Management control in the transfer pricing tax compliant multinational enterprise

This paper studies the impact of transfer pricing tax compliance on management control system (MCS) design and use within one multinational enterprise (MNE) which employed the same transfer prices for tax compliance and internal management purposes. Our analysis shows immediate effects of tax compliance on the design of organising controls with subsequent effects on planning, evaluating and rewarding controls which reveal a more coercive use of the MCS overall. We argue that modifications to the MCS cannot be understood without an appreciation of the MNEs’ fiscal transfer pricing compliance process

Impact of controlled atmosphere scheduling on strawberry and imported avocado fruit

British grown strawberry cv. Sonata and Chilean avocado cv. Hass were exposed to controlled atmospheres (CA) of 15 kPa CO2 + 5 kPa O2 (5 °C) and 10 kPa CO2 + 5 kPa O2 (5 or 20 °C), respectively, at early, middle or late stages during postharvest storage of avocados and at early and middle stages for strawberries. Real-time respiration rate (RR) was measured during CA storage and regular fruit sampling carried out to assess disease severity, objective colour, ethylene production and firmness. The automated in situ set-up used allowed continuous recordings of real-time respiration measurements without disruption to the CA environment. Cold stored strawberry fruit treated for 2.5 d with CA midway through the storage period were firmer and maintained a more vibrant colour despite bursts of increased RR. Furthermore, just 2.5 d of CA was sufficient to extend the shelf-life of strawberries (based on disease incidence) by a further 3 d, as compared to control. Irrespective of timing, RR of avocado stored at 20 °C was reduced while under CA environment; and early CA exposure maintained firmness yet increased the incidence of internal discolouration 7 d after removal from CA. At 5 °C, avocado skin colour and internal discolouration were positively affected by the mid CA treatment. These results are discussed in the context of the targeted use of CA, compared to control, for extending shelf-life, and reducing waste of these two different fruit produces. Furthermore, reducing the length of time required for CA application, which has not previously been explored in avocado or strawberries, would potentially be more energy efficient/cost effective

ENDO-ERN expert opinion on the differential diagnosis of pubertal delay.

The differential diagnoses of pubertal delay include hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH), as well as constitutional delay of growth and puberty (CDGP). Distinguishing between CDGP and CHH may be challenging, and the scientific community has been struggling to develop diagnostic tests that allow an accurate differential diagnosis. Indeed, an adequate and timely management is critical in order to enable optimal clinical and psychosocial outcomes of the different forms of pubertal delays. In this review, we provide an updated insight on the differential diagnoses of pubertal delay, including the available tests, their meanings and accuracy, as well as some clues to effectively orientate towards either constitutional pubertal delay or pathologic CHH and hypergonadotropic hypogonadism

Spatial changes in leaf biochemical profile of two tea cultivars following cold storage under two different vapour pressure deficit (VPD) conditions

Withering is considered a crucial stage of black tea processing. In this study, tea shoots from two cultivars (cvs. Yabukita and Clone 2) were stored at 5 °C, in either a low or high vapour pressure deficit (VPD) environment, to determine the impact of different withering rates on physiology (viz. respiration rate [RR], colour and moisture loss) and biochemical profile (viz. individual catechins, methylxanthines) of tea shoots (Camellia sinensis). Low VPD and high VPD conditions during withering increased caffeine levels in Clone 2 and Yabukita, respectively (p < 0.05). Caffeine levels steadily increased over time in both cultivars (p < 0.05), coinciding with a rapid decline in theobromine (TB). Furthermore, stems contained lower epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and caffeine (ca. 75 and 56%, respectively) compared to bud and larger leaf (LL) (p < 0.05). Overall, the results of this study highlight factors such as mechanical harvesting, and hard or soft withering, which could affect final tea beverage quality

Dopamine precursor depletion improves punishment prediction during reversal learning in healthy females but not males

Contains fulltext : 88802.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access

Effect of UV-C on the physiology and biochemical profile of fresh Piper nigrum berries

Application of UV-C has been shown to enhance the biochemical profile of various plant materials. This could be used to increase biochemical load, reducing the amount of material required but still impart equivalent flavour. As spices, such as black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), are typically dried to low moisture content to create a stable product for transportation and storage, little work has explored the use of modern postharvest treatments to enhance flavour. In this work, fresh P. nigrum berries were exposed to four UV-C doses (0, 1, 5 and 15 kJ m−2) and subsequently stored at 5 °C for ca. 4 weeks. Two separate experiments (early and late season) were conducted across one season. Replicate P. nigrum berry clusters were stored separately within continuously ventilated 13 L boxes. Real-time respiration rate (ex situ), ethylene production, fruit colour and water potential were measured at regular intervals during storage. In addition, piperine and essential oils were assessed using a simple newly developed method which enabled both compound groups to be simultaneously extracted and subsequently quantified. UV-C was found to cause significant changes in colour (from green to brown) whilst also altering the biochemical composition (piperine and essential oils), which was influenced by UV-C dose and berry maturity. Low to medium UV-C doses could potentially enhance flavour compounds in black pepper enabling processors to create products with higher biochemical load

Hevin is down-regulated in many cancers and is a negative regulator of cell growth and proliferation

We have cloned a human Hevin cDNA from omental adipose tissue of different patients by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and shown a sequence variation due to a possible polymorphism at amino acid position 161 (E/G). Hevin protein expressed in vitro showed molecular weights of approximately 75 kDa and 150 kDa, suggesting that Hevin may form a homodimer in vitro. Using Northern blots and a human expressed sequence tAg database analysis, Hevin was shown to be widely expressed in human normal or non-neoplastic diseased tissues with various levels. In contrast to this, its expression was strongly down-regulated in most neoplastic cells or tissues tested. However, neither the mechanism nor the physiological meaning of this down-regulation is known. As an initial step towards investigating the functional role of Hevin in cell growth and differentiation, we transiently or stably expressed this gene in cancer cells (HeLa 3S) that are devoid of endogenous Hevin and measured DNA synthesis (cell proliferation) by 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine incorporation. Hevin was shown to be a negative regulator of cell proliferation. Furthermore, we have shown that Hevin can inhibit progression of cells from G1 to S phase or prolong G1 phase. This is the first report which describes the function of Hevin in cell growth and proliferation. Through database analysis, Hevin was found to be located on chromosome 4 which contains loss of heterozygosity of many tumour suppressor genes. Taken together, these results suggest that Hevin may be a candidate for a tumour suppressor gene and a potential target for cancer diagnosis/therapy. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Patients with rare endocrine conditions have corresponding views on unmet needs in clinical research

Purpose European Reference Network on Rare Endocrine Conditions' (Endo-ERN) mission is to reduce and ultimately abolish inequalities in care for patients with rare endocrine conditions in Europe. This study assesses which themes related to rare endocrine conditions are prioritized by patients for clinical research. Methods A survey was developed, translated into 22 different European languages, and distributed to patients with rare endocrine conditions. Patients were asked to give priority scores to listed prespecified topics: fertility, heritability, tiredness, daily medicine intake, sleep quality, physical discomfort, and ability to work, partake in social life, and sports. They were also asked to suggest further important areas for research in open fields. Results After data cleaning, 1378 survey responses were analyzed. Most responses were received from Northern (47%) and Western Europeans (39%), while Southern (11%) and Eastern Europe (2%) were underrepresented. Respondents were most interested in research concerning ability to participate in social life and work. Patients suggested key areas to work: long-term side effects of medical treatments and quality of life. Some priorities differed between disease groups, both for prespecified and open topics and reflected aspects of patients' individual conditions. Conclusions With this large survey, Endo-ERN gained insight into patients' unmet needs in scientific research. Patients prioritized research on ability to work and participation in social activities, though needs differ between the disease groups. Clinical experts should incorporate the results of this survey into the design of future studies on rare endocrine conditions. We aim to utilize these results in designing patient-reported outcome measures for the disease areas covered by Endo-ERN

Traffic flow on realistic road networks with adaptive traffic lights

We present a model of traffic flow on generic urban road networks based on cellular automata. We apply this model to an existing road network in the Australian city of Melbourne, using empirical data as input. For comparison, we also apply this model to a square-grid network using hypothetical input data. On both networks we compare the effects of non-adaptive vs adaptive traffic lights, in which instantaneous traffic state information feeds back into the traffic signal schedule. We observe that not only do adaptive traffic lights result in better averages of network observables, they also lead to significantly smaller fluctuations in these observables. We furthermore compare two different systems of adaptive traffic signals, one which is informed by the traffic state on both upstream and downstream links, and one which is informed by upstream links only. We find that, in general, both the mean and the fluctuation of the travel time are smallest when using the joint upstream-downstream control strategy.Comment: 41 pages, pdflate