bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unfair Business Competition and the Tax on Income Destined for Charity: Forty-Six Years Later
Authors: Sharpe Donald L.
Published: May 2022

Two sectors in American society, private enterprise and the federal government, are widely recognized as playing indispensable institutional roles, and both are in obvious need of revenue to accomplish their respective goals. The importance of a third sector-those institutions broadly subsumed under the classification of private, nonprofit charitable organizations-should not be undervalued relative to the other two, nor should its equally pressing need for revenue be underestimated. Beginning early in American history, private institutions have played a major role in attending to social needs. In contrast to other countries where major institutions attending to social needs are financed and operated by the government, many of the universities, schools, scientific research organizations, hospitals, libraries, museums, symphony orchestras, and social welfare agencies in the United States are voluntarily supported and operated by private citizens.From the very beginning, tax law in the United States has recognized the unique role played by private, nonprofit charitable organizations by affording them exemption from tax. Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code exempts from income tax organizations organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, testing for public safety, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. No part of the net earnings of such organizations may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
Creating Complex Monsters: Joint Operating Agreements and The Logical Invalidity of Treasury Regulation 1.502-1(b)
Authors: Jones Darryll K.
Published: May 2022

For McKenzieA familiar mathematical axiom holds that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Indeed, in most any human endeavor simplicity should be encouraged and complexity discouraged. Modem armies, for example, adhere to acronyms intended to remind leaders and followers alike to strive for simplicity in an effort to conserve energy and avoid misunderstandings. It can be stated intuitively that complexity inevitably excludes understanding in a certain portion of the intended audience. Those who engineer complexity understand it best, but understanding decreases as one moves farther from the source until the thing engineered is not understood at all. More importantly, complexity causes unnecessary expense, it results in a diversion of resources, and, by the weight of its own process, obscures the original goal to the ultimate extent that the goal is deemed unworthy of achievement.The Internal Revenue Code has never been hailed as an example of the mathematical axiom concerning the shortest distance between the status quo and a desirable result. In fairness though, complexity in the Code is often in response to other factors, including complexity in financial transactions. The latter complexity is not necessarily without purpose. It is often employed, for example, to provide assurances between trading partners who do not trust one another or, as is the wont of lawyers, in an exercise in overkill designed to anticipate every possible contingency. Complexity is also sometimes used in an effort to shield, hide, or recharacterize the nature of income generated by a particular transaction. Thus, in its own complexity, the Code is often necessarily designed to root out the true character of a given transaction. Sometimes the Code is designed to allow a narrow way to achieve a desirable goal and simultaneously avoid undesirable side effects.  All of this, in simple terms, is only to say that whenever a particular provision or regulatory requirement is characterized by, fosters, encourages, or condones complexity, there ought to be an apparent and sound justification.
Towards Equal Tax Treatment of Economically Equivalent Financial Instruments: Proposals for Taxing Prepaid Forward Contracts, Equity Swaps, and Certain Contingent Debt Instruments
Authors: Levy David F.
Published: May 2022

In recent years, many commentators have debated the merits of various proposals regarding the taxation of financial derivatives. The Internal Revenue Service (the "Service") has, in the case of certain derivatives, attempted to settle that debate by issuing regulations that address the taxation of notional principal contracts and contingent debt instruments. The debate, however, continues, mainly because many financial instruments are economically equivalent to one another and yet give rise to different tax results. Rather than proposing changes in the tax treatment of specific instruments, commentators now call for the complete overhaul of all of the rules governing the taxation of all financial instruments. While many of those proposals certainly have merit, it seems as though the Congress is not likely to completely overhaul the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") any time soon. A good deal of the debate concerning the taxation of financial derivatives has centered on the corporations that issue these derivatives (the "issuers"). In the author's opinion, many of the problems and abuses cited by those commentators should be solved not by focusing on the issuer, but by focusing on the investor who purchases these derivatives. That conclusion stems from the following four facts: First, issuers develop complex financial instruments such as contingent debt instruments in order to accommodate the demands of investors.5 Second, issuers of complex financial instruments often enter into hedging transactions that leave them in the same position in which they would have been, with respect to both economic result and tax treatment, had they issued traditional fixed or floating rate debt instruments. Third, investors will be taxed differently depending on the type of derivative that they purchase. Fourth, so long as issuers can save money by issuing financial derivatives such as contingent debt instruments, they will continue to do so. Thus, issuers usually design derivatives to save money by accommodating a particular investor profile. In light of that fact, the government should focus its reform efforts on investors.
Lifting the Shroud Obscuring Estate of Hubert: The Logic of the Income and Estate Tax Treatment of Estate Administration Expenses
Authors: Dodge Joseph M.
Published: May 2022

In Commissioner v. Estate of Hubert, the Supreme Court upheld a Tax Court decision that $1.5 million of estate administration expenses charged against the income of a marital deduction bequest did not reduce the marital deduction for estate tax purposes. In Hubert, the marital deduction bequest was a residuary bequest, and estate administration expenses were payable out of the residue, but the executors had discretion to allocate such expenses between principal and income2 Pursuant to what is known as the "section 642(g) election," the expenses charged against income were deducted for purposes of computing the taxable income of the estate as a separate taxpayer, and were not deducted for estate tax purposes.This comment both critiques Hubert on a doctrinal basis and explores what should be the proper income and estate tax consequences of estate administration expenses.
Estate and Gift Tax Effects of Selling a Remainder: Have D'Ambrosio, Wheeler and Magnin Changed the Rules?
Authors: Jensen Ronald H.
Published: May 2022

For over two-thirds of a century, federal estate tax law has expressly provided that property transferred by a decedent during his lifetime will nonetheless be subject to estate tax if he retains the right to the property's income for the remainder of his life. This rule-now embodied in section 2036 of the Internal Revenue Code-reflects Congress's belief that such transfers are inherently testamentary: the transferor continues to enjoy the "transferred" property for the rest of his life, while his beneficiary obtains the property only upon the transferor's death.During the same period, "bona fide sale[s] for an adequate and full consideration" have been excluded from the operation of this provision. The rationale for this exclusion is that a transfer of property for which the transferor receives full value does not diminish the size of his estate, and thus there is no need to subject the transferred property to estate tax.
International Comity and the Foreign Tax Credit: Crediting Nonconforming Taxes
Authors: Coven Glenn E.
Published: May 2022

The combination of expanding international trade and climbing corporate income tax rates in the early part of this century required nations to evolve methods for reducing the level of international double taxation. While most countries came to rely upon a variety of techniques, two general approaches emerged to the taxation of the income of residents derived from foreign economic activity. Some countries adopted a territorial based system in which foreign source income is normally exempted from domestic tax. That system generally leaves the taxation of foreign income to the government within whose territory the activity occurs and thus avoids double taxation entirely. Other countries, including the United States, chose to impose their tax on the world-wide income of their individual citizens and residents and domestic corporations. That approach necessitated the development of specific mechanisms to reduce double taxation when the country within whose borders the income had been derived also imposed a tax on that income.The prevailing solution to this source of double taxation is for the residence country to allow its taxpayers to credit taxes paid to foreign jurisdictions against their domestic income tax liability. The extent to which such a foreign tax credit effectively relieves double taxation, however, depends in part upon the adequacy of the description of the foreign taxes that may be credited against the domestic tax liability. If the description is overinclusive, allowing too broad a range of foreign taxes to be credited, the foreign income will be taxed too lightly. Conversely, if the description is under-inclusive, double taxation will not be fully relieved and the foreign source income will be taxed more heavily than domestic income.
The Constitutionality of Taxing Compensatory Damages for Mental Distress When There Was No Accompanying Physical Injury
Authors: Kahn Douglas A.
Published: May 2022

Since 1919, statutory tax law has excluded from gross income compensatory damages received on account of a personal injury or sickness. The current version of that exclusion is set forth in section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The construction of that exclusion, both by the courts and by the Commissioner, underwent significant alterations over the 80-year period that the provision has existed. The statute itself was amended several times, most recently in 1996. It is the 1996 amendment that has raised a constitutional issue concerning the validity of a portion of the statute.As a consequence of the 1996 amendment, damages received for a personal injury will not be excluded from gross income unless the victim suffered a physical injury. For this purpose, the emotional distress that a victim suffers because of a tortious act does not constitute a physical injury. The House Report to the 1996 amendment states that "emotional distress includes physical symptoms (e.g., insomnia, headaches, stomach disorders) which may result from such emotional distress." Consequently, damages received for the emotional and mental distress suffered because of defamatory statements or because of discriminatory acts are excludible only to the extent that the victim incurred medical expenses thereby. Defamation and discriminatory acts do not cause physical injuries.
The Future Taxation of Private Business Firms
Authors: Yin George K.
Published: May 2022

© 1998 by George K. Yin. This article represents a continuation of work I have done as reporter to the American Law Institute's Federal Income Tax Project on the Taxation of Private Business Enterprises. Portions of this article have been drawn from drafts and discussions undertaken in connection with that project as well as from a prior article, George K. Yim, The Taxation of Private Business Enterprises: Some Policy Questions Stimulated by the "Check-the-Box" Regulations, 51 SMU Law Rev. 125 (1997).This article was prepared for presentation at a February 1998 symposium and research for it was completed in May 1998. A final ALI Reporters' Study is scheduled to be published in June 1999.Recent federal and state law developments liberalizing the permissible forms of business organizations and the classification of such organizations for tax purposes have underscored the need to reexamine the current system of taxing the income of private businesses. This article, which undertakes that reexamination, makes two principal claims. First, current law ought to be replaced by a system whereby all private business firms, no matter what their form of organization and organizational characteristics, are taxed as conduits for income tax purposes. Second, because conduit taxation is so complicated, the system should be implemented through a "two-track" approach in which a subset of private business firms would, at their election, be subject to a simplified set of tax rules. In general, the simplified version would be available to firms which have only individuals as owners and which have surrendered some flexibility in their economic dealings. Part II of this article briefly explains why current law merits reexamination and Parts III and IV correspond to the two main claims being made. A final part contains a brief summary and conclusion.
Rethinking the Risk of Defined Contribution Plans
Authors: Jefferson Regina T.
Published: May 2022

In response to pension funding failures and concern that abuses in the private pension system were denying benefits to many workers, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA has several specific objectives: to ensure that workers receive pension benefits after they satisfy certain minimum requirements, to ensure that sufficient funds are set aside to pay promised pension benefits, to ensure that workers receive adequate information about their employee benefit plans, and to set higher standards of conduct for those managing employee benefits and pension funds. ERISA has been successful in accomplishing many of its goals. Today employees vest earlier, more plans are adequately funded, and plan participants are more knowledgeable about their retirement benefits. Moreover, since the passage of ERISA, increased participation and contribution rates in private pension plans have caused the average income of retired individuals to be comparable to that of the rest of the population.
Utopian Visions Toward a Grand Unified Global Income Tax
Authors: Ordower Henry
Published: May 2022

A grand unified global income tax (GUGIT) may prove as elusive as the grand unified theory (GUT) that physicists have sought for many years. Yet, just as recent discoveries bring physicists closer to a GUT, developments in the international financial and tax worlds may move a GUGIT into imaginable reach. Since the discussions of a global unified corporate tax base in the early 1990s, significant and often surprising changes have taken place in the financial and tax worlds. Several of those changes include: (1) the European Union (EU) expanded eastward to include many of the former Soviet satellite countries; (2) seventeen member states of the EU, including several from the eastward expansion, eliminated their national currencies in favor of a single common currency; (3) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shamed and coerced many tax havens into cooperating in the exchange of information in tax matters; (4) Switzerland and Liechtenstein began to negotiate limitations on the protection they offered to foreign investors under their financial institution secrecy laws; (5) Russia’s suspension of payments on its sovereign debt in 1998 driving the failure of major investment pools and their managers and the subprime crisis in the United States in 2007 leading to the financial crisis in 2008 threatened to undermine the world economy and brought the concept of systemic risk to prominence; (6) in the United States, the 2008 financial crisis led to enactment of systemic risk–focused regulation of the economy; (7) the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a proposed rule to converge and convert financial reporting in the United States from generally accepted accounting principles to International Financial Reporting Standards; and (8) the European Commission (EC) took the first definitive step toward cross-border combined income tax reporting in the EU. While barriers to development of a working GUGIT may be just as formidable as barriers to discovery of a GUT, this paper argues that each step toward a GUGIT is a step toward tax transparency, distributional fairness, and public acceptance of the legitimacy of the income tax system.
Optional Basis Adjustments Under Subchapter K: Trap for the Unwary, Tax Planning Tool, or Both? Should They Be Mandatory?
Authors: Postlewaite Philip F.
Published: May 2022

The optional basis adjustments of Subchapter K have occupied a prominent position in tax planning and partnership operations for the past 60 years. In the dispositional context, the general approach of the Code to the taxation of partnerships and their partners treats the partnership as an entity, separate and distinct from its partners. Thus, if a partner disposes of his partnership interest by sale to a third party, no adjustment or modification of the bases of the assets of the partnership occurs. Such is the case even though ownership of the partnership has been altered and the purchase price for the interest reflects the fair market value of the partner's underlying share of the partnership assets. Similarly, if a partner's interest is liquidated by the partnership, although the value of the distributed assets equals that of the relinquished partnership interest, the bases of the partnership's remaining assets are unaffected. Thus, in the case of a disposition by sale or liquidation for cash of an appreciated partnership interest, although the seller/distributee is taxed on the gain, without a basis adjustment, the purchaser or the remaining partners will be taxed on the same gain when realized by the partnership. In a similar fashion, for a depreciated partnership interest, a "duplication of loss" will arise, i.e., at both the partner and the partnership level.
The Unruly World of Tax: A Proposal for an International Tax Cooperation Forum
Authors: Rosenbloom H. David , Noked Noam , Helal Mohamed S.
Published: May 2022

International cooperation in tax policy is deeply fractured. Inconsistencies, loopholes, and ineffective mechanisms—which could be avoided if real collaboration among countries existed—have created significant inefficiency losses for decades. This Article focuses on the institutional infrastructure underlying international cooperation in tax issues and argues that the current forums in which such cooperation is encouraged do not provide an adequate platform in which countries with similar interests can effectively make a collaborative effort. To facilitate cooperation, this Article proposes to create a new institution currently missing from the international tax policy-setting arena: an informal forum for coordination among countries that share similar interests in tax policy, inspired by the model of “Like Minded Groups” in international organizations. This forum will enable countries that share similar interests to cooperate and reach understandings about necessary policy adaptations. We identify two major projects that this forum could promote—efforts to curtail tax evasion and efforts to harmonize various aspects of tax policy. We argue that this model might have significant advantages in promoting cooperation, reducing the “competitiveness” threat, advocating coordinated policies, and overcoming external and domestic pressures. In light of the current challenges in the field of tax policy, and the difficulties in forming international cooperation within the current institutional framework, the proposed model is worth serious discussion and consideration.
The Historical Origins of the Debt-Equality Distinction
Authors: Hutchinson Camden
Published: May 2022

This Article uses historical evidence to trace the debtequity distinction’s origins, development, and continuing evolution. Citing legislative history, business lobbying efforts, and important changes in the broader historical context, this Article argues that the disparate treatment of debt and equity was never a conscious policy goal, but was rather the unintended outcome of an extended series of short-term political decisions. These political decisions were historically specific—i.e., formulated in response to temporary historical contingencies—but had consequences that have persisted to the present day. The Article concludes by assessing the broader implications of this history for both the current structure of the U.S. tax system and the prospects of future tax reform.
Big Data and Tax Haven Secrecy
Authors: Cockfield Arthur J.
Published: May 2022

While there is now significant literature in law, politics, economics, and other disciplines that examines tax havens, there is little information on what tax haven intermediaries—so-called offshore service providers— actually do to facilitate offshore evasion, international money laundering, and the financing of global terrorism. To provide insight into this secret world of tax havens, this Article relies on the Author’s study of big data derived from the financial data leak obtained by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). A hypothetical involving Breaking Bad’s Walter White is used to explain how offshore service providers facilitate global financial crimes. A transaction cost perspective assists in understanding the information and incentive problems revealed by the ICIJ data leak, including how tax haven secrecy enables elites in nondemocratic countries to transfer their monies for ultimate investment in stable democratic countries. The approach also emphasizes how, even in a world of perfect information, political incentives persist that thwart cooperative efforts to inhibit global financial crimes.
Reassessing Sales and Liquidations of Partnership Interests after the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993
Authors: Tierney James E.
Published: May 2022

Subchapter K of the Internal Revenue Code has historically afforded considerable flexibility in determining the federal income tax consequences of the retirement or withdrawal of a partner from a partnership. In general, the departure of a partner can be structured either as a purchase of the retiring partner's interest by the remaining partners or as a liquidation of the partner's interest by the partnership. Although these two transactions are essentially similar in economic consequences, they have been governed by two separate sets of provisions in Subchapter K, often resulting in significantly different tax consequences. The sale of a partner's interest is governed primarily by sections 741 and 751(a), whereas the liquidation of a partner's interest by the partnership is governed primarily by section 736.Under sections 741 and 751(a), the sale of a partnership interest generates capital gain or loss to the selling partner, except to the extent that he or she is being compensated for an interest in certain ordinary income items of the partnership-namely, its unrealized receivables and substantially appreciated inventory. The purchasing partners receive few, if any, immediate tax benefits. Under section 736, by contrast, the liquidation of a partner's interest by a partnership could result in significant immediate tax benefits to the remaining partners. Specifically, under section 736(a), certain payments for a retiring partner's share of the partnership's good will and unrealized receivables would give rise to an immediate deduction or its equivalent for the remaining partners and usually result in ordinary income to the retiring partner. Payments for the partner's share of other partnership property would be treated under section 736(b) as a distribution from the partnership to the partner, resulting in no deduction for the remaining partners and, for the most part, generating capital gain or loss for the retiring partner.
Adalimumab effect on pain in hidradenitis suppurativa patients: systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Tsentemeidou Aikaterini , Sotiriou Elena , Sideris Nikolaos , Kourouklidou Alexandra , Lallas Aimilios , Ioannides Dimitrios , Vakirlis Efstratios
Published: May 2022

Introduction: Pain is experienced by most patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and has a severe impact on their quality of life. Its management still presents a challenge. Adalimumab, a TNF-a antagonist, has shown promising results in HS-related pain reduction.

Objectives: To aggregate and synthesize all existing evidence regarding the effect of adalimumab on HS-associated skin pain.

Methods: We identified original controlled and uncontrolled studies with participants receiving adalimumab, which included change in pain score post-treatment comparing to baseline as an endpoint. We searched MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. The primary endpoint of our study was mean change (continuous variable) of pain scores at week 12 comparing to baseline.

Results: We performed a meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials (282 patients in the intervention group and 266 patients in the control group). Adalimumab brought about a 0.418 reduction in mean pain score at its worst with 95%CI [-0.588, -0.248] and p = 0.000 at 12 weeks after treatment commencement. Four more studies were included in a qualitative synthesis, two of which reported statistically significant reduction in pain scores at week 12. Conclusions: Adalimumab could be prescribed more readily in cases of hidradenitis associated with significant skin pain.
LOW-VELOCITY AIR INFILTRATION IN BUILDINGS, DISPLACEMENT DIFFUSION AND EFFECTS ON THERMAL EFFICIENCY AND COMFORT: A CASE STUDY
Authors: FRANQUELO SOLER JUAN , BLÁZQUEZ PARRA ELIDIA BEATRIZ , DE COZAR MACIAS OSCAR , MARIN GRANADOS MANUEL DAMIAN , SOTO VILLARAN FRANCISCO JAVIER
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACT:
In 1979, the Spanish government implemented the standard “Basic Building on Thermal Conditions in Buildings NBE-CT-79”. It was then that the first requirements regarding insulation and thermal properties of materials were established to reduce energy consumption. The Mediterranean climate has influenced that insufficient attention has been paid to building insulation. In dwellings before 1979, it was detected that there is a feeling of lack of comfort. However, it is not so well known that there is a lack of airtightness in these dwellings, which may contribute to discomfort. The aim of the article is to find out if the air that enters spontaneously by infiltration produces effects similar to those of a displacement diffuser and how it affects thermal comfort. Thus, cold air would flow down the walls and be evenly distributed on the floor in winter, creating a homogeneous layer and feeling discomfort. Air infiltration measurements were carried out in 5 dwellings with an anemometer and infrared thermography to support the initial hypothesis. The Fanger Method, provided by the Polytechnic University of Valencia, was used to determine the thermal sensation produced. It was found that the cold air descended slowly and continuously to the ground in a similar way to a displacement diffuser, remaining for hours and being influential in the thermal conditions of the rooms and the lack of comfort of its occupants.

Keywords: air infiltration, discomfort, thermography, displacement difusión, energy efficiency.
Some Lacunary Power Series and Mahler’s Um-numbers in p-adic Domain
Authors: Çalışkan Fatma
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we consider some lacunar power series in Qp, where p is a prime number. We obtain some results about lacunary power series with rational coefficients for Um-number arguments in Qp. We determined whether the values of the considered lacunar power series belong to a certain field of algebraic numbers or to the set of transcendental numbers in Qp. Also, we find similar results for lacunary power series with p-adic algebraic coefficients.
Callus via Shoot Organogenesis and Plant Regeneration of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni
Authors: Zayova Ely , Nedev Trendafil , Stancheva Ira
Published: May 2022

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is important medicinal plant which is native between southern Brazil and northern Paraguay. A reliable protocol for shoot organogenesis and regeneration was developed for an antidiabetic medicinal plant species. Regeneration via indirect shoot organogenesis was established from two types of explant (leaf and stem) on MS medium [1] with different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators (PGR) such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and gibberellic acid (GA3) for inducing organogenic callus of S. rebaudiana. In the present investigation the highest percentage of response was shown by 90% and 80% callogenesis from leaf and stem explants on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l 2,4-D + 0.5 mg/l BAP + 0.5 mg/l GA3 (MSC3) was observed. The high frequency of regenerants was observed from S. rebaudiana leaves at 0.5 mg/l 2,4-D + 2.0 mg/l BAP + 0.5 mg/l GA3 (MSR3). Optimal shoot multiplication and rooting were obtained on 2.0 mg/l BAP and 0.1 mg/l indole- 3-butyric acid (IBA), respectively, followed by successful acclimatization of regenerants (90% survival) to greenhouse condition. The purpose of this study was to establish a reliable S. rebaudiana regeneration protocol that can be used to facilitate the cultivation, propagation and planting of this plant species.
Study on Impact of Mutual Coupling on Performance of Dual Polarized Phased Array Antenna
Authors: Benny S. , Sahoo S. , Mukundan A.
Published: May 2022

This study involves the determination of the impact of mutual coupling between antenna elements on the performance of a dual-polarized, wide-angle scanning, phased array antenna for weather radar applications. Weather radars require dual linearly polarized antennas with low cross-polarization, and a narrow beam phased array for wide scanning angle. For this simulation-based study, a microstrip dual linearly polarized 2x20 phased array antenna operating at S-band (2.65 to 3.0 GHz) is designed. This antenna has been designed to have a cross-polarization level less than -45 dB at both polarizations and for the scan angle range of -55o to 55o, which is better than most of the existing dual-pol phased array antennas. This antenna has been used to analyze the impact of mutual coupling on cross-polarization, beamwidth, and antenna gain at various scan angles. Mutual coupling is studied in terms of antenna active element pattern and the corresponding cross-polarization value as well as the active reflection coefficient and impedance values for inter-element spacings of 0.4λ and 0.5λ. It has been found in this study that cross-polarization levels of the whole array (at various scan angles) are affected significantly because of mutual coupling between elements.
Unified system describing factors related to the eradication of an alien plant species
Authors: Galera Halina , Rudak Agnieszka , Wódkiewicz Maciej
Published: May 2022

Background

In the field of biological invasions science, a problem of many overlapping terms arose among eradication assessment frameworks. Additionally there is a need to construct a universally applicable eradication evaluation system. To unify the terminology and propose an eradication feasibility assessment scale we created the Unified System for assessing Eradication Feasibility (USEF) as a complex tool of factors for the analysis of eradications of alien (both invasive and candidate) plant species. It compiles 24 factors related to eradication success probability reported earlier in the literature and arranges them in a hierarchical system (context/group/factor/component) with a possibility to score their influence on eradication success.

Methodology

After a literature survey we analyzed, rearranged and defined each factor giving it an intuitive name along with the list of its synonyms and similar and/or related terms from the literature. Each factor influencing eradication feasibility is ascribed into one of four groups depending on the context that best matches the factor: location context (size and location of infestation, ease of access), species context (fitness and fecundity, detectability), human context (knowledge, cognition and resources to act) and reinvasion context (invasion pathways). We also devised a simple ordinal scale to assess each factor’s influence on eradication feasibility.

Conclusions

The system may be used to report and analyze eradication campaign data in order to (i) prioritize alien species for eradication, (ii) create the strategy for controlling invasive plants, (iii) compare efficiency of different eradication actions, (iv) find gaps in knowledge disabling a sound eradication campaign assessment. The main advantage of using our system is unification of reporting eradication experience data used by researchers performing different eradication actions in different systems.
Role of Media and Indigenous Communities to Combat Climate Change
Authors: Gupta Parnika
Published: May 2022

Since the industrial revolution, the greenhouse gas emissions have been on the constant rise and the global average temperature has increased by 1.1 degree Celsius as compared to pre-industrial era. This alarming climate change situation caused by human activities has already been causing devastating effects everywhere on the planet. The melting of sea ice, thawing of the permafrost, increase in natural hazards and their frequencies, reduction in the biodiversity of ecological areas, increase in sea levels, deterioration of species & wild populations, etc. are all pointing towards a direct threat to human well-being posed by the climate change. This research paper, whose idea germinated in the mind of the author while attending Arctic Circle Assembly 2021 in Reykjavik Iceland, circles around the role and position of media and indigenous communities in climate change mitigation and adaption by exploring key questions like challenges and narratives of climate coverage by media, a requirement for revolutionizing the institution of media, the importance of indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge for combatting climate change to name a few. The paper argues various elements affecting media and indigenous communities and concludes the crucial involvement for media and indigenous peoples to act for saving the planet considering the huge scale of this catastrophic climate change scenario.
Maturation and quality of ‘Isabel Precoce’ grape grown on different rootstocks under semiarid conditions
Authors:   Department of Agronomic and Forest Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semiarid, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil., de Oliveira Fernandes do Nascimento Paula Lidiane , Dantas de Morais Patrícia Lígia ,   Department of Agronomic and Forest Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semiarid, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil., Ferreira Melo Marlenildo ,   Department of Agronomic and Forest Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semiarid, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil., Ramalho Neta Terezinha ,   Center for Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Alagoas, Brazil, dos Santos Morais Maria Aparecida ,   Department of Agronomic and Forest Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semiarid, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil., Soares Silva Carla Sonale Azevedo ,   Department of Agronomic and Forest Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semiarid, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Published: May 2022

Grapes have been produced successfully in semiarid regions, but fruit quality may be affected by rootstock selection. In this study, the ‘Isabel Precoce’ grape variety was cultivated onto three different rootstocks (‘IAC 572’, ‘IAC 766’, and ‘IAC 313’), and the physicochemical traits of fruits were evaluated at 14, 19, 21 and 28 days after veraison skin. The results showed that bunches increased significantly in weight and color until 19 days after veraison. In addition, grapes accumulated soluble solids, sugars, and anthocyanins during 28 days of ripening. Moreover, the rootstock used affected bunch length, pulp firmness, and the sugar and anthocyanin contents, but it did not influence skin coloring. In conclusion, ‘Isabel Precoce’ grapes reached maximum weight at 24 days after veraison and maximum soluble solids content, titratable acidity/soluble solids ratio, anthocyanins, and total soluble sugars at 28 days. Fruit on the ‘IAC 313’ and ‘IAC 766’ rootstocks had higher total soluble solids and anthocyanins at 28 days after veraison than ‘IAC 572’. ‘Isabel Precoce grapes’ produced in semiarid conditions showed good quality for fresh marketing and for wine production.
Water consumption by agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean: impact of climate change and applications of nuclear and isotopic techniques
Authors:   Universidad de Chile, Salazar Osvaldo , Chinchilla-Soto Cristina ,   Centro de Investigación en Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Costa Rica, de los Santos-Villalobos Sergio ,   Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora Mexico, Ayala Marisol ,   Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora Mexico, Benavides Luciano ,   Argentina, Berriel Verónica ,   University of the Republic Uruguay, Cardoso Renan ,   Cardoso, Chavarrí Eduardo ,   Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina Peru, Meigikos dos Anjos Roberto ,   Universidade Federal Fluminense Brazil, Liz González Alba ,   Universidad Nacional de Asunción Paraguay, Nario Adriana ,   Chile, Samudio Antonio ,   Universidad Nacional de Asunción Paraguay, Villarreal José ,   Panama, Sibello-Hernández Rita ,   Cuba, Govan Joseph ,   Universidad de Chile Chile, Heng Lee ,   International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Austria
Published: May 2022

The main aim of this review is to examine agricultural water consumption in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions to understand how climate change will impact water availability and how the application of nuclear and stable isotope techniques can be used as tools for improving water use efficiency (WUE) for crop production. The status of agricultural water management in some LAC countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, is also reviewed. In the LAC region, water consumption for agricultural irrigation ranged between 35% and 86% of the total available water. However, the WUE is very low in some LAC countries. Although the region, in general, has adequate water resources, there is still a need to improve WUE to increase the productivity of agricultural water. The impact of climate change in some LAC countries may lead to intensification and expansion of agricultural activity. In these areas, the WUE can be improved through soil and water conservation, minimizing soil evaporation (E), as well as through better irrigation management, especially by using an integrated approach on an area-wide basis to manage all land use activities and farming systems within an agricultural catchment. Nuclear and stable isotope techniques using Keeling Plot or IMB methods can play important roles in improving WUE in agriculture in LAC countries by providing information related to soil water losses for improving irrigation systems.
Effect of Sub-Lethal Concentrations of Vernonia amygdalina (Bitter Leaf) on Testes of Clarias gariepinus (African Catfish) Juveniles
Authors: Sulaiman Y. , Sanyinna Y. M. , Bala T. D. , Mohammed M. Y. , Abdullahi S. M.
Published: May 2022

Vernonia amygdalina has recently been linked to insecticidal and pesticidal properties that could replace the harmful agrochemical pesticide usage around the aquatic environment and to aquatic inhibitors such as fish. This study aimed to determine the effect of sub-lethal concentrations of Vernonia amygdalina (bitter leaf) on testes of Clarias gariepinus (African catfish) juveniles. The fishes were exposed to 0.00, 0.40, 0.80 and 1.60 g/L graded concentrations of aqueous crude leaves extract of Vernonia amygdalina for two months. The organ (testis) changes in antioxidant biomarkers’ histology, histomorphometry, and somatic indices compared with the control. There was the reduction in SOD, MDA and GSH activity as the concentration of the toxicant increased compared with the control. Mild interstitial oedema, mild tubular germ cell, interstitial cell depletions, severe depletion of seminiferous luminal content and sloughing off of the seminiferous tubular boundary tissue were observed in various concentrations of Vernonia amygdalina compared with the control. There was an increase in testis somatic indices as the plant extract concentration increased compared with the control. Bitter leaf extract was shown to have a toxic effect on Clarias gariepinus juveniles. As such, the pesticide use of the plants near the aquatic environment should be discouraged.
Influence of Sulphur and Zinc on Growth and Yield of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)
Authors: Yadav Naveen , Umesha C. , Sanadiya Lalit Kumar
Published: May 2022

Aim: To study the retaliation performances of Sulphur and zinc on growth, yield and yield attributes of cowpea (Vigna unguiculate L.)

Place and Duration of Study A field experiment was carried out during kharif season of 2021 at Crop Research Farm, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj Uttar Pradesh, India.   

Methodology: The Experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with Ten treatments which were replicated thrice. with treatment combination of (T1 to T10) T1 20 kg/ha S + 10 kg/ha Zn, T2. 20 kg/ha S + 15 kg/ha Zn, T3. 20 kg/ha S + 20 kg/ ha Zn, T4. 30 kg/ha S + 10 kg/ha Zn, T5. 30 kg/ha S + 15 kg/ha Zn, T6. 30 kg/ha S + 20 kg/ha Zn, T7. 45 kg/ha S + 10 kg/ha Zn, T8. 45 kg/ha S + 15 kg/ha Zn, T9. 45 kg/ha S + 20 kg/ha Zn, T10 Control were used.

Result: Among various sulphur and zinc combinations T9 treatment recorded maximum

Plant height (75.64 cm), plant dry weight (67.90g/plant), number of branches per plant (9.66), harvest index (47.93 %), gain yield (13.67 q/ha), straw yield (15.26 q/ha).

Conclusion: It was determined that the application of Sulphur – 45 kg/ha + Zinc – 20 kg/ha resulted in a higher grain yield (13.67 q/ha), which was significantly superior to the other treatments.
To Study the Effect of Potassium and Sulfur on Growth and Yield of Black Gram (Vigna mungo L.)
Authors: Yadav Rakesh , Singh Rajesh
Published: May 2022

A field experiment was conducted during Zaid 2021, at Research Farm, Department of Agronomy. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with nine treatments which are replicated thrice. The treatments details viz., T1: 20 kg K ha-1 + 15 kg S ha-1, T2: 30 kg K ha-1 + 20 kg S ha-1, T3: 40 kg K ha-1 + 25 kg S ha-1, T4: 20 kg K ha-1 + 15 kg S ha-1, T5: 30 kg K ha-1 + 20 kg S ha-1, T6: 40 kg K ha-1 + 25 kg S ha-1, T7: 20 kg K ha-1 + 15 kg S ha-1, T8: 30 kg K ha-1 + 20 kg S ha-1, T9: 40 kg K ha-1 + 25 kg S ha-1 was used. The result showed that higher plant height (50.3 cm), maximum number of branches per plant (5.93), highest number of nodules per plant (15.73), maximum dry weight (8.63), CGR g/m2/day (7.90), maximum number of pods per plant (20.13), highest number of seeds per pod (6.20), test weight (33.60), seed yield (1456.67 kg ha-1), harvest index (32.06) and relative growth rate (0.013) were recorded significantly with the application of 40 kg ha-1 Potassium pulse 25 kg ha-1 Sulphur. Highest crop growth rate (7.90) was recorded with 40 Potassium kg ha-1 + 25 Sulphur kg ha-1.
Assessment of the Efficiency of Nano, Bio and Organic Fertilizers on Soil Chemical Properties and Soybean Productivity in Saline Soil
Authors: Esmaeil Mahmoud Abdelgawad , Shaban Khaled Abdo , Fattah Ahmed Kamal Abdel , Mohammed Ismail Abo-Baker Elsedeak Ismail
Published: May 2022

Two field experiments were conducted at the village of Khaled Ibn El-waleed, Sahl El-Hossinia Agricultural Research Station, El-Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, during the two summer seasons 2019 and 2020 to estimate the effect of NPK nano-fertilizers, bio-fertilizers and humic acid (in addition to different doses of mineral fertilizers) on soil chemical properties and productivity of soybean in saline soil. The treatments were NPK-chitosan, NPK-Ca, humic acid, biofertilzer and control (mineral NPK only). In the two seasons, the experiment design was a split plot in three replicates.

The results indicated a slight decrease in soil pH, while there was a significant decrease in EC values in all the studied treatments as compared to control. Also, the soil available macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) and micronutrients (iron, manganese and zinc) were significantly increased after application of the studied treatments as compared to control. Also, there was a significant increase in the content of macro and micronutrients in soybean grains as affected by the studied treatments. This may be attributed to that addition of the used amendments like nano chitosan, humic acid and biofertilizers companied by decomposition of organic materials released acids that reduced soil pH which caused nutrients to be more soluble hence more available for plant uptake. The results indicated also a significant increase in the soybean yield parameters as plant height, weight of seeds and weight of pods in all treatments as compared to control. There was also a significant increase in the soybean content of protein, oil and chlorophyll in all of the investigated treatments as compared to control.
Seasonal Variability of foE and Nocturnal Winter Anomaly in E-layer during Solar Cycles 21 and 22 at the Ouagadougou Station
Authors: Gédéon Sawadogo , Roger Nakolemda , Moustapha Konaté , Emmanuel Nanéma
Published: May 2022

This paper aims to study the variability of foE during two solar cycles 21 (SC21) and 22 (SC22) at Ouagadougou station (lat = 12.4°N, long = 358.5°E, local time (LT) = universal time (UT)), to give visibility on the behavior of foE in this station. We used International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2016) to collect data from five (5) quiet days of each characteristic month of each season. This study reveals that in this station located at the ionospheric equator, the variability of foE follows the evolution of the sun intensity during the day. There is a correlation between foE and the solar cycle phase, the season, and the time of day. During the day [0500 LT-1900LT], the foE profile does not show a winter anomaly, contrary to what is observed in the F2 layer  at the minimum and maximum  SC21 and SC22. On the other hand, a nocturnal winter anomaly was observed related to that observed in the F2 layer in the same periods. The study of foE at the Ouagadougou station will allow ionospheric physicists to have visibility on the seasonal variability of foE in this station.