Is Tax Administration "Ectopic"? Assessment, Interpretation, Adjudication and Application: The Roles of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue

John Prebble described the dislocation of the premises of tax law from their underlying facts as an example of "ectopia". This article suggests that the same phenomenon may apply to tax administration and the tax system more generally. The Commissioner's dual roles of adjudication and administration are not only difficult to elucidate from the unwieldy and outdated structure of the Tax Administration Act. More importantly, they exhibit a (perhaps irreconcilable) tension between two competing goals. On the one hand, the Commissioner has a duty to arrive at a correct interpretation of tax law and its application of the facts. On the other, the Commissioner is required to exercise a political function, prioritising expenditure and ensuring efficient outcomes. Both goals ultimately lead to functions properly carried out by the courts – statutory interpretation and application; and review of administrative processes of decision-making. However, the way the Commissioner exercises these powers is divorced from the way the courts resolve similar questions – a problem which is exemplified when considering the Commissioner's power to amend a taxpayer's assessment of income to ensure its "correctness". There is therefore a risk that the interpretive community surrounding the tax system is increasingly becoming divorced from the rest of the common law and vulnerable to capture by its own self-referring frames of reference

Feminism and the ideology of motherhood in New Zealand, 1896-1930

Nineteenth century feminists demanded female autonomy and made two sets of claims arising from that. They demanded the removal of women's civil and political disabilities. Their biggest campaign was for the vote. They also wished to alter family life and to change the marriage relationship from coverture to equality and support. Because they believed women's subordinate status within the family denigrated the family itself, they wanted the economic independence of married women. They wanted women to be respected as individuals and be freed of the fears of uncontrolled male sexuality. This led them to oppose the double standard and embrace the ideology of social purity. Further, the demand for female autonomy led some of them to a partial acceptance of the ideas of voluntary motherhood. Feminists disputed neither the centrality of motherhood to women's lives nor the idea that the devotion of mothers was essential to the progress of the family and society. Indeed, it was their belief that the subordinate status of women caused social disharmony and evil. However, their assertions that women had the same rights and duties as men, and a declining birth rate (which was, in part at least, the product of feminism) led to fears that female emancipation would lead to social decay. Education and careers supposedly caused women to lose their maternal instinct. The result was a declining birth rate, a high infant mortality rate and worsening racial standards. Consequently, the definition of womanhood underwent a subtle, but profound, change. Moral and physical progress depended upon the full-time nurturant role of mothers within monogamous marriage. To the idea that mothers ought to provide their children with moral guidance, was added the belief that women needed to guard their children's physical health through the techniques of scientific home management. This was re-enforced when an infant welfare movement based on these tenets was apparently so successful. Meanwhile, social purity had become a dominant value. But the prevailing view that sexuality was an anarchic force requiring containment through rigid self-control, placed an ever heavier burden on mothers. The ideology of motherhood arose to confront the perceived excesses of feminism. But, paradoxically, women found that to meet its demands they not only needed to preserve their own health, but also to limit their fertility. Women embraced the ideology, for few would wilfully neglect their children, but to some extent they did so on their own terms. In the process, women transformed new attitudes to death and health into dominant values. By the 1920s, within an unfavourable ideological climate, political feminism faced unresolved and perhaps, unresolvable conflicts. Feminists, especially those influenced by eugenic fears, felt uneasy about middle class fertility control. The feminist aims of social purity and planned parenthood became dominant values, but feminism as a political ideology was stranded within a separate spheres argument and in a political wilderness, because women lacked the political power to shape the public world according to their view of it. They did, however, possess the power to shape familial life and structure

Comparison of distortion correction preprocessing pipelines for DTI in the upper limb

PURPOSE: DTI characterizes tissue microstructure and provides proxy measures of nerve health. Echo-planar imaging is a popular method of acquiring DTI but is susceptible to various artifacts (e.g., susceptibility, motion, and eddy currents), which may be ameliorated via preprocessing. There are many pipelines available but limited data comparing their performance, which provides the rationale for this study. METHODS: DTI was acquired from the upper limb of heathy volunteers at 3T in blip-up and blip-down directions. Data were independently corrected using (i) FSL's TOPUP & eddy, (ii) FSL's TOPUP, (iii) DSI Studio, and (iv) TORTOISE. DTI metrics were extracted from the median, radial, and ulnar nerves and compared (between pipelines) using mixed-effects linear regression. The geometric similarity of corrected b = 0 images and the slice matched T1-weighted (T1w) images were computed using the Sörenson-Dice coefficient. RESULTS: Without preprocessing, the similarity coefficient of the blip-up and blip-down datasets to the T1w was 0·80 and 0·79, respectively. Preprocessing improved the geometric similarity by 1% with no difference between pipelines. Compared to TOPUP & eddy, DSI Studio and TORTOISE generated 2% and 6% lower estimates of fractional anisotropy, and 6% and 13% higher estimates of radial diffusivity, respectively. Estimates of anisotropy from TOPUP & eddy versus TOPUP were not different but TOPUP reduced radial diffusivity by 3%. The agreement of DTI metrics between pipelines was poor. CONCLUSIONS: Preprocessing DTI from the upper limb improves geometric similarity but the choice of the pipeline introduces clinically important variability in diffusion parameter estimates from peripheral nerves

Urological cancer care pathways: development and use in the context of systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines

Background: Making healthcare treatment decisions is a complex process involving a broad stakeholder base including patients, their families, health professionals, clinical practice guideline developers and funders of healthcare. Methods: This paper presents a review of a methodology for the development of urological cancer care pathways (UCAN care pathways), which reflects an appreciation of this broad stakeholder base. The methods section includes an overview of the steps in the development of the UCAN care pathways and engagement with clinical content experts and patient groups. Results: The development process is outlined, the uses of the urological cancer care pathways discussed and the implications for clinical practice highlighted. The full set of UCAN care pathways is published in this paper. These include care pathways on localised prostate cancer, locally advanced prostate cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, hormone-resistant prostate cancer, localised renal cell cancer, advanced renal cell cancer, testicular cancer, penile cancer, muscle invasive and metastatic bladder cancer and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Conclusion: The process provides a useful framework for improving urological cancer care through evidence synthesis, research prioritisation, stakeholder involvement and international collaboration. Although the focus of this work is urological cancers, the methodology can be applied to all aspects of urology and is transferable to other clinical specialties.11 page(s

The Whole Genome Sequence of Sphingobium chlorophenolicum L-1: Insights into the Evolution of the Pentachlorophenol Degradation Pathway

Sphingobium chlorophenolicum Strain L-1 can mineralize the toxic pesticide pentachlorophenol (PCP). We have sequenced the genome of S. chlorophenolicum Strain L-1. The genome consists of a primary chromosome that encodes most of the genes for core processes, a secondary chromosome that encodes primarily genes that appear to be involved in environmental adaptation, and a small plasmid. The genes responsible for degradation of PCP are found on chromosome 2. We have compared the genomes of S. chlorophenolicum Strain L-1 and Sphingobium japonicum, a closely related Sphingomonad that degrades lindane. Our analysis suggests that the genes encoding the first three enzymes in the PCP degradation pathway were acquired via two different horizontal gene transfer events, and the genes encoding the final two enzymes in the pathway were acquired from the most recent common ancestor of these two bacteria

Global wealth disparities drive adherence to COVID-safe pathways in head and neck cancer surgery

Peer reviewe

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research