Tax Deductions For Education Expenses

Trade or business expenses are deductible if they are ordinary and necessary with respect to the trade or business in which they were incurred. Treasury Regulations bring education expenses into this purview but only if they maintain or improve skills already acquired or allow a taxpayer to maintain his current position. Expenses which qualify a taxpayer for a new trade or business or which enable one to meet the minimum standards of a trade or business are considered personal and thus not deductible. Where educational conferences are held out of town there are additional considerations which might limit the allowable deduction for related education expenses

Leases As Security Devices

Leases have priority over mortgages and other security devices if they were entered into prior to the security devices and if the leases were duly recorded, or in the alternative, the lessee can prove that the holder of the security device had actual notice of the lease’s existence. Which means, that should the creditor seek to foreclose on the premises, the lessee has a protected right to remain on the premises pursuant to the terms of the lease. This holds true for a subsequent purchaser of the property either at the foreclosure sale or thereafter

Foreclosures: A Non-Traditional Approach

Foreclosures are at a record high, causing families to be displaced, blighted neighborhoods and the reduction of home values. This paper examines a few unusual cases recently determined, whereby the Court exercises its equity powers to find a just result

Fraud Versus Ethics: The Case Of The Backdating Of Stock Options

During the past five years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has investigated over 140 companies for their practices of backdating the grant dates of employee stock options (ESOs), and has cited a number of these companies for their part in this behavior that has led to huge financial losses to corporate stockholders.  The practice of backdating stock options grant dates is not necessarily illegal, but there may be some ethical issues involved with respect to the firms implicated in the acts.  Options backdating may arise, not only because of clerical errors, lax record keeping, or internal control system failure, but also because of the intentional manipulation of corporate reports and documentation.  In cases where top executives deliberately manipulate stock options grant dates to further bloat their excessive compensation packages above the amounts that directors approved for them, the firm and its officers/directors may be liable for violations of SEC disclosure requirements, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and tax laws, and if these actions occurred after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, there could be severe penalties imposed on the firm and on the individuals involved

The Regulation Of Non-Profit Organizations

The absence of governmental oversight and regulation of Not-For-Profit corporations has resulted in these entities performing their stated purposes inadequately and inefficiently and has enabled financial indiscretions which have tarnished their reputations. Enhanced oversight and regulation is needed to prevent recurrences of these failures

Economics For The Elderly: New Business Products And Options

In this paper, we examine three types of money management tools that could be used in estate and financial planning matters.  The first two, the life settlement, which enables the sale of life insurance policies in secondary markets, and the reverse mortgage, which is a loan taken out against the home equity accumulated and requires no repayment as long as the homeowner lives in the home, have been used as investment vehicles by insurance companies, banks, hedge funds, and other investment entities.  The third tool, the power of appointment, provides counsel on the proper format for preparing the deed to minimize the tax implications related to the transfer of assets from the parent to the heirs.&nbsp

Vitamin D deficiency and tumor aggressiveness in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Purpose: Data regarding vitamin D status in patients affected by gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumor (NET) are limited and often showing contrasting results. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) in GEP-NET patients and compare the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels with clinicopathological parameters and clinical outcome. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study including 75 low grade (G1-G2) GEP-NETs and 123 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and body mass index, was performed. Results: GEP-NET patients had significantly lower 25(OH)D levels compared to controls (17.9 ± 7.8 vs 24.2 ± 7.7 ng/mL, p < 0.0001). Ileal NETs were associated to lower 25(OH)D levels compared to other primary tumor sites (p = 0.049) and small bowel resection posed a significant increased risk of severe vitamin D deficiency (OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.25–3.37, p = 0.018). No correlation with somatostatin analogs treatment was found. 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower in G2 compared to G1 GEP-NETs (15.6 ± 7.8 vs 19.9 ± 7.4 ng/mL, p = 0.016) and in patients with progressive disease (12.6 ± 5.7 ng/mL) compared to those with stable disease (mean 21.5 ± 8.2 ng/mL, p = 0.001) or tumor free after surgery (19.6 ± 7.3 ng/mL, p = 0.002). Patients with vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency had shorter progression-free survival compared to those with sufficiency (p = 0.014), whereas no correlation was found with disease-specific survival. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among GEP-NETs and could be associated with high tumor grade and disease progression. Therefore, the monitoring of 25(OH)D levels is relevant in these patients and vitamin D supplementation should be considered in the management of GEP-NET patients with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency

Outbreak of sars-cov-2 lineage 20i/501y.V1 in a nursing home underlines the crucial role of vaccination in both residents and staff

Elderly residents in nursing homes are at very high risk of life-threatening COVID-19-related outcomes. In this report, an epidemiological and serological investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in an Italian nursing home is described. Among the residents, all but one (19/20) were regularly vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. In mid-February 2021, a non-vaccinated staff member of the nursing home was diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Following the outbreak investigation, a total of 70% (14/20) of residents aged 77–100 years were found positive. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the outbreak was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/01 (the so-called “UK variant”). However, all but one positive subjects (13/14) were fully asymptomatic. The only symptomatic patient was a vaccinated 86-year-old female with a highly compromised health background and deceased approximately two weeks later. The subsequent serological investigation showed that the deceased patient was the only vaccinated subject that did not develop the anti-spike protein antibody response, therefore being likely a vaccine non-responder. Although the available mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was not able to prevent several asymptomatic infections, it was able to avert most symptomatic disease cases caused by the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/01 in nursing home residents

Fascitis necrotizante, cuando el tiempo vale oro

La Fascitis Necrotizante es una infección de partes blandas que puede provocar una rápida destrucción del tejido afectado con necrosis y sepsis grave, potencialmente mortal. Los factores predisponentes son diabetes, neoplasias, alcoholismo, enfermedad hepática y renal crónica, entre otras. Es una urgencia médica que requiere un tratamiento quirúrgico precoz, y terapia antibiótica endovenosa de amplio espectro con el fin de disminuir la tasa de mortalidad. Presentamos el caso de un paciente con antecedente de linfoma T hepático que presentó fascitis necrotizante en el miembro inferior izquierdo secundario a Bacillus Cereus