How tax policy and incentives affect foreign direct investment - a review

With an increasing number of governments competing to attract multinational companies, fiscal incentives have become a global trend that has grown considerably in the 1990s. Poor African countries rely on tax holidays, and import duty exemptions, while industrial Western European countries allow investment allowances, or accelerated depreciation. Have governments offered unreasonably large incentives to entice firms to invest in their countries? The authors review the literature on tax policy, and foreign direct investment, and explore possibilities for research. They observe that tax incentives neither make up for serious deficiencies in a country's investment environment, nor generate the desired externalities. Long-termstrategies to improve human, and physical infrastructure - and, where necessary, to streamline government policies and procedures - are more likely than incentives to attract genuine long-term investment. But more recent evidence has shown that when other factors - such as infrastructure, transport costs, and political and economic stability - are more or less equal, the taxes in one location may have a significant effect on investors'choices. This effect is not straightforward, however. It may depend on the tax instrument used by the authorities, the characteristics of the multinational company, and the relationships between the tax systems in the home country, and recipient countries. For example, tax rebates are more important for mobile firms, for firms that operate in multiple markets, and for firms whose home country exempts any profit earned abroad (Canada, France) rather than using tax credit systems (Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States). Even if tax incentives were quite effective in increasing investment flows, the costs might well outweigh the benefits. Tax incentives are not only likely to have a negative direct effect on fiscal revenues, but also frequently create significant opportunities for illicit behavior by tax administrators, and companies. This issue has become crucial in emerging economies, which face more severe budgetary constraints, and corruption than industrial countries do. The authors suggest research in five areas: 1) The eventual non-linear impact of tax rates on the investment decisions of multinational companies. 2) the effect of tax policy on the composition of foreign direct investment (for example, green-field, reinvested earnings, and mergers and acquisitions). 3) The development of new technologies, and global companies that are likely to be more sensitive to, and able to exploit incentives. 4) The need for a global approach to the taxation of multinational companies. 5) The question of whether tax incentives should be directed only at (foreign) investors thatmake the"right things"(such as environmentally safe products) or more broadly at those that bring jobs, technology transfers, and marketing skills.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,National Governance

Blood Velocities Estimation using Ultrasound

This thesis consists of two parts. In the rst part, the iterative data-adaptive BIAA spectral estimation technique was extended to estimate lateral blood velocities using ultrasound scanners. The BIAA method makes no assumption on samples depth or sampling pattern, and therefore allows for transmission in duplex mode imaging. The technique was examined on a realistic Field II simulation data set, and showed fewer spectral artifacts in comparison with other techniques. In the second part of the thesis, another common problem in blood velocity estimation has been investigated, namely strong backscattered signals from stationary echoes. Two methods have been tested to examine the possibility of overcoming this problem. However, neither of these methods resulted in a better estimation of the blood velocities, most likely as the clutter characteristics in color ow images vary too rapidly to allow for this form of models. This might be a result of the non-stationary tissue motions which could be caused by a variety of factors, such as cardiac activities, respiration, transducer/patient movement, or a combination of them

Sex Reassignment Surgery in Iran, Re-Birth or Human Rights Violations against Transgender People?

NO Abstrac

The relationship of plasma cortisol level with processing speed and working memory in methamphetamine users

This article does not have an abstract  

Spinel and plagioclase peridotites of the Nain ophiolite (Central Iran): Evidence for the incipient stage of oceanic basin formation

The Nain ophiolites crop out along the western border of the central East Iran Microcontinent (CEIM) and consist of an ophiolitic mélange in which pargasite-bearing spinel and plagioclase mantle lherzolites are largely represented.Whole-rock and mineral chemistry data suggest that these rocks record the complex history of the asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle evolution. The spinel lherzolites have experienced low-degree (~5%) partial melting and contain clinopyroxenes with positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu⁎=1.10–1.48) suggesting that the partial melting occurred under oxidized conditions (fayalite–magnetite–quartz−0.8 to+1.3). The pargasite and coexisting clinopyroxene in these rocks are depleted in light rare earth elements (LREE) (mean chondrite-normalized CeN/SmN=0.045). The depleted chemistry of this amphibole reflects metasomatismduring interaction with H2O-rich subalkalinemaficmelts,most likely concurrentlywith or after the partial melting of the spinel lherzolites. The plagioclase lherzolites were subsequently formed by the subsolidus recrystallization of spinel lherzolites under plagioclase facies conditions as a result of mantle uprising, as evidenced by: (1) the development of plagioclase rims around the spinels; (2) plagioclase+orthopyroxene exsolution textures within some clinopyroxene grains; (3) an increase in plagioclase modal content coupled with an increase in modal olivine and a decrease in modal pyroxene and pargasite; (4) coincident decreases in Al, Mg, and Ni, and increases in Cr, Ti, and Fe in spinel, as well as decreases in Al and Ca, and increases in Cr and Ti in pyroxene and pargasite; and (5) the identical whole rock compositions of the spinel and plagioclase lherzolites, which rules out a magmatic origin for the plagioclase in these units. The Nain lherzolites have similar whole-rock and mineral geochemical compositions to subcontinental peridotites that are typically representative of Iberia-type rifted continental margins and ocean–continent transition zones (OCTZ), suggesting that they formed during the early stages of the evolution of the Nain oceanic basin. This means that the Nain lherzolites represent the Triassic–Jurassic western border of the CEIM or alternatively an associated OCTZ

Novel plant DNA binding protein: Non-expresser of pathogenesis related 1 gene (NPR1) involved in disease resistance

For the first time, through validation of the modified Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) method (in vitro ChIP), the direct binding of NPR1 to the PR1 promoter was demonstrated. This is a novel advancement on plant systemic acquired resistance (SAR)-mediated disease responses. The NPR1 protein (nonexpressor of pathogenesis related gene 1) is a transcriptional co-activator and positive regulator of SAR, a long-lasting mobile defense signal found in plants. The pathogenesis-Related gene 1 (PR1) is particularly induced during defense response, and as such, is typically used as a marker for establishment of SAR in plants. Salicylic acid (SA) is a phytohormone required for SAR-mediated defense responses against pathogens. Recently, the role of NPR1 as a SA receptor was demonstrated; SA has been shown to directly bind to NPR1 through Cysteine 521 and 529 on the Cterminus region of NPR1 via the transition metal copper. The binding of SA to NPR1 results in disruption of the interaction between BTB/POZ and the C-terminus domains of NPR1. Upon SA-NPR1 binding, the C-terminus transactivation domain is released from the auto-inhibitory BTB/POZ domain, resulting in activation of the NPR1 transcription co-activator function, followed by PR1 transcription in Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis thaliana has an inducible defense system and is considered a model plant for studying disease resistance responses. In the current research, NPR1 was demonstrated to bind to the PR1 promoter at two distinct regions, in the presence and absence of SA. In the presence of SA, the binding site of NPR1 was determined to be localized at the -636 to -646 base pair sequence; however, in the absence of SA, NPR1 was found to bind around the -790 to -833 base pair sequence. In addition, two distinct DNA binding domains were identified within NPR1, localized on the C and N-terminus regions. In the absence of SA, the DNA binding domain within the N-terminus region, located between amino acids 110-190, was shown to facilitate the binding of NPR1 to the PR1 promoter through the amino acid cysteine 150 (Cys150) via transition metal. The DNA binding domain on the C-terminus region, located between amino acids 513-535, was demonstrated to allow the binding of NPR1 to the promoter of PR1 in the presence of SA. Two amino acids, cysteine 521 and 529 (Cys521/529), were shown to be essential for SA binding to NPR1 and subsequent NPR1 binding to the PR1 promoter. Furthermore, 4hydroxy benzoic acid (4-OH-BA), the inactive analogue of SA, has been demonstrated to be a potent inhibitor of NPR1-PR1 promoter interaction, both in vivo and in vitro, by competing with SA for NPR1 binding. Moreover, we demonstrated that other analogues of the NPR1 protein, NPR2, NPR3, and NPR4, are also recruited to the PR1 promoter. NPR4 showed a similar binding profile to NPR1, both in the presence and absence of SA. NPR2 and NPR3 were observed to only interact with the PR1 promoter in the absence of SA. Both NPR5 and NPR6 were shown to forgo binding to the PR1 promoter, further confirming their role in plant developmental processes other than defense. In addition, the binding of NPR1 to the PR1 promoter was demonstrated to be conserved among other plant species, including rice and maize. Both rice and maize NPR1 proteins were observed to bind to the PR1 promoter in the presence of SA and a metal co-factor, similar to Arabidopsis NPR1. Our results expand our understanding of how NPR1 interacts with the PR1 promoter to regulate gene expression during SAR establishment. This study also revealed that NPR1-mediated SAR defense signaling is conserved among other crop species, which can potentially facilitate the identification of novel plant-priming compounds through high-throughput chemical screening procedures alongside the application of the validated in vitro ChIP technique as a primary screening method

Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Occupational Stress and Anxiety of Nurses Caring for Patients With COVID-19 in Tehran

Background: This research aims to evaluate the impact of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the occupational stress and the anxiety of nurses. Methods: This was an experimental study with pre-test post-test design with a control group. We included all nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in governmental hospitals in Tehran during six months of 2020. Beck’s Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Steinmetz Occupational Stress Questionnaire were used for data collection. Results: Box’s test (P=0.225) showed that the covariance-variance matrices were homogeneous. Levine’s test also indicated that the assumption of variance equality was observed. The amounts of ETA square root showed that 66.3% of the anxiety variance and 51.3% of the occupational stress variance could be predicted in the posttest through ACT. Conclusion: The rate of occupational stress and anxiety of the test group significantly decreased compared with the control group after the intervention. Therefore, ACT could decrease the occupational stress and anxiety of nurses and the therapists could use this approach for improving the mental health of nurses