Dependent Glycerol Dehydratase- and Diol Dehydratase-Encoding Genes from Metagenomic DNA Libraries Derived from Enrichment Cultures
Authors: Knietsch Anja , Bowien Susanne , Whited Gregg , Gottschalk Gerhard , Daniel Rolf 
Published: June 2003

ABSTRACT

To isolate genes encoding coenzyme B
12
-dependent glycerol and diol dehydratases, metagenomic libraries from three different environmental samples were constructed after allowing growth of the dehydratase-containing microorganisms present for 48 h with glycerol under anaerobic conditions. The libraries were searched for the targeted genes by an activity screen, which was based on complementation of a constructed dehydratase-negative
Escherichia coli
strain. In this way, two positive
E. coli
clones out of 560,000 tested clones were obtained. In addition, screening was performed by colony hybridization with dehydratase-specific DNA fragments as probes. The screening of 158,000
E. coli
clones by this method yielded five positive clones. Two of the plasmids (pAK6 and pAK8) recovered from the seven positive clones contained genes identical to those encoding the glycerol dehydratase of
Citrobacter freundii
and were not studied further. The remaining five plasmids (pAK2 to -5 and pAK7) contained two complete and three incomplete dehydratase-encoding gene regions, which were similar to the corresponding regions of enteric bacteria. Three (pAK2, -3, and -7) coded for glycerol dehydratases and two (pAK4 and -5) coded for diol dehydratases. We were able to perform high-level production and purification of three of these dehydratases. The glycerol dehydratases purified from
E. coli
Bl21/pAK2.1 and
E. coli
Bl21/pAK7.1 and the complemented hybrid diol dehydratase purified from
E. coli
Bl21/pAK5.1 were subject to suicide inactivation by glycerol and were cross-reactivated by the reactivation factor (DhaFG) for the glycerol dehydratase of
C. freundii
. The activities of the three environmentally derived dehydratases and that of glycerol dehydratase of
C. freundii
with glycerol or 1,2-propanediol as the substrate were inhibited in the presence of the glycerol fermentation product 1,3-propanediol. Taking the catalytic efficiency, stability against inactivation by glycerol, and inhibition by 1,3-propanediol into account, the hybrid diol dehydratase produced by
E. coli
Bl21/pAK5.1 exhibited the best properties of all tested enzymes for application in the biotechnological production of 1,3-propanediol.
Increased Production of Folate by Metabolic Engineering of
Lactococcus lactis
Authors: Sybesma Wilbert , Starrenburg Marjo , Kleerebezem Michiel , Mierau Igor , de Vos Willem M. , Hugenholtz Jeroen 
Published: June 2003

ABSTRACT

The dairy starter bacterium
Lactococcus lactis
is able to synthesize folate and accumulates large amounts of folate, predominantly in the polyglutamyl form. Only small amounts of the produced folate are released in the extracellular medium. Five genes involved in folate biosynthesis were identified in a folate gene cluster in
L. lactis
MG1363:
folA
,
folB
,
folKE
,
folP
, and
folC
. The gene
folKE
encodes the biprotein 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyldihydropteridine pyrophosphokinase and GTP cyclohydrolase I. The overexpression of
folKE
in
L. lactis
was found to increase the extracellular folate production almost 10-fold, while the total folate production increased almost 3-fold. The controlled combined overexpression of
folKE
and
folC
, encoding polyglutamyl folate synthetase, increased the retention of folate in the cell. The cloning and overexpression of
folA
, encoding dihydrofolate reductase, decreased the folate production twofold, suggesting a feedback inhibition of reduced folates on folate biosynthesis.
Mycotoxigenic
Fusarium
and Deoxynivalenol Production Repress Chitinase Gene Expression in the Biocontrol Agent
Trichoderma atroviride
P1
Authors: Lutz Matthias P. , Feichtinger Georg , Défago Geneviève , Duffy Brion 
Published: June 2003

ABSTRACT

Mycotoxin contamination associated with head blight of wheat and other grains caused by
Fusarium culmorum
and
F. graminearum
is a chronic threat to crop, human, and animal health throughout the world. One of the most important toxins in terms of human exposure is deoxynivalenol (DON) (formerly called vomitoxin), an inhibitor of protein synthesis with a broad spectrum of toxigenicity against animals. Certain
Fusarium
toxins have additional antimicrobial activity, and the phytotoxin fusaric acid has recently been shown to modulate fungus-bacterium interactions that affect plant health (Duffy and Défago, Phytopathology
87:
1250-1257, 1997). The potential impact of DON on
Fusarium
competition with other microorganisms has not been described previously. Any competitive advantage conferred by DON would complicate efforts to control
Fusarium
during its saprophytic growth on crop residues that are left after harvest and constitute the primary inoculum reservoir for outbreaks in subsequent plantings. We examined the effect of the DON mycotoxin on ecological interactions between pathogenic
Fusarium
and
Trichoderma atroviride
strain P1, a competitor fungus with biocontrol activity against a wide range of plant diseases. Expression of the
Trichoderma
chitinase genes,
ech42
and
nag1
, which contribute to biocontrol activity, was monitored in vitro and on crop residues of two maize cultivars by using
goxA
reporter gene fusions. We found that DON-producing
F. culmorum
and
F. graminearum
strains repressed expression of
nag1-gox
. DON-negative wild-type
Fusarium
strains and a DON-negative mutant with an insertional disruption in the tricothecene biosynthetic gene,
tri5
, had no effect on antagonist gene expression. The role of DON as the principal repressor above other pathogen factors was confirmed. Exposure of
Trichoderma
to synthetic DON or to a non-DON-producing
Fusarium
mutant resulted in the same level of
nag1-gox
repression as the level observed with DON-producing
Fusarium
. DON repression was specific for
nag1-gox
and had no effect, either positive or negative, on expression of another key chitinase gene,
ech42.
This is the first demonstration that a target pathogen down-regulates genes in a fungal biocontrol agent, and our results provide evidence that mycotoxins have a novel ecological function as factors in
Fusarium
competitiveness.
Characterization of the Microbial Community in Indoor Environments: a Chemical-Analytical Approach
Authors: Sebastian Aleksandra , Larsson Lennart 
Published: June 2003

ABSTRACT

An integrated procedure is presented whereby gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry is used to determine chemical markers of gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (3-hydroxy fatty acids with 10 to 18 carbon atoms), gram-positive bacteria (branched-chain fatty acids with 15 and 17 carbon atoms), bacterial peptidoglycan (muramic acid), and fungal biomass (ergosterol) in samples of settled house dust. A hydrolysate of
13
C-labeled cyanobacterial cells is used as an internal standard for the first three markers. These analyses require two dust samples, one for 3-OH fatty acids, branched-chain fatty acids, and muramic acid and another for ergosterol. The method may be used to characterize microbial communities in environmental samples.
Repeated Introduction of Genetically ModifiedPseudomonas putidaWCS358r without Intensified Effects on the Indigenous Microflora of Field-Grown Wheat
Authors: Viebahn M. , Glandorf D. C. M. , Ouwens T. W. M. , Smit E. , Leeflang P. , Wernars K. , Thomashow L. S. , van Loon L. C. , Bakker P. A. H. M. 
Published: June 2003

ABSTRACTTo investigate the impact of genetically modified, antibiotic-producing rhizobacteria on the indigenous microbial community,Pseudomonas putidaWCS358r and two transgenic derivatives were introduced as a seed coating into the rhizosphere of wheat in two consecutive years (1999 and 2000) in the same field plots. The two genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs), WCS358r::phz and WCS358r::phl, constitutively produced phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) and 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG), respectively. The level of introduced bacteria in all treatments decreased from 107CFU per g of roots soon after sowing to less than 102CFU per g after harvest 132 days after sowing. Thephzandphlgenes remained stable in the chromosome of WCS358r. The amount of PCA produced in the wheat rhizosphere by WCS358r::phz was about 40 ng/g of roots after the first application in 1999. The DAPG-producing GMMs caused a transient shift in the indigenous bacterial and fungal microflora in 1999, as determined by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis. However, after the second application of the GMMs in 2000, no shifts in the bacterial or fungal microflora were detected. To evaluate the importance of the effects induced by the GMMs, these effects were compared with those induced by crop rotation by planting wheat in 1999 followed by potatoes in 2000. No effect of rotation on the microbial community structure was detected. In 2000 all bacteria had a positive effect on plant growth, supposedly due to suppression of deleterious microorganisms. Our research suggests that the natural variability of microbial communities can surpass the effects of GMMs.