522 research outputs found
Foreign investment law in Central and Eastern Europe
One of the most remarkable developments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been the region's opening to foreign direct investment. CEE states saw foreign investment climb from minuscule amounts in 1989 to more than $7 billion in 1992. All CEE states have enacted new laws on foreign investment as well as related legislation in areas such as taxation and company and environmental law. The authors describe these efforts at legal reform and assess their impact on foreign investment in light of what is known about investor motivation. They concentrate on the role of foreign investment law, referring occasionally to other aspects of law that apply to domestic and foreign investors. They find that specialized foreign investment laws can play a useful role during the transition to a market economy. Of particular importance is their role in sending a strong signal to foreign entrepreneurs that the host country is serious about economic reform and is willing to work with investors to establish mutually beneficial arrangements. Foreign investment laws are also often used to target special incentives to foreigners and create an island of legal development that may differ from -- and sometimes outpace -- other legal development. In such ways they tend to create investment"enclaves."But to the extent that an enclave separates foreign from domestic investors, it can quickly outlive its usefulness. The incentives it fosters may not only bleed domestic treasuries, but may also lead to bureaucratic structures that complicate the investment environment and elevate information and transaction costs for foreign investors. As quickly as possible, the transforming economies should dismantle the enclave and put domestic and foreign investors on an equal footing. This may well mean that foreign investment laws are no longer needed. The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic was the first CEE country to abolish specific foreign investment legislation in favor of a broad commercial code covering all investors. If an enclave does exist, policymakers should focus on the concerns critical to foreign firms. In the design of investment laws to date, the CEE countries have perhaps paid too much attention to preferential tax schemes, ignoring other costs foreign investors face. Policymakers should focus on reducing uncertainty and transaction costs through clear and simple legislation, contract enforcement, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, stronger protection of property rights, dissemination of information on laws and on business opportunities, and an end to unnecessary bureaucratic intervention. Complex regulations not only increase investor uncertainty but divert bureaucratic resources that the host country cannot afford to squander.Environmental Economics&Policies,Legal Products,National Governance,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Trade and Regional Integration
Transport properties of annealed CdSe nanocrystal solids
Transport properties of artificial solids composed of colloidal CdSe
nanocrystals (NCs) are studied from 6 K to 250 K, before and after annealing.
Annealing results in greatly enhanced dark and photocurrent in NC solids, while
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs show that the inter-dot
separation decreases. The increased current can be attributed to the
enhancement of inter-dot tunneling caused by the decreased separation between
NCs and by chemical changes in their organic cap. In addition, the absorption
spectra of annealed solids are slightly red-shifted and broadened. These
red-shifts may result from the change of the dielectric environment around the
NCs. Our measurements also indicate that Coulomb interactions between charges
on neighboring NCs play an important role in the tunneling current.Comment: 24 pages,4 figures, 1 tabl
Treatment of tuberculosis in a region with high drug resistance: Outcomes, drug resistance amplification and re-infection
Introduction: Emerging antituberculosis drug resistance is a serious threat for tuberculosis (TB) control, especially in Eastern
European countries.
Methods: We combined drug susceptibility results and molecular strain typing data with treatment outcome reports to
assess the influence of drug resistance on TB treatment outcomes in a prospective cohort of patients from Abkhazia
(Georgia). Patients received individualized treatment regimens based on drug susceptibility testing (DST) results. Definitions
for antituberculosis drug resistance and treatment outcomes were in line with current WHO recommendations. First and
second line DST, and molecular typing were performed in a supranational laboratory for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)
strains from consecutive sputum smear-positive TB patients at baseline and during treatment.
Results: At baseline, MTB strains were fully drug-susceptible in 189/326 (58.0%) of patients. Resistance to at least H or R
(PDR-TB) and multidrug-resistance (MDR-TB) were found in 69/326 (21.2%) and 68/326 (20.9%) of strains, respectively. Three
MDR-TB strains were also extensively resistant (XDR-TB). During treatment, 3/189 (1.6%) fully susceptible patients at baseline
were re-infected with a MDR-TB strain and 2/58 (3.4%) PDR-TB patients became MDR-TB due to resistance amplification. 5/
47 (10.6%) MDR- patients became XDR-TB during treatment. Treatment success was observed in 161/189 (85.2%), 54/69
(78.3%) and 22/68 (32.3%) of patients with fully drug susceptible, PDR- and MDR-TB, respectively. Development of ofloxacin
resistance was significantly associated with a negative treatment outcome.
Conclusion: In Abkhazia, a region with high prevalence of drug resistant TB, the use of individualized MDR-TB treatment
regimens resulted in poor treatment outcomes and XDR-TB amplification. Nosocomial transmission of MDR-TB emphasizes
the importance of infection control in hospitals
Electronic transport in films of colloidal CdSe nanocrystals
We present results for electronic transport measurements on large
three-dimensional arrays of CdSe nanocrystals. In response to a step in the
applied voltage, we observe a power-law decay of the current over five orders
of magnitude in time. Furthermore, we observe no steady-state dark current for
fields up to 10^6 V/cm and times as long as 2x10^4 seconds. Although the
power-law form of the decay is quite general, there are quantitative variations
with temperature, applied field, sample history, and the material parameters of
the array. Despite evidence that the charge injected into the film during the
measurement causes the decay of current, we find field-scaling of the current
at all times. The observation of extremely long-lived current transients
suggests the importance of long-range Coulomb interactions between charges on
different nanocrystals.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Prevalence of monogenic diabetes amongst Polish children after a nationwide genetic screening campaign
Aims/hypothesis
The aim of this study was to study dynamic changes in the prevalence of different types of diabetes in paediatric populations in Poland, with a specific focus on monogenic diabetes (MD).
Methods
Using epidemiologic data (PolPeDiab Collaboration) and nationwide genetic test results (TEAM Programme), we compared the prevalence of type 1, type 2 and cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) and MD. Genetically confirmed MD included MODY, neonatal diabetes and Wolfram and Alström syndromes. The study covered all children aged 0-18 years treated for diabetes between 2005 and 2011 in three regions, inhabited by 23.7% (1,989,988) of Polish children, with a low prevalence of childhood obesity (<5%).
Results
The prevalence of type 1 diabetes showed a continuous increase, from 96 to 138/100,000 children. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes and CFRD also increased, from 0.3 to 1.01/100,000 children and from 0.1 to 0.95/100,000 children, respectively. The prevalence of MD was stable at between 4.2 and 4.6/100,000 children, accounting for 3.1-4.2% of children with diabetes, with glucokinase (GCK)-MODY being the most frequent type, amounting to 83% of patients with MD. The percentage of positive test results decreased with the number of referrals, suggesting that children with the highest probability of MD were referred initially, followed by those with a less clear-cut phenotype. The prevalence of neonatal diabetes equalled 1 in 300,000 children.
Conclusions/interpretation
The prevalence of MD in a paediatric population with a low prevalence of obesity remains stable and is nearly fivefold higher than that of type 2 diabetes and CFRD, justifying a need for increased access to genetic diagnostic procedures in diabetic children
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