Inheritance Tax and Valuation

It has long been known in the literature how to include income taxes in the valuation of companies. These taxes can be neutral and therefore do not influence the company value, provided certain conditions are met; essentially, a firm’s cash flows have to be taxed the same way as those of a financial investment, which requires the use of economic depreciation. In this paper, we clarify how to value a company when its owner becomes liable for inheritance tax. Here, too, this type of tax is irrelevant when all assets are equally taxed. However, if some assets, e.g. business assets, are treated preferentially, which is the case in most European jurisdictions, the company value rises. We show that a considerable increase can be observed within realistic parameters for European countries

A combined model of human erythropoiesis and granulopoiesis under growth factor and chemotherapy treatment

Background: Haematotoxicity of conventional chemotherapies often results in delays of treatment or reduction of chemotherapy dose. To ameliorate these side-effects, patients are routinely treated with blood transfusions or haematopoietic growth factors such as erythropoietin (EPO) or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). For the latter ones, pharmaceutical derivatives are available, which differ in absorption kinetics, pharmacokinetic and -dynamic properties. Due to the complex interaction of cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy and the stimulating effects of different growth factor derivatives, optimal treatment is a non-trivial task. In the past, we developed mathematical models of thrombopoiesis, granulopoiesis and erythropoiesis under chemotherapy and growth-factor applications which can be used to perform clinically relevant predictions regarding the feasibility of chemotherapy schedules and cytopenia prophylaxis with haematopoietic growth factors. However, interactions of lineages and growth-factors were ignored so far. Results: To close this gap, we constructed a hybrid model of human granulopoiesis and erythropoiesis under conventional chemotherapy, G-CSF and EPO applications. This was achieved by combining our single lineage models of human erythropoiesis and granulopoiesis with a common stem cell model. G-CSF effects on erythropoiesis were also implemented. Pharmacodynamic models are based on ordinary differential equations describing proliferation and maturation of haematopoietic cells. The system is regulated by feedback loops partly mediated by endogenous and exogenous EPO and G-CSF. Chemotherapy is modelled by depletion of cells. Unknown model parameters were determined by fitting the model predictions to time series data of blood counts and cytokine profiles. Data were extracted from literature or received from cooperating clinical study groups. Our model explains dynamics of mature blood cells and cytokines after growth-factor applications in healthy volunteers. Moreover, we modelled 15 different chemotherapeutic drugs by estimating their bone marrow toxicity. Taking into account different growth-factor schedules, this adds up to 33 different chemotherapy regimens explained by the model. Conclusions: We conclude that we established a comprehensive biomathematical model to explain the dynamics of granulopoiesis and erythropoiesis under combined chemotherapy, G-CSF, and EPO applications. We demonstrate how it can be used to make predictions regarding haematotoxicity of yet untested chemotherapy and growth-factor schedules.:Background; Methods; Results; Model predictions; Discussion; Conclusion

Nanomanipulation and In-situ Transport Measurements on Carbon Nanotubes

With the advent of microelectronics and micromechanical systems, the benefits of miniaturized technology became evident. With the discovery of carbon nanotubes by Iijima in 1991, a material has been found that offers superior porperties such as high tensile strength, excellent electrical and heat conductivity while being lightweight, flexible and tunable by the specific atomic arrangement in its structure. The first part of this thesis deals with a new synthesis approach, which combines the known routes of chemical vapour deposition and laser ablation. The results concerning diameter and yield fit well within an established model for the nucleation and growth of carbon nanotubes and extend it by considering a larger parameter space. Furthermore, conventional laser ablation has been used to synthesize C-13 augmented carbon nanotubes, whose diameters depend among the usual synthesis parameters also on the C-13 content, an influence which is in line with the changed thermal conductivities of isotope mixtures. Manipulation of carbon nanotubes inside a transmission electron microscope forms the second part of this thesis. With the help of an in-situ nanomanipulator, several experiments involving the mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes have been performed. Two-probe resistances of individual nanotubes have been measured and the observation of individual shell failures allowed for the determination of current limits per carbon shell. With the help of electrical current, a nanotube was modified in its electrical characteristics by reshaping its structure. By application of DC-currents or square current pulses, the filling of iron- or cementite-filled multi-wall carbon nanotubes has been found to move in a polarity-defined direction guided by the nanotube walls. Depending on the current, nanotube shape, and composition of the filling different regimes of material transport have been identified, including the reworking of the inner nanotube shells. The application of a high driving current leads to a complete reworking of the host nanotube and the current-induced growth of carbonaceous nanostructures of changed morphology. Utilizing the obtained results, a transport mechanism involving momentum transfer from the electron wind to the filling atoms and a solid filling core during transport is developed and discussed. Finally, measurements of mechanical properties using electrically induced resonant or non-resonant vibrations inside the transmission electron microscope have been observed and important mechanical parameters have been determined with the help of a modified Euler-Bernoulli-beam approach.Mit dem Aufkommen von Mikroelektronik und mikromechanischen Systemen wurden die Vorteile miniaturisierter Geräte augenscheinlich. Mit der Entdeckung von Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren durch Iijima 1991 wurde ein Material gefunden, welches überlegene Eigenschaften wie hohe Festigkeit, exzellente elektrische und Wärmeleitfähigkeit zeigt, während es zeitgleich leicht und flexibel ist. Diese Eigentschaften können durch eine Änderung der spezifischen atomaren Anordnung in der Nanoröhrenhülle beeinflusst werden. Der erste Teil dieser Dissertationsschrift behandelt einen neuartigen Syntheseansatz, welche die bekannten Syntheserouten der chemischen Gasphasenabscheidung und Laserablation kombiniert. Die Ergebnisse bezüglich des Durchmessers und der Ausbeute lassen sich gut mit einem etablierten Modell der Nukleation und des Wachstums von Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren beschreiben - sie erweitern es, indem sie einen größeren Parameterraum berücksichtigen. Des Weiteren wurde konventionelle Laserablation benutzt, um C-13 angereicherte Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren herzustellen, deren Durchmesser nicht nur von den üblichen Parametern, sondern auch vom C-13 Anteil abhängt. Diese Abhängigkeit geht mit der veränderten thermischen Leitfähigkeit von Isotopenmischungen einher. Die Manipulation von Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren in einem Transmission-Elektronenmikroskop formt den zweiten Teil der Dissertationschrift. Mit Hilfe eines in-situ Manipulators wurden vielfältige Experimente durchgeführt, um die mechanischen und elektrischen Eigenschaften der Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren zu bestimmen. Zweipunktmessungen des Widerstands einzelner Nanoröhren und die Beobachtung des Versagens einzelner Kohlenstoffschichten erlaubte die Bestimmung der Stromtragfähigkeit einzelner Hüllen. Mit Hilfe eines elektrischen Stromes konnte eine Nanoröhre durch die veränderung der Struktur in ihren elektrischen Eigenschaften verändert werden. Unter Verwendung dauerhaften oder gepulsten Gleichstroms konnte die Eisen- oder Zementit-Füllung der Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhren in eine polaritätsabhängige Richtung bewegt werden. Die Füllung wurde dabei durch die Wände der Nanoröhre geführt. Abhängig von Strom, Form der Nanoröhre und Zusammensetzung der Füllung ließen sich verschiedene Bereiche des Materialtransports identifizieren, u.a. das Umarbeiten einiger innerer Kohlenstoffschichten. Ein hoher Strom hingegen bewirkt eine Umarbeitung der kompletten Nanoröhre und strominduziertes Wachstum von Kohlenstoff-Nanostrukturen mit veränderter Morphologie. Mit Hilfe der gewonnenen Resultate wurde ein Transportmodell entwickelt, welches den Impulstransfer von Elektronen an Füllungsatome sowie einen festen Füllungskern während des Transports diskutiert. Messungen der mechanischen Eigenschaften, welche mit Hilfe von resonanter oder nicht-resonanter elektrischer Anregung von Schwingungen im Transmissions-Elektronenmikroskop durchgeführt wurden bilden den Abschluss der Arbeit. Durch die Beobachtungen konnten mit einem modifizierten Euler-Bernoulli-Balkenmodell wichtige mechanische Eigenschaften bestimmt werden

Reliability of 3D laser-based anthropometry and comparison with classical anthropometry

Anthropometric quantities are widely used in epidemiologic research as possible confounders, risk factors, or outcomes. 3D laser-based body scans (BS) allow evaluation of dozens of quantities in short time with minimal physical contact between observers and probands. The aim of this study was to compare BS with classical manual anthropometric (CA) assessments with respect to feasibility, reliability, and validity. We performed a study on 108 individuals with multiple measurements of BS and CA to estimate intra- and inter-rater reliabilities for both. We suggested BS equivalents of CA measurements and determined validity of BS considering CA the gold standard. Throughout the study, the overall concordance correlation coefficient (OCCC) was chosen as indicator of agreement. BS was slightly more time consuming but better accepted than CA. For CA, OCCCs for intra- and inter-rater reliability were greater than 0.8 for all nine quantities studied. For BS, 9 of 154 quantities showed reliabilities below 0.7. BS proxies for CA measurements showed good agreement (minimum OCCC > 0.77) after offset correction. Thigh length showed higher reliability in BS while upper arm length showed higher reliability in CA. Except for these issues, reliabilities of CA measurements and their BS equivalents were comparable

Correlations between microstructure and Q-factor of tunable thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators

Correlations between microstructure and Q-factor of tunable solidly mounted Ba(0.25)Sr(0.75)TiO(3) (BSTO) thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators are studied using analysis of test structures prepared at different growth temperatures of the BSTO films varying in the range 450-650 degrees C. The observed changes in the Q-factor with growth temperature are correlated with related changes in microstructure, including the grain size, texture misalignment, interfacial amorphous layer, surface roughness, and deterioration of the Bragg reflector layers. The correlations are established through analysis of corresponding extrinsic acoustic loss mechanisms, including Rayleigh scattering at localized defects, acoustic attenuation by amorphous layer, generation of the shear waves leaking into the substrate, waves scattering by surface roughness, and resonance broadening by local thickness variations. It is shown that the waves scattering by surface roughness at the BSTO film interfaces is the main loss mechanism limiting the Q-factor of the BSTO thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3626939

Die typisierende Berücksichtigung der persönlichen Steuerbelastung des Anteilseigners beim squeeze out

Die Bewertung eines Unternehmens verlangt eine Berücksichtigung der individuellen Besteuerung der Anteilseigner. Bei squeeze-outs, in denen die Anteilseigner einer unterschiedlichen Steuerbelastung unterliegen, würde diese Berücksichtigung zu individuell unterschiedlichen Kompensationszahlungen führen - was das deutsche Aktienrecht nicht zulässt. In dieser Arbeit diskutieren wir, wie dieses Problem angemessen gelöst werden kann. Dazu bestimmen wir die durchschnittlichen Grenzsteuersätze, die sich aus Daten der Einkommensteuerstatistik 1998 ergeben. Die vom IDW vorgeschlagene Typisierung lässt sich mit der Tariffunktion des Jahres 1998 empirisch rechtfertigen, wenn als Grenzsteuersatz des typischen Abzufindenden gerade der ungewichtete Grenzsteuersatz aller Steuerpflichtigen mit Dividendeneinkünften verstanden wird.For the valuation of a company it is necessary to take the income tax of its owners into account. When looking at a squeeze-out with investors who have different wealth this implies that fair compensation payments will be different. This is in contradiction to the German Stock Companies Act. In this paper we discuss how this problem can be solved in an acceptable manner and we determine different average income tax rates using German tax data. It can be shown that using particular weighted averages indeed lead to the proposal of an income tax rate of 35% which is required by the Association of German CPAs

Adhesion layer-bottom electrode interaction during BaxSr1−xTiO3 growth as a limiting factor for device performance

Changes in bottom electrode morphology and adhesion layer composition upon deposition of Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃ (BSTO) at elevated temperatures have been found, which have a negative impact on acoustic wave resonator device performance. The difference between nominal and actual adhesion layer composition are explained by grain boundary diffusion of Ti or W and their oxidation by in-diffusing oxygen, which leads to an increased interface roughness between the Pt bottom electrode and the BSTO. It is shown, that room-temperature deposited TiO₂ diffusion barriers fail to protect against Ti oxidation and diffusion. Also W adhesion layers are prone to this phenomenon, which limits their ability to act as high temperature resistant adhesion layers for bottom electrodes for ferroelectric thin films

Adaptive Guideline-based Treatment Workflows with AdaptFlow

One goal in modern medicine is to increase the treatment quality. A major step towards this aim is to support the execution of standardized, guideline-based clinical protocols, which are used in many medical domains, e.g., for oncological chemotherapies. Standardized chemotherapy protocols contain detailed and structured therapy plans describing the single therapy steps (e.g., examinations or drug applications). Therefore, workflow management systems offer good support for these processes. However, the treatment of a particular patient often requires modifications due to unexpected infections, toxicities, or social factors. The modifications are described in the treatment protocol but not as part of the standard process. To be able to further execute the therapy workflows in case of exceptions running workflows have to be adapted dynamically. Furthermore, the physician should be supported by automated exception detection and decision support for derivation of necessary modifications. The AdaptFlow prototype offers the required support for the field of oncological chemotherapies by enhancing a workflow system with dynamic workflow adaptation and rule based decision support for exception detection and handling