The Empirical Analysis of Cigarette Tax Avoidance and Illicit Trade in Vietnam, 1998-2010

Illicit trade carries the potential to magnify existing tobacco-related health care costs through increased availability of untaxed and inexpensive cigarettes. What is known with respect to the magnitude of illicit trade for Vietnam is produced primarily by the industry, and methodologies are typically opaque. Independent assessment of the illicit cigarette trade in Vietnam is vital to tobacco control policy. This paper measures the magnitude of illicit cigarette trade for Vietnam between 1998 and 2010 using two methods, discrepancies between legitimate domestic cigarette sales and domestic tobacco consumption estimated from surveys, and trade discrepancies as recorded by Vietnam and trade partners. The results indicate that Vietnam likely experienced net smuggling in during the period studied. With the inclusion of adjustments for survey respondent under-reporting, inward illicit trade likely occurred in three of the four years for which surveys were available. Discrepancies in trade records indicate that the value of smuggled cigarettes into Vietnam ranges from $100 million to $300 million between 2000 and 2010 and that these cigarettes primarily originate in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, and Australia. Notable differences in trends over time exist between the two methods, but by comparison, the industry estimates consistently place the magnitude of illicit trade at the upper bounds of what this study shows. The unavailability of annual, survey-based estimates of consumption may obscure the true, annual trend over time. Second, as surveys changed over time, estimates relying on them may be inconsistent with one another. Finally, these two methods measure different components of illicit trade, specifically consumption of illicit cigarettes regardless of origin and smuggling of cigarettes into a particular market. However, absent a gold standard, comparisons of different approaches to illicit trade measurement serve efforts to refine and improve measurement approaches and estimates.     

High-Throughput Nonlinear Optical Microscopy

High-resolution microscopy methods based on different nonlinear optical (NLO) contrast mechanisms are finding numerous applications in biology and medicine. While the basic implementations of these microscopy methods are relatively mature, an important direction of continuing technological innovation lies in improving the throughput of these systems. Throughput improvement is expected to be important for studying fast kinetic processes, for enabling clinical diagnosis and treatment, and for extending the field of image informatics. This review will provide an overview of the fundamental limitations on NLO microscopy throughput. We will further cover several important classes of high-throughput NLO microscope designs with discussions on their strengths and weaknesses and their key biomedical applications. Finally, this review will close with a perspective of potential future technological improvements in this field.     

Age-related differences in muscle activity, stride frequency and heart rate response during walking in water.

This study aimed to examine whether walking in water produces age-related differences in muscle activity, stride frequency (SF), and heart rate (HR) response. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to evaluate muscle activities in six older and six young subjects while they walked in water immersed to the level of the xiphoid process. The trials in water utilized the Flowmill which consists of a treadmill at the base of a water flume. The measurement of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of each muscle was made prior to the gait analysis. The %MVCs, which refer to the surface EMG measures, from the gastrocnemius of the older subjects were significantly lower than those of the young subjects, in every experimental condition (P<0.05). In contrast, the %MVCs from the rectus femoris (P<0.05) and the biceps femoris (P<0.001) of older subjects were significantly greater than those of young subjects in every experimental condition. Moreover, the SFs of older subjects were also significantly greater than those of young subjects (P<0.05), while the HR responses of older and young subjects were similar. In conclusion, the older subjects had increased hip musculature activity and decreased ankle plantar flexor activity while walking in water, compared with the young subjects.     

Stages of B-lymphocyte differentiation in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Blasts phenotype was determined in 61 children with the acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Non-T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia was diagnosed in 51 children. Stages of blasts differentiation were determined with the aid of monoclonal antibodies set using alkaline phosphatase-anti-alkaline phosphatase technique. Blasts in 50 patients belonged to B subpopulation confirmed by the presence of panB CD19 and CD22 antigens. Common antigen was seen in 76.5% of the examined patients with non-T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cases of non-T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia were divided into 8 subgroups depending on the antigens of B-cells differentiation. An identification of pre-B subgroups of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia indicates heterogenicity of the acute lymphoblastic leukemias in childhood and enables their classification into groups corresponding to the early stages of lymphoblasts maturation.     

A toxic substance produced by Nocardia otitidiscaviarum isolated from cutaneous nocardiosis

During our studies on toxic substances from clinically isolated Nocarida, a new isolate identified as Nocardia otitidiscaviarum from cutaneous nocardiosis was found to produce a toxic substance called HS-6 that had strong in vitro as well as in vivo toxicity. The mouse intraperitoneal LD₅₀ value was 1.25 mg/kg and the ED₅₀ value for L1210 cultured cells was 0.3 ng/ml. The structure of HS-6 was determined and found to belong to the 16-membered macrocyclic group with a molecular formula of C₄₃H₆₈O₁₂. HS-6 also showed activity against pathogenic fungi such as Cryptococcus neoformans.     

MHC class II sequences of an HLA-DR2 narcoleptic

Narcolepsy has a 98% association with the DR2-Dw2/DQw1 haplotype. To establish if a disease-specific allele is present in narcolepsy, a cDNA library was made from a B-cell line from a DR2,4/DQw1,3 narcoleptic. Clones encoding the two expressed DR2 chains, along with DQw1 and chains, were isolated and completely sequenced. The coding regions of these four genes were similar to published nucleotide and protein sequences from corresponding healthy controls, with some minor exceptions. The 3 untranslated region of one of the DR2 genes in the narcoleptic was extended by 42 bp. Complete sequences were not available for DQw1.2 or from healthy individuals, but first domain nucleotide sequences showed only a single nonproductive difference in DQ. Partial protein sequences of both DQ and from published data were identical. Although the effects of minor differences cannot be ruled out completely, it is concluded that there are probably no narcolepsy-specific DR or DQ / sequences, and that the alleles found in narcolepsy are representative of those found in the healthy population.     

Morphological differentiation of immobilizedClaviceps paspali mycelium during semi-continuous cultivation

Summary The morphological development ofClaviceps paspali immobilized in Ca-alginate gel was examined. During consecutive reincubations, the immobilized mycelia differentiated into swollen, arthrosporoid-like cells, which never appeared during fermentation of free mycelium. Such differentiation could be connected with the improved, prologed vitality and metabolic activity of the immobilized cells.