Surviving IRS Examinations and Appeals

This article summarizes the statutory, regulatory and administrative rules and procedures that apply to IRS civil tax examinations and Appeals proceedings, including alternative dispute resolution procedures. The focus of this paper is on field examinations, rather than service center examinations, correspondence examinations, or office examinations. In addition, it attempts to answer some of the basic questions that taxpayers often ask their advisors and representatives when they are the subject of an IRS civil tax examination: Why was I selected by the IRS for audit? How long will this audit take? Why do the agents want all this information, documents, data, etc.? Do I have to give the agents all the information, documents, data, etc. they have requested? What can the IRS do if I don\u27t cooperate in the audit? Can I recover from the IRS the fees and expenses I incur in the audit an din the Appeals proceeding? Should I ask for an Appeals conference

Association between genotypic diversity and biofilm production in group B Streptococcus

Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of sepsis and meningitis and an important factor in premature and stillbirths. Biofilm production has been suggested to be important for GBS pathogenesis alongside many other elements, including phylogenetic lineage and virulence factors, such as pili and capsule type. A complete understanding of the confluence of these components, however, is lacking. To identify associations between biofilm phenotype, pilus profile and lineage, 293 strains from asymptomatic carriers, invasive disease cases, and bovine mastitis cases, were assessed for biofilm production using an in vitro assay. Results: Multilocus sequence type (ST) profile, pilus island profile, and isolate source were associated with biofilm production. Strains from invasive disease cases and/or belonging to the ST-17 and ST-19 lineages were significantly more likely to form weak biofilms, whereas strains producing strong biofilms were recovered more frequently from individuals with asymptomatic colonization. Conclusions: These data suggest that biofilm production is a lineage-specific trait in GBS and may promote colonization of strains representing lineages other than STs 17 and 19. The findings herein also demonstrate that biofilms must be considered in the treatment of pregnant women, particularly for women with heavy GBS colonization

Use of normalized word vector approach in document classification for an LKMC

In order to realize the objective of expanding library services to provide knowledge managementsupport for small businesses, a series of requirements must be met. This particular phase of a largerresearch project focuses on one of the requirements: the need for a document classificationsystem to rapidly determine the content of digital documents. Document classification techniquesare examined to assess the available alternatives for realization of Library Knowledge ManagementCenters (LKMCs). After evaluating prominent techniques the authors opted to investigate aless well-known method, the Normalized Word Vector (NWV) approach, which has been usedsuccessfully in classifying highly unstructured documents, i.e., student essays. The authors proposeutilizing the NWV approach for LKMC automatic document classification with the goal ofdeveloping a system whereby unfamiliar documents can be quickly classified into existing topiccategories. This conceptual paper will outline an approach to test NWV's suitability in this area

Experimental transonic flutter characteristics of two 72 deg-sweep delta-wing models

Transonic flutter boundaries are presented for two simple, 72 deg. sweep, low-aspect-ratio wing models. One model was an aspect-ratio 0.65 delta wing; the other model was an aspect-ratio 0.54 clipped-delta wing. Flutter boundaries for the delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.56 to 1.22. Flutter boundaries for the clipped-delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.72 to 0.95. Selected vibration characteristics of the models are also presented

Radio observations of the planetary nebula around the OH/IR Star OH354.88-0.54 (V1018 Sco)

We present radio observations of the unique, recently formed, planetary nebula (PN) associated with a very long-period OH/IR variable star V1018 Sco that is unequivocally still in its asymptoticgiant branch phase. Two regions within the optical nebula are clearly detected in nonthermal radio continuum emission, with radio spectral indices comparable to those seen in colliding-wind Wolf-Rayet binaries. We suggest that these represent shocked interactions between the hot, fast stellar wind and the cold nebular shell that represents the PN's slow wind moving away from the central star. This same interface produces both synchrotron radio continuum and the optical PN emission. The fast wind is neither spherical in geometry nor aligned withany obvious optical or radio axis. We also report the detection of transient H2O maser emission in this nebula.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX (mn2e.cls), incl. 9 PostScript (ps or eps) figures and 2 tables. Accepted by MNRA

Complete Genomic Sequences of Three Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Serovar Muenchen Strains from an Orchard in San Joaquin County, California.

We present here the complete genome sequences of three Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Muenchen strains, LG24, LG25, and LG26. All three strains were isolated from almond drupes grown in an orchard in San Joaquin County, California, in 2016. These genomic sequences are nonidentical and will contribute to our understanding of S. enterica genomics

FIRE Cirrus on October 28, 1986: LANDSAT; ER-2; King Air; theory

A simultaneous examination was conducted of cirrus clouds in the FIRE Cirrus IFO-I on 10/28/86 using a multitude of remote sensing and in-situ measurements. The focus is cirrus cloud radiative properties and their relationship to cloud microphysics. A key element is the comparison of radiative transfer model calculations and varying measured cirrus radiative properties (emissivity, reflectance vs. wavelength, reflectance vs. viewing angle). As the number of simultaneously measured cloud radiative properties and physical properties increases, more sharply focused tests of theoretical models are possible

Consumer Spending and the Economic Stimulus Payments of 2008

We measure the change in household spending caused by receipt of the economic stimulus payments of 2008, using questions added to the Consumer Expenditure Survey and variation from the randomized timing of disbursement. Households spent 12-30 percent (depending on specification) of their payments on nondurable goods during the three-month period of payment receipt, and a significant amount more on durable goods, primarily vehicles, bringing the total response to 50-90 percent of the payments. The responses are substantial and significant for older, lower-income, and home-owning households. Spending does not vary significantly with the method of disbursement (check versus electronic transfer)

Good Teaching Starts Here: Applied Learning at the Graduate Teaching Assistant Institute

Increasingly, graduate teaching assistants serve as the primary instructors in undergraduate courses, yet research has shown that training and development for these teaching assistants is often lacking in programs throughout the United States and Canada. Providing mentoring and skill development opportunities for graduate teaching assistants is vital, as many will become the next generation of faculty. This paper discusses the literature on effective training programs, which underscores the importance of consistent feedback from mentors, intrinsic motivation, and practical applications. Afterwards, we examine an existing training program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Specifically, we focus on an institute for teaching assistants that helps graduate students understand applied learning as an effective pedagogical modality and helps them implement applied learning lesson plans tailored to their disciplines. Suggestions for strengthening training programs are discussed.   Il est de plus en plus courant que des assistants à l’enseignement soient chargés de donner des cours de premier cycle universitaire. Cependant, des études ont démontré le manque de formation et de progrès de ces assistants à l’enseignement, aux États-Unis comme au Canada. Il est donc indispensable d’offrir des occasions de mentorat et de perfectionnement à ces assistants, puisqu’un grand nombre d’entre eux deviendront la prochaine cohorte de professeurs. Cet article traite des recherches effectuées sur les programmes de formation efficaces, ce qui souligne l’importance des commentaires des mentors, de la motivation et de la mise en pratique. Ensuite, nous étudions l’évolution d’un programme de formation à l’Université de Wilmington de la Caroline du Nord. Notre étude se concentre sur un institut pour les assistants à l’enseignement, qui leur montre que l’apprentissage appliqué est un outil pédagogique efficace. Par la suite, cet institut les aide à mettre en œuvre un plan de leçon d’apprentissage adapté à leur discipline. L’article s’achève par des suggestions d’amélioration des programmes de formation. &nbsp

Sudden Gravitational Transition

We investigate the properties of a cosmological scenario which undergoes a gravitational phase transition at late times. In this scenario, the Universe evolves according to general relativity in the standard, hot big bang picture until a redshift z≲1. Nonperturbative phenomena associated with a minimally-coupled scalar field catalyzes a transition, whereby an order parameter consisting of curvature quantities such as R2, RabRab, RabcdRabcd acquires a constant expectation value. The ensuing cosmic acceleration appears driven by a dark-energy component with an equation-of-state w\u3c−1. We evaluate the constraints from type 1a supernovae, the cosmic microwave background, and other cosmological observations. We find that a range of models making a sharp transition to cosmic acceleration are consistent with observations