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Multimedia content represents a significant portion of the traffic in computer networks, and COVID-19 has only made this portion bigger, as it now represents an even more significant part of the traffic. This overhead can, however, be reduced when many users access the same content. In this context, Wi-Fi, which is the most popular Radio Access Technology, introduced the Group Addressed Transmission Service (GATS) with the amendment IEEE 802.11aa. GATS defines a set of policies aiming to make multicast traffic more robust and efficient. However, Wi-Fi is constantly evolving, and as it improves and greater bandwidths and data rates become available, it is necessary to reevaluate the behavior of mechanisms introduced in past amendments. This is also the case with GATS, whose policies have different behaviors and adapt better to different channel conditions. These policies have been evaluated in the past on High Throughput networks. Still, none of the evaluations provided insights into the behavior of GATS policies in Very-High Throughput (VHT) physical layers in a realistic manner. This is extremely relevant as a greater available bandwidth can impact the decisions of the GATS policy configuration. Thus, in this work, we present an evaluation of the IEEE 802.11aa amendment with a VHT physical layer in a realistic scenario that uses Minstrel as a rate adaptation algorithm simulated in NS-3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeting altered expression and/or activity of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) transporters (GATs) provide therapeutic benefit for age-related impairments, including cognitive dysfunction. However, the mechanisms underlying the transcriptional regulation of GATs are unknown. In the present study, we demonstrated that the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) upregulates GAT1 and GAT3 expression in the brain, which resulted in cognitive dysfunction. Genetic and pharmacological intervention of STING suppressed the expression of both GAT1 and GAT3, increased the ambient GABA concentration, and therefore, enhanced tonic GABAA inhibition of principal hippocampal neurons, resulting in spatial learning and working memory deficits in mice in a type I interferon-independent manner. Stimulation of the STING→GAT pathway efficiently restored cognitive dysfunction in STING-deficient mice models. Our study uncovered for the first time that the STING signaling pathway regulates GAT expression in a cell autonomous manner and therefore could be a novel target for GABAergic cognitive deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigates tobacco use in Bangladesh among adults using 2017 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) data, with the aim of identifying prevalence and associated factors to inform targeted policy interventions. Methods: Utilizing GATS-Bangladesh 2017 data for individuals aged 15 and above, a comprehensive analysis was conducted employing various statistical techniques. Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression were employed to discern patterns and significant associations. Results: The prevalence of tobacco use in Bangladesh stood at 19.5%, revealing substantial variations across demographic and socio-economic factors. Males exhibited a significantly higher prevalence (40.4%) than females (0.6%), underscoring the gender disparities. Regional disparities were evident, with Mymensingh showing the highest prevalence at 26%. Various factors, including age, residence, gender, education, occupation, family size, wealth index, smokeless tobacco use, health conditions, and media exposure, displayed significant associations with tobacco use, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of this public health challenge. Conclusion: The findings underscore the imperative for policy interventions that prioritize educational initiatives, targeted interventions for specific demographics, refined communication strategies, and comprehensive health education programs. Notably, the influential role of media and the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use should be integral considerations in the formulation of effective tobacco control policies. Furthermore, the study advocates for longitudinal research to deepen our understanding of dynamic factors influencing tobacco use over time and to assess the effectiveness of implemented interventions. These recommendations aim to guide Bangladesh towards achieving its ambitious goal of becoming "Tobacco Free". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India and the Republic of Korea signed the India–Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2009 and have been actively engaged in upgrading this agreement since 2015. This article analyses the India–Korea CEPA from a services trade perspective. It compares the services commitments undertaken by the two countries under the India–Korea CEPA and the WTO. It further assesses the gains for India from the CEPA by comparing services exports and imports before and after the CEPA came into operation. The study finds that India's services exports to Korea have increased more than its imports from Korea, resulting in an increase in India's services trade surplus with Korea after the CEPA. The study recommends exploring bilateral labour agreements with Korea to facilitate the movement of natural persons in specific sectors and further liberalisation commitments from Korea in services of India's interests during the CEPA upgradation. JEL Classification: F13, F14, F15 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tobacco use is the single leading cause of preventable death globally, killing millions of people annually, more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Tobacco kills 0.8-1.0 million people each year in India and most of these deaths occur in people who are young. India is one of the fewer countries in the world where prevalence for smoking and smokeless tobacco use is high as well as characterized by dual use of tobacco use of both smoking and smokeless tobacco products also contributes to a noticeable proportion. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study on pattern of tobacco abuse among the selected population regarding socio-demographic characteristics and their views about the pricing of tobacco products. Study unit was people of either sex, of more than 18 yrs and less than 60 yrs in age residing in Lucknow district and after applying multi-stage random sampling, 640 subjects were selected. Results: the prevalence of tobacco abuse in the urban area was 36.0 %, while 4.3 % were past users whereas in rural areas prevalence of tobacco abuse was found to be 54.1% while11.9 % were past users (p=0.001). Age groups <30 yrs and 46-60 yrs had a greater proportion of subjects abusing tobacco products compared with the age group 30-45 yrs. There was a significant association between sex and tobacco abuse (p<0.001) in both urban and rural areas. Conclusion: It was observed that the prevalence of tobacco abuse was at a significant level, however as per latest GATS-2 findings overall consumption of tobacco products has fallen in both urban and rural India. Stricter tobacco sale and taxation laws needs to be reviewed for a tobacco free society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the defining characteristics of modern trade in recent decades is the general modernization of the way trade is perceived, in the shaping of which a significant role was played by digital trade, which is certainly unimaginable without digital products. Considering the role that digital products play in modern trading, business and life, it is of crucial importance to understand what digital products are, only after that is it possible to credibly talk about classification and ultimately about dealing with them. Given that the scope and reach of digital products is on a scale that was before unimaginable, as the most egregious examples of dealing with them on a wide scale, we will contemplate those of the EU and USA as well as certain other relevant and interesting examples. When it comes to specific dealing with digital products in the sense of this discourse, the decision regarding which legal framework will govern the trading thereof is crucial. Prior to this step, the digital product in question needs to be qualified, keeping this in mind, relevant provisions of GATT and GATS will be considered, which regulate trade in goods and services, that will further determine all the fundamentals and ultimately the profitability of the product itself. Many elements could be characterized as having a role in determining the legal framework that will be used, but the method of delivery as well as the very nature of the product are simply indispensable in any serious discussion about digital products. Finally, in order to complete this overview, digital content is considered, i.e. it's role in relation to digital products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are vulnerable to second hand smoke (SHS) exposure because of limited control over their indoor environment, especially at homes. This study determines the magnitude, patterns and determinants of SHS exposure in the home among children in India. Data collected under the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) data, a household survey of adults ≥15 years of age during 2016–2017 conducted in India were analyzed to estimate the proportion of children exposed to SHS in their homes. GATS estimates and national census population projections for 2020 were also used to estimate the number of children exposed to SHS in the homes. Nearly half (46.5%) of the children <15 years of age were exposed to SHS in their homes in India which extrapolates to nearly an estimated 170 million. Children living in rural households, north-east and central regions and households with an adult smoker were more likely to be exposed to SHS. SHS exposure among children in home is high in India which calls for adoption of voluntary smoke-free homes initiative and promoting cessation among smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The General Agreement on Trade in Services, which came into force on 1 January 1995 with the creation of the World Trade Organization, applies to government measures affecting services provided on a commercial basis. The scope of the GATS is broader than the GATT applies to measures relating to goods. These rules, which are the subject of this section apply to services and service providers, are prescribed in the articles that constitute the legal text of the Agreement.

Weighted constraint satisfaction problems (WCSPs) are one of the most important constraint programming models aiming to find a cost-minimal solution. Due to its NP-hardness, solving a WCSP usually requires efficient heuristics to explore high-quality solutions. Unfortunately, such heuristics are hand-crafted and may not be generalizable across different cases. On the other hand, although Deep Learning (DL) has been proven to be a promising way to learn heuristics for combinatorial optimization problems, the existing DL-based methods are unsuitable for WCSPs since they fail to exploit the problem structure of WCSPs. Besides, such methods are often based on Supervised Learning (SL), making the learned heuristics less efficient since it is challenging to generate a sufficiently large training corpus. Therefore, we propose a novel Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) framework to train the model on large-scale problems, so that the model could mine more sophisticated patterns and provide high-quality heuristics. By exploiting the problem structure, we effectively decompose the problem by using a pseudo tree, and formulate the solution construction process as a Markov decision process with multiple independent transition states. With Graph Attention Networks (GATs) parameterized deep Q-value network, we learn the optimal Q-values through a modified Bellman equation that considers the multiple transition states, and extract the solution construction heuristics from the trained network. Besides constructing solutions greedily, our heuristics can also be applied to many meta-heuristics such as beam search and large neighborhood search. The experiments show that our DRL-boosted algorithms significantly outperform the counterparts with their heuristics derived from the SL model, their counterparts with traditional tabular-based heuristics and state-of-the-art methods on benchmark problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem considered: Tobacco use is the second most common preventable cause of death in the world and quitting tobacco is an important strategy to prevent premature morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the correlates of quit attempts among tobacco users in India from GATS-2 data. Methods: Complex sample analysis was considered for logistic regression analysis to identify the correlates of quit attempts using Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)- 2 (2016–17) data. Weighted estimates were calculated for sample statistics. Results: A marked difference was observed in quit attempt rates across various states of India (p

Little has been reported about hardening nor softening indicators in Africa where smoking prevalence is low. We aimed to examine the determinants of hardening in nine African countries. We conducted two separate analyses using data from the most recent Global Adult Tobacco Survey in Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda (total sample of 72,813 respondents): 1) multilevel logistic regression analysis to assess individual and country-level factors associated with hardcore, high dependence, and light smoking.; 2) a Spearman-rank correlation analysis to describe the association between daily smoking and hardcore, high dependence, and light smoking at an ecological level. Age-standardized daily smoking prevalence varied from 37.3% (95 %CI: 34.4, 40.3) (Egypt) to 6.1% (95 %CI: 3.5, 6.3) (Nigeria) among men; and 2.3% (95 %CI: 0.7, 3.9) (Botswana) to 0.3% (95 %CI: 0.2, 0.7) (Senegal) among women. The proportion of hardcore and high-dependence smokers was higher among men whereas for light smokers the proportion was higher among women. At the individual level, higher age and lower education groups had higher odds of being hardcore smokers and having high dependence. Smoke-free home policies showed decreased odds of both being hardcore and highly dependent smokers daily smoking correlated weakly and negatively with hardcore smoking (r = −0.243, 95 %CI: −0.781, 0.502) among men and negatively with high dependence (r = −0.546, 95 %CI: −0.888, 0.185) and positively with light smokers (r = 0.252, 95 %CI: −0.495, 0.785) among women. Hardening determinants varied between the countries in the African region. Wide sex differentials and social inequalities in heavy smoking do exist and should be tackled.

Abstract Background Tobacco is strongly associated with socioeconomic status (SES), however evidence on differences in tobacco cessation by socio-economic attributes remains fragmented, especially in developing countries. The present study aims to estimate socioeconomic inequalities in tobacco cessation among Indian men and women above 15 years of age. Methods Two rounds of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2009–2010 and 2016–2017), India was used to estimate the association between socioeconomic indicators (wealth index and educational attainment) with tobacco cessation using a multinomial modeling approach. Results After adjusting for SES and demographic variables, we found significantly lower odds in tobacco cessation rates among respondents of GATS-2 (2016–2017) compared to GATS-1 (2009–2010). Additionally, huge regional variations in smoking and smokeless tobacco cessation rates were observed. Population belonging to the low wealth-asset score had higher odds of cessation compared to the high asset index. While greater educational attainment was seen to have a positive effect on cessation, the results were insignificant. Individuals belonging to the northeastern geographic region were seen to have the lowest odds of cessation. Though awareness about the health hazards of tobacco increased, cessation declined for both men and women. Quitting smokeless tobacco among men and women was observed to be lower than smoking. Conclusion This study is the first to provide national-level evidence on the association between tobacco cessation and socioeconomic attributes among Indians above 15 years of age. Findings suggest the need to scale up tobacco cessation services separately for men and women, and also for smoking and smokeless tobacco forms.

Dịch vụ hóa là khái niệm phản ánh hiện tượng dịch vụ đóng vai trò ngày càng quan trọng trong nền kinh tế, đặc biệt là lĩnh vực sản xuất hàng hóa. Trong chuỗi cung ứng toàn cầu, dịch vụ không chỉ kết nối các công đoạn mà còn là đầu vào để sản xuất hàng hóa và được cung ứng cùng hàng hóa. Góc nhìn mới này chỉ ra rằng nhiều dịch vụ không được cung ứng theo bốn phương thức truyền thống mà được trao đổi như một phần không tách rời của hàng hóa. Từ đó, khái niệm “phương thức 5” được đưa ra để mô tả phương thức cung ứng dịch vụ gián tiếp – dịch vụ được bao hàm trong hàng hóa xuất khẩu. Bài viết chỉ ra rằng các dịch vụ được cung ứng theo “phương thức 5” đang chịu sự điều chỉnh của các quy tắc thương mại hàng hóa. Đồng thời, các quy tắc thương mại quốc tế cần được hoàn thiện để phù hợp hơn với thực tiễn trong bối cảnh nền kinh tế thế giới ngày càng dịch vụ hóa.

Copyright of Taiwan Law Review is the property of Angle Publishing Co., Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to analyse the effects of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on the investment activities of the Pakistani insurance sector. First, we analyse the impact of GATS on the overall and company-wise return on investment of the insurance sector of Pakistan. In a panel data setting, the traditional fixed and random effect models are unsuitable for dealing with the possible issues, including endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity, profit persistency, and the correlation between lagged dependent variables and independent variables. Therefore, we apply the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) system estimator to the panel data from 1984 to 2018. In the Arellano-Bond framework, the estimated results indicate that the overall investment returns of the Pakistani insurance sector have increased after the GATS membership. However, company-wise analysis reveals mixed evidence. The average returns of IGI Insurance Limited and EFU General Insurance Limited have increased significantly after the GATS membership. These results support one of our empirical conjectures that a rising tide lifts some boats more than it does others. Then, we apply Markowitz's Portfolio Theory to estimate the portfolio returns and the associated risk using the financial statements data from 1984 to 2018. The estimates of portfolio analysis reveal that the portfolio returns of the Pakistani insurance sector improve by 6.70 percentage points after the membership. However, the associated portfolio risk also increases by 11.13 percentage points, 7.40 times higher than the Pre-GATS risk. Despite the better returns, there is an intensive increase in investment volatility after GATS membership. This study provides a valuable reference for insurance managers and the Ministry of Finance and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan to control and improve the insurance sector's performance in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) have recently emerged as a public health threat globally. Despite the low proportion of e-cigarette users (1.22%) reported in the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2, the Government of India enacted the Prohibition of E-cigarettes Act 2019 (PECA), prohibiting all forms of ENDS/ENNDS. The current analysis presents nationally representative findings on the level of awareness of e-cigarettes in India and its correlates and characteristics of those aware of e-cigarettes. METHODS The current secondary analysis from GATS-2 among adults aged =15 years from all states and Union Territories of India used a standard protocol for data collection and management. A multi-stage cluster sampling design was used. The respondents who were aware of e-cigarettes were included (n=2524). Binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted, and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% CI, were calculated to measure the associations between independent and dependent variables. RESULTS Only 3.4% of the respondents were aware (either heard or seen) of e-cigarettes and their awareness was found significantly higher among males (AOR=2.07; 95% CI: 1.90-2.24), urban population (AOR=2.83; 95% CI: 2.61-3.07), and higher education (AOR=0.41; 95% CI: 0.38-0.45). CONCLUSIONS Public awareness campaigns about the harms of e-cigarettes and the law (PECA) need to be rolled out in urban and rural areas. Capacity-building exercises of implementers and enforcers at the grassroots level could also support communicating the harms to hard-to-reach groups. Further, regular compliance monitoring of the legislation and prosecution of violators would facilitate its effective implementation at the national and sub-national levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In India, the retail prices of bidis and cigarettes varied between the two Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) conducted in 2009–2010 and 2016–2017. The relationship between the retail price of smoked tobacco products and their use is unclear for India. Our study thus aimed to use available datasets to investigate the association between the retail price and current smoking status of bidis and cigarettes in India. Methods Current smoking status data for bidis and cigarettes were obtained from the two GATS rounds. The average state-level retail prices of bidis and cigarettes were obtained from India’s Consumer Price Index- Industrial Workers database. Descriptive statistics were used to describe current smoking status patterns. Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to investigate the association between the retail prices and current smoking status of bidis and cigarettes. Results For cigarettes, an increase in the average retail price by one Indian Rupee was associated with a reduction in the odds of being a current smoker of 7% (OR=0.925; 95% CI: 0.918–0.932, p

Abstract Background Tobacco, one of the risk factors for non-communicable diseases, kills 8 million people each year. Like other sub-Saharan countries, Ethiopia faces the potential challenge of a tobacco epidemic. However, there is no organized data on the prevalence of tobacco use in the country. Therefore, this study aims to determine adult tobacco use in Ethiopia. Methods The study was conducted using the WHO and CDC GATS survey methods. Complex survey analysis was used to obtain prevalence and population estimates with 95% confidence intervals. Bivariate regression analyses were employed to examine factors related to tobacco use. Results The overall tobacco use percentage was 5.0% [95% CI (3.5, 6.9)], of which 65.8% [95% CI (53.4, 76.3)] only smoked tobacco products; 22.5% [95% CI (15.7, 31.2)] used smokeless tobacco only; and 11.8% [95% CI (6.5, 20.4)] used both smoked and smokeless tobacco products. In 2016, more men adults (8.1%) used tobacco than women did (1.8%). Eight out of eleven states have a higher smoking rate than the national average (3.7%). Gender, employment, age, religion, and marital status are closely linked to current tobacco use (p-value

Trade disciplines under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) apply to the treatment of products (i.e., services) and to that of producers (i.e., service suppliers). Unlike rules on merchandise trade, the GATS thus covers the conditions governing a producer's commercial establishment and, hence, its competitive position. That raises the question whether Members are free to modify these conditions over time or, instead, whether they are required under the GATSMost-Favoured-Nation (MFN) obligation to provide newly arriving producers with the most attractive conditions they accorded in the past. In the latter case, Members might shy away from launching trade-promoting initiatives beyond their existing GATS commitments, which have remained quite modest overall. As a way forward, Members could consider an informal understanding, possibly inspired by recent regional trade agreements (RTAs), to clarify the application of the GATS MFN obligation over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeting altered expression and/or activity of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) transporters (GATs) provide therapeutic benefit for age-related impairments, including cognitive dysfunction. However, the mechanisms underlying the transcriptional regulation of GATs are unknown. In the present study, we demonstrated that the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) upregulates GAT1 and GAT3 expression in the brain, which resulted in cognitive dysfunction. Genetic and pharmacological intervention of STING suppressed the expression of both GAT1 and GAT3, increased the ambient GABA concentration, and therefore, enhanced tonic GABA A inhibition of principal hippocampal neurons, resulting in spatial learning and working memory deficits in mice in a type I interferon-independent manner. Stimulation of the STING→GAT pathway efficiently restored cognitive dysfunction in STING-deficient mice models. Our study uncovered for the first time that the STING signaling pathway regulates GAT expression in a cell autonomous manner and therefore could be a novel target for GABAergic cognitive deficits., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2024 the authors.)

Purpose - to study Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) indicators on tobacco consumption and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on them., Materials and Methods: In 2022, 2,453 residents were surveyed (men - 1137, women - 1316) aged from 15 to 86 years (average age - 43,0 ± 16,4 years). There were 58,9% city dwellers, 41,1% villagers. The GATS technique was used. The results of the 2022 survey were compared with 2019. Mathematical and statistical processing included descriptive statistics and calculation of the χ2 distribution., Results: Over the past three years, the share of smokers has not changed (19,0% in 2022 vs 19,9% in 2019). At the same time, there were significantly more women smoking (7,4% vs 5,4%), and fewer men smoking (32,4% vs 36,7%). The number of smokers has significantly increased in the age group 65+, among women, as well as among persons aged 45-64 years. In 2022, smokers made fewer attempts to quit smoking. The number of users of electronic nicotine delivery systems increased (7.1% vs 5.4%), especially among men (9.5% vs 6.0%); a noticeable increase was observed in the 45-64 age group (2.8% vs 0.9%)., Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of smokers of both sexes in the older age group has increased significantly. The number of users of electronic nicotine delivery systems has increased. Many indicators of assistance to the population in quitting tobacco use and prevention of smoking among the adult population have worsened.

Abstract Background Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) use is culturally rooted and more acceptable among women in India. SLT is a significant risk for oral cancers and has other adverse health outcomes on women’s general as well as reproductive health. This study aimed to estimate and compare the prevalence and correlates of SLT among adult females in India using Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 2009–2010 (GATS 1) and 2016–2017 (GATS 2). Methods Data from a nationally representative cross-sectional study GATS 1 (n = 35,529) and GATS 2 (n = 40,265) were analysed for adult female smokeless tobacco users. Correlates of SLT exposure were assessed separately using binary logistic regression. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done for the variables which computed p

This study investigates the effect of GATS, a service-specific trade agreement, on the survival of service exports from Kenya to 176 countries between 1995 and 2019. Services are classified at a 1-digit level: travel, transport, computer and information, construction, financial, insurance, government, other business, and personal, cultural, and recreational services. The discrete-time probit model with random effects reveals that GATS reduces the survival of service exports by 0.78%. At the category level, GATS only increases the survival of construction and government services. GATS also reduces the survival of Kenya’s exports to Africa when geographical regions are considered. However, GATS boosts the survival of services when it is interacted with the quality of institutions and the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI). Accordingly, reducing regulations and general improvement of the quality of institutions can help countries reap the benefits of a service-specific trade agreement fully.

Background: Tobacco is strongly associated with socioeconomic status (SES), however evidence on differences in tobacco cessation by socio-economic attributes remains fragmented, especially in developing countries. The present study aims to estimate socioeconomic inequalities in tobacco cessation among Indian men and women above 15 years of age.Methods: Two rounds of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2009-2010 and 2016-2017), India was used to estimate the association between socioeconomic indicators (wealth index and educational attainment) with tobacco cessation using a multinomial modeling approach.Results: After adjusting for SES and demographic variables, we found significantly lower odds in tobacco cessation rates among respondents of GATS-2 (2016-2017) compared to GATS-1 (2009-2010). Additionally, huge regional variations in smoking and smokeless tobacco cessation rates were observed. Population belonging to the low wealth-asset score had higher odds of cessation compared to the high asset index. While greater educational attainment was seen to have a positive effect on cessation, the results were insignificant. Individuals belonging to the northeastern geographic region were seen to have the lowest odds of cessation. Though awareness about the health hazards of tobacco increased, cessation declined for both men and women. Quitting smokeless tobacco among men and women was observed to be lower than smoking.Conclusion: This study is the first to provide national-level evidence on the association between tobacco cessation and socioeconomic attributes among Indians above 15 years of age. Findings suggest the need to scale up tobacco cessation services separately for men and women, and also for smoking and smokeless tobacco forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexit’in gerçekleşmesi Avrupa Birliği (AB) ve Birleşik Krallık (BK) arasındaki mali hizmetleri önemli ölçüde etkileyecektir. Bu etki Londra’nın Dünyanın küreselfinans merkezi olmasından ve AB-BK ilişkilerinin dayandığı mevcut pasaport rejiminin sona erecek olmasından kaynaklanmaktadır. Geçiş döneminde AB’ninKanada tarzı ve mali hizmetleri de kapsayan bir Serbest Ticaret Anlaşması (STA) yapması söz konusu olabilir. Ya da BK ile AB arasında karşılıklı ekonomik ilişkileridüzenleyen başka bir model de söz konusu olabilir. Aksi takdirde geçiş döneminin sona ermesi ile beraber BK üçüncü ülke konumuna gelecektir. Böylece AB ve BKarasında mali hizmetler ticareti Dünya Ticaret Örgütü’nün (DTÖ) Hizmetler Ticareti Genel Anlaşması (GATS) kuralları çerçevesinde yapılabilecektir. Bu da malifirmaların Londra’dan AB-27’e göç etmelerine sebebiyet verecektir ve halihazırda bu süreç başlamıştır. Bu durumda BK firmaları belirli mali hizmet alanlarında ABüçüncü ülke denklik rejimine tabii olabilecektir. Üçüncü ülke Denklik rejimi BK merkezli mali kurumlar için AB Tek Pazarına erişimin ciddi anlamda sınırlanacağıanlamına gelmektedir. Bu durumdan en çok etkilenecek mali hizmetler başta bankacılık olmak üzere, sırasıyla piyasa altyapısı, aktif yönetimi ve sigorta ilereasürans olacaktır. Brexit, finansal piyasalarda parçalanmışlığı da beraberinde getirecektir. Londra’nın finans merkezi olarak yerinin kısa sürede değişmeyeceğikabul edilmekle beraber dört önemli şehir AB 27 toptan piyasalarına ev sahipliği yapacak gibi görünmektedir. Bu şehirler Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin ve Amsterdam’dır.

INTRODUCTION In India, the retail prices of bidis and cigarettes varied between the two Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) conducted in 2009-2010 and 2016-2017. The relationship between the retail price of smoked tobacco products and their use is unclear for India. Our study thus aimed to use available datasets to investigate the association between the retail price and current smoking status of bidis and cigarettes in India. METHODS Current smoking status data for bidis and cigarettes were obtained from the two GATS rounds. The average state-level retail prices of bidis and cigarettes were obtained from India's Consumer Price Index- Industrial Workers database. Descriptive statistics were used to describe current smoking status patterns. Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to investigate the association between the retail prices and current smoking status of bidis and cigarettes. RESULTS For cigarettes, an increase in the average retail price by one Indian Rupee was associated with a reduction in the odds of being a current smoker of 7% (OR=0.925; 95% CI: 0.918--0.932, p<0.001). For bidis, the association between the retail price and current smoking status was not statistically significant (OR=1.01; 95% CI: 1.00--1.02, p=0.082). CONCLUSIONS Current increases in the retail prices of tobacco products in India seem to have an impact on the use of cigarettes but not bidis. This highlights the need for tobacco product tax increases that result in sufficient retail prices increase to make all tobacco products less affordable and reduce their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Tobacco, one of the risk factors for non-communicable diseases, kills 8 million people each year. Like other sub-Saharan countries, Ethiopia faces the potential challenge of a tobacco epidemic. However, there is no organized data on the prevalence of tobacco use in the country. Therefore, this study aims to determine adult tobacco use in Ethiopia.Methods: The study was conducted using the WHO and CDC GATS survey methods. Complex survey analysis was used to obtain prevalence and population estimates with 95% confidence intervals. Bivariate regression analyses were employed to examine factors related to tobacco use.Results: The overall tobacco use percentage was 5.0% [95% CI (3.5, 6.9)], of which 65.8% [95% CI (53.4, 76.3)] only smoked tobacco products; 22.5% [95% CI (15.7, 31.2)] used smokeless tobacco only; and 11.8% [95% CI (6.5, 20.4)] used both smoked and smokeless tobacco products. In 2016, more men adults (8.1%) used tobacco than women did (1.8%). Eight out of eleven states have a higher smoking rate than the national average (3.7%). Gender, employment, age, religion, and marital status are closely linked to current tobacco use (p-value< 0.05). Men adults who are employed, married, and mostly from Muslim society are more likely to use tobacco.Conclusion: The prevalence of tobacco use is still low in Ethiopia. However, the percentage of female smokers is increasing, and regional governments such as Afar and Gambella have a relatively high prevalence. This calls for the full implementation of tobacco control laws following the WHO MPOWER packages. A tailored tobacco control intervention targeting women, younger age groups, and regions with a high proportion of tobacco use are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen an increase in goods-related services. Such services range from conventional maintenance contracts sold with goods, to database and data processing services as necessary parts of the Internet of Things. Indeed, the Internet of Things has increasingly blurred the distinction between goods and services insofar as the latter enable essential functions of the goods. Services such as production related research and development (R&D) are also making an increasingly significant contribution to the final value of goods. On the other hand, the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulates the cross-border trade in goods and services separately in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Therefore, it is legitimate to ask if this approach is now outdated and a new mode of trade should be created. This paper provides some thoughts on these questions and is based on the author’s dissertation which comprehensively deals with this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world. Identification of factors associated with quit attempts and successful quitting can help strengthen tobacco cessation programs. In Ethiopia, no prior study of such factors exists. Our aim was to identify factors associated with quit attempts and successful quitting among adults who smoke tobacco in Ethiopia. METHODS We used the Ethiopian 2016 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) data (n=10150). GATS is a nationally representative household survey that collects data on sociodemographic and tobacco-related characteristics. We calculated prevalence of reported past 12 months quit attempts and successful quitting and performed logistic regression to obtain prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Overall 42.0% of people who smoked tobacco made a quit attempt. Men were more likely (APR=3.9; 95% CI: 1.4-10.7) to make a quit attempt compared to women but were less likely to successfully quit (APR=0.6; 95% CI: 0.3-0.9). Those aware of the health harms of tobacco were 2.5 (95% CI: 1.1-5.5) and 3.9 (95% CI: 1.8-8.5) times as likely to make a quit attempt and successfully quit, respectively, than those unaware. Receiving healthcare provider advice to quit was not associated with quit attempts. CONCLUSIONS More than 4 in 10 people smoking tobacco in Ethiopia are making attempts to quit. Receipt of healthcare provider advice to quit is not yet associated with quit attempts in Ethiopia; however, awareness of the health harms of tobacco is a powerful predictor of quit attempt and success in quitting. Improved access to cessation support and expanded awareness of the health harms of tobacco are urgently needed to enhance both quit attempts and success across Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of GATS, a service-specific trade agreement, on the survival of service exports from Kenya to 176 countries between 1995 and 2019. Services are classified at a 1-digit level: travel, transport, computer and information, construction, financial, insurance, government, other business, and personal, cultural, and recreational services. The discrete-time probit model with random effects reveals that GATS reduces the survival of service exports by 0.78%. At the category level, GATS only increases the survival of construction and government services. GATS also reduces the survival of Kenya's exports to Africa when geographical regions are considered. However, GATS boosts the survival of services when it is interacted with the quality of institutions and the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI). Accordingly, reducing regulations and general improvement of the quality of institutions can help countries reap the benefits of a service-specific trade agreement fully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: This paper aims to understand the recent trends and correlation of tobacco use and factors associated with an attempt to quit smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among adults from Northeast India. Methods: We used data from two rounds of the cross-sectional Global Adult Tobacco Survey. The paper applied proportion test statistics to examine the change in the prevalence of tobacco use between the two periods. Binary logistic regression was applied to determine the associated risks of tobacco use. Results: Prevalence of SLT use among adults increased significantly by 3.9% from 2009-10 to 2016–17. In the same period, the prevalence of smoking had declined by 2.4%. Increase in use of SLT use was more prominent among women and illiterate adults, rural and poor households, while a decrease in prevalence of smoking was observed among adults. A significant proportion of educated people, students, and homemakers, reported that they had quit smoking; however, the proportion of attempts to quit SLT had increased significantly among older adults, rural residents, and those with low education levels. Conclusions: Actions involving the community, youth, women, the less educated and poor adults are necessary to encourage them quit SLT use and smoking in the north-eastern states of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]