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Our inability to fully predict the complexity of tax behavior stems from the fact that tax evasion, by its very nature, is difficult to observe. The illegality of underreporting taxable income generates the need to maintain secrecy which makes it all the more strenuous to isolate the factors that influence wealth disclosure to tax officials. This paper is an experimental tax game in the context of Bangladesh where a culture of corruption permeates. In particular, this research intends to investigate individuals’ behavior when they have an incentive to partake in corruption by evading taxes through paying bribes. The study finds that individuals readily choose the financially lucrative and payoff maximizing option of paying bribes, whenever possible, to mitigate the risks of getting caught. We also find that, more often than not, higher tax rate decreases wealth disclosure. Moreover, there is considerable evidence that enforcement of punishment, through the use of audits, acts as a deterrent when it comes to under-reporting wealth.

As the use of Internet is getting more widespread and people are putting more trust on the Internet-based information, a new form of word of mouth termed as electronic word of mouth (E-WOM) has been developed. People receive E-WOM messages from social media, consumer review sites, discussion forums etc. Researches say that people tend to rely on E-WOM messages as much as they do on personal word of mouth. But what variables influence E-WOM credibility? After conducting an intensive background research on this topic this study has been able to identify certain variables such as E-WOMs quantity, polarity, logic and articulation, source and users prior knowledge/expertise that affect E-WOM credibility. Based on the identified variables a survey was conducted on the students of 10 private and public universities of Bangladesh with a view to measure the effect of those variables on the E-WOM credibility. The regression analysis result indicates the quantity of E-WOM and the source of E-WOM has significant impact on E-WOM credibility. While, the designed model overall with all the included variables came strongly significant in explaining E-WOM credibility. In addition, to measure the internal consistency and correlation of the variables Cronbachs Alpha technique and correlation analysis are also conducted which have brought satisfactory outcome. From a strategic point of view, this study is useful for the modern marketers who want to use E-WOM to promote their products or services. By focusing on the predictor variables which have impact on E-WOM credibility, they can be able to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing strategy with a very cost efficient and a time savvy manner.

Robustness to noise and outliers is a desirable trait in phase retrieval algorithms for many applications in imaging and signal processing. In this paper, we develop novel robust phase retrieval algorithms based on the minimization of reverse Kullback-Leibler divergence (RKLD) within the Wirtinger Flow (WF) framework. We use RKLD over intensity-only measurements in two distinct ways: i) to design a novel initial estimate based on minimum distortion design of spectral estimates, and ii) as a loss function for iterative refinement based on WF. The RKLD-based loss function offers implicit regularization by processing data at the logarithmic scale and provides the following benefits: suppressing the influence of outliers and promoting projections orthogonal to noise subspace. We perform a quantitative analysis demonstrating the robustness of RKLD-based minimization as compared to that of the \\(\\ell_2\\) and Poisson loss-based minimization. We present three algorithms based on RKLD minimization, including two with truncation schemes to enhance the robustness to significant contamination. Our numerical study uses data generated based on synthetic coded diffraction patterns and real optical imaging data. The results demonstrate the advantages of our algorithms in terms of sample efficiency, convergence speed, and robustness with respect to outliers over the state-of-the-art techniques.

As a part of our ongoing research on endophytic fungi, we have isolated a sesterterpene mycotoxin, fusaproliferin (FUS), from a Fusarium solani strain, which is associated with the plant Aglaonema hookerianum Schott. FUS showed rapid and sub-micromolar IC50 against pancreatic cancer cell lines. Time-dependent survival analysis and microscopy imaging showed rapid morphological changes in cancer cell lines 4 h after incubation with FUS. This provides a new chemical scaffold that can be further developed to obtain more potent synthetic agents against pancreatic cancer.

The accumulation of somatic DNA mutations over time is a hallmark of aging in many dividing and nondividing cells but has not been studied in postmitotic human cardiomyocytes. Using single-cell whole-genome sequencing, we identified and characterized the landscape of somatic single-nucleotide variants (sSNVs) in 56 single cardiomyocytes from 12 individuals (aged from 0.4 to 82 years). Cardiomyocyte sSNVs accumulate with age at rates that are faster than in many dividing cell types and nondividing neurons. Cardiomyocyte sSNVs show distinctive mutational signatures that implicate failed nucleotide excision repair and base excision repair of oxidative DNA damage, and defective mismatch repair. Since age-accumulated sSNVs create many damaging mutations that disrupt gene functions, polyploidization in cardiomyocytes may provide a mechanism of genetic compensation to minimize the complete knockout of essential genes during aging. Age-related accumulation of cardiac mutations provides a paradigm to understand the influence of aging on cardiac dysfunction.

The present study was intended to characterize the secondary metabolites of the endophyte Fusarium oxysporum isolated from the plant Aglaonema hookerianum Schott. And to investigate the cytotoxic and other pharmacological properties of the isolated compounds as part of the drug discovery and development process. Different chromatographic techniques were adopted to isolate the bioactive compounds that were identified by spectroscopic techniques. The cytotoxic properties of the compounds were assessed in the Vero cell line via the trypan blue method. Moreover, physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, bioactivity and toxicity profiles of the compounds were also investigated through in silico approaches. After careful spectral analysis, the isolated compounds were identified as 3β,5α-dihydroxy-ergosta-7,22-dien-6-one (1), 3β,5α,9α-trihydroxy-ergosta-7,22-dien-6-one (2), p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (3), 3-(R)-7-butyl-6,8-dihydroxy-3-pent-11-enylisochroman-1-one (4) and beauvericin (5). An in vitro study in the Vero cell line revealed that the presence of the compounds reduced the number of cells, as well as the percentage of viable cells, in most cases. An in silico cytotoxic analysis revealed that compounds 1, 2 and 5 might be explored as cytotoxic agents. Moreover, compounds 3 and 4 were found to be highly mutagenic. The present study suggested that further thorough investigations are necessary to use these molecules as leads for the cytotoxic drug development process.

Background Thysanolaena maxima (Roxb.) Kuntze, a perennial grass plant, is usually distributed in hilly regions of the Indian Subcontinent. Different parts of T. maxima have been used as herbal medicine by traditional healers of this region. In this present study, T. maxima plant extract has been screened for examination of its secondary metabolite content with their probable cytotoxic activity. Methods Secondary metabolites of the crude T. maxima plant extract were isolated by different chromatographic methods. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data ( 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR) as well as comparison with available literature sources. Antiradical activity by DPPH radical scavenging assay and antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method of the fractions and cytotoxic activity by trypan blue exclusion method of the isolated compounds were also evaluated. Results Three phenolic compounds 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde ( 1 ), 4-hydroxycinnamic acid ( 2 ), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid ( 3 ) and two steroids stigmast-4-en-3-one ( 4 ) and β -stigmasterol ( 5 ) were isolated from the aerial part of T. maxima . Among the compounds 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and stigmast-4-en-3-one exhibited notable cytotoxic activity against African Green Monkey Kidney Cell line (Vero cell). Conclusion Bioassay investigation of the isolated compounds and fractions suggested that T. maxima could be a potential source of bioactive secondary metabolites. Graphical abstract

Single-cell approaches have become an increasingly popular way of understanding the genetic factors behind disease. Isolation of DNA and RNA from human tissues is necessary to analyze multi-omic data sets, providing information on the single-cell genome, transcriptome, and epigenome. Here, we isolated high-quality single-nuclei from postmortem human heart tissues for DNA and RNA analysis. Postmortem human tissues were obtained from 106 individuals, 33 with a history of myocardial disease, diabetes, or smoking, and 73 controls without heart disease. We demonstrated that the Qiagen EZ1 instrument and kit consistently isolated genomic DNA of high yield, which can be used for checking DNA quality before conducting single-cell experiments. Here, we provide a method for single-nuclei isolation from cardiac tissue, otherwise known as the SoNIC method, which allows for the isolation of single cardiomyocyte nuclei from postmortem tissue by nuclear ploidy status. We also provide a detailed quality control measure for single-nuclei whole genome amplification and a pre-amplification method for confirming genomic integrity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

Detecting somatic mutations in normal tissues is challenging due to sequencing errors and the low allele fractions of post-zygotic variants. Duplex sequencing greatly reduces errors and can detect mutations at any allele fraction, but systematic, cross-platform comparisons are lacking. We present a comprehensive benchmarking of six duplex sequencing technologies used by the SMaHT Network: CODEC, CompDuplex-seq, HiDEF-seq, NanoSeq, ppmSeq, and VISTA-seq. We evaluated their performance using cord blood DNA, a tumor-normal cell line mixture, and homogenates from six human tissues. Each method shows distinct profiles in genomic footprint, sensitivity, and cost. Despite differences in library construction and sequencing platforms, estimates of mutation rates and mutational signatures are highly concordant. Integration with ultra-deep whole-genome sequencing shows that duplex approaches sensitively capture mutations and signatures beyond embryonic or clonally expanded variants. These results provide a foundation for selecting duplex methods and interpreting their data, enabling scalable single-molecule analyses of somatic mutation landscapes.