Towards the Asian information society through telecommunications trade and investment

The purpose of this paper is to investigate possibilities in promoting the movement of the Asian economies towards becoming information societies. We focus on promoting intra-industry trade and investment in the information and telecommunications sector. We take into account the impacts and implications of the economic crisis and its aftermath on ongoing implementation of liberalization policies in the telecommunications industry in various Asian countries. Concrete action plans are proposed to exploit synergistic cooperation within the region as follows: (i) industrial relocation and utilization of actual and potential industrial complementarities; (ii) vertical integration, horizontal meglecrvs, acquisitions, and consolidations of telecommunication companies to remedy over-investment; (iii) prompt establishment of common technical standards of telecommunications through international organizations and multilateral negotiations; (iv) suitable international division of sub-industries based on national capacity; (v) establishment of information centers as matchmakers between small-and-medium-sized enterprises with diverse IT needs; (vi) expansion of trade and investment by quid pro quo multilateral trade negotiations.

OPTIMAL TAXATION AND POLITICAL EQUILIBRIUM WITH FAIRNESS CONSIDERATION

In this paper, I investigate the optimal taxation of labor and capital as well as the political equilibrium when people are homogeneous and have a preference for fairness. Not surprisingly, the optimal taxation takes a variant Ramsey-Mirrlees formula. I then fully characterize the equilibrium fiscal policy and find conditions under which the maximum capital levy holds. In particular, I show that an additional concern for fairness may enforce or weaken the maximum capital levy result in an intuitive manner. For example, if the degree to which labor income is determined by stochastic shocks with respect to talent and effort is relatively larger than that of capital income, the maximum capital levy and hence no tax on labor is less plausible to obtain on equilibrium. Copyright � 2007 The Author; Journal compilation � 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and The University of Manchester.

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The Chemical Constituents from Fruits of Catalpa bignonioides Walt. and Their α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activity and Insulin Secretion Effect

Catalpa pod has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in South America. Studies on the constituents of Catalpa species have shown that it is rich in iridoids. In the present study, three previously undescribed compounds (2–4), including two secoiridoid derivatives along with twelve known compounds, were isolated from the fruits of Catalpa bignonioides Walt. In addition, fully assigned 13C-NMR of 5,6-dihydroxy-7,4’-dimethoxyflavone-6-O-sophoroside (1) is reported for the first time in the present study. The structures of compounds were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods, including UV, IR, 1D, and 2D NMR, mass spectroscopy, and CD spectroscopic data. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Among the tested compounds, compounds 2, 3, and 9 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase enzyme assay. Meanwhile, the effect of compounds 2, 3, and 9 on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) was measured using pancreatic β-cells. Compounds 2, 3, and 9 exhibited non-cytotoxicity-stimulated insulin secretion in INS-1 cells. The expression levels of proteins associated with β-cell function and insulin secretion such as phosphorylation of total insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, activated pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1 (PDX-1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) were increased in INS-1 cells after treatment with compounds 2, 3, and 9. The findings of the present study could provide a scientific warrant for their application as a potential antidiabetic agent