An Examination of US Consumer Pet and Veterinary Expenditures, 1980-1999

The veterinary medical profession touches nearly everyone's life, either directly or indirectly. An estimated 58.3% of US households own pets (AVMA, 2002), and most people consume livestock products in the form of meat, dairy products, wool, or leather. The health and well being of all these animals depend heavily on relationships with veterinarians. Veterinarians also contribute to public health through the FDA, CDC, USDA, and numerous other government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. Issues of primary concern include food safety, biosecurity, and the numerous emerging (and re-emerging) infectious diseases that are zoonotic in nature. Finally, veterinarians have an additional impact through their research contributions. Virtually all of the laboratory animals used in research are raised, housed, and managed under the care of veterinarians, and veterinary researchers regularly provide valuable contributions to the knowledge base in the biomedical sciences. This study was designed to assess the general trends in pet and veterinary expenditures as well as factors associated with pet ownership and expenditures on veterinary medical services. Providing such key information on the sector of greatest economic importance will enhance the probability of sustained economic viability in the veterinary medical profession as a whole.Health Economics and Policy,

Sequencing and analysis of the gastrula transcriptome of the brittle star Ophiocoma wendtii

Background The gastrula stage represents the point in development at which the three primary germ layers diverge. At this point the gene regulatory networks that specify the germ layers are established and the genes that define the differentiated states of the tissues have begun to be activated. These networks have been well-characterized in sea urchins, but not in other echinoderms. Embryos of the brittle star Ophiocoma wendtii share a number of developmental features with sea urchin embryos, including the ingression of mesenchyme cells that give rise to an embryonic skeleton. Notable differences are that no micromeres are formed during cleavage divisions and no pigment cells are formed during development to the pluteus larval stage. More subtle changes in timing of developmental events also occur. To explore the molecular basis for the similarities and differences between these two echinoderms, we have sequenced and characterized the gastrula transcriptome of O. wendtii. Methods Development of Ophiocoma wendtii embryos was characterized and RNA was isolated from the gastrula stage. A transcriptome data base was generated from this RNA and was analyzed using a variety of methods to identify transcripts expressed and to compare those transcripts to those expressed at the gastrula stage in other organisms. Results Using existing databases, we identified brittle star transcripts that correspond to 3,385 genes, including 1,863 genes shared with the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus gastrula transcriptome. We characterized the functional classes of genes present in the transcriptome and compared them to those found in this sea urchin. We then examined those members of the germ-layer specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs) of S. purpuratus that are expressed in the O. wendtii gastrula. Our results indicate that there is a shared ‘genetic toolkit’ central to the echinoderm gastrula, a key stage in embryonic development, though there are also differences that reflect changes in developmental processes. Conclusions The brittle star expresses genes representing all functional classes at the gastrula stage. Brittle stars and sea urchins have comparable numbers of each class of genes and share many of the genes expressed at gastrulation. Examination of the brittle star genes in which sea urchin orthologs are utilized in germ layer specification reveals a relatively higher level of conservation of key regulatory components compared to the overall transcriptome. We also identify genes that were either lost or whose temporal expression has diverged from that of sea urchins

The Solution to the Budgetary Support Problem Based on Highway Needs

This selection reflects the conviction that the distinction between direct-user benefit and general-public benefit must be dealt with in a satisfactory manner

Thermal excitation of Trivelpiece-Gould modes in a pure electron plasma

Thermally excited plasma modes are observed in trapped, near-thermal-equilibrium pure electron plasmas over a temperature range of 0.05<T<5 eV. The measured thermal emission spectra together with a separate measurement of the wave absorption coefficient uniquely determines the temperature. Alternately, kinetic theory including the antenna geometry and the measured mode damping (i.e. spectral width) gives the plasma impedance, obviating the reflection measurement. This non-destructive temperature diagnostic agrees well with standard diagnostics, and may be useful for expensive species such as anti-matter

Tax Structure and Tax Compliance

A model of individual tax compliance behavior, including evasion and avoidance, is developed and estimated. The model recognizes the importance of marginal income tax rates, payroll tax contributions and benefits, and the probability of detection and the penalty on unpaid taxes. Share equations for avoidance, evasion and reported income are estimated using individual-level data. The estimation results indicate that the tax base rises with higher benefits for payroll tax contributions and falls with higher marginal tax rates; the base also falls with more severe penalties and more certain detection of evasion as individuals substitute towards avoidance income

Income Tax Evasion

Jamaica\u27s 1986 personal income tax reform moved the nation well along toward tax simplification, a more uniform and fair treatment of taxpayers, removal of disincentives to in­creased work effort and to work effort allocation across sectors and a more level playing field for investment. The major elements of the reform are a flat rate income tax, a higher income exemption level, and the elimination of all tax credits and most nontaxable perquisites. While the impact of the reform on revenues and on the burden of various types of taxpayers has been carefully analyzed, much less has been done in terms of studying the impact on those who do not pay -- ­those who evade the income tax by either under­reporting or not filing. This paper presents estimates of the amount, structure and deter­minants of evasion by Jamaica\u27s hard-to-tax sec­tor, the self-employed. It should be emphasized at the outset that Jamaica\u27s problems with income tax evasion are not solved by the flat tax. While the new system lessens the rewards for evasion and through simplification makes compliance and monitoring easier, it will not automatically draw the self­-employed into the tax net. Why would a person who is successful at evading tax at a 57 1/2 percent marginal rate voluntarily come forward to pay because the rate has been dropped to 33 1/3 per­cent? The structural reform must be accompanied by a vigorous program of administrative im­provements. This is all the more reason to conduct a careful analysis of the amount and structure of income tax evasion. How much additional tax revenue could be captured in an effective pro­gram of enforcement, and what income groups, occupations, etc., should be targeted for increased coverage, examination and audit? The next section of this chapter summarizes the results of analyses of the national income accounts and the taxpaying characteristics of a random sample of six professional occupations. Both approaches are meant to infer the total amount of self-employed income tax evasion. The methodology used in drawing and analyzing a much larger and more representative sample of self-employed individuals is discussed in the fol­lowing section. Then we turn in the next three sections to the heart of this work: an analysis of filing rates and of the characteristics of self-­employed filers, an analysis of the revenue loss that results from those who do not file, and an analysis of audit/examination reports to estimate and explain the degree of underreporting by self­-employed filers. The final section of the paper is concerned with how tax policy and tax administration might be altered to draw the self­-employed into the tax net

An Evaluation of the Structure of the Jamaican Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax is one of Jamaica\u27s most productive sources of government revenue, and certainly its most visible. Before reform, both the structure and the administration of the tax were badly flawed. As a result, the tax produced less revenue than it might have, was unfair in its distribution of tax burdens, and created severe disincentives for private sector economic growth. The material presented in the chapter provided the background data on which the 1986 reform was built