Employee Medical Reimbursement Plans in the Age of ERISA

THE EMPLOYEE MEDICAL reimbursement plan presents a new dimension in the spectrum of available corporate fringe benefits. Its attractiveness lies in the relative ease by which the plan may be adopted and administered as well as the favorable federal income tax consequences to both the corporation and its participating employees. These plans undoubtedly will proliferate as other traditional fringe benefits become less attractive due to changes in tax laws,2 as medical expenses continue to increase, and as the advantages of employee medical reimbursement plans become more widely known. The scope of this article is to discuss the purposes of these plans, to determine who should adopt them, to guide draftsmen in their preparation, and to aid administrators and fiduciaries in their management

Employee Medical Reimbursement Plans in the Age of ERISA

THE EMPLOYEE MEDICAL reimbursement plan presents a new dimension in the spectrum of available corporate fringe benefits. Its attractiveness lies in the relative ease by which the plan may be adopted and administered as well as the favorable federal income tax consequences to both the corporation and its participating employees. These plans undoubtedly will proliferate as other traditional fringe benefits become less attractive due to changes in tax laws,2 as medical expenses continue to increase, and as the advantages of employee medical reimbursement plans become more widely known. The scope of this article is to discuss the purposes of these plans, to determine who should adopt them, to guide draftsmen in their preparation, and to aid administrators and fiduciaries in their management

System Theoretic Process Analysis: a literature survey on the approaches used for improving the safety in complex systems

Computer systems are becoming increasingly complex, specially interactive software systems, namely software user interfaces. The scientic community relies on dierent methods to assess their safety. This article provides an updated literature survey on hazard analysis approaches used to improve the safety of complex systems. To support the survey, we conceptualise complex systems, highlighting the challenge in terms of assessing their safety. We provide a brief overview on the approaches historically available to tackle issues in those systems, along with their most common methods. Finally, the article focuses in one method of a non-traditional approach, which is described in more details, along with some of its extensions, which seeks to improve the hazard analysis in complex systems

A novel widespread cryptic species and phylogeographic patterns within several giant clam species (Cardiidae: Tridacna) from the Indo-Pacific Ocean

Giant clams (genus Tridacna) are iconic coral reef animals of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, easily recognizable by their massive shells and vibrantly colored mantle tissue. Most Tridacna species are listed by CITES and the IUCN Redlist, as their populations have been extensively harvested and depleted in many regions. Here, we survey Tridacna crocea and Tridacna maxima from the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans for mitochondrial (COI and 16S) and nuclear (ITS) sequence variation and consolidate these data with previous published results using phylogenetic analyses. We find deep intraspecific differentiation within both T. crocea and T. maxima. In T. crocea we describe a previously undocumented phylogeographic division to the east of Cenderawasih Bay (northwest New Guinea), whereas for T. maxima the previously described, distinctive lineage of Cenderawasih Bay can be seen to also typify western Pacific populations. Furthermore, we find an undescribed, monophyletic group that is evolutionarily distinct from named Tridacna species at both mitochondrial and nuclear loci. This cryptic taxon is geographically widespread with a range extent that minimally includes much of the central Indo-Pacific region. Our results reinforce the emerging paradigm that cryptic species are common among marine invertebrates, even for conspicuous and culturally significant taxa. Additionally, our results add to identified locations of genetic differentiation across the central Indo-Pacific and highlight how phylogeographic patterns may differ even between closely related and co-distributed species

Rectifications In The Nomenclature Of Some Indo Pacific Littorinidae 2

Volume: 94Start Page: 1233End Page: 123

The Family Pinnidae in the Western Atlantic

Volume: 3Start Page: 285End Page: 32

Geochemical and Microstructural Signals in Giant Clam Tridacna maxima

To validate the usability of the giant clam shell as a recorder of short-term environmental changes such as typhoons, we collected a live Tridacna maxima from Okinotori Island, Japan, on 15 June 2006. Growth increment thickness, stable isotope ratio (O-18(shell), C-13(shell)), and the barium/calcium ratio (Ba/Ca) in the T.maxima shell sample were measured and compared to Okinotori Island instrumental environmental data. In the outer layer of the shell sample, there were 3656 growth increments per year, as estimated by the O-18(shell) profile compared with sea surface temperature. The growth increments in the specimen were formed daily, and thus, we can determine the date of the sampling points of O-18(shell), C-13(shell) and the Ba/Ca ratio by counting growth increments. After typhoon approach, there is a decrease in increment thickness and some disturbed growth increments. The positive peaks in the shell Ba/Ca ratio and O-18(shell) corresponded to lower sea surface temperature caused by typhoons. These results indicated that the microstructural and geochemical record in Tridacna maxima shells could be useful for detecting past typhoon events