Pension Accounting And Reporting With Other Comprehensive Income And Deferred Taxes: A Worksheet Approach

This instructional tool presents pension accounting using a worksheet approach where debits equal credits for both the employer and for the plan. Transactions associated with the initiation of the plan through the end of the second year of the plan are presented, including their impact on accumulated other comprehensive income and deferred taxes. This article is intended as a supplemental teaching tool that demonstrates the impact of a plan’s funded status on the employer’s financial statements in a way that, based upon anecdotal evidence, accounting students and practitioners have found extremely beneficial beyond traditional accounting textbooks

World heritage site management: a case study of sacred sites and pilgrimage routes in the Kii mountain range, Japan

This research examines three themes: heritage management and conservation activities, local communities and tourism development in Kii World Heritage Site (WHS) after WHS designation. Kii is a cultural WHS having links with Japanese religions and consisting of shrines, temples and pilgrimage routes. This study inductively and qualitatively examines these three themes. Overall, the current status of Kii WHS is satisfactory. Local people, tourists/visitors and experts are all actively involved in heritage management and conservation activities. WHS listing seems to have enhanced local identity, increased local people’s pride in their culture and place of residence, and triggered a revitalisation of local culture. Moreover, tourism’s negative impacts appear to be minimal, despite an increase in the number of visitors since UNESCO inscription. There are a few issues to be improved, which derive mainly from a lack of understanding of WHS status or conflicts between heritage management/tourism and religious practices. A more holistic approach, such as establishing a forum consisting of all key stakeholders, would be useful for the further success of Kii WHS as a religious and sacred site, place to live and tourist destination

Phase II study of intravenous etoposide in patients with relapsed ependymoma (CNS 2001 04)

BackgroundRelapsed ependymoma has a dismal prognosis, and the role of chemotherapy at relapse remains unclear. This study prospectively evaluated the efficacy of intensive intravenous (IV) etoposide in patients less than 21 years of age with relapsed intracranial ependymoma (NCT00278252).MethodsThis was a single-arm, open-label, phase II trial using Gehan’s two-stage design. Patients received IV etoposide 100 mg/m2 on days 1-3, 8-10, and 15-17 of each 28-day cycle, up to maximum of 6 cycles. Primary outcome was radiological response after 3 cycles. Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed in 10 patients.ResultsTwenty-five patients were enrolled and included in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Three patients were excluded in per-protocol (PP) analysis. After 3 cycles of etoposide, 5 patients (ITT 20%/PP 23%) had a complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or objective response (OR). Nine patients (ITT 36%/PP 41%,) had a best overall response of CR, PR, or OR. 1-year PFS was 24% in ITT and 23% in PP populations. 1-year OS was 56% and 59%, 5-year OS was 20% and 18%, respectively, in ITT and PP populations. Toxicity was predominantly hematological, with 20/25 patients experiencing a grade 3 or higher hematological adverse event.ConclusionsThis study confirms the activity of IV etoposide against relapsed ependymoma, however, this is modest, not sustained, and similar to that with oral etoposide, albeit with increased toxicity. These results confirm the dismal prognosis of this disease, provide a rationale to include etoposide within drug combinations, and highlight the need to develop novel treatments for recurrent ependymoma

Sn 5 s 2 lone pairs and the electronic structure of tin sulphides: A photoreflectance, high-energy photoemission, and theoretical investigation

The effects of Sn 5 s lone pairs in the different phases of Sn sulphides are investigated with photoreflectance, hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES), and density functional theory. Due to the photon energy-dependence of the photoionization cross sections, at high photon energy, the Sn 5 s orbital photoemission has increased intensity relative to that from other orbitals. This enables the Sn 5 s state contribution at the top of the valence band in the different Sn-sulphides, SnS, Sn 2 S 3 , and SnS 2 , to be clearly identified. SnS and Sn 2 S 3 contain Sn(II) cations and the corresponding Sn 5 s lone pairs are at the valence band maximum (VBM), leading to ∼ 1.0 –1.3 eV band gaps and relatively high VBM on an absolute energy scale. In contrast, SnS 2 only contains Sn(IV) cations, no filled lone pairs, and therefore has a ∼ 2.3 eV room-temperature band gap and much lower VBM compared with SnS and Sn 2 S 3 . The direct band gaps of these materials at 20 K are found using photoreflectance to be 1.36, 1.08, and 2.47 eV for SnS, Sn 2 S 3 , and SnS 2 , respectively, which further highlights the effect of having the lone-pair states at the VBM. As well as elucidating the role of the Sn 5 s lone pairs in determining the band gaps and band alignments of the family of Sn-sulphide compounds, this also highlights how HAXPES is an ideal method for probing the lone-pair contribution to the density of states of the emerging class of materials with n s 2 configuration

Cultural landscape changes in the built environment at World Heritage Sites: Lessons from Bukovina, Romania

World Heritage Sites (WHSs) are among the most visited destinations due to their unique cultural and natural features. Their recognition by UNESCO as having ‘outstanding universal value’, while meant to help preserve their characteristics, also leads to increased visitation that may put them at risk. This study focuses on the changes in the cultural landscape as a result of tourism development at WHSs in the region of Bukovina, Romania. The paper offers a comprehensive picture by employing a mixed-method approach and analysing a wealth of data collected from key stakeholders involved in tourism development. The findings show that there is agreement among stakeholders with regard to the importance of preserving the cultural landscape of heritage destinations, with most believing that stricter measures should be put in place. However, the lack of cooperation between the key stakeholders in policy formulation and implementation could pose a threat for the sustainable development of tourism in the region. The study contributes to expanding our knowledge and understanding of the challenges faced by heritage destinations in developing countries in Eastern Europe, in particular their struggle to keep up with the modern life style while preserving their cultural features and thus the authenticity of the area

Transcriptional compensation for loss of an allele of the Ini1 tumor suppressor

The gene encoding INI1, a component of the mammalian SWI/SNF ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes, has been classified as a tumor suppressor in humans. Gene-targeting experiments confirmed that Ini1 also functions as a tumor suppressor in mice. Although Ini1-null mice are embryonic lethal, 15-30% of mice heterozygous for Ini1 presented with poorly differentiated tumors with variable rhabdoid features. All tumors examined showed loss of heterozygosity at the Ini1 locus. We report here that cells and tissues heterozygous for the Ini1 tumor suppressor express levels of Ini1 protein and message roughly equivalent to the levels observed in wild type counterparts. Compensation of Ini1 is mediated by an increase in the rate of transcription from the Ini1 promoter. Moreover, when Ini1 is expressed exogenously, transcription from the endogenous promoter is reduced, suggesting that Ini1 levels are tightly regulated. This is the first report describing transcriptional compensation for haploinsufficiency of a tumor suppressor gene

Loss of the INI1 tumor suppressor does not impair the expression of multiple BRG1-dependent genes or the assembly of SWI/SNF enzymes

The INI1/hSNF5 tumor suppressor is an integral component of mammalian SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling enzymes that contain SNF2 family ATPases BRM (Brahma) or BRG1 (Brahma Related Gene 1) and that contribute to the regulation of many genes. Genetic studies of yeast SWI/SNF enzyme revealed similar phenotypes when single or multiple components of the enzyme were deleted, indicating a requirement for each subunit. To address the contribution of INI1 in the regulation of SWI/SNF-dependent genes in mammalian cells, we examined the expression of multiple BRG1-dependent, constitutively expressed genes in INI1-deficient cancer cell lines. At least one INI1-deficient line expressed each gene, and reintroduction of INI1 had negligible effects on expression levels. Lack of INI1 also did not prevent interferon gamma (IFNgamma)-mediated induction of CIITA, which is BRG1 dependent, and GBP-1, which is BRG1 enhanced, and reintroduction of INI1 had minimal effects. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that BRG1 inducibly binds to the CIITA promoter despite the absence of INI1. Unlike yeast deleted for the INI1 homologue, SWI/SNF enzymes in INI1-deficient cells were largely intact. Thus in human cells, SWI/SNF enzyme complex formation and the expression of many BRG1-dependent genes are independent of INI1