What do politicians think of the common consolidated corporate tax base? A Belgian case study

This paper analyzes the views of Belgian politicians on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), an ambitious project to harmonize corporate taxation in the EU. Applying case study methodology, the results show that most politicians were proponents of this new tax system. During the discussions in several political institutions, the politicians referred to the macro-economic impact, the legal certainty and their party’s view to found their opinion. Besides several agreements, certain aspects of CCCTB like the optionality and the applied tax rate involved clear differences in view between left and right-wing politicians, which could hamper a political agreement on CCCTB

Development and validation of a standardized double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge matrix for raw hazelnuts

Background: Double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) is considered the gold standard for food allergy diagnosis. However, this test is rarely performed routinely in clinical practice because of various practical issues, e.g. the lack of a standardized matrix preparation. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a convenient DBPCFC matrix, that can easily be implemented in daily clinical practice. The focus of this study was the blinding of hazelnuts, whereby the hazelnuts retained as much as possible their allergenicity and could be mixed homogenously in low-doses to the matrices. Methods: A basophil-activation test (BAT), microbial tests and an LC-MS/MS test were performed to assess respectively the allergenicity of the used hazelnuts, the microbial stability of the novel developed matrices and the homogeneity of the hazelnuts in the matrices. A sensory test was conducted to validate the blinding of the hazelnuts in the matrices. A pilot DBPCFC study included eight patients as proof of concept. Results: The BAT-test gave the first insights concerning the retained allergenicity of the hazelnuts. The microbial safety could be assured after 12 months of storage. Sufficient masking was assessed by several sensory tests. Homogeneous hazelnut distribution could be achieved for the different hazelnut concentrations. The DBPCFC's results showed diverse allergic responders (from no reactions to distinct objective symptoms). Conclusion: A novel stable and validated DBPCFC matrix using raw hazelnuts has been developed that allows easy preparation in a standardized way for convenient use in daily clinical practice

Microstructured optical fiber Bragg grating-based strain and temperature sensing in the concrete buffer of the Belgian supercontainer concept

We present the use of microstructured optical fiber Bragg grating-based sensors for strain and temperature monitoring inside the concrete buffer of the Belgian supercontainer concept, demonstrated in a half-scale test in 2013. This test incorporated several optical fiber sensors inside the concrete buffer for production and condition monitoring. The optical fiber sensors presented here consist of small carbon-reinforced composite plates in which highly birefringent Butterfly microstructured optical fibers, equipped with fiber Bragg gratings, were embedded. The double reflection spectrum of these MOFGBs allows to simultaneously monitor strain and temperature, as confirmed by comparison with data obtained from thermocouples and vibrating-wire sensors installed near the MOFBGs

Feasibility study combining low dose rate (192)Ir brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy aiming at delivering 80-85 Gy to prostatic adenocarcinoma.

peer reviewedBACKGROUND: Increasing the radiation dose to prostatic adenocarcinoma has provided higher local control rates. A total of 80 Gy seem necessary to achieve this goal but patient set-up and prostate motion remain difficult problems to solve in conformal radiotherapy. Brachytherapy which overcomes these points could be an alternative way to external beam boost fields. We wanted to transpose the irradiation models largely used in cervix cancer treatment combining external beam radiotherapy and low dose rate brachytherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 71 patients with 19.5 and 13 ng/ml mean and median PSA levels, respectively, a dose escalation from 74 to 85 Gy was performed in four groups. RESULTS: Shifting from intraoperative placement of sources vectors (Group I) to positioning under ultrasound controls (groups II-IV), improving the implantation shape and optimizing radiation delivery to urethral bed have reduced the total dose to rectal wall under 65 Gy and to urethra under 100 Gy. Rectal/prostate dose ratio was lowered from 0.7 (Groups I-II) to 0.58 (Groups III-IV) while avoiding problems resulting from pelvic bone arch interference, prostate volume or seminal vesicles location. The mean and median follow-up periods are 28 and 18 months. In Groups III and IV 85% of patients without hormonotherapy treated with 80-85 Gy normalized PSA under 1 ng/ml within 6 months. No severe late effect has been noted for patients implanted under echographic control. CONCLUSIONS: The method described allows to deliver 85 Gy. Longer follow-up is however needed but the levels of dose delivered are not expected to induce prohibitive side effects

Scaling-up energy sufficiency on a European level through a bottom-up modelling approach : lessons and perspectives

The unprecedented challenge of reaching carbon neutrality before mid-century and a large share of it within 2030 in order to keep under the 1.5 or 2 °C carbon budgets, requires broad and deep changes in production and consumption patterns which, together with a shift to renewables and reinforced efficiency, need to be addressed through energy sufficiency. However, inadequate representations and obstacles to characterising and identifying sufficiency potentials often lead to an underrepresentation of sufficiency in models, scenarios and policies. One way to tackle this issue is to work on the development of sufficiency assumptions at a concrete level where various implications such as social consequences, environmental co-benefits, conditions for implementation can be discussed. This approach has been developed as the backbone of a collaborative project, gathering partners in 20 European countries at present, aiming for the integration of harmonised national scenarios into an ambitious net-zero European vision. The approach combines a qualitative discussion on the role of energy sufficiency in a "systemic" merit order for global sustainability, and a quantitative discussion of the level of sufficiency to be set to contribute to meeting 100 % renewables supply and net-zero emissions goals by 2050 at the latest. The latter is based on the use of a dashboard, which serves as a common descriptive framework for all national scenario trajectories and their comparison, with a view to harmonising and strengthening them through an iterative process. A set of key sufficiency-related indicators have been selected to be included in the dashboard, while various interrelated infrastructural, economic, environmental, social or legal factors or drivers have been identified and mapped. This paves the way for strengthening assumptions through the elaboration of "sufficiency corridors" defining a convergent, acceptable and sustainable level of energy services in Europe. The process will eventually inform the potential for sufficiency policies through a better identification of leverages, impacts and co-benefits

Prediction of second neurological attack in patients with clinically isolated syndrome using support vector machines

The aim of this study is to predict the conversion from clinically isolated syndrome to clinically definite multiple sclerosis using support vector machines. The two groups of converters and non-converters are classified using features that were calculated from baseline data of 73 patients. The data consists of standard magnetic resonance images, binary lesion masks, and clinical and demographic information. 15 features were calculated and all combinations of them were iteratively tested for their predictive capacity using polynomial kernels and radial basis functions with leave-one-out cross-validation. The accuracy of this prediction is up to 86.4% with a sensitivity and specificity in the same range indicating that this is a feasible approach for the prediction of a second clinical attack in patients with clinically isolated syndromes, and that the chosen features are appropriate. The two features gender and location of onset lesions have been used in all feature combinations leading to a high accuracy suggesting that they are highly predictive. However, it is necessary to add supporting features to maximise the accuracy. © 2013 IEEE

Accords économiques internationaux et Démocratie

Ce nouveau numéro des Cahiers propose une analyse approfondie de la situation colombienne, mais en décalant le regard : c’est la façon dont ce pays s’insère dans le mouvement actuel de globalisation qui constitue le fil rouge des trois textes qui y sont rassemblés. Ce fil rouge permet : a) de souligner les ambiguïtés d’un processus de paix qui est allé de pair avec la signature d’une accord de commerce entre l’UE et la Colombie, donnant la priorité à la libéralisation des échanges écono-miques ; b) d’explorer les diverses dimensions de cet accord de commerce, en montrant combien l’insertion de clauses de conditionnalité (en matière de droits humains, de droits sociaux ou de droits environnementaux) n’a guère eu d’incidence sur le contenu de l’accord, malgré d’intenses débats politiques en Colombie et en Europe ; c) d’élargir la réflexion aux modes de régulation des échanges économiques par le droit international. En an-nexes, les statistiques les plus récentes sur les assassinats des syndica-listes et des défenseurs des droits humains en Colombie, avant et après la signature de l’Accord de paix. Il souligne la responsabilité de la com-munauté internationale dans le soutien à un processus de paix en grande difficulté