Taxes and Economic Development: An Update on the State of the Economics Literature

There is a large literature examining the effect of taxes and tax concessions on local economic development. The last comprehensive review of taxes and economic development, however, was Wasylenko’s review in 1997, which mostly examined the location response of firms. Subsequent to the last major review of the literature, empirical work in this area sought to address endogeneity concerns that plagued previous studies, resulting in a series of compelling new studies. This article reviews the empirical literature on tax-based economic development incentives produced since Wasylenko’s 1997 review and covers property tax (including tax increment financing and business improvement districts); spatially targeted and zone-based tax concessions; firm-specific incentives; and corporate income taxes. The review focuses on academic studies that employ modern program evaluation or quasi-experimental techniques and U.S.-based policies.

Deficits in functional trait diversity following recovery on coral reefs

The disturbance regimes of ecosystems are changing, and prospects for continued recovery remain unclear. New assemblages with altered species composition may be deficient in key functional traits. Alternatively, important traits may be sustained by species that replace those in decline (response diversity). Here, we quantify the recovery and response diversity of coral assemblages using case studies of disturbance in three locations. Despite return trajectories of coral cover, the original assemblages with diverse functional attributes failed to recover at each location. Response diversity and the reassembly of trait space was limited, and varied according to biogeographic differences in the attributes of dominant, rapidly recovering species. The deficits in recovering assemblages identified here suggest that the return of coral cover cannot assure the reassembly of reef trait diversity, and that shortening intervals between disturbances can limit recovery among functionally important species.

Task Placement on Fog Computing Made Efficient for IoT Application Provision

Fog computing is one of the promising technologies for realizing global-scale Internet of Things (IoT) applications as it allows moving compute and storage resources closer to IoT devices, where data is generated, in order to solve the limitations in cloud-based technologies such as communication delay, network load, energy consumption, and operational cost. However, this technology is still in its infancy stage containing essential research challenges. For instance, what is a suitable fog computing scheme where effective service provision models can be deployed is still an open question. This paper proposes a novel multitier fog computing architecture that supports IoT service provisioning. Concretely, a solid service placement mechanism that optimizes service decentralization on fog landscape leveraging context-aware information such as location, response time, and resource consumption of services has been devised. The proposed approach optimally utilizes virtual resources available on the network edges to improve the performance of IoT services in terms of response time, energy, and cost reduction. The experimental results from both simulated data and use cases from service deployments in real-world applications, namely, the intelligent transportation system (ITS) in Ho Chi Minh City, show the effectiveness of the proposed solution in terms of maximizing fog device utilization while reducing latency, energy consumption, network load, and operational cost. The results confirm the robustness of the proposed scheme revealing its capability to maximize the IoT potential.

INOVASI JAMINAN KESEHATAN SEMESTA DALAM USAHA MENINGKATKAN KUALITAS PELAYANAN KESEHATAN BAGI PESERTA JAMINAN PENYANGGA DI DAERAH ISTIMEWA YOGYAKARTA

This research aims to know and understand about the implementation of the innovation of Universal Health Insurance (Jamkesta) system in an effort to improve health care quality for participants buffer in Yogyakarta. This reseach used descriptive qualitative method. Data collected by interview and observation. Data validity checking is done through a method of triangulation. The process of data analysis include data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. The results showed that the element of human resources, processes, financing, location, response to suggestions for improvements innovation, law, and social supports the implementation of Universal Health Insurance for participant buffer and newborns. However, there are still some deficiencies that need to be corrected when viewed from the elements of socialization, culture and technology. Meanwhile, elements of the results showed that as many as 45% of the total number of participants for eligibility letter (SEP) printed out by Bapel Jamkesos is for the class buffer without ID cards and newborns. This indicates that the Jamkesta vision and mandate of the Governor of Yogyakarta has been reached.Keywords: Innovation, Universal Health Insurance, and Health Care.

Selectivity for space and time in early areas of the auditory dorsal stream in the rhesus monkey

The respective roles of ventral and dorsal cortical processing streams are still under discussion in both vision and audition. We characterized neural responses in the caudal auditory belt cortex, an early dorsal stream region of the macaque. We found fast neural responses with elevated temporal precision as well as neurons selective to sound location. These populations were partly segregated: Neurons in a caudomedial area more precisely followed temporal stimulus structure but were less selective to spatial location. Response latencies in this area were even shorter than in primary auditory cortex. Neurons in a caudolateral area showed higher selectivity for sound source azimuth and elevation, but responses were slower and matching to temporal sound structure was poorer. In contrast to the primary area and other regions studied previously, latencies in the caudal belt neurons were not negatively correlated with best frequency. Our results suggest that two functional substreams may exist within the auditory dorsal stream.

Modality-dependent “What” and “Where” Preparatory Processes in Auditory and Visual Systems

The present study examined the modality specificity and spatio-temporal dynamics of “what” and “where” preparatory processes in anticipation of auditory and visual targets using ERPs and a cue–target paradigm. Participants were presented with an auditory (Experiment 1) or a visual (Experiment 2) cue that signaled them to attend to the identity or location of an upcoming auditory or visual target. In both experiments, participants responded faster to the location compared to the identity conditions. Multivariate spatio-temporal partial least square (ST-PLS) analysis of the scalp-recorded data revealed supramodal “where” preparatory processes between 300–600 msec and 600–1200 msec at central and posterior parietal electrode sites in anticipation of both auditory and visual targets. Furthermore, preparation for pitch processing was captured at modality-specific temporal regions between 300 and 700 msec, and preparation for shape processing was detected at occipital electrode sites between 700 and 1150 msec. The spatio-temporal patterns noted above were replicated when a visual cue signaled the upcoming response (Experiment 2). Pitch or shape preparation exhibited modality-dependent spatio-temporal patterns, whereas preparation for target localization was associated with larger amplitude deflections at multimodal, centro-parietal sites preceding both auditory and visual targets. Using a novel paradigm, the study supports the notion of a division of labor in the auditory and visual pathways following both auditory and visual cues that signal identity or location response preparation to upcoming auditory or visual targets.

Efficacy and tolerance of chemotherapy with dacarbazine or temozolomide associated or not with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in endocrine carcinomas: A retrospective multicentric study from the Groupe des Tumeurs Endocrines (GTE)

e15523 Background: Small studies have shown that therapy with dacarbazine and temozolomide give up to 34% tumoral response rates in endocrine carcinomas. The aim of this large retrospective multicentric study was to evaluate efficacy and tolerance of chemotherapy with dacarbazine or temozolomide associated or not with 5-FU in endocrine carcinomas. Methods: Patients were recruited in 6 French and 1 German centers. All patients with well (WDEC) or poorly-differentiated endocrine carcinoma (PDEC), whatever the primary, and who have been treated with dacarbazine or temozolomide associated or not with iv 5-FU or capecitabine, were included. Response rates were evaluated according to RECIST criteria by one of the investigator and toxicity according to National Cancer Institute Common criteria. Results: 86 patients were included : 36 women, median age 61.7 years (27.7 - 85.7), 67 WHO-PS 0–1. Primaries were : pancreas (n=34), digestive tract (n=23), thyroid (n=9), lung (n=6), other (n=6), unknown (n=8). 64 patients had WDEC and 11 PDEC (11 not determined). The number of previous systemic treatments (chemotherapy, chemoembolization, radionuclide therapy) was: 0 (n=16), 1 (n=25), 2 (n=25), 3 (n=14), 4 and more (n=6). Treatments received were : dacarbazine (n=3), temozolomide (n=19), dacarbazine + 5-FU (n=48), temozolomide + capecitabine (n=16). Evaluation was impossible in two patients. Tumoral response rates (partial and stabilization) were 61.2% in WDEC and 18.2% in PDEC. The best response rates in WDEC were : partial response (n=6; 9.7%), stabilization (n=32; 51.6%), progression (n=24; 38.7%) without significant differences between regimens and primary location. Response rates in WDEC were 88.9%, 71.4% and 64.7% in first, second and third line therapies, respectively. Median progression free survival in WDEC was 5.7 months (0.1–41.7). Grade 3–4 toxicities were hematologic (n=8), digestive (n=10), infection (n=3). Conclusions: Dacarbazine and temozolomide therapy showed high partial response and stabilization rates up to 3rd line therapy in well-differentiated endocrine carcinoma, with moderate toxicity. MGMT tumoral status is currently investigated. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

A novel method of oral fluid collection to monitor immunity to common viral infections

Serological surveys among representative population samples have proved rare given their reliance on invasive sample collection. We therefore completed the first population-based postal survey of immunity in England and Wales using new oral fluid technology. This paper examines the feasibility of this new methodological approach. Nearly 5500 oral fluid samples were collected, with individual demographic and social data via a questionnaire, from persons under 45 years of age recruited through general practices. Instructions were accurately followed with only 1% of samples returned without risk-factor data. The overall response rate was 40%. Response was independently associated with age, sex and location. Response was highest in children aged 5–14 years, adult females and in rural locations. This approach allowed the successful collection of comprehensive individual risk data, but response rates in adults must be improved if oral fluid surveys are to routinely complement serological surveillance.