Author: Latest Results

On the dynamics between local and international tax planning in multinational corporations

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Abstract

The international dimension of multinational corporations creates opportunities for pursuing both global as well as local (i.e., unilateral subsidiary country) tax planning strategies. To date, however, researchers have limited insights into both the dynamics and relative importance of one versus another strategy for multinationals. We propose and test a group-level ETR-based measure of profit shifting and validate it by showing it correctly identifies profit shifting reductions when shifting costs increase. We confirm that multinationals can keep group ETRs stable after the introduction of tighter tax compliance and documentation rules and suggest they can do so by relying relatively more on local tax planning. In line with the substitution argument, we document that especially groups identified as ex-ante income shifters as well as those with greater target ETR pressure are responsible for the results.

Axin2 depletion in macrophages alleviated senescence and increased immune response after myocardial infarction

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Abstract

Objective and design

This study aimed to investigate Axin2 effects on myocardial infarction (MI) using a macrophage Axin2 conditional knockout (cKO) mouse model, RAW264.7 cell line, and human subepicardial tissues from patients with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).

Material or subjects

Axin2 cKO mice showed decreased cardiac function, reduced edema, increased lymphangiogenesis, and improved repair in MI Few studies border zones. Hypoxic macrophages with Axin2 depletion exhibited decreased senescence, elevated IL6 expression, and increased LYVE1 transcription. Senescent macrophages decreased in patients with CABG and low Axin2 expression.

Treatment

Treatment options included in this study were MI induction in Axin2 cKO mice, in vitro experiments with RAW264.7 cells, and analysis of human subepicardial tissues.

Methods

Assays included MI induction, in vitro experiments, and tissue analysis with statistical tests applied.

Results

Axin2 cKO improved cardiac function, reduced edema, enhanced lymphangiogenesis, and decreased senescence. Hypoxic macrophages with Axin2 depletion showed reduced senescence, increased IL6 expression, and elevated LYVE1 transcription. Senescent macrophages decreased in patients with CABG and low Axin2 expression.

Conclusion

Targeting Axin2 emerges as a novel therapeutic strategy for regulating cardiac lymphatics and mitigating cell senescence post-MI, evidenced by improved outcomes in Axin2-deficient conditions.

Awareness of human papillomavirus infection among Indigenous males in North America and Oceania: a Scoping Review

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Abstract

Purpose

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most commonly transmitted sexually transmitted infection. HPV infections have been on the rise among males, especially in the form of oropharyngeal cancer. Despite this, there is a gap in healthcare guidelines to increase HPV vaccine administration among males. In this study, we focus on the Indigenous population of North America and Oceania to determine existing barriers resulting in low HPV vaccination rates among the population.

Method

We surveyed peer-reviewed literature on the awareness of HPV infection among Indigenous males in North America and Oceania. Using keywords HPV plus male, men or boy, and ethnical filters such as Indigenous, Aboriginal or First Nations, we retrieved 54 articles based on titles, of which 15 were included after reading the abstracts.

Results

Reported HPV awareness was generally low in Indigenous males in North America, with no peer-reviewed data from Oceania. The lower understanding by males compared to females was largely attributable to misconceptions about HPV-related diseases, their transmission, and prevention. Lack of awareness and concern toward the risk of contracting HPV infection in Indigenous males suggests an impediment in disseminating health information about this cancer-causing virus.

Conclusion

Culturally sensitive education, with emphasis on Indigenous males, is needed to improve this group’s HPV knowledge. Researchers should also engage meaningfully with Indigenous communities by building rapport to achieve a positive change in attitude.

Awareness of human papillomavirus infection among Indigenous males in North America and Oceania: a Scoping Review

Latest Results

Abstract

Purpose

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most commonly transmitted sexually transmitted infection. HPV infections have been on the rise among males, especially in the form of oropharyngeal cancer. Despite this, there is a gap in healthcare guidelines to increase HPV vaccine administration among males. In this study, we focus on the Indigenous population of North America and Oceania to determine existing barriers resulting in low HPV vaccination rates among the population.

Method

We surveyed peer-reviewed literature on the awareness of HPV infection among Indigenous males in North America and Oceania. Using keywords HPV plus male, men or boy, and ethnical filters such as Indigenous, Aboriginal or First Nations, we retrieved 54 articles based on titles, of which 15 were included after reading the abstracts.

Results

Reported HPV awareness was generally low in Indigenous males in North America, with no peer-reviewed data from Oceania. The lower understanding by males compared to females was largely attributable to misconceptions about HPV-related diseases, their transmission, and prevention. Lack of awareness and concern toward the risk of contracting HPV infection in Indigenous males suggests an impediment in disseminating health information about this cancer-causing virus.

Conclusion

Culturally sensitive education, with emphasis on Indigenous males, is needed to improve this group’s HPV knowledge. Researchers should also engage meaningfully with Indigenous communities by building rapport to achieve a positive change in attitude.

Pinkwashing Picturebooks: Reading Homonational Heroes Through Contemporary US LGBTQ + Biographies

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Abstract

This article reports on a critical content analysis of contemporary picturebook biographies featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ+) protagonists. Recognizing the increased rights and legibility accorded queer life within the United States, we analyze a textual corpus of 26 texts to spotlight how nationalist norms shape representations of LGBTQ + history in picturebook biographies. In particular, the queer theory concept of homonationalism provides conceptual purchase for illuminating instances of pinkwashing (the exclusion of certain racialized and sexualized others from a nation’s citizenry) across these books. To spotlight these practices, we follow homonationalist focal subjects—the individual(s) and objects through which readers experience the storying of queer history—and analyze their effects upon representations of that history in children’s nonfiction. Findings from our critical content analysis suggest that the homonationalist focal subject manifests in two ways: (1) as humans “out” in their occupations and (2) as regulatory queer icons suppressing gender and sexual transgression. Both iterations, as this article suggests, advance a progress narrative that positions the United States as a “gay-friendly” nation. However and often unintentionally, this narrative pinkwashes queer history, obscuring the continued oppression of those LGBTQ + individuals who remain, simply put, too deviant to be recognized and protected by the nation.

A Speculative Return to Africa: Remembering Slavery in Tracy Baptiste’s the Rise of the Jumbies

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Abstract

Tracey Baptiste explores the value and risks of exposing child readers to the harsh realities of the past in The Rise of the Jumbies (2017). In the novel, Baptiste uses African-derived deities and folk figures to examine the horrors of slavery, in particular the Middle Passage. The author turns to speculative tropes like time travel and mermaids to help young readers navigate such historical trauma. By using a double narrative strategy, both hopeful and truth telling, Baptiste explores the emotional challenges posed to young readers learning about historical atrocities. Her work encourages the development of empathy and critical thinking skills, an appreciation for the natural world, and acceptance of difference. The book provides opportunities to deepen readers’ diasporic knowledge and eco-literacy through its representations of African-derived gods and folk figures from Baptiste’s Trinidadian heritage. The essay presents the core argument of Baptiste’s novel, namely that individuals should keep what is valuable from their past that accords respect to all beings and discard ideologies based on domination.

Geography and Power: Mapping The Murderer’s Ape

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Abstract

Geography occupies a central role in The Murderer’s Ape (2014/2017), a Swedish children’s novel by Jakob Wegelius. Drawing on theories of critical literary geography, the article is an analysis of the novel’s geography and an exploration of how the narrative shapes and produces place and space. The analysis shows that the narrative both represents and challenges colonial power structures through the production of place and space. Methodologically, three complementary approaches are utilized: analyzing the visual maps in the endpapers, visualizing the novel’s geography by means of GIS-generated maps, and mapping the verbal narrative.

Cryptic biodiversity in the commercial diamondback squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus Troschel 1857

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Abstract

Cephalopod fisheries are increasing, but little is known about the cryptic diversity of some key commercial species. Recent studies have shown that cryptic speciation is common in cephalopods, including several oceanic squids formerly considered ‘cosmopolitan species.’ Further efforts are needed to investigate the cryptic diversity of commercial species, to inform management and support sustainable fisheries practices. Thysanoteuthis rhombus is an oceanic squid, currently recognized as the single species of the family Thysanoteuthidae. Thysanoteuthis. rhombus has a global distribution in tropical and subtropical waters and is an economically important species, with the highest catches occurring off Okinawa in Japan and of potential fishery resource for other countries due to its high abundance and large size. Here, we used sequences from 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and cytochrome c oxidase I to characterize its cryptic diversity using samples collected throughout most of its known geographic range. We identified three different putative species whose distributions are concordant with main ocean basins: Thysanoteuthis major, the most abundant species, is widely distributed in the North Pacific Ocean, North Indian Ocean, and limits of the South Atlantic Ocean; Thysanoteuthis rhombus is distributed in the North and South Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; and Thysanoteuthis cf. filiferum, likely the least sampled to date, is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A sister relationship was observed between T. rhombus and T. major, and T. cf. filiferum was found to be the most divergent species. Based on our divergence estimation, we hypothesize that the closure of the Isthmus of Panama during the early Pliocene played a significant role in the split of T. rhombus and T. major, while the split of their ancestor from T. cf. filiferum coincided with an increase in the Pacific Walker Circulation and the longitudinal gradient of surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean during the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene. Our work identifies three different putative species within Thysanoteuthis and has potential use for improving fishery management and conserving the diversity in these species.

Sympatric species of coral trout (Plectropomus) show contrasting patterns of genomic structure across isolated atoll reefs

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Abstract

Understanding patterns of connectivity across remote atoll reefs is important for managing fishery target species, as they often have small population sizes and limited options for replenishment in the event of localised decline. In this study, we used a comprehensive hierarchical sampling design combined with reduced representation genotyping to compare the population genomics of two sympatric species of coral trout (Plectropomus) within and between three isolated offshore atoll reef systems in north-western Australia. The blue spot coral trout, Plectropomus laevis (8979 single nucleotide polymorphisms—SNPs, 223 individuals, 25 sites) and the passionfruit coral trout, P. areolatus (3702 SNPs, 452 individuals, 20 sites) showed high levels of connectivity within reef systems and restricted connectivity between reef systems, indicating that biological stocks primarily occur at the scale of each reef system. Despite being closely related and co-managed species, inter-specific variation in the magnitude of genetic structure was notable. Plectropomus areolatus at the southern-most reef system display modest genetic structure with populations ~ 450 km to the north, whilst P. laevis at the same location show a level of genetic divergence that reflects deep historical isolation. Our results provide the most comprehensive assessment of genetic connectivity across these remote atoll reefs, facilitating management advice that reflect empirically determined population dynamics for these species. We identify contrasting patterns of genetic connectivity among closely related sympatric species, and highlight the role of extrinsic (e.g., geography/environment) and intrinsic (e.g., life history) factors in shaping population dynamics.

The Role of Richard Hakluyt’s The Principall Nauigations (1589) in the Introduction and Dissemination of Spanish Loanwords in the English Language

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Abstract

Richard Hakluyt’s Principall Nauigations (1589) was a landmark in the history of English travel literature which compiled and glorified the naval deeds and expeditions undertaken by the English throughout the world. This article focuses on the third volume of Hakluyt’s compilation devoted to America which gathers first-hand accounts describing the way of life and the natural environment of the new territories conquered and populated by the Spaniards. The incorporation in these texts of almost 100 borrowings from Spanish to designate elements related to sea voyages and experiences in the Spanish colonies has raised the following research questions: What kind of terms were most likely to be introduced? And, given that these Spanish terms were unfamiliar to English readers, did the authors resort to any kind of strategy to explain the meaning of the new words? This article will address these questions by setting the following objectives. (i) to compile an inventory of the Spanish terms that have been incorporated into the English texts; (ii) to classify these terms according to the lexical fields they refer to; (iii) to analyse how the meaning of these new words is explained to English readers.