The tax system and the financial crisis

This paper investigates the effects of the tax system on the economic factors that triggered the financial crisis. We examine three cases in which the tax regime interacted with these factors, reinforcing them. First, we focus on the taxation of residential building: while the importance of capital gains taxes is disputed, the deductibility of mortgage interest may have contributed to the financial crisis by creating some of the raw materials for the securitization industry. Second, a narrow perspective on the tax treatment, together with specific provisions, may have fostered performance-based remuneration of managers, resulting in overemphasis of short-term profitability and incentive to excessive risk-taking. Third, the securitization process, which played a key role in the outbreak of the financial crisis, was accompanied by opportunities for tax arbitrage and reduction of the overall tax wedge paid by investors, through offset of incomes that are ordinarily taxed at different rates; a de facto exemption of CDS premiums received by non-residents supplemented the tax arbitrage.taxation, financial crisis, housing market, stock options, securitization, credit default swaps

Multi-stage thrusting at the "Penninic Front" in the Western Alps between Mont Blanc and Pelvoux massifs

The different segments of the tectonic boundary between external (European) and internal (Penninic) units in the Western Alps, the so-called Penninic Front (PF), formed at different times and according to different kinematic scenarios. During a first episode (Eocene), the PF corresponds to a transpressive suture zone between Penninic and European units. North- to NNW-trending stretching lineations, found along internal nappe contacts within the Penninic units, are related to this episode. This subduction zone was sealed by the Priabonian flysch of the Aiguilles d'Arves, a detrital trench formation that formed during the final stages of subduction. During a second episode, starting in mid-Oligocene times, the PF, imaged along the ECORS-CROP profile, acted as a WNW-directed thrust. This thrust, the Roselend Thrust (RT), only partially coincides with the PF. South of Moûtiers, the RT propagates into the Dauphinois units, carrying the former Eocene PF (including the Priabonian flysch) passively in its hangingwall. South of the Pelvoux massif the RT finds its continuation along the "Briançonnais Front", an out-of-sequence thrust behind the Embrunais-Ubaye nappes. On a larger scale, our findings indicate oblique (sinistral) collision within the future Western Alps during the Eocene, followed by westward indentation of the Adriatic bloc

Analysis of tissue surrounding thyroid nodules by ultrasound digital images

Since US is not easily reproducible, the digital image analysis (IA) has been proposed so that the image evaluation is not subjective. In fact, IA meets the criteria of objectivity, accurateness, and reproducibility by a matrix of pixels whose value is displayed in a gray level. This study aims at evaluating via IA the tissue surrounding a thyroid nodule (backyard tissue, BT) from goitres with benign (b-BT) and malignant (m-BT) lesions. Sixty-nine US images of thyroid nodules surrounded by adequate thyroid tissue was classified as normoechoic and homogeneous were enrolled as study group. Forty-three US images from normal thyroid (NT) glands were included as controls. Digital images of 800 × 652 pixels were acquired at a resolution of eight bits with a 256 gray levels depth. By one-way ANOVA, the 43 NT glands were not statistically different (P = 0.91). Mean gray level of normal glands was significantly higher than b-BT (P = 0.026), and m-BT (P = 0.0001), while no difference was found between b-BT and m-BT (P = 0.321). NT tissue boundary external to the nodule was found at 6.0 ± 0.5 mm in cancers and 4.0 ± 0.5 mm in benignancies (P = 0.001). These data should indicate that the tissue surrounding a thyroid nodule may be damaged even when assessed as normal by US. This is of interest to investigate the extranodular effects of thyroid tumors

The Valais units in Savoy (France): a key area for understanding the palaeogeography and the tectonic evolution of the Western Alps

The Valais units in Savoy (Zone des Brèches de Tarentaise) have been re-mapped in great detail and are subject of combined stratigraphic, structural and petrological investigations summarized in this contribution. The sediments and rare relics of basement, together with Cretaceous age mafic and ultramafic rocks of the Valais palaeogeographical domain, represent the heavily deformed relics of the former distal European margin (External Valais units) and an ocean-continent transition (Internal Valais unit or Versoyen unit) that formed during rifting. This rifting led to the opening of the Valais ocean, a northern branch of the Alpine Tethys. Post-rift sediments referred to as "Valais trilogy” stratigraphically overlie both External and Internal Valais successions above an angular unconformity formed in Barremian to Aptian times, providing robust evidence for the timing of the opening of the Valais ocean. The Valais units in Savoy are part of a second and more external mid-Eocene high-pressure belt in the Alps that sutured the Briançonnais microcontinent to Europe. Top-N D1-deformation led to the formation of a nappe stack that emplaced the largely eclogite-facies Internal Valais unit (Versoyen) onto blueschist-facies External Valais units. The latter originally consisted of, from internal to external, the Petit St. Bernard unit, the Roc de l'Enfer unit, the Moûtiers unit and the Quermoz unit. Ongoing top-N D2-thrusting and folding substantially modified this nappe stack. Post 35Ma D3 folding led to relatively minor modifications of the nappe stack within the Valais units but was associated with substantial top-WNW thrusting of the Valais units over the Dauphinois units along the Roselend thrust during W-directed indentation of the Adria block contributing to the formation of the arc of the Western Alp

Pharmacological counseling in hepatotoxicity induced by macitentan and selexipag: a case report

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a progressive, debilitating condition characterized by increased resistance in the pulmonary arterial circulation. Current treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension include endothelin receptor antagonists such as bosentan, sitaxentan, ambrisentan, macitentan, and oral prostacyclin receptor agonists such as selexipag. Endothelin receptor antagonists have been associated with liver injury, while hepatotoxicity was not reported for selexipag. Although genetic variability has been indisputably associated with variability in drug response, no study has been designed until now to assess its effects on the pharmacokinetics of endothelin receptor antagonists or selexipag. Case presentation: We report the case of a 58-year-old female Caucasian patient with a dramatic increase in plasma levels of transaminases after treatment with macitentan and selexipag, drugs whose risk of causing liver injury has so far been considered limited. After therapy discontinuation, plasma levels of transaminases returned to baseline, thus suggesting a role of these drugs in the observed hepatotoxicity. After pharmacological counseling, we decided to introduce ambrisentan for the patient's treatment. After 7 months of treatment, no liver injury has been reported. To evaluate the role of genetic factors in the observed hepatotoxicity, we genotyped the patient for single-nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with macitentan, ambrisentan, or selexipag metabolism. We found a genetic profile associated with a poor metabolizer (PM) phenotype for CYP2C8 and CYP2C9, key enzymes for elimination of both macitentan and selexipag. The reported results suggest that an allelic profile associated with low activity for CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 enzyme could be a potential risk factor for macitentan and selexipag-induced liver injury and could provide a possible marker for early identification of subjects at higher risk of developing hepatotoxicity. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach based on clinical evaluation, as well as pharmacological counseling and evaluation of the patient's genetic profile, might be useful for identification of patients with a high chance of drug-induced liver injury, avoiding unnecessary risks in therapy selection and prescription

Mulching in lowland hay meadows drives an adaptive convergence of above- and below-ground traits reducing plasticity and improving biomass: A possible tool for enhancing phytoremediation

We aimed to understand the effect of mulching (i.e., cutting and leaving the crushed biomass to decompose in situ) on above- and below-ground plant functional traits and whether this practice may be a potential tool for enhancing the phytoremediation of lowland hay meadows. To this aim, we evaluated at the community level seven years of mulching application in a PCBs and HMs soil-polluted Site of National Interest (SIN Brescia-Caffaro) through the analysis of the floristic composition and the above- and below-ground plant traits. We found that the abandonment of agricultural activities led to a marked increase in the soil organic carbon and pH, and the over-imposed mulching additionally induced a slight increase in soil nutrients. Mulching favored the establishment of a productive plant community characterized by a more conservative-resource strategy, a higher biomass development, and lower plasticity through an adaptative convergence between above- and below-ground organs. In particular, the analysis of the root depth distribution highlighted the key role of roots living in the upper soil layer (10 cm). Mulching did not show a significant effect on plant species known to be effective in terms of PCB phytoremediation. However, the mulching application appears to be a promising tool for enhancing the root web that functions as the backbone for the proliferation of microbes devoted to organic contaminants' degradation and selects a two-fold number of plant species known to be metal-tolerant. However, besides these potential positive effects of the mulching application, favoring species with a higher biomass development, in the long term, may lead to a biodiversity reduction and thus to potential consequences also on the diversity of native species important for the phytoremediation

Patient Age Is an Independent Risk Factor of Relapse of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma and Improves the Performance of the American Thyroid Association Stratification System

Background: The 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines proposed a three-category system for estimating the risk of recurrence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). This system includes several perioperative features, but not age at diagnosis. However, age has traditionally been recognized as a critical factor in the survival of DTC patients, and the eighth edition of TNM stated that patients older than 55 years were at higher risk of death. In this study, we raised the question of whether age at DTC diagnosis impacts on its risk of recurrence. Specifically, the present study aimed to (i) evaluate the association between age at diagnosis and structural recurrence and (ii) investigate whether age at diagnosis could improve the performance of the ATA system. Methods: During the study period, four institutions selected DTC patients treated with both thyroidectomy and radioiodine and who had follow-up for at least one year. Patients with proven structural evidence of disease during follow-up were identified, and disease-free survival (DFS) was calculated accordingly. Results: The study involved 1603 DTC patients with a median age of 49 years and DFS of 44 months. Disease recurred in 8%. The shortest DFS was found in the oldest patients. The Kaplan-Meier curves were calculated for each decade of age, and there was a significant association with DFS (p = 0.0014). Patients older than 55 years had significantly higher risk (hazard ratio [HR] 1.78, 95% confidence interval [CI 1.23-2.56]). The Kaplan-Meier curves of DFS in high-, intermediate-and low-risk groups showed a significant association only in the high-risk group (p = 0.0058). Patients older than 55 years had significantly higher risk of relapse over time only in the high-risk group (HR 2.15 [CI 2.01-4.53]). Cox's proportional analysis showed that the age cutoff of 55 years and the ATA system were significant predictors of relapse. Adding age at diagnosis above 55 years to the ATA system identified a subgroup of patients at highest risk for relapse. Conclusions: The age threshold adopted in the eighth edition of TNM staging system for DTC patients' prognosis also identifies cases at higher risk of relapse. Applying age at diagnosis, with a cutoff of 55 years, to the ATA risk stratification system identifies cases at highest risk of relapse

Utility of baseline 18FDG-PET/CT functional parameters in defining prognosis of primary mediastinal (thymic) large B-cell lymphoma

The International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group (IELSG) 26 study was designed to evaluate the role of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the management of primary mediastinal (thymic) large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL). We examined the prognostic impact of functional PET parameters at diagnosis. Metabolic activity defined by the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) was measured on baseline 18FDG PET/CT following a standard protocol in a prospectively enrolled cohort of 103 PMBCL patients. All received combination chemoimmunotherapy with doxorubicin- and rituximab-based regimens; 93 had consolidation radiotherapy. Cutoff values were determined using the receiver-operating characteristic curve. At a median follow-up of 36 months, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 87% and 94%, respectively. In univariate analysis, elevated MTV and TLG were significantly associated with worse PFS and OS. Only TLG retained statistical significance for both OS (P = .001) and PFS (P < .001) in multivariate analysis. At 5 years, OS was 100% for patients with low TLG vs 80% for those with high TLG (P = .0001), whereas PFS was 99% vs 64%, respectively (P < .0001). TLG on baseline PET appeared to be a powerful predictor of PMBCL outcomes and warrants further validation as a biomarker. The IELSG 26 study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00944567