Detection and Identification of Jaagsiekte Retrovirus Associated With Sheep Pulmonary Adenomatosis

Sheep pulmonary adenomatosis (SPA) or jaagsiekte is a neoplastic disease of sheep, caused by jaagsiekte retrovirus (JSRV) infection in the lungs. In Malaysia, the disease was first observed in 1993, involving mainly the purebred imported sheep and their crossbreeds, and a long time after the first importation of sheep from Australia into Malaysia in 1987. The JSRV was found to transform the alveolar type II cells in the lungs of sheep to become neoplastic cuboidal cells arranged in acinar or papillary patterns. The neoplastic cells were found to cover the entire alveolar wall with numerous macrophages filling the affected alveoli particularly the alveoli surrounding the neoplastic area. The affected lung tissue and lung fluid were successfully processed to partially purify the materials before the JSRV was successfully detected under the electron microscopy from several local SPA-affected sheep, which showed clinical signs typical of sheep pulmonary adenomatosis. Following the detection of JSRV under the electron microscopy, the virus was later confirmed as the JSRV by using the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique at the viral nucleic acid level. The study. therefore, confirmed that JSRV is present in Malaysia and thus, should be considered in the diagnosis of sheep diseases and in controlling the spread of contagious diseases such as sheep pulmonary adenomatosis. Following the confirmation of the jaagsiekte retrovirus in Malaysia, a RTPCR diagnostic method was developed based on the U3 gene of the retrovirus. The method was able to identify the presence of retrovirus in the peripheral blood of sheep with and without clinical signs of sheep pulmonary adenomatosis. Thus, the technique can be used to identifY subclinically infected animals for culling

Electromagnetic decays of vector mesons as derived from QCD sum rules

We apply the method of QCD sum rules in the presence of external electromagnetic fields $F_{\mu\nu}$ to the problem of the electromagnetic decays of various vector mesons, such as $\rho\to\pi\gamma$, $K^\ast\to K\gamma$ and $\eta'\to\rho\gamma$. The induced condensates obtained previously from the study of baryon magnetic moments are adopted, thereby ensuring the parameter-free nature of the present calculation. Further consistency is reinforced by invoking various QCD sum rules for the meson masses. The numerical results on the various radiative decays agree very well with the experimental data.Comment: To appear in Phys. Lett.

Central Unification versus Local Diversity: China’s Tax Regime, 1980s-2000s

This article firstly present a systematic overview on national tax regime by classifying China’s tax regime into three broad phases in context of underpinning market-oriented institutional development during last two decades and, then, in supplement to previous literatures that largely stop at provincial level, unveil the complex and obscure local tax regime based on sub-provincial field research in Zhejiang and Jiangsu province. The authors observed dual existing tax regimes: the hard and standardized state tax regime under central custody versus de facto soft and flexible local tax regime under local promotion and argue that despite central persisting initiatives in unifying tax regime and recentralization, local variation and divergence continue to play indispensable role in implementation of central reform due to China’s sheer size, geographical, cultural and resource endowment disparity as well as local state’s self-interest seeking inevitably induces localized adaptation of central policy and, consequently, calls for further decentralization

China’s Emerging Tax Regime: Local Tax Farming and Central Tax Bureaucracy

China like other transition economies needs to establish a tax system compatible with a market economy, in particular, an efficient tax administration system with capable tax bureaucrats. The paper singles out the general and China-specific features by which central government attempts to accompany economic transformation via tax farming to tax bureaucratisation in tax administration. Based on empirical study in two provinces this paper shows that without including local government agencies and their budgets, China’s fiscal federalism cannot be analysed and argues that China’s emerging tax system depends on the institutional and organizational design that shapes the interaction between central government, local governments and economic agents

The Importance of Leisure for Subjective Well-Being

This chapter reviews what is known about how leisure contributes to subjective well-being (SWB). We review evidence documenting the importance of leisure for SWB and point to psychological need fulfillment as the main mechanism through which leisure promotes well-being. We discuss why individuals often do not fully experience the beneficial effects of leisure, focusing on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints to leisure participation, and review differences in the degree and type of constraints experienced by different demographic groups. Finally, we review research on the cognitive and behavioral strategies individuals employ to overcome leisure constraints, and highlight the need to understand how societal and institutional policies influence leisure participation and quality. Throughout, we identify important questions for future research

The impact of within-day work breaks on daily recovery processes: An event-based pre-/post-experience sampling study

Research on recovery from work stress has emphasized the importance of within-day work breaks. However, prior research has not been designed and analysed in a way that fully aligns with the processes described by the underlying theoretical framework (i.e., the effort-recovery model). The current paper examines the effects of within-day work breaks on recovery using an event-based pre-/post (EBPP)-design, in a way that more fully captures the recovery process as described by the effort-recovery model. We also included designs used in previous studies (i.e., an interval-based design and an event-based design without pre-break strain measures) to demonstrate the differences between the EBPP design and previous designs. The results of the EBPP model using a sample of Chinese white-collar employees showed that within-day work breaks are significantly associated with reduced fatigue and negative affect and increased positive affect, supporting the predicted recovery effects of within-day work breaks. However, mixed results were found in the interval-based design, and non-significant results were found in the event-based design without pre-break measurements. We discuss methodological implications and explain how the EBPP design could be applied to study other episodic phenomena

How work constrains leisure: New ideas and directions for interdisciplinary research

In this commentary, we note the lack of emphasis on work-related factors in the leisure constraints literature. We highlight three work-related factors that we think warrant investigation as leisure constraints: (1) labor practices related to work scheduling, (2) organizational norms, and (3) work supervisors. We discuss relevant organizational psychology literatures and note that future research focusing on work-related factors could broaden knowledge about leisure constraints and illuminate new paths forward for improving employees’ leisure experiences. We emphasize that addressing these work-related constraints likely requires moving beyond individual-directed strategies and focusing on contextual factors (e.g., organizational policies and practices) that could be targeted to improve employees’ leisure experiences