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This study aims to assess the impact of double taxation treaties (DTT) on FDI inflows in 10 ASEAN countries from 1989 to 2016. There are two objectives of double taxation treaties. The first one is to alleviate the problem of global double taxation, which has a stimulating effect on FDI. The second objective is the sharing of information between governments, which can prevent tax evasion and thus discourage FDI. The findings suggest that new DTTs in ASEAN have a positive but insignificant impact on the FDI inflows into the region. However, the impact of old DTTs on FDI is significantly negative, suggesting that as the age of ASEAN countries' DTTs could adversely affect FDI inflows. The possible explanation is that most of the ASEAN member countries are developing countries, which have experienced fiscal and regulatory reforms over the past few decades. Those policy reforms may have overtaken the terms of the prevailing bilateral tax treaty, meaning that some of the treaties, if not ratified, could have become obsolete. In addition, the recent trend in bilateral tax treaty negotiations globally has been towards lower withholding tax rates for investment income. Older treaties, which impose relatively high withholding tax rates, may become an impediment to the region's cross-border investment and hinder economic growth. An examination of the DTTs signed by ASEAN countries further demonstrates that the member states vary considerably in the design of their treaties, in the way they divide up the tax base between source and resident countries, and also in the level of efforts to keep pace with the latest development in the OECD and UN Model Tax Conventions.

Some scholars emphasize the global cities network and suggest the declining of the national power. On the contrary, many studies insist on the role of the national economy on global cities. However, there is no specific model to show this relation and no evidence to conform which factor at national level impact this connectivity. The aim of this paper is to set up a specific model to illustrate the relationship between the national economic size and global cities connectivity, and to find the factor at national level impacting on world city connectivity. Bootstrap regression is adopted to set up the model for the relation. The results reveal that the national economic size has significant effectiveness on the global city connectivity with logarithmic function. This finding gives an explicit approach to clarify the idea of 'glocal' states with the combination of global city connectivity and national urban system.

Objective: We describe health care simulation, designed primarily for training, and provide examples of how human factors experts can collaborate with health care professionals and simulationists—experts in the design and implementation of simulation—to use contemporary simulation to improve health care delivery. Background: The need—and the opportunity—to apply human factors expertise in efforts to achieve improved health outcomes has never been greater. Health care is a complex adaptive system, and simulation is an effective and flexible tool that can be used by human factors experts to better understand and improve individual, team, and system performance within health care. Method: Expert opinion is presented, based on a panel delivered during the 2014 Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Health Care Symposium. Results: Diverse simulators, physically or virtually representing humans or human organs, and simulation applications in education, research, and systems analysis that may be of use to human factors experts are presented. Examples of simulation designed to improve individual, team, and system performance are provided, as are applications in computational modeling, research, and lifelong learning. Conclusion: The adoption or adaptation of current and future training and assessment simulation technologies and facilities provides opportunities for human factors research and engineering, with benefits for health care safety, quality, resilience, and efficiency. Application: Human factors experts, health care providers, and simulationists can use contemporary simulation equipment and techniques to study and improve health care delivery.

Diagnostic error or delay (DEOD) is common in the acute care setting and results in poor patient outcomes. Many factors contribute to DEOD, but little is known about how contributors may differ across acute care areas and professional roles. As part of a sequential exploratory mixed methods research study, we surveyed acute care clinical stakeholders about the frequency with which different factors contribute to DEOD. Survey respondents could also propose solutions in open text fields. N = 220 clinical stakeholders completed the survey. Care Team Interactions, Systems and Process, Patient, Provider, and Cognitive factors were perceived to contribute to DEOD with similar frequency. Organization and Infrastructure factors were perceived to contribute to DEOD significantly less often. Responses did not vary across acute care setting. Physicians perceived Cognitive factors to contribute to DEOD more frequently compared to those in other roles. Commonly proposed solutions included: technological solutions, organization level fixes, ensuring staff know and are encouraged to work to the full scope of their role, and cultivating a culture of collaboration and respect. Multiple factors contribute to DEOD with similar frequency across acute care areas, suggesting the need for a multi-pronged approach that can be applied across acute care areas.

Zr2Al3C4 coatings are potential candidates to prevent claddings of traditional Zr-based alloys from severe oxidation in water steam at high temperature. However, the diffusion of aluminum between coating and substrates at high temperature results in a coating composition deviating from the compositional domain for formation of the Zr2Al3C4 phase. Thus, synthesis of Zr2Al3C4 coatings on zirconium-alloy substrates is challenging. Here, we report that the Zr2Al3C4 phase can be obtained on zirconium alloy (ZIRLO) substrates where an Al-C/Si interlayer deposited by magnetron sputtering is introduced. The Al-C/Si interlayer prevented elemental diffusion of aluminum between the Zr-Al-C coating and the substrates during a post-annealing process at 800 degrees C for 3 h. The Al/Zr ratio of the Zr-Al-C coating after annealing was 0.96 and 0.59 in the cases of with and without Al-C/Si interlayer, respectively. Hence, the Al-C/Si interlayer acts as diffusion barrier and greatly decreases the deviation from the standard stoichiometric ratio of the Zr2Al3C4 phase, which facilitates the formation of the Zr2Al3C4 phase in the final coating. ; Funding Agencies|National Natural Science Foundation of China [91226202, 91426304, 51873146]; Major Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2015 ZX06004-001]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009 00971]