Entrepreneurial innovations and taxation

In many countries entrepreneurship is promoted through tax reductions for small businesses and by various government support schemes. We analyze the effects of such policies to subsidize small businesses in a setting where both the risk-return characteristics of the selected innovation project and the mode of commercialization chosen by entrepreneurs (market entry versus sale to an incumbent firm) are endogenous. We show that government programs to support small businesses foster market entry by entrepreneurs but, at the same time, give an incentive to choose low risk projects, due to the existence of limited loss o®set provisions. This points to a basic trade-off be- tween the goals of raising competition in technology-intensive markets and the desire of governments to foster risky `breakthrough' innovations

Risk factors for revision after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate risk factors for revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with a special attention to surgical technique (graft choice and choice of graft fixation) and patients’ age and sex. Specific aims were to describe the usage of the most common grafts and fixations for ACLR in Norway and Scandinavia respectively. To answer these questions we used register data for patients with isolated ACL tear who had undergone ACL reconstruction (ACLR), with revision as the endpoint. We used data from the Norwegian National Knee Ligament Register (NNKLR) for all papers, and in addition, data from the Swedish and Danish National Knee Ligament Registries for paper III. In study I, 12,643 patients were included to evaluate the revision rate and risk factors for revision ACLR, primarily the influence of graft choice (patellar tendon [BPTB] or hamstring tendon [HT] graft). The patients’ age and sex were included in the overall analysis. The revision rate was higher for HT compared with BPTB grafts at all follow-up times, and the adjusted revision risk were twice as high for HT compared with BPTB. Young age was the strongest predictor for revision of the investigated factors. In study II, we described the usage of fixation implants for 14,034 patients with BPTB and HT in Norway and investigated the revision risk for the most common combinations of fixations for BPTB and HT. We found combinations of fixation implants with a higher risk of revision when using HT, especially when suspensory fixation in the femur was used. In study III, we described the most common fixation methods for HT grafts used in 38,666 patients in Scandinavia, and investigated the influence of fixation method on the risk of revision. We found that similar graft fixation methods influenced the risk of revision as in study II. In conclusion, we found both surgical techniques and patient-specific factors that affect the revision rate and revision-risk after ACLR. Young age was the strongest predictor for further revision surgery. Patients reconstructed with HT had twice the risk of revision compared with BPTB, and certain fixation methods for HT had an increased risk of early and overall revision

Student Education During The REXUS/BEXUS Projects

The new DLR Institute of Space Systems in Bremen has established a project office to support and manage German student activities related to the preparation of the BEXUS and REXUS (Balloon/Rocket Experiments for University Students) flights. This paper primarily describes the student mentoring and the educational activities undertaken by DLR and SSC with the aim of encouraging and promoting student knowledge throughout the first year of the REXUS/BEXUS student programme

Entrepreneurial Innovations and Taxation

Many governments promote small businesses for the dual reasons of fostering ‘breakthrough’ innovations and employment growth. In this paper we study the effects of tax and subsidy policies on entrepreneurs’ choice of riskiness of an innovation project and on their mode of commercializing the innovation (market entry versus sale). Limited loss offset provisions in the tax system induce entrepreneurs to choose projects with too little risk and this problem arises primarily when entrepreneurs market their product themselves. When innovations reduce only the fixed costs of production this leads to a fundamental policy trade-off between the declared goals of promoting employment and innovation in small, entrepreneurial firms. When innovations reduce variable production costs, policies to promote small businesses may even be unambiguously harmful.Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Corporate taxes; Firm growth

Entrepreneurial Innovations and Taxation

In many countries entrepreneurship is promoted through tax reductions for small businesses and by various government support schemes. We analyze the effects of such policies to subsidize small businesses in a setting where both the risk-return characteristics of the selected innovation project and the mode of commercialization chosen by entrepreneurs (market entry versus sale to an incumbent firm) are endogenous. We show that government programs to support small businesses foster market entry by entrepreneurs but, at the same time, give an incentive to choose low risk projects, due to the existence of limited loss offset provisions. This points to a basic trade-off between the goals of raising competition in technology-intensive markets and the desire of governments to foster risky ‘breakthrough’ innovations.business taxation, innovation, market entry

Entrepreneurial innovations and taxation

In many countries entrepreneurship is promoted through tax reductions for small businesses and by various government support schemes. We analyze the effects of such policies to subsidize small businesses in a setting where both the risk-return characteristics of the selected innovation project and the mode of commercialization chosen by entrepreneurs (market entry versus sale to an incumbent firm) are endogenous. We show that government programs to support small businesses foster market entry by entrepreneurs but, at the same time, give an incentive to choose low risk projects, due to the existence of limited loss o®set provisions. This points to a basic trade-off be- tween the goals of raising competition in technology-intensive markets and the desire of governments to foster risky `breakthrough' innovations.business taxation; innovation; market entry

Estimating slope from raster data – a test of eight algorithms at different resolutions in flat and steep terrain

Different slope algorithms can result in totally different estimates. In the worst case, this may lead to inappropriate and useless modelling estimates. A frequent lack of awareness when choosing algorithms justifies a thorough comparison of their characteristics, making it possible for researchers to select an algorithm which is optimal for their purpose. In this study, eight frequently used slope algorithms applied to Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are compared. The influences of the resolution of the DEM (0.5, 1, 2, and 5 metres), as well as the terrain form (flat and steep terrain), are considered. It should be noted that the focus of the study is not to compare estimates with ‘ground truth’ data, but on the comparisons between the algorithms, and the ways in which they might differ depending on resolution and terrain. Descriptive statistics are calculated in order to characterize the general characteristics of the eight tested algorithms. Eight combinations of DEM resolution and terrain form are analysed. The results show that the Maximum and Simple Difference algorithms always yield higher mean slope values than the other algorithms, while the Constrained Quadratic Surface algorithm produces the lowest values compared to the others. It is concluded that the estimated slope values are heavily dependent on the number of neighbouring cells included in the estimation. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of estimated slope values strongly indicates (at the significance level of 0.01) that the tested algorithms yield statistically different results. The eight algorithms produce different estimates for all tested resolutions and terrain forms but one. The differences are more pronounced in steep terrain and at a higher resolution. More detailed pairwise comparisons between estimated slope values are also carried out. It is concluded that the smoothing effects associated with the Constrained Quadratic Surface algorithm are greater in steeper terrain, showing significantly lower estimates than other algorithms. On the other hand, the Maximum and Simple Difference algorithms show significantly higher estimates in almost all cases, except the combination of steep terrain and low resolution. With an increase in grid cell size, the loss of information contents in DEMs leads to lower estimated slope values as well as smaller relative differences between algorithms. Based on the results of this study it is concluded that the choice of algorithm results in different estimated slope values, and that resolution and terrain influences these differences significantly

PET imaging of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) in prostate cancer:current status and future perspectives

Overexpression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptors (uPAR) represents an important biomarker for aggressiveness in most common malignant diseases, including prostate cancer (PC). Accordingly, uPAR expression either assessed directly in malignant PC tissue or assessed directly in plasma (intact/cleaved forms)—provides independent additional clinical information to that contributed by PSA, Gleason score, and other relevant pathological and clinical parameters. In this respect, non-invasive molecular imaging by positron emission tomography (PET) offers a very attractive technology platform, which can provide the required quantitative information on the uPAR expression profile, without the need for invasive procedures and the risk of missing the target due to tumor heterogeneity. These observations support non-invasive PET imaging of uPAR in PC as a clinically relevant diagnostic and prognostic imaging method. In this review, we will focus on the recent development of uPAR PET and the relevance within prostate cancer imaging. Novel antibody and small-molecule radiotracers-targeting uPAR, including a series of uPAR-targeting PET ligands, based on the high affinity peptide ligand AE105, have been synthesized and tested in vitro and in vivo in preclinical murine xenograft models and, recently, in a first-ever clinical uPAR PET study in cancer patients, including patients with PC. In this phase I study, a high and specific uptake of the tracer (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105 was found in both primary tumors and lymph node metastases. The results are encouraging and support large-scale clinical trials to determine the utility of uPAR PET in the management of patients with PC with the goal of improving outcome

On generating digital elevation models from liDAR data – resolution versus accuracy and topographic wetness index indices in northern peatlands

Global change and GHG emission modelling are dependent on accurate wetness estimations for predictions of e.g. methane emissions. This study aims to quantify how the slope, drainage area and the TWI vary with the resolution of DEMs for a flat peatland area. Six DEMs with spatial resolutions from 0.5 to 90 m were interpolated with four different search radiuses. The relationship between accuracy of the DEM and the slope was tested. The LiDAR elevation data was divided into two data sets. The number of data points facilitated an evaluation dataset with data points not more than 10 mm away from the cell centre points in the interpolation dataset. The DEM was evaluated using a quantile-quantile test and the normalized median absolute deviation. It showed independence of the resolution when using the same search radius. The accuracy of the estimated elevation for different slopes was tested using the 0.5 meter DEM and it showed a higher deviation from evaluation data for steep areas. The slope estimations between resolutions showed differences with values that exceeded 50%. Drainage areas were tested for three resolutions, with coinciding evaluation points. The model ability to generate drainage area at each resolution was tested by pair wise comparison of three data subsets and showed differences of more than 50% in 25% of the evaluated points. The results show that consideration of DEM resolution is a necessity for the use of slope, drainage area and TWI data in large scale modelling