Direct Taxation in the Eu: The Common Corporate Tax Base as the Next Sub-Step towards Harmonization

This paper analyzes the Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) as an interim alternative to the proposal of a Council directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). The CCCTB concept does not only include common rules for determining the tax base like the CCTB but also the steps of consolidation and subsequent formula apportionment. Therefore, the paper starts by showing that particularly these second and third steps of the CCCTB project meet fierce political opposition from several Member States and do leave leeway for tax planning. Afterwards, the CCCTB proposal's approach to common rules for determining the tax base is evaluated, i.e. tested for its suitability as a point of departure for drafting a CCTB. Finally, various other aspects of the proposal are examined in light of a CCTB without consolidation

Ruling out coronary heart disease in primary care patients with chest pain: a clinical prediction score

Chest pain raises concern for the possibility of coronary heart disease. Scoring methods have been developed to identify coronary heart disease in emergency settings, but not in primary care. Data were collected from a multicenter Swiss clinical cohort study including 672 consecutive patients with chest pain, who had visited one of 59 family practitioners' offices. Using delayed diagnosis we derived a prediction rule to rule out coronary heart disease by means of a logistic regression model. Known cardiovascular risk factors, pain characteristics, and physical signs associated with coronary heart disease were explored to develop a clinical score. Patients diagnosed with angina or acute myocardial infarction within the year following their initial visit comprised the coronary heart disease group. The coronary heart disease score was derived from eight variables: age, gender, duration of chest pain from 1 to 60 minutes, substernal chest pain location, pain increasing with exertion, absence of tenderness point at palpation, cardiovascular risks factors, and personal history of cardiovascular disease. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was of 0.95 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.92; 0.97. From this score, 413 patients were considered as low risk for values of percentile 5 of the coronary heart disease patients. Internal validity was confirmed by bootstrapping. External validation using data from a German cohort (Marburg, n = 774) revealed a receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.75 (95% confidence interval, 0.72; 0.81) with a sensitivity of 85.6% and a specificity of 47.2%. This score, based only on history and physical examination, is a complementary tool for ruling out coronary heart disease in primary care patients complaining of chest pain

Anion-Sensitive Regions of L-Type CaV1.2 Calcium Channels Expressed in HEK293 Cells

L-type calcium currents (ICa) are influenced by changes in extracellular chloride, but sites of anion effects have not been identified. Our experiments showed that CaV1.2 currents expressed in HEK293 cells are strongly inhibited by replacing extracellular chloride with gluconate or perchlorate. Variance-mean analysis of ICa and cell-attached patch single channel recordings indicate that gluconate-induced inhibition is due to intracellular anion effects on Ca2+ channel open probability, not conductance. Inhibition of CaV1.2 currents produced by replacing chloride with gluconate was reduced from ∼75%–80% to ∼50% by omitting β subunits but unaffected by omitting α2δ subunits. Similarly, gluconate inhibition was reduced to ∼50% by deleting an α1 subunit N-terminal region of 15 residues critical for β subunit interactions regulating open probability. Omitting β subunits with this mutant α1 subunit did not further diminish inhibition. Gluconate inhibition was unchanged with expression of different β subunits. Truncating the C terminus at AA1665 reduced gluconate inhibition from ∼75%–80% to ∼50% whereas truncating it at AA1700 had no effect. Neutralizing arginines at AA1696 and 1697 by replacement with glutamines reduced gluconate inhibition to ∼60% indicating these residues are particularly important for anion effects. Expressing CaV1.2 channels that lacked both N and C termini reduced gluconate inhibition to ∼25% consistent with additive interactions between the two tail regions. Our results suggest that modest changes in intracellular anion concentration can produce significant effects on CaV1.2 currents mediated by changes in channel open probability involving β subunit interactions with the N terminus and a short C terminal region

Новые находки трилобитов в Бейской свите

Al- and Ti-rich smectites associated with alkaline volcanic rocks were dredged during several cruises of the German research vessel “SONNE” as part of an extensive survey of manganese crusts in the Central Pacific seamount region. X-ray diffraction, chemical composition and infrared spectroscopy suggest that the smectites are constituents of the nontronite-beidellite solid solution series. X-ray fluorescence analyses yield considerable amounts of Al2O3 and Fe2O3 averaging 14.5 and 12.4 wt%, respectively. According to ASTM data the smectites are Al-rich nontronites rather than Fe-rich beidellites. A TiO2 content of up to 4.9 wt% is thought to be due to anatase impurities. δ18O-values in the range of +23.8 to +21.0‰ vs. SMOV indicate formation temperatures of 32–48°C. The rare-earth element patterns of the nontronitic smectites and associated alkaline volcanics are almost identical, showing a relative enrichment of light and a depletion of heavy rare-earth elements. It is concluded that the smectites formed as low-temperature alteration products during interaction of seawater with cooling basaltic/alkaline rocks rather than by mixing of hydrothermal fluids with seawater

Mineralogy, chemistry and oxygen isotope thermometry of nontronitic smectites from Central Pacific seamounts

Al- and Ti-rich smectites associated with alkaline volcanic rocks were dredged during several cruises of the German research vessel “SONNE” as part of an extensive survey of manganese crusts in the Central Pacific seamount region. X-ray diffraction, chemical composition and infrared spectroscopy suggest that the smectites are constituents of the nontronite-beidellite solid solution series. X-ray fluorescence analyses yield considerable amounts of Al2O3 and Fe2O3 averaging 14.5 and 12.4 wt%, respectively. According to ASTM data the smectites are Al-rich nontronites rather than Fe-rich beidellites. A TiO2 content of up to 4.9 wt% is thought to be due to anatase impurities. δ18O-values in the range of +23.8 to +21.0‰ vs. SMOV indicate formation temperatures of 32–48°C. The rare-earth element patterns of the nontronitic smectites and associated alkaline volcanics are almost identical, showing a relative enrichment of light and a depletion of heavy rare-earth elements. It is concluded that the smectites formed as low-temperature alteration products during interaction of seawater with cooling basaltic/alkaline rocks rather than by mixing of hydrothermal fluids with seawater

Hydrothermal silica chimney fields in the Galapagos Spreading Center at 86°W

Silica chimneys were discovered in 1985 at 86°W in the rift valley of the Galapagos Spreading Center at 2600 m depth (“Cauliflower Garden”). The inactive chimneys lack any sulfides and consist almost entirely of amorphous silica (up to 96 wt.% SiO2, opal-A); Fe and Mn oxides are minor constituents. Oxygen isotope data show that formation of the silica chimneys took place at temperatures between 32°C (+29.9‰ δ18O) and 42°C (+27.8‰ δ18O).Th/Udating reveals a maximum age of 1440 ± 300y. Amorphous silica solubility relations indicate that the silica chimneys were formed by conductive cooling of pure hydrothermal fluids or by conductive cooling of a fluid/seawater mixture. Assuming equilibrium with quartz at 500 bars, initial fluid temperatures of more than 175°C (i.e., a concentration of > 182 ppm SiO2) were required to achieve sufficient supersaturation for the deposition of amorphous silica at 40°C and 260 bars. If the silica chimneys originate from the same or a similar fluid as higher-temperature ( < 300°C) sulfide-silica precipitates found nearby (i.e., 2.5 km away), then subsurface deposition of sulfides may have occurred

Application of multivariate statistical methods in determining spatial changes in water quality in the Austrian part of Neusiedler See

The aim of the present study was to distinguish areas with different chemical properties in Neusiedler See, to determine which background processes are responsible for this pattern, and to discover their spatial distribution. Uni- and multivariate data analysis was applied to the data concerning 13 mainly chemical and some biological parameters for the time period 2000–2009 from 33 sampling sites. The sampling sites were first clustered then grouped. Besides reed belt and open water areas, smaller localities, which are influenced by water inputs (the treatment plant, the river Wulka, the channels of weekend houses) were also distinguished. Using Wilks’ lambda distribution it was determined that the main components (ions) have a greater effect on forming the cluster groups than those parameters which stand in close relation to biological processes. These results concurred with those obtained from the principal component analysis (PCA) conducted on the whole lake and on the groups as well. It can be stated that most of the variance in the dataset can be explained by the main components (ions). The spatial distribution of the principal component scores was visualized with isoline maps. The results of this research lead us to the view that Neusiedler See cannot be treated as one homogeneous system. This exceptional variability originates from the lake's shallow water depth, its unstable water balance, and anthropogenic activity (agriculture, tourism, sewage treatment) in the lake's vicinity