Changing an impermissible LIFO method

Taxpayers utilizing an impermissible last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory method may be able to change it into a “permissible” one at a modest tax cost. Rev. Proc. 97-27 provides that the IRS is not precluded from transforming an impermissible method in an earlier year just because a taxpayer alters a submethod within the impermissible method in a later year. As a result, taxpayers should examine their LIFO method and, if permissible, alter it before the IRS challenges it and tries to include the LIFO reserves in income. Moreover, taxpayers utilizing an impermissible LIFO method or submethod that has generated large prior advantages need not recognize them under a cut-off method in the form of a Sec. 481(a) adjustment. A recent Tax Court case, Mountain State Ford Truck Sales, Inc., is discussed to illustrate the significant negative tax consequences of utilizing impermissible LIFO inventory account procedures

L-Edge Spectroscopy of Dilute, Radiation-Sensitive Systems Using a Transition-Edge-Sensor Array

We present X-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements on the iron L-edge of 0.5 mM aqueous ferricyanide. These measurements demonstrate the ability of high-throughput transition-edge-sensor (TES) spectrometers to access the rich soft X-ray (100-2000eV) spectroscopy regime for dilute and radiation-sensitive samples. Our low-concentration data are in agreement with high-concentration measurements recorded by conventional grating-based spectrometers. These results show that soft X-ray RIXS spectroscopy acquired by high-throughput TES spectrometers can be used to study the local electronic structure of dilute metal-centered complexes relevant to biology, chemistry and catalysis. In particular, TES spectrometers have a unique ability to characterize frozen solutions of radiation- and temperature-sensitive samples.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

FGF21 is an insulin-dependent postprandial hormone in adult humans

Context: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) secretion has been shown to respond directly to carbohydrate consumption, with glucose, fructose and sucrose all reported to increase plasma levels of FGF21 in rodents and humans. However, carbohydrate consumption also results in secretion of insulin. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the combined and independent effects of hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia on total and bioactive FGF21 in the postprandial period in humans, and determine whether this effect is attenuated in conditions of altered insulin secretion and action. Methods: Circulating glucose, insulin, total and bioactive FGF21 and fibroblast activation protein (FAPα) were measured in adults with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D) following an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and under a series of insulin and glucose clamp conditions and following high fat diet in healthy adults. Results: Circulating total and bioactive FGF21 levels responded acutely to OGTT, and their ratio was attenuated in T2D patients with reduced postprandial insulin response. The clamp studies revealed that insulin but not glucose accounts for the postprandial rise in FGF21. Finally, there was an attenuated rise in FGF21 in response to a high fat dietary intervention that is known to alter insulin-stimulated substrate utilization in metabolically active tissues. Conclusions: Insulin rather than glucose per se increases total and bioactive FGF21 in the postprandial period in adult humans. Understanding the impact of T2D on bioactive FGF21 will have a significant effect upon the efficacy of therapeutic agents designed to target the FGF21 pathway

Effect of Information and Telephone-Guided Access to Community Support for People with Chronic Kidney Disease: Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: Implementation of self-management support in traditional primary care settings has proved difficult, encouraging the development of alternative models which actively link to community resources. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common condition usually diagnosed in the presence of other co-morbidities. This trial aimed to determine the effectiveness of an intervention to provide information and telephone-guided access to community support versus usual care for patients with stage 3 CKD. Methods and Findings: In a pragmatic, two-arm, patient level randomised controlled trial 436 patients with a diagnosis of stage 3 CKD were recruited from 24 general practices in Greater Manchester. Patients were randomised to intervention (215) or usual care (221). Primary outcome measures were health related quality of life (EQ-5D health questionnaire), blood pressure control, and positive and active engagement in life (heiQ) at 6 months. At 6 months, mean health related quality of life was significantly higher for the intervention group (adjusted mean difference = 0.05; 95% CI = 0.01, 0.08) and blood pressure was controlled for a significantly greater proportion of patients in the intervention group (adjusted odds ratio = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.25, 2.72). Patients did not differ significantly in positive and active engagement in life. The intervention group reported a reduction in costs compared with control. Conclusions: An intervention to provide tailored information and telephone-guided access to community resources was associated with modest but significant improvements in health related quality of life and better maintenance of blood pressure control for patients with stage 3 CKD compared with usual care. However, further research is required to identify the mechanisms of action of the intervention

A Genome Scan for Positive Selection in Thoroughbred Horses

Thoroughbred horses have been selected for exceptional racing performance resulting in system-wide structural and functional adaptations contributing to elite athletic phenotypes. Because selection has been recent and intense in a closed population that stems from a small number of founder animals Thoroughbreds represent a unique population within which to identify genomic contributions to exercise-related traits. Employing a population genetics-based hitchhiking mapping approach we performed a genome scan using 394 autosomal and X chromosome microsatellite loci and identified positively selected loci in the extreme tail-ends of the empirical distributions for (1) deviations from expected heterozygosity (Ewens-Watterson test) in Thoroughbred (n = 112) and (2) global differentiation among four geographically diverse horse populations (FST). We found positively selected genomic regions in Thoroughbred enriched for phosphoinositide-mediated signalling (3.2-fold enrichment; P<0.01), insulin receptor signalling (5.0-fold enrichment; P<0.01) and lipid transport (2.2-fold enrichment; P<0.05) genes. We found a significant overrepresentation of sarcoglycan complex (11.1-fold enrichment; P<0.05) and focal adhesion pathway (1.9-fold enrichment; P<0.01) genes highlighting the role for muscle strength and integrity in the Thoroughbred athletic phenotype. We report for the first time candidate athletic-performance genes within regions targeted by selection in Thoroughbred horses that are principally responsible for fatty acid oxidation, increased insulin sensitivity and muscle strength: ACSS1 (acyl-CoA synthetase short-chain family member 1), ACTA1 (actin, alpha 1, skeletal muscle), ACTN2 (actinin, alpha 2), ADHFE1 (alcohol dehydrogenase, iron containing, 1), MTFR1 (mitochondrial fission regulator 1), PDK4 (pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, isozyme 4) and TNC (tenascin C). Understanding the genetic basis for exercise adaptation will be crucial for the identification of genes within the complex molecular networks underlying obesity and its consequential pathologies, such as type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we propose Thoroughbred as a novel in vivo large animal model for understanding molecular protection against metabolic disease

Think Again – Supplying War: Reappraising Military Logistics and Its Centrality to Strategy and War

This article argues that logistics constrains strategic opportunity while itself being heavily circumscribed by strategic and operational planning. With the academic literature all but ignoring the centrality of logistics to strategy and war, this article argues for a reappraisal of the critical role of military logistics, and posits that the study and conduct of war and strategy are incomplete at best or false at worst when they ignore this crucial component of the art of war. The article conceptualises the logistics–strategy nexus in a novel way, explores its contemporary manifestation in an age of uncertainty, and applies it to a detailed case study of UK operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001

Dependancy Status For A Child of Divorced or Separated Parents

A taxpayer is allowed to claim a dependency exemption for his or her child if the child is a qualifying child (or qualifying relative) of the taxpayer. In the case of parents that are divorced or separated, a child is generally treated for a particular tax year as the qualifying child of the parent with whom the child resides for a greater number of nights during the tax year (the custodial parent). • Under Sec. 152(e), the noncustodial parent of a child may only claim a dependency exemption for the child if (1) the child\u27s custodial parent signs a written declaration releasing his or her claim to the exemption for the tax yea r and (2) the noncustodial parent attaches the declaration to his or her return for that tax year. • In Regs. Sec. 1.152-4, Treasury provides detailed rules on how to determine the amount of time a child spends with each parent, how to properly prepare a written declaration releasing the custodial parent\u27s claim to the dependency exemption, and how to revoke such a declaration