Intertemporal excess burden, bequest motives, and the budget deficit

The author aims to empirically determine the significant factors that affect the levels of budget deficits of central governments across time and across countries. He empirically tests two prominent theories of budget deficits-the Barro (1979) tax-smoothing approach, and the still-untested theory of negative bequest motives advocated by Cukierman and Meltzer (1989). The author uses econometric techniques including fixed-effects (both country and time) panel regressions spanning 87 countries over the period 1975 to 1992, and the Griliches treatment of missing data. The author finds relatively stronger statistical support for the tax-smoothing approach among developing countries but not in industrial countries. The existence of empirical evidence supporting the theory of negative bequest motives is indeterminate. The author also conducted post-regression analyses to assess the proportion of observed differences in budget deficits the factors were actually able to explain. These reveal that both theories are generally weak in accounting for inter-temporal changes in budget deficit shares for both industrial and developing countries. The theories performed significantly better in accounting for cross-section differences. The author has many contributions to the literature. First, he analyzes the question of what determines the size of central government budget deficits using cross-country time series data leading into the 1990s. Second, he provides empirical tests of the still-untested Cukierman-Meltzer (1989) negative bequest motive theory of budget deficits. By using the panel data, the author attempts to determine the factors that influence not only the inter-temporal differences in budget deficits but also those factors that lead to cross-country differences. Last but not least, he provides some preliminary evidence that poverty reduction is necessary for long-term government budget deficit reduction.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research,Economic Stabilization,Banks&Banking Reform,National Governance

Anaerobiosis revisited: growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under extremely low oxygen availability

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays an important role in biotechnological applications, ranging from fuel ethanol to recombinant protein production. It is also a model organism for studies on cell physiology and genetic regulation. Its ability to grow under anaerobic conditions is of interest in many industrial applications. Unlike industrial bioreactors with their low surface area relative to volume, ensuring a complete anaerobic atmosphere during microbial cultivations in the laboratory is rather difficult. Tiny amounts of O2 that enter the system can vastly influence product yields and microbial physiology. A common procedure in the laboratory is to sparge the culture vessel with ultrapure N2 gas; together with the use of butyl rubber stoppers and norprene tubing, O2 diffusion into the system can be strongly minimized. With insights from some studies conducted in our laboratory, we explore the question ‘how anaerobic is anaerobiosis?’. We briefly discuss the role of O2 in non-respiratory pathways in S. cerevisiae and provide a systematic survey of the attempts made thus far to cultivate yeast under anaerobic conditions. We conclude that very few data exist on the physiology of S. cerevisiae under anaerobiosis in the absence of the anaerobic growth factors ergosterol and unsaturated fatty acids. Anaerobicity should be treated as a relative condition since complete anaerobiosis is hardly achievable in the laboratory. Ideally, researchers should provide all the details of their anaerobic set-up, to ensure reproducibility of results among different laboratories. A correction to this article is available online at http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/131930/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9036-

Adea-adee shaping the future of dental education iii assessment in competency-based dental education: Ways forward

Assessment in competency-based dental education continues to be a recognized area for growth and development within dental programs around the world. At the joint American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) 2019 conference, Shaping the Future of Dental Education III, the workshop on assessment was designed to continue the discussion started in 2017 at the ADEA-ADEE Shaping the Future of Dental Education II.1 The focus of the 2019 conference involved examining the potential of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) and current thinking about workplace-based assessment (WBA) within competency-based education in the 21st century. Approximately 30 years ago, George Miller wrote about the assessment of competence in medical education and challenged faculty to reach for higher levels of assessment than knowledge or skill.2 Acknowledging that no one assessment method can result in a valid assessment of competence, Miller proposed a four-level framework for assessment. The lowest level involves measuring what students know (“knows”), followed by assessment of the skill with which knowledge is applied in relevant tasks or problems (“knows how”). Next is an assessment of task performance in standardized settings (“shows how”), and finally, the highest level assesses the student’s performance in the unstandardized clinical workplace (“does”). The 2019 assessment workshop focused on advances in the assessment of learners in the unstandardized workplace—the highest level of Miller’s assessment pyramid (“does”). Research has shown that dental education has strug-gled to implement assessment strategies that meet this level.3 The workshop brought together individuals from around the world, with an interest in assessment in dental education, to consider how assessment in the “does” level, specifically EPAs and WBA, factors into competence assessment in dentistry/dental education

Report of the ADEA President\u27s Task Force on the Surgeon General\u27s Report on Oral Health

In response to the first-ever Surgeon General\u27s report on oral health, released on May 25, 2000, ADEA President Rowland A. Hutchinson, D.D.S., M.S., appointed a task force to study the report from the perspective of dental education. The task force was charged with making recommendations to the ADEA Board of Directors as to the Association\u27s message to members and the general public, the Association\u27s role in addressing oral health disparities, the legislative and policy implications of the report, and areas of collaboration between ADEA and others in the dental and health professions. The task force reviewed the report and made five recommendations, including increasing public awareness of the report\u27s messages, promoting collaborative activities with a goal of improving America\u27s oral health, and providing leadership in the drive to promote the incorporation of new science in dental education. The task force also identified numerous ADEA initiatives that address issues related to the Surgeon General\u27s report

Current employment characteristics and career intentions of Lithuanian dentists

BACKGROUND: The present survey explored the current employment profile and future career intentions of Lithuanian general dentists and specialists. METHODS: A census sampling method was employed with data collected by means of a structured questionnaire that inquired about demographics, different employment-related aspects (practice type and location, working hours, perceived lack of patients, etc.), and future career intentions (intent to emigrate, to change profession, or the timing of retirement). The final response rate was 67.6% corresponding to 2,008 respondents. RESULTS: The majority of all dentists work full or part-time in the private dental sector, more than one third of them owns a private practice or rents a dental chair. A minority of dentists works in the public dental sector. According to the survey, 26.6% of general dentists and 39.2% of dental specialists works overtime (>40 hours per week; P <0.001) and practice in multiple clinics (1.4 ± 0.6 and 2.0 ± 1.2, respectively; P <0.001). One third of general dentists (31.3%) and dental specialists (31.4%) stated to have a low number of patients (P >0.05). The majority (68.9% of general dentists and 65.9% of dental specialists) plans to work after the retirement age (P >0.05). Emigration as an option for their professional career is being considered by 10.8% of general dentists and 8.3% of dental specialists (P >0.05). Working either full or part-time in private practices (OR = 4.3) and younger age (≤35 years; OR = 2.2) are the two strongest predictors for a perceived insufficient number of patients. CONCLUSIONS: One third of dentists in Lithuania work long hours and lack patients. Many dentists practice in multiple locations and plan to retire after the official retirement age. Some dentists and dental specialists plan to emigrate. The perceived shortcomings within the dental care system and workforce planning of dentists need to be addressed

Transcriptional Regulation of the Two Sterol Esterification Genes in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcribes two genes, ARE1 and ARE2, that contribute disproportionately to the esterification of sterols. Are2p is the major enzyme isoform in a wild-type cell growing aerobically. This likely results from a combination of differential transcription initiation and transcript stability. By using ARE1 and ARE2 promoter fusions to lacZ reporters, we demonstrated that transcriptional initiation from the ARE1 promoter is significantly reduced compared to that from the ARE2 promoter. Furthermore, the half-life of the ARE2 mRNA is approximately 12 times as long as that of the ARE1 transcript. We present evidence that the primary role of the minor sterol esterification isoform encoded by ARE1 is to esterify sterol intermediates, whereas the role of the ARE2 enzyme is to esterify ergosterol, the end product of the pathway. Accordingly, the ARE1 promoter is upregulated in strains that accumulate ergosterol precursors. Furthermore, ARE1 and ARE2 are oppositely regulated by heme. Under heme-deficient growth conditions, ARE1 was upregulated fivefold while ARE2 was down-regulated. ARE2 requires the HAP1 transcription factor for optimal expression, and both ARE genes are derepressed in a rox1 (repressor of oxygen) mutant genetic background. We further report that the ARE genes are not subject to end product inhibition; neither ARE1 nor ARE2 transcription is altered in an are mutant background, nor does overexpression of either ARE gene alter the response of the ARE-lacZ reporter constructs. Our observations are consistent with an important physiological role for Are1p during anaerobic growth when heme is limiting and sterol precursors may accumulate. Conversely, Are2p is optimally required during aerobiosis when ergosterol is plentiful

The global network on dental education: A new vision for IFDEA

The advent of globalization has changed our perspectives radically. It presents increased understanding of world affairs, new challenges and exciting opportunities. The inequitable distribution and use of finite energy resources and global warming are just two examples of challenges that can only be addressed by concerted international collaboration. Globalization has become an increasingly important influence on dentistry and dental education. The International Federation for Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA) welcomes the challenges it now faces as a player in a complex multifaceted global community. This report addresses the new circumstances in which IFDEA must operate, taking account of the recommendations made by other working groups. The report reviews the background and evolution of IFDEA and describes the extensive developments that have taken place in IFDEA over the past year with the introductions of a new Constitution and Bylaws overseen by a newly established Board of Directors. These were the consequence of a new mission, goals and objectives for IFDEA. An expanded organization is planned using http://www.IFDEA.org as the primary instrument to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, programmes and expertise between colleagues and federated associations throughout the world, thereby promoting higher standards in oral health through education in low-, middle- and high-income countries of the world. Such aspirations are modified by the reality and enormity of poverty-related global ill health