165 research outputs found
Managing the effects of tax expenditures on the national budget
No full textTax expenditures, in the form of tax provisions, are government expenditures. They are conceptually and functionally distinct from those tax provisions whose purpose is to raise revenue. Tax expenditure programs are comparable to entitlement programs. Therefore, tax expenditures must be analyzed in spending terms and integrated into the budgetary process to ensure fiscal accountability. In addition, tax expenditures must be audited for performance and the information must be published (with comprehensive analysis) to ensure fiscal transparency. The author analyzes the concept and definition, size, and effects of tax expenditures, as well as the fiscal accountability and transparency of tax expenditure spending. In short, tax expenditures affect (1) the budget balance,(2) budget prioritization in allocation, (3) the effectiveness and efficiency of fiscal resources, and (4) the scope for abuse by taxpayers, government officials and legislators. While reviewing the current practices in tax expenditures against the requirements of fiscal accountability and transparency, she finds that this fiscal area must be strengthened. The author sketches four building blocks to strengthen tax expenditures toward fiscal accountability and transparency, based on the literature developed by Surry and McDaniel, the practices from industrial and developing countries, the Campos and Pradhan fiscal accountability model, and the International Monetary Fund's fiscal transparency code. The author argues that normative/benchmark tax structure, a revenue-raising component of the tax system, should be formalized. The normative/benchmark tax structure should be legally defined in the tax law and should be transparent. The tax receipts from this normative/benchmark tax structure should be quantified and published. Presently, many countries could publish imputed tax revenue from normative/benchmark tax structures because such data is available. Only if imputed tax revenue is published in the same way as the other budget components-tax revenue received, tax expenditures, direct expenditures, and fiscal balance-will a budget system be truly transparent in terms of revenue-raising activities and expenditure activities. In addition, when the tax revenue-raising activity is formalized, the inherent spending nature of tax expenditures is further exposed. Therefore, tax expenditures should be added to direct expenditures forming total government expenditures. Furthermore, the conventional concept of the size of government should be remedied by including both direct expenditures and tax expenditures.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Tax Law,Fiscal Adjustment,Public Sector Fiscal Adjustment,Economic Theory&Research
Utilization of agricultural waste biomass by cellulolytic isolate Enterobacter sp. SUK-Bio
No full textA cellulolytic bacterium was isolated from plant litter soil and identified as Enterobacter sp. SUK-Bio. This isolate was investigated for its utilization of different cellulosic materials (carboxymethyl cellulose, sugarcane trash, grass powder, sorghum husk, wheat straw and water hyacinth). Utilization of sorghum husk was comparatively more than for the other cellulosic materials used, producing higher cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes (filter paperase (0.15 U/mL), β-glucosidase (37.10 U/mL), endoglucanase (12.24 U/mL), exoglucanase (2.52 U/mL), xylanase (26.26 U/mL) and glucoamylase (33.26 U/mL)) on day 8 of incubation. Furthermore, it produced the maximum reducing sugar production (554 mg/L) at a rate of 3.84 mg/h/L. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of sorghum husk revealed functional groups changes and a decrease in the total crystallinity ratio after microbial degradation. The effects of supplementation of different metals additives, thermal stability and pH on cellulolytic enzymes were also studied.The first author acknowledges the UGC (University Grants Commission), New Delhi for providing financial assistance through a UGC-NET-JRF fellowship during this research work
Bibliographics for the 983 eprints in the live archives of E-LIS : trends and status report up to 7th July 2004, based on author-self-archiving metadata
No full textThe priority for ideas and philosophy related to "Network Theory" have been traced back and documented by Braun(2004),and credit goes to Karinthy(1929).The IT has empowered to realise it, as the most practical phenomena and it is no more a humour. The OAI (Open Archives Initiatives)and ACIS (Academic Contributor Information System)are progressive in the direction ,which may lead to realise the "Collective Genius" at global level. Focus of present study is on Author-Self-Archiving (A-S-A)Metadata of the 983 Eprints in the Live Archives of the E-LIS (EPrints of Library and Information Science),which were approved till 7th July 2004.The A-S-A Metadata was used for librametric analysis. Self-explanatory bibliographics are illustrated.The highlights include: Conference papers (34%); highest approval, June 2004 (28%); published archives (76%);not refereed (52%); not in public domain (60%); highest self-archiving-author (De Robbio, Antonella).The Nos. of EPrints having single JITA domain specifications were: Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information(27); Information use and sociology of information(80);Users,literacy and reading(13);Libraries as physical collections(30);Publishing and legal issues(57);Management(13);Industry, profession and education(36);Information sources, supports, channels(113) ; Information treatment for information services, Information functions and techniques (101); Technical services libraries, archives and museums(25); Housing technologies(1); Information technology and library technology(92); and Inter-domainery (395) i.e. having specifications of two or more than two JITA classes
Correction to: Selective kappa-opioid antagonism ameliorates anhedonic behavior: evidence from the Fast-fail Trial in Mood and Anxiety Spectrum Disorders (FAST-MAS)
No full textCorrection to: Neuropsychopharmacology 10.1038/s41386-020-0738-4, published online 16 June 2020
In this article a conflict of interest was missing.
The co-author Sanjay J. Mathew served as a consultant to Alkermes.
The original article has been corrected.
The original article can be found online at 10.1038/s41386-020-0738-4
Intestinal Parasitic Infections among Long-Term-Residents and Settled Immigrants in Qatar in the Period 2005 to 2011
No full textAbstract. The expanding economy of Qatar in the last two decades has attracted immigrants, often from countries
with poor socio-economic levels. Many arrive with patent intestinal parasitic infections, and recent analyses have
indicated consistently rising trends in the prevalence of some infections. Here, we examined 18,563 hospital records of
subjects in Qatar seeking medical assistance for a variety of ailments, combining data from 2009 to 2011 with the earlier
dataset from 2005 to 2008 to enable trends to be identified across a 7-year period. We found that 8.6% were infected with
one or more species of parasites, however in contrast to the earlier period (2005–2008), in the latter 3 years there were
falling trends of prevalence providing some optimism that parasitic infections among the resident immigrants have begun
to decline. We identified also geographic regions from which resident workers still maintain a relatively high prevalence
of helminth infections despite their long-term residence in Qatar.This publication was made possible by a grant from Qatar National Research Fund (QRNF) at Qatar Foundation through National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) (Project No. NPRP 4-1283-3-327
Changing trends in intestinal parasitic infections among long-term-residents and settled immigrants in Qatar
No full textMassilia timonae bacteremia: An unusual pathogen of septic abortion
No full textMassilia timonae infections in humans have rarely been reported. To the best of our knowledge, M. timonae has not been previously recognized as a causative agent of obstetric or gynecological infections. Timely identification of this unusual pathogen and the use of targeted antimicrobial therapy are crucial to avoid consequences and treatment failure
Unemployment insurance in Algeria : implications for a labor market in transition
No full textTo predict how Algeria's unemployment crisis will evolve, the author evaluates the Algerian unemployment insurance system's ability to finance itself, to affect employment decisions, and promote enterprise restructuring. The main conclusion is that industrial restructuring has serious and persistent implications for the labor market. In an environment where many equilibria are possible, there is a real danger of reaching a high unemployment equilibrium. The big-bang experience of structural adjustment in Central and Eastern Europe transition economies resulted in large-scale unemployment. Despite considerable restructuring progress, structural rigidities still exist in the labor market, and long-term unemployment has persisted. One advantage of the big-bang approach is adjustment speed, but the resulting unemployment may be too costly for Algeria's economy, especially if it persists. A more modern mixed bang approach would incorporate active employment measures to mitigate entrenched unemployment. The policies will maintain or enhance human capital through work, so idle workers don't lose their skills. Flex-time arrangements would help workers maintain an attachment to the labor force. However minor, such work would help workers avoid the traps of long-term unemployment. Two striking conclusions emerge from the Central and Eastern European experience: a) unemployment is not essential to enterprise restructuring and labor market adjustment;and b) growing long-term unemployment is self-fulfilling and results in higher and persistence unemployment. Although active employment measures are costly and have relatively low rates of return in the short run, they can be marginally effective as part of a long-term strategy.Health Economics&Finance,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform
Addressing the education puzzle : the distribution of education and economic reform
No full textNo country has achieved sustained economic development without substantially investing in human capital. Previous studies have shown the handsome returns to various forms of basic education, research, training, learning-by-doing, and capacity-building. But education by itself does not guarantee successful development, as history has shown in the former Soviet bloc, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Indian states of Kerala and West Bengal. The question is, when and how does education bring high payoffs? Although theory has suggested a strong causal link between education and growth, the empirical evidence has not been unanimous and conclusive. The authors examine two explanatory factors. First, who gets educated matters a good deal, but the distribution of education is complex and not much has been written about it. They construct an asset allocation model that elucidates the importance of the distribution of education to economic development. Second, how education affects growth is greatly affected by the economic policy environment. Policies determine what people can do with their education. Reform of trade, investment, and labor policies can increase the returns from education. Using panel data from 12 Asian and Latin American countries for 1970-94, they investigate the relationship between education, policy reform, and economic growth. Their empirical results are promising. First, the distribution of education matters. Unequal distribution of education tends to have a negative impact on per capita income in most countries. Moreover, controlling for human capital distribution and the use of appropriate functional form specifications consistent with the asset allocation model makes a difference for the effect of average schooling on per capita income. Controlling for education distribution leads to positive and significant effects of average schooling on per capita income, while failure to do so leads to insignificant, even negative effects, of average education. Second, the policy environment matters a great deal. Our results indicate that economic policies that suppress market forces tend to dramatically reduce the impact of human capital on economic growth. Investment in human capital can have little impact on growth unless people can use education in competitive and open markets. The larger and more competitive these markets are, the greater are the prospects for using education and skills.Curriculum&Instruction,Economic Theory&Research,Decentralization,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction,Economic Theory&Research,Gender and Education
Polymerase chain reaction ribotyping of Clostridium difficile isolates in Qatar: a hospital-based study
No full textBackground
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is not generally reported to public health authorities in
the Middle East and its true prevalence remains largely unknown. The aims of this study were
to determine the prevalence of CDI and its associated ribotypes among C. difficile isolates in
Qatar. Influence of age and correlation with other risk factors e.g. proton pump inhibitor use,
antibiotic use, existence of chronic conditions, etc was also investigated for CDI positive
patients.
Methods
A total of 1,532 patients with suspected CDI were recruited from two hospitals between 2011
and 2012. C. difficile was identified using glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) lateral flow assay
and toxins A and B Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA). The C. difficile positive samples were then
cultured for PCR-ribotyping.
Results
122 of the 1,532 (7.9%) samples from individual patients were identified as C.difficile
positive; and 79 of these were viably cultured (~65%). From these, 36 different PCR
ribotypes were isolated, of which strains 258 (6 [7.6%]), 01/014/046 (5 [6.3%]), and
011/053/056/107 (4 [5%]) were the most prevalent. The prevalence of PCR-ribotype 027 was
1.3% (n = 1). An age of ≥65 years and treatment with proton pump inhibitors correlated with
higher frequency of CDI. Treatment with third generation cephalosporins (50 [41%]) and
piperacillin/tazobactam antibiotics (55 [45.1%]) was most frequently associated with CDI.
Conclusion
The most common C. difficile ribotype identified in Qatar was 258, which is different from
those found in North America, Europe and Asia. The prevalence of CDI was higher in Qatar
than Europe; though comparable to other Middle Eastern countries. These findings
underscore the importance of local surveillance to detect and control C. difficile infection
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