Hypoxia helps glioma to fight therapy

Despite major improvements in the surgical management the prognosis for patients bearing malignant gliomas is still dismal. Malignant gliomas are notoriously resistant to treatment and the survival time of patients is between 3-8 years for low-grade and anaplastic gliomas and 6 - 12 month for glioblastoma. Increasing malignancy of gliomas correlates with an increase in cellularity and a poorly organized tumour vasculature leading to insufficient blood supply, hypoxic areas and ultimately to the formation of necrosis, a characteristic of glioblastoma. Hypoxic/necrotic tumours are more resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. Hypoxia induces either directly or indirectly (through the activation of transcription factors) changes in the biology of a tumour and its microenvironment leading to increased aggressiveness and tumour resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. This review is focused on hypoxia-induced molecular changes affecting glioma biology and therapy

A cathode ray tube suitable for viewing under high ambient

Cathode ray tube with nonreciprocal optical filtering techniques for viewing under high ambien

The Effect of International Taxation on Group Structures of Multinationals

We examine the effect of tax burden differences between organizational forms on multinationals choosing an organizational form for a newly established foreign affiliate. Analyzing micro-level data on inbound foreign direct investment relations in Germany, we find that a higher tax burden on foreign income earned in a corporate subsidiary significantly increases the tendency of a multinational to choose a non-corporate flow-through. Income-shifting opportunities, industry-specific risk, country-level differences in regulatory quality, and host-country experience moderate this effect and thus shape the cost-benefit relation of organizational forms in cross-border settings. In addition, we document that multinationals establishing a new affiliate as a flow-through on the basis of a tax benefit invest less in that affiliate and exhibit a more complex group structure. Taken together, our results provide evidence on how tax rules shape group structures of multinationals and suggest that an asymmetric taxation of organizational forms has economic consequences.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie

Asymmetric Information between the Taxpayer and the Tax Authority – Income Shifting via Patents

We examine whether, when, and to what extent asymmetric information between a multinational corporation (MNC) and the local tax authority over how to value intra-firm royalty payments facilitates tax-motivated income shifting via patents. As the value of patents is often firm specific, the local tax authority lacks information on comparable transactions when assessing an MNC's transfer-pricing strategies. Using a sample of affiliates of European MNCs and employing the relative share of patents held by an MNC as a measure, we show that tax-motivated income shifting increases in the level of asymmetric information. We also find that more external comparable information available to the local tax authority and stricter tax enforcement mitigate this relation. In contrast, more extensive transfer-pricing documentation requirements are less effective in this setting. Overall, our results suggest that the level of comparable information is an economically important determinant of tax-motivated income shifting via patents. The effectiveness of tax-policy measures in curbing income shifting critically depends on their ability to increase the set of comparable information

Patent Concentration, Asymmetric Information, and Tax-Motivated Income Shifting

We study the relation between patent concentration and tax-motivated income shifting. Using affiliate-level data for European multinational corporations (MNCs) and employing the relative share of patents held by an MNC as a measure for patent concentration, we predict and find that tax-motivated income shifting is increasing in the degree of patent concentration. This effect is economically meaningful: A one standard deviation higher patent concentration increases the extent to which affiliate-level profits are sensitive to income-shifting incentives by 25.6 percent. Additional tests exploiting variation in the information set of the local tax authority suggest that patent concentration facilitates tax-motivated income shifting by reducing comparable information available to the local tax authority. Overall, our results suggest that patent concentration shapes an MNC’s incentives to shift income via patents. Our findings also indicate that the effectiveness of tax-policy measures in curtailing this form of income shifting critically depends on their ability to improve the information set of the local tax authority.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie

When do psychosocial explanations of psychiatric problems increase stigma? Self-report and implicit evidence

Background and objectives Biomedical explanations of psychiatric problems, compared to psychosocial explanations, may amplify psychiatric stigma. One limitation of existing research is the measurement of almost exclusively self-reported stigma. This study evaluated the stigma-related effects of biomedical versus psychosocial explanations of schizophrenia using conventional self-report and two other measurement approaches that may tap more deeply held attitudes. Methods One hundred three undergraduates listened to a vignette describing a man with (1) schizophrenia of biomedical origin, (2) schizophrenia of psychosocial origin, or (3) diabetes. They then completed an Implicit Association Test, conventional self-report stigma measures, and projected other measures that captured perceptions of most other people\u27s likely impressions. Results: Participants were more likely to attribute stigmatizing views to others compared to themselves. The projected other measurement, but not the conventional self-report measurement, predicted implicit attitudes. We obtained no evidence that the psychosocial causal explanation of schizophrenia led to decreased stigma compared to the biomedical causal explanation. In fact, the psychosocial causal explanation increased stereotyped attitudes. Limitations The absence of a schizophrenia control group complicates interpretation of biomedical versus psychosocial group comparisons. Conclusions Further research is needed to evaluate discrepancies between the present findings and other published evidence pertaining to psychosocial causal explanations of psychiatric problems

Tax-Rate Biases in Tax Decisions: Experimental Evidence

This paper investigates how decision biases affect individuals’ tax decisions. We conduct four laboratory experiments with 303 students and 62 experienced tax professionals and find a systematic tax-rate bias in decisions under time constraints. More specifically, decision makers overestimate the relevance of less complex tax-rate information compared to more complex tax-base information, leading to suboptimal decision-making. We also find support for the theory of rational inattention as increasing the size of the tax-base effect mitigates the decision bias. However, we find that tax decisions are unaffected by participants’ professional experience: Students and highly experienced tax professionals are similarly prone to biased decision-making. Overall, our findings suggest that time constraints impede the use of complex information which can result in suboptimal tax planning.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie