Equity and Efficiency Measures of Tax-Transfer Systems: Some Evidence for New Zealand

The redistributive and efficiency aspects of personal taxes are of particular interest to both economists and governments designing tax reforms. Traditionally however, the numerous analytical tools available to calculate distributional and efficiency effects of taxes and transfers are not widely used in tax policy advice. This partly reflects the computational complexities involved in calculating some of those measures and the need for simplicity, and transparency of underlying assumptions, when presenting policy advice. This paper makes two contributions to the analysis of the equity and efficiency effects of tax policy. Firstly, it applies the methodologies proposed by economists to measure equity and efficiency outcomes of taxes to provide some evidence for the New Zealand income tax and transfer system. This makes use of Treasury’s microsimulation model, TaxWell. Secondly, the paper examines a database of low-income New Zealand taxpayers. A decomposition by individual and household characteristics shows that different groups of low income taxpayers can be affected quite differently by various aspects of the tax/transfer system. In particular, tax-free zones do not appear well targeted to help those most in need.Personal Income Taxes; Equity; Redistribution; Transfers; Tax Efficiency

Critical design review: Speedfest Orange Team

A task was given to create a small, hand launchable, jet propelled hotliner to compete in the 30N class. The aircraft must not only demonstrate specific speed and efficiency characteristics, but it also must be easy and fast to assemble, reliable and desirable for purchase. The Oklahoma Sate Orange team developed such an aircraft that is marketed to be an attractive and stylish hotliner, and is able to travel at high speeds and turn fast. The Tempest, which was envisioned, designed, and built by the team is a forward swept aircraft that has a bottom mounted engine, and a inverted Y tail. The aircraft can be launched by hand or cart, and goes upwards of 200 mph. The task to fly for 4 minutes and fly pylons was completed on Speedfest day

Hubs with Network Motifs Organize Modularity Dynamically in the Protein-Protein Interaction Network of Yeast

BACKGROUND: It has been recognized that modular organization pervades biological complexity. Based on network analysis, 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' were proposed to understand the basic principle of module organization of biomolecular networks. However, recent study on hubs has suggested that there is no clear evidence for coexistence of 'party hubs' and 'date hubs'. Thus, an open question has been raised as to whether or not 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' truly exist in yeast interactome. METHODOLOGY: In contrast to previous studies focusing on the partners of a hub or the individual proteins around the hub, our work aims to study the network motifs of a hub or interactions among individual proteins including the hub and its neighbors. Depending on the relationship between a hub's network motifs and protein complexes, we define two new types of hubs, 'motif party hubs' and 'motif date hubs', which have the same characteristics as the original 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' respectively. The network motifs of these two types of hubs display significantly different features in spatial distribution (or cellular localizations), co-expression in microarray data, controlling topological structure of network, and organizing modularity. CONCLUSION: By virtue of network motifs, we basically solved the open question about 'party hubs' and 'date hubs' which was raised by previous studies. Specifically, at the level of network motifs instead of individual proteins, we found two types of hubs, motif party hubs (mPHs) and motif date hubs (mDHs), whose network motifs display distinct characteristics on biological functions. In addition, in this paper we studied network motifs from a different viewpoint. That is, we show that a network motif should not be merely considered as an interaction pattern but be considered as an essential function unit in organizing modules of networks

Patterns of Gene Flow Define Species of Thermophilic Archaea

A genomic view of speciation in Archaea shows higher rates of gene flow within coexisting microbial species than between them

Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in a UK university identifies dynamics of transmission

AbstractUnderstanding SARS-CoV-2 transmission in higher education settings is important to limit spread between students, and into at-risk populations. In this study, we sequenced 482 SARS-CoV-2 isolates from the University of Cambridge from 5 October to 6 December 2020. We perform a detailed phylogenetic comparison with 972 isolates from the surrounding community, complemented with epidemiological and contact tracing data, to determine transmission dynamics. We observe limited viral introductions into the university; the majority of student cases were linked to a single genetic cluster, likely following social gatherings at a venue outside the university. We identify considerable onward transmission associated with student accommodation and courses; this was effectively contained using local infection control measures and following a national lockdown. Transmission clusters were largely segregated within the university or the community. Our study highlights key determinants of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and effective interventions in a higher education setting that will inform public health policy during pandemics.</jats:p

Equity and Efficiency Measures of Tax-Transfer Systems: Some Evidence for New Zealand

The redistributive and efficiency aspects of personal taxes are of particular interest to both economists and governments designing tax reforms. Traditionally however, the numerous analytical tools available to calculate distributional and efficiency effects of taxes and transfers are not widely used in tax policy advice. This partly reflects the computational complexities involved in calculating some of those measures and the need for simplicity, and transparency of underlying assumptions, when presenting policy advice. This paper makes two contributions to the analysis of the equity and efficiency effects of tax policy. Firstly, it applies the methodologies proposed by economists to measure equity and efficiency outcomes of taxes to provide some evidence for the New Zealand income tax and transfer system. This makes use of Treasury's microsimulation model, TaxWell. Secondly, the paper examines a database of low-income New Zealand taxpayers. A decomposition by individual and household characteristics shows that different groups of low income taxpayers can be affected quite differently by various aspects of the tax/transfer system. In particular, tax-free zones do not appear well targeted to help those most in need

CARING pCO2 Data Report. FIGURE-CARING cruise 21-30 Jul 2022

During the FIGURE-CARING cruise (https://doi.org/10.17600/18002940) on board the RV/Atlantic Explorer (21-30 Jul 2022), continuous underway measurements of pCO2 were taken by means of an autonomous General Oceanics LI-COR 7000 pCO2 system (measurement method IR), located in an air-conditioned laboratory (RV/AE End Lab). Raw data were automatically stored to be calibrated and QCd for outliers a posteriori by BIOS CARING project collaborators (M. Enright, N. Bates), following the method by Pierrot et al. (2009). As part of the post-processing, pCO2 data were merged with position, barometric pressure, and underway temperature and salinity data, and flagged following the WOCE flagging code (2=Good, 3=Questionable). Further details on the water sampling/storage procedure can be found in the cruise report (Benavides and Carracedo, 2022; https://doi.org/10.13155/96692). Further details on the processing steps by parameter are indicated in this data report. The corresponding datafile is provided as a CSV file, and parameter metadata as a TXT file (Carracedo et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.17882/96728)

The Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis toxin complex is active against cultured mammalian cells.

The toxin complex (Tc) genes were first identified in the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and encode approximately 1 MDa protein complexes which are toxic to insect pests. Subsequent genome sequencing projects have revealed the presence of tc orthologues in a range of bacterial pathogens known to be associated with insects. Interestingly, members of the mammalian-pathogenic yersiniae have also been shown to encode Tc orthologues. Studies in Yersinia enterocolitica have shown that divergent tc loci either encode insect-active toxins or play a role in colonization of the gut in gastroenteritis models of rats. So far little is known about the activity of the Tc proteins in the other mammalian-pathogenic yersiniae. Here we present work to suggest that Tc proteins in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis are not insecticidal toxins but have evolved for mammalian pathogenicity. We show that Tc is secreted by Y. pseudotuberculosis strain IP32953 during growth in media at 28 degrees C and 37 degrees C. We also demonstrate that oral toxicity of strain IP32953 to Manduca sexta larvae is not due to Tc expression and that lysates of Escherichia coli BL21 expressing the Yersinia Tc proteins are not toxic to Sf9 insect cells but are toxic to cultured mammalian cell lines. Cell lysates of E. coli BL21 expressing the Y. pseudotuberculosis Tc proteins caused actin ruffles, vacuoles and multi-nucleation in cultured human gut cells (Caco-2); similar morphology was observed after application of a lysate of E. coli BL21 expressing the Y. pestis Tc proteins to mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 cells, but not Caco-2 cells. Finally, transient expression of the individual Tc proteins in Caco-2 and NIH3T3 cell lines reproduced the actin and nuclear rearrangement observed with the topical applications. Together these results add weight to the growing hypothesis that the Tc proteins in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis have been adapted for mammalian pathogenicity. We further conclude that Tc proteins from Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis display differential mammalian cell specificity in their toxicity