IMPACT OF HEALTH INFORMATION ON DEMAND FOR FATS AND OILS IN JAPAN: COINTEGRATION AND A COMPLETE DEMAND SYSTEM APPROACH

This paper deals with the structural change for fats and oils in Japan focusing on the possible influence of health information. The newly developed fat and cholesterol information index appears to reflect the changing health information on fat and cholesterol much better than the ad-hoc cumulative index.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

A New Framework for Digital Taxation

The international tax regime has wide implications for business, trade, and the international political economy. Under current law, multinational enterprises do not pay their fair share of taxes to market countries where profits are generated because market countries are only allowed to tax companies with a physical presence there. Digital companies, like Google and Amazon, can operate entirely online, thereby avoiding market country taxes. Multinationals can also exploit existing tax rules by shifting their profits to low-tax jurisdictions, thereby avoiding taxes in the residence country where their headquarters are located. Recently, a global tax deal was reached to tackle these issues. Proposed by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework and endorsed by nearly 140 countries, this global tax deal sets forth two Pillars that reform the outdated international tax regimes. Pillar One addresses digital taxation while Pillar Two addresses a global minimum tax. However, it is doubtful that the global tax deal will be successfully implemented, especially with respect to Pillar One. As the details of Pillar One have become increasingly complex and degraded by political compromises and carve-outs, it risks being a framework without substance. Also, countries are unlikely to repeal an established tax instrument, Digital Services Taxes (“DSTs”), which is an adamant requirement of the United States in adopting Pillar One. This Article offers the first comprehensive critique of the global tax deal and assesses its prospects and problems. It evaluates the U.S. responses to the proposed global deal and to DSTs. It presents the challenges, such as treaty overrides, that will occur if the United States implements Pillar One by executive agreement so as to bypass the treaty ratification. This Article suggests separating the two Pillars to preserve the global minimum tax. Regarding DSTs, the Article provides several empirical studies that demonstrate the harm retaliatory tariffs cause. Finally, it endorses the U.N. digital taxation proposal and proposes a new Data Excise Tax as a normative alternative

A New Framework for Digital Taxation

The international tax regime has wide implications for business, trade, and the international political economy. Under current law, multinational enterprises do not pay their fair share of taxes to market countries where profits are generated because market countries are only allowed to tax companies with a physical presence there. Digital companies, like Google and Amazon, can operate entirely online, thereby avoiding market country taxes. Multinationals can also exploit existing tax rules by shifting their profits to low-tax jurisdictions, thereby avoiding taxes in the residence country where their headquarters are located. Recently, a global tax deal was reached to tackle these issues. Proposed by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework and endorsed by nearly 140 countries, this global tax deal sets forth two Pillars that reform the outdated international tax regimes. Pillar One addresses digital taxation while Pillar Two addresses a global minimum tax. However, it is doubtful that the global tax deal will be successfully implemented, especially with respect to Pillar One. As the details of Pillar One have become increasingly complex and degraded by political compromises and carve-outs, it risks being a framework without substance. Also, countries are unlikely to repeal an established tax instrument, Digital Services Taxes (“DSTs”), which is an adamant requirement of the United States in adopting Pillar One. This Article offers the first comprehensive critique of the global tax deal and assesses its prospects and problems. It evaluates the U.S. responses to the proposed global deal and to DSTs. It presents the challenges, such as treaty overrides, that will occur if the United States implements Pillar One by executive agreement so as to bypass the treaty ratification. This Article suggests separating the two Pillars to preserve the global minimum tax. Regarding DSTs, the Article provides several empirical studies that demonstrate the harm retaliatory tariffs cause. Finally, it endorses the U.N. digital taxation proposal and proposes a new Data Excise Tax as a normative alternative

Flight Test Overview for UAS Integration in the NAS Project

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is conducting a series of flight tests intended to support the reduction of barriers that prevent unmanned aircraft from flying without the required waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration. The most recent testing supported two separate test configurations. The first investigated the timing of Detect and Avoid (DAA) alerting thresholds using a radar-equipped unmanned vehicle and multiple live intruders flown at varying encounter geometries. The second configuration included a surrogate unmanned vehicle (flown from a ground control station, with a safety pilot on board) flying a mission in a virtual air traffic control airspace sector using research pilot displays and DAA advisories to maintain separation from live and virtual aircraft. The test was conducted over a seven-week span in the summer of 2015. The data from over 100 encounter sorties will be used to inform the RTCA Phase 1 Detect and Avoid and Command and Control Minimum Operating Performance Standards (MOPS) intended to be completed by the summer of 2016. Follow-on flight-testing is planned for the spring of 2016 to capture remaining encounters and support validation of the MOPS

A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Tetherin Promotes Retrovirus Restriction In Vivo

Tetherin is a membrane protein of unusual topology expressed from rodents to humans that accumulates enveloped virus particles on the surface of infected cells. However, whether this ‘tethering’ activity promotes or restricts retroviral spread during acute retrovirus infection in vivo is controversial. We report here the identification of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the Tetherin gene of NZW/LacJ (NZW) mice that mutated the canonical ATG start site to GTG. Translation of NZW Tetherin from downstream ATGs deleted a conserved dual-tyrosine endosomal sorting motif, resulting in higher cell surface expression and more potent inhibition of Friend retrovirus release compared to C57BL/6 (B6) Tetherin in vitro. Analysis of (B6×NZW)F1 hybrid mice revealed that increased Tetherin cell surface expression in NZW mice is a recessive trait in vivo. Using a classical genetic backcrossing approach, NZW Tetherin expression strongly correlated with decreased Friend retrovirus replication and pathogenesis. However, the protective effect of NZW Tetherin was not observed in the context of B6 Apobec3/Rfv3 resistance. These findings identify the first functional Tetherin polymorphism within a mammalian host, demonstrate that Tetherin cell surface expression is a key parameter for retroviral restriction, and suggest the existence of a restriction factor hierarchy to counteract pathogenic retrovirus infections in vivo

Abrasive Weeding as a Vehicle for Precision Fertilizer Management in Organic Vegetable Production

Abrasive weeding is a nonchemical weed control tactic that uses small, gritty materials propelled with compressed air to destroy weed seedlings. Organic fertilizers have been used successfully as abrasive grits to control weeds, but the goal for this study was to explore the effects of fertilizer grit, application rates, and background soil fertility on weeds, plant available nitrogen (N) uptake, and crop yield. Field trials were conducted in organic ‘Carmen’ sweet red pepper (Capsicum annuum) and organic ‘Gypsy’ broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) and treatments included organic fertilizer grit (8N–0.9P–3.3K vs. 3N–3.1P–3.3K), grit application rates (low vs. high), compost amendments (with and without), and weedy and weed-free controls. Weed biomass was harvested at 84 days and 65 days after transplanting for pepper and broccoli, respectively. Simulated total plant available N (nitrate + ammonium) uptake was measured with ion exchange resin stakes between 7 and 49 days after the first of two grit applications. Produce was harvested at maturity, graded for marketability, and weighed. The higher grit application rate, regardless of fertilizer type, reduced the weed biomass by 75% to 89% for pepper and by 86% to 99% for broccoli. By 5 weeks after the first grit application, simulated plant N uptake was greatest following grit application with the 8% N fertilizer, followed by the 3% N fertilizer, and lowest in the weedy control. The high grit application rate of 8% N fertilizer increased pepper yield by 112% compared with the weedy control, but it was similar to that of the weed-free control. Broccoli was less responsive to abrasive grits, with yield changes ranging from no difference to up to a 36% increase (relative to the weedy control) depending on the application rate and compost amendment. This is the first evidence indicating that the nutrient composition of organic fertilizer abrasive grits can influence in-season soil N dynamics, weed competition, and crop yield. The results suggest that abrasive weeding technology could be leveraged to improve the precision of in-season fertilizer management of organic crops