228 research outputs found

    The US Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and interaction with G20 initiatives: a quick guide

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    This guide provides a selection of information sources about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, an American law developed to reduce offshore tax evasion which has implications for Australia. Introduction: The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is an American law developed to reduce offshore tax evasion and regain federal tax revenues from American account holders at foreign (non-American) financial institutions internationally. It therefore has implications for Australia and its financial institutions. The impetus for the Act was a 2009 court case in which Swiss Bank UBS was found to have assisted American nationals to evade paying American taxes. As a result, UBS agreed to pay the United States (US) government US780millioninfines,restitutionandprovidethenamesofsuspectedtaxcheats.AccordingtotheUnitedStatesDepartmentofJustice,theuseofoffshorebankaccountstoavoidpayingAmericantaxescoststheUSTreasury,intotal,atleastUS780 million in fines, restitution and provide the names of suspected tax cheats. According to the United States Department of Justice, the use of offshore bank accounts to avoid paying American taxes costs the US Treasury, in total, at least US100 billion annually. The wide-reaching FATCA was passed in the 111th Congress as part of the 2010 Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (Hire Act), becoming law in March 2010. FATCA requires: – individuals to report their financial accounts held outside of the United States, and – foreign (that is, non-US) financial institutions to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about their American clients. To enforce the FATCA, it has become necessary for the US government to sign agreements with foreign governments allowing the trade of individuals’ financial data; this is outlined below. FATCA’s large scope and international presence has led to fears about the expanding reach of the US Treasury and IRS. The Australian Government is seeking to address concerns regarding the infringement of individuals’ data privacy rights and Australian taxation sovereignty prior to signing an Intergovernmental Agreement with the United States

    Synthesis of phthalimide and naphthalimide derived Biginelli compounds and evaluation of their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities

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    In the present work, synthesis of phthalimide and naphthalimide derived Biginelli compounds was performed. Allylation of phthalic & naphthalic anhydride, followed by ozonolysis resulted in the formation of N-phathalimido/naphpthalimido acetaldehyde (2 and 7). These aldehydes were subjected to Biginelli reaction using urea/thiourea and divergent β-keto esters in the presence of sulfated tin oxide (5 mol%) as catalyst in ethanol reflux to produce the corresponding dihydropyrimidinone compounds (5a-j and 8a-h). Additionally, both their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions were carried out. Compounds 5e, 5f, 5i, and 5j have shown potent to moderate potent activity for both antioxidant and anti-inflamamtory activities when compared to standard. Compounds 8c and 8g have shown potent antioxidant and anti-inflamamtory activities when compared to other compounds

    Modelling study of the ability to diagnose acute rheumatic fever at different levels of the Ugandan healthcare system.

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    OBJECTIVE: To determine the ability to accurately diagnose acute rheumatic fever (ARF) given the resources available at three levels of the Ugandan healthcare system. METHODS: Using data obtained from a large epidemiological database on ARF conducted in three districts of Uganda, we selected variables that might positively or negatively predict rheumatic fever based on diagnostic capacity at three levels/tiers of the Ugandan healthcare system. Variables were put into three statistical models that were built sequentially. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate ORs and 95% CI of predictors of ARF. Performance of the models was determined using Akaike information criterion, adjusted R2, concordance C statistic, Brier score and adequacy index. RESULTS: A model with clinical predictor variables available at a lower-level health centre (tier 1) predicted ARF with an optimism corrected area under the curve (AUC) (c-statistic) of 0.69. Adding tests available at the district level (tier 2, ECG, complete blood count and malaria testing) increased the AUC to 0.76. A model that additionally included diagnostic tests available at the national referral hospital (tier 3, echocardiography, anti-streptolysin O titres, erythrocyte sedimentation rate/C-reactive protein) had the best performance with an AUC of 0.91. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing the burden of rheumatic heart disease in low and middle-income countries requires overcoming challenges of ARF diagnosis. Ensuring that possible cases can be evaluated using electrocardiography and relatively simple blood tests will improve diagnostic accuracy somewhat, but access to echocardiography and tests to confirm recent streptococcal infection will have the greatest impact

    Evaluating the Cellular Targets of Anti-4-1BB Agonist Antibody during Immunotherapy of a Pre-Established Tumor in Mice

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    Manipulation of the immune system represents a promising avenue for cancer therapy. Rational advances in immunotherapy of cancer will require an understanding of the precise correlates of protection. Agonistic antibodies against the tumor necrosis factor receptor family member 4-1BB are emerging as a promising tool in cancer therapy, with evidence that these antibodies expand both T cells as well as innate immune cells. Depletion studies have suggested that several cell types can play a role in these immunotherapeutic regimens, but do not reveal which cells must directly receive the 4-1BB signals for effective therapy.We show that re-activated memory T cells are superior to resting memory T cells in control of an 8-day pre-established E.G7 tumor in mice. We find that ex vivo activation of the memory T cells allows the activated effectors to continue to divide and enter the tumor, regardless of antigen-specificity; however, only antigen-specific reactivated memory T cells show any efficacy in tumor control. When agonistic anti-4-1BB antibody is combined with this optimized adoptive T cell therapy, 80% of mice survive and are fully protected from tumor rechallenge. Using 4-1BB-deficient mice and mixed bone marrow chimeras, we find that it is sufficient to have 4-1BB only on the endogenous host alphabeta T cells or only on the transferred T cells for the effects of anti-4-1BB to be realized. Conversely, although multiple immune cell types express 4-1BB and both T cells and APC expand during anti-4-1BB therapy, 4-1BB on cells other than alphabeta T cells is neither necessary nor sufficient for the effect of anti-4-1BB in this adoptive immunotherapy model.This study establishes alphabeta T cells rather than innate immune cells as the critical target in anti-4-1BB therapy of a pre-established tumor. The study also demonstrates that ex vivo activation of memory T cells prior to infusion allows antigen-specific tumor control without the need for reactivation of the memory T cells in the tumor

    Active case finding for rheumatic fever in an endemic country

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    Background: Despite the high burden of rheumatic heart disease in sub‐Saharan Africa, diagnosis with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is exceedingly rare. Here, we report the results of the first prospective epidemiologic survey to diagnose and characterize ARF at the community level in Africa. Methods and Results: A cross‐sectional study was conducted in Lira, Uganda, to inform the design of a broader epidemiologic survey. Key messages were distributed in the community, and children aged 3 to 17 years were included if they had either (1) fever and joint pain, (2) suspicion of carditis, or (3) suspicion of chorea, with ARF diagnoses made by the 2015 Jones Criteria. Over 6 months, 201 children met criteria for participation, with a median age of 11 years (interquartile range, 6.5) and 103 (51%) female. At final diagnosis, 51 children (25%) had definite ARF, 11 (6%) had possible ARF, 2 (1%) had rheumatic heart disease without evidence of ARF, 78 (39%) had a known alternative diagnosis (10 influenza, 62 malaria, 2 sickle cell crises, 2 typhoid fever, 2 congenital heart disease), and 59 (30%) had an unknown alternative diagnosis. Conclusions: ARF persists within rheumatic heart disease–endemic communities in Africa, despite the low rates reported in the literature. Early data collection has enabled refinement of our study design to best capture the incidence of ARF and to answer important questions on community sensitization, healthcare worker and teacher education, and simplified diagnostics for low‐resource areas. This study also generated data to support further exploration of the relationship between malaria and ARF diagnosis in rheumatic heart disease/malaria‐endemic countries
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