The Effects of Taxation on Economic Development: the Moderating Role of Tax Compliance Among SMEs

The amount of revenue collected often determines a country's economic growth and development. Taxes continue to be one of the most important constituents in managing nationwide income in emerging and developed nations. In this sense, tax evasion might have serious effects, especially because the global cost of non-compliance by taxpayers is quite significant. Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are the backbone of economies around the world, driving economic progress and growth, as well as innovation and wealth creation. The high incidence of tax non-compliance among SMEs, on the other hand, stymies the progress that SMEs are meant to bring to many nations. Thus, the study aim at assessing the effects of taxation on economic development with its moderating role of tax compliance. The descriptive research design with quantitative approach was employed. The population of the study consist is 10,000 SMEs operating in Kumasi currently with a sample size of 400 SMEs. The instrument for data collection in this study was questionnaire. The data that was collected was analysed using SPSS. The findings demonstrated that in formulating strategies to enhance voluntary compliance, it is crucial for the relevant authorities to be aware of, understand and appreciate taxation taxpayers’ compliance behaviour and the need to provide tax education services. The results indicated that tax compliance enhanced the effectiveness of taxation to impact on economic development. The moderating role of tax compliance in the relationship between taxation and economic development was low but positive.

World Stroke Organization (WSO): Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2022

Stroke remains the second-leading cause of death and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (as expressed by disability-adjusted life-years lost – DALYs) in the world. The estimated global cost of stroke is over US$721 billion (0.66% of the global GDP). From 1990 to 2019, the burden (in terms of the absolute number of cases) increased substantially (70.0% increase in incident strokes, 43.0% deaths from stroke, 102.0% prevalent strokes, and 143.0% DALYs), with the bulk of the global stroke burden (86.0% of deaths and 89.0% of DALYs) residing in lower-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC). This World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2022 provides the most updated information that can be used to inform communication with all internal and external stakeholders; all statistics have been reviewed and approved for use by the WSO Executive Committee as well as leaders from the Global Burden of Disease research group.

Natural Polysaccharides as Preventive and Therapeutic Horizon for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases are a serious and widespread global public health burden amongst aging populations. The total estimated worldwide global cost of dementia was US$818 billion in 2015 and has been projected to rise to 2 trillion US$ by 2030. While advances have been made to understand different neurodegenerative disease mechanisms, effective therapeutic strategies do not generally exist. Several drugs have been proposed in the last two decades for the treatment of different types of neurodegenerative diseases, with little therapeutic benefit, and often with severe adverse and side effects. Thus, the search for novel drugs with higher efficacy and fewer drawbacks is an ongoing challenge in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. Several natural compounds including polysaccharides have demonstrated neuroprotective and even therapeutic effects. Natural polysaccharides are widely distributed in plants, animals, algae, bacterial and fungal species, and have received considerable attention for their wide-ranging bioactivity, including their antioxidant, anti-neuroinflammatory, anticholinesterase and anti-amyloidogenic effects. In this review, we summarize different mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases and the neuroprotective effects of natural polysaccharides, highlighting their potential role in the prevention and therapy of neurodegenerative disease.

NEW TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS IN UPGRADING HISTORIC BUILDING TO STANDARD OF NEARLY ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING. EXAMPLE OF TENEMENT HOUSE IN POZNAŃ

This article aims at discussing the issue of relation between an existing historic building and modern technology, which may lead to upgrading the historic building to parameters of a nearly zeroenergy building. It focuses on the possibility to adjust the facility to contemporary forms of using without considerable prejudice to its historic substance and identity, on contrary, with due respect for the old tissue in the context of NZEB parametrisation. The adjustment refers to innovative solutions allowing upgrade of the building by using the most effective technologies based on renewable energy, improved power efficiency of the structure, technical equipment, exterior and interior cladding and meeting requirements connected with minimum global cost in the life cycle assessment of the building.

The Nanotheranostic Researcher’s Guide for Use of Animal Models of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is currently the leading cause of injury-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, with an estimated global cost of USD 400 billion annually. Both clinical and preclinical behavioral outcomes associated with TBI are heterogeneous in nature and influenced by the mechanism and frequency of injury. Previous literature has investigated this relationship through the development of animal models and behavioral tasks. However, recent advancements in these methods may provide insight into the translation of therapeutics into a clinical setting. In this review, we characterize various animal models and behavioral tasks to provide guidelines for evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of treatment options in TBI. We provide a brief review into the systems utilized in TBI classification and provide comparisons to the animal models that have been developed. In addition, we discuss the role of behavioral tasks in evaluating outcomes associated with TBI. Our goal is to provide those in the nanotheranostic field a guide for selecting an adequate TBI animal model and behavioral task for assessment of outcomes to increase research in this field.

A Method for Conducting Preliminary Analysis of the Nature and Context of Sport for Development and Peace Projects in Fieldwork Research: An Illustration With a Malagasy Non-Governmental Organization

More research on sport for development and peace (SDP) organizations is needed to better understand their actual contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, the unstable, restricted, or even risky contexts in which many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and SDP agencies sometimes operate often leave researchers to face important challenges to develop effective or feasible methods to work with such organizations. This study aimed to address the ontological and epistemological questions about what should be known about a given context in an organization before setting off on fieldwork. We propose a methodology, based on an actantial model (AM), as a method to analyze the nature and context of a project, to assess the actors involved in the project, and to establish if the global cost (i.e., material, temporal, financial, and physical) for conducting fieldwork is realistic and feasible of all the parties involved in the potential project. To illustrate this process, we analyzed the nature and context of an SDP project in Madagascar as the first step for potential collaborative research. As researchers, we do not want to invest time and energy to build up a fully developed field research project with an NGO in a context where it would not be realistic or feasible to conduct such research. Actually in this context, developing a research protocol without an implementation strategy might not only be detrimental to the researchers, but also to the NGO itself, where resources are often limited. Accordingly, the results from this preliminary field research demonstrate that an AM is a relevant analytical tool for obtaining insights about the context, the actors, and their relationships within an NGO. In conclusion, this model might be a useful instrument for conducting an initial analysis for the preliminary identification of the necessary conditions for the construction of a sustainable empirical research partnership with a given SDP project.

Modelling of cost indicators for wind turbines of multimegawatt class in various sizes

The choice of wind turbines to fit various specific wind conditions for the purpose of ensuring maximum generation of electric power at least investment expenditures is among the wind power sector overarching challenges. Solving this task involves the evaluation of cost indices for wind turbines of various sizes. A well-known and rather popular with investigators model, made by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (USA) has been improved for the first time with the aim of determining the cost of wind turbines of various sizes on the basis of their main parameters (rated power, rotor diameter, hub height) for current conditions of application. The established correlation relationships between the cost of wind turbine and its main parameters made possible the transformation of a well-known complex model into a model with linear equations and minimization of computations. Based on the research studies of the evolution of wind turbines main parameters and an average (global) cost of 1 MW of their power, the authors have suggested the first-ever original linear mathematical models that enable evaluating the wind turbine cost for any year of research. In illustration of application of the first ever developed technique, we have made the assessment of operating efficiency of the US wind farms from 2010 to 2019. The results obtained convincingly indicate the high quality of the developed model.

Effect of barren plateaus on gradient-free optimization

Barren plateau landscapes correspond to gradients that vanish exponentially in the number of qubits. Such landscapes have been demonstrated for variational quantum algorithms and quantum neural networks with either deep circuits or global cost functions. For obvious reasons, it is expected that gradient-based optimizers will be significantly affected by barren plateaus. However, whether or not gradient-free optimizers are impacted is a topic of debate, with some arguing that gradient-free approaches are unaffected by barren plateaus. Here we show that, indeed, gradient-free optimizers do not solve the barren plateau problem. Our main result proves that cost function differences, which are the basis for making decisions in a gradient-free optimization, are exponentially suppressed in a barren plateau. Hence, without exponential precision, gradient-free optimizers will not make progress in the optimization. We numerically confirm this by training in a barren plateau with several gradient-free optimizers (Nelder-Mead, Powell, and COBYLA algorithms), and show that the numbers of shots required in the optimization grows exponentially with the number of qubits.

Trends in urinary tract infection hospitalization in older adults in Spain from 2000-2015

Objective To analyze trends in urinary tract infection hospitalization (cystitis, pyelonephritis, prostatitis and non-specified UTI) among patients over 65 years in Spain from 2000–2015. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study using the Spanish Hospitalization Minimum Data Set (CMBD), with codifications by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). We collected data on sex, age, type of discharge, main diagnosis, comorbid diagnosis, length of stay, and global cost. All the hospitalizations were grouped by age into three categories: 65–74 years old, 75–84 years old, and 85 years old and above. In the descriptive statistical analysis, crude rates were defined as hospitalizations per 1,000 inhabitants aged ≥65. To identify trends over time, we performed a Joinpoint regression. Results From 2000–2015, we found 387,010 hospitalizations coded as UTIs (54,427 pyelonephritis, 15,869 prostatitis, 2643 cystitis and 314,071 non-specified UTI). The crude rate of hospitalization for UTIs between 2000 and 2015 ranged from 2.09 in 2000 to 4.33 in 2015 Rates of hospitalization were higher in men than in women, except with pyelonephritis. By age group, higher rates were observed in patients aged 85 years or older, barring prostatitis-related hospitalizations. Joinpoint analyses showed an average annual percentage increase (AAPC) in incidence rates of 4.9% (95% CI 3.2;6.1) in UTI hospitalizations. We observed two joinpoints, in 2010 and 2013, that found trends of 5.5% between 2000 and 2010 (95% CI 4.7;6.4), 1.5% between 2010 and 2013 (95% CI -6.0;9.6) and 6.8% between 2013 and 2015 (95% CI -0.3;14.4). Conclusions The urinary infection-related hospitalization rate in Spain doubled during the period 2000–2015. The highest hospitalization rates occurred in men, in the ≥85 years old age group, and in non-specified UTIs. There were increases in all types of urinary tract infection, with non-specified UTIs having the greatest growth. Understanding these changing trends can be useful for health planning.