Estate Tax Planning And Marketing Oppor-tunities Of The Economic Growth And Tax Relief Reconciliation Act Of 2001

The best advice tax practitioners can give clients after the 2001 Tax Relief Act, is that the optimal time to die in the next decade will be 2010!  What has been touted as a repeal of the Federal estate tax, has actually resulted in increasing the importance of estate tax planning.   This is due to several factors.  First, the rate reduction is phased in so slowly that in 2009, the top estate rate will still be 45% and the exemption amount only $3.5 million.  In 2010, repeal is actually achieved, but for one year only.  The “repeal” sunsets in 2011 when the estate tax comes back in full, using a maximum 55$1 million exemption.   Basis of inherited property may prove to be a nightmare.  Some property will get a stepped up basis, other property will not.  Further complicating the picture is that the gift tax has not been repealed. The estate tax planner will be faced with a host of issues to consider.  Which estate planning strategies are still valid?  What new planning tools will be developed?  Many wills will include obsolete provisions and will need to be redrafted.  Health of the client will become more important in the planning process.  Marketing issues of planning under such uncertainty abound.  This paper examines the new estate and gift tax provisions; offers strategies for navigating the sea of complexity and uncertainty; and explores the marketing opportunities for financial planners created by the new law

Occurrence and habits of the Gambaga Flycatcher Muscicapa gambagae in Kenya, including the first description of its song

Historically, the Gambaga Flycatcher Muscicapa gambagae has been a relatively poorly known bird in Kenya. Following a review of all known records in Kenya, we show that breeding of presumed resident birds is known from three discreet areas, but that as many as 47% of all records, from the months of October to March, come from areas where breeding is not known. This finding indicates a migratory origin for these individuals, and the concurrent absence of northern, summer-breeding Gambaga Flycatchers from the mountainous regions of western Saudi Arabia, Yemen and northern Somalia point to that region as a likely origin of these winter visitors. Furthermore, records show that the frequency of occurrence of the Gambaga Flycatcher in Kenya is also increasing, with a rate of reporting since 2000 which is four times higher than during the period 1960–2000, likely representing a shift in range. Lastly, we also describe some habitat characteristics at preferred sites, and provide the first published sonograms and accompanying description of the song

How are major gambling brands using Twitter?

This paper is the first to compare how major gambling brands are using the popular social media platform Twitter, looking at how gambling brands vary in the frequency of their messages, the content of their tweets and engagement with their Twitter activity. 63,913 tweets were collected from seven well-known British gambling brands (Bet365, Betfair, Betfred, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, William Hill) and their associated Twitter accounts (Total Number of Accounts = 22) via the Twitter Application Program Interface (API) on the 1 August 2018. Companies varied in their approach to Twitter, some posting from a single account whereas others segmented their tweets by topic or purpose. Frequency analysis of tweets showed that on average major gambling brands tweeted anywhere between 89 and 202 tweets a day. Sentiment analysis of tweets showed a positivity bias with the language in tweets being associated with positive emotions like anticipation, trust and joy. Paddy Power, Bet365 and Coral produced the content that received the highest number of likes or shares from other twitter users. This study highlights the extent to which companies are using Twitter; followers could potentially be receiving hundreds of messages per day

Exact Dynamics of Multicomponent Bose-Einstein Condensates in Optical Lattices in One, Two and Three Dimensions

Numerous exact solutions to the nonlinear mean-field equations of motion are constructed for multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates on one, two, and three dimensional optical lattices. We find both stationary and nonstationary solutions, which are given in closed form. Among these solutions are a vortex-anti-vortex array on the square optical lattice and modes in which two or more components slosh back and forth between neighboring potential wells. We obtain a variety of solutions for multicomponent condensates on the simple cubic lattice, including a solution in which one condensate is at rest and the other flows in a complex three-dimensional array of intersecting vortex lines. A number of physically important solutions are stable for a range of parameter values, as we show by direct numerical integration of the equations of motion.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure

Bluetongue virus infection creates light averse Culicoides vectors and serious errors in transmission risk estimates.

BackgroundPathogen manipulation of host behavior can greatly impact vector-borne disease transmission, but almost no attention has been paid to how it affects disease surveillance. Bluetongue virus (BTV), transmitted by Culicoides biting midges, is a serious disease of ruminant livestock that can cause high morbidity and mortality and significant economic losses. Worldwide, the majority of surveillance for Culicoides to assess BTV transmission risk is done using UV-light traps. Here we show that field infection rates of BTV are significantly lower in midge vectors collected using traps baited with UV light versus a host cue (CO2).MethodsWe collected Culicoides sonorensis midges in suction traps baited with CO2, UV-light, or CO2 + UV on three dairies in southern California to assess differences in the resulting estimated infection rates from these collections. Pools of midges were tested for BTV by qRT-PCR, and maximum likelihood estimates of infection rate were calculated by trap. Infection rate estimates were also calculated by trapping site within a dairy. Colonized C. sonorensis were orally infected with BTV, and infection of the structures of the compound eye was examined using structured illumination microscopy.ResultsUV traps failed entirely to detect virus both early and late in the transmission season, and underestimated virus prevalence by as much as 8.5-fold. CO2 + UV traps also had significantly lower infection rates than CO2-only traps, suggesting that light may repel infected vectors. We found very high virus levels in the eyes of infected midges, possibly causing altered vision or light perception. Collecting location also greatly impacts our perception of virus activity.ConclusionsBecause the majority of global vector surveillance for bluetongue uses only light-trapping, transmission risk estimates based on these collections are likely severely understated. Where national surveillance programs exist, alternatives to light-trapping should be considered. More broadly, disseminated infections of many arboviruses include infections in vectors' eyes and nervous tissues, and this may be causing unanticipated behavioral effects. Field demonstrations of pathogen-induced changes in vector behavior are quite rare, but should be studied in more systems to accurately predict vector-borne disease transmission

The Dallas Morning News' View Towards International Relations

The purpose of this study is to determine, if possible, North Central Texas views or attitudes toward international relations. These attitudes will be compared to studies on Southern attitudes to determine any similarities or dissimilarities. Literature on Southwestern attitudes is sparse; therefore, all data will be compared with that compiled by political scientists on Southern attitudes

Survey of Diseases in Wild Turkeys in Arkansas

Nineteen dead wild turkeys were necropsied and 573 live wild turkeys were physically examined for pathological agents in Arkansas between 1992 and 1997 to determine the proximate role disease may play in declining wild populations in Arkansas. Necropsy of the dead wild turkeys identified avian pox and histomoniasis as the most common diseases (16% and 11% of necropsies, respectively). Avian pox was recorded from three major physiographic regions in the state (Ozark Highlands, Ouachita Mountains, Gulf Coastal Plain). One hen died of non-accidental crop impaction, the fifth occurrence observed in the southeastern United States. Another hen died after developing severe, focal necrotic dermatitis caused by a Penicillium sp. fungus, the first occurrence observed in wild turkeys. All live wild turkeys appeared free of gross signs of disease. We found diseases in wild turkeys in Arkansas are not uncommon and are more diverse than previously reported. Continued monitoring of disease in wild turkeys is therefore encouraged