Time for a U.S.–Brazil Tax Treaty

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Schoueri ◽  
Gustavo Haddad
Keyword(s):  
The Past ◽  
Tax Regimes ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Trade Partner ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Technical Services

The U.S. is the most relevant trade partner with whom Brazil does not have a tax treaty. Previous attempts to conclude it were not successful, with the main alleged reason being Brazil’s insistence on tax sparing. With the change in time and developments in treaty policy and in the domestic tax regimes of the countries, tax sparing should no longer be an obstacle. After discussing the potential benefits of a treaty for both countries and their respective taxpayers, this Article addresses the technical issues that may arise during negotiations resulting from differences of tax treaty practice and demonstrate that none of them seem significant enough to be a “deal breaker,” with the most relevant currently being sourcing rules on technical services. Should the governments of both countries, which in recent months have given signs of political synchrony unseen in the past decades, decide to pursue the conclusion of a tax treaty, the technical conditions are more than ever present.

Novel Drugs and Biologics of 2016: A Boom for Neurodrugs in the Pipelin

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 3809-3814
Author(s):  
D Samba Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
High Demand ◽  
The Past ◽  
Novel Drugs ◽  
Innovative Products ◽  
Cns Drugs ◽  
The U.S

This article provides a brief overview of novel drugs approved by the U.S. FDA in 2016.  It also focuses on the emerging boom in the development of neurodrugs for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. These new drugs are innovative products that often help advance clinical care worldwide, and in 2016, twenty-two such drugs were approved by the FDA. The list includes the first new drug for disorders such as spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy or hallucinations and delusions of Parkinson’s disease, among several others. Notably, nine of twenty-two (40%) were novel CNS drugs, indicating the industry shifting to neurodrugs. Neurodrugs are the top selling pharmaceuticals worldwide, especially in America and Europe. Therapeutic neurodrugs have proven their significance many times in the past few decades, and the CNS drug portfolio represents some of the most valuable agents in the current pipeline. Many neuroproducts are vital or essential medicines in the current therapeutic armamentarium, including dozens of “blockbuster drugs” (drugs with $1 billion sales potential).  These drugs include antidepressants, antimigraine medications, and anti-epilepsy medications. The rise in neurodrugs’ sales is predominantly due to increased diagnoses of CNS conditions. The boom for neuromedicines is evident from the recent rise in investment, production, and introduction of new CNS drugs.  There are many promising neurodrugs still in the pipeline, which are developed based on the validated “mechanism-based” strategy. Overall, disease-modifying neurodrugs that can prevent or cure serious diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease, are in high demand. 

The Future of FBI Counterintelligence through the Lens of the Past Hundred Years

2010 ◽  
pp. 504-517
Author(s):  
Raymond J. Batvinis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Federal Bureau ◽  
The Past ◽  
Intelligence Services ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Foreign Intelligence ◽  
Key Events ◽  
The U.S

Counterintelligence is the business of identifying and dealing with foreign intelligence threats to a nation, such as the United States. Its main concern is the intelligence services of foreign states and similar organizations of non-state actors, such as transnational terrorist groups. Counterintelligence functions both as a defensive measure that protects the nation's secrets and assets against foreign intelligence penetration and as an offensive measure to find out what foreign intelligence organizations are planning to defeat better their aim. This article addresses the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) foreign counterintelligence function. It briefly traces its evolution by examining the key events and the issues that effected its growth as the principle civilian counterintelligence service of the U.S. government.

scholarly journals Didymo and Its Polysaccharide Stalks: Beneficial to the Environment or Not?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Hurmat Ejaz ◽  
Esther Somanader ◽  
Uday Dave ◽  
Hermann Ehrlich ◽  
M. Azizur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Structural Component ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Adhesive Properties ◽  
The Past ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Bodies Of Water ◽  
Agricultural Setting

Didymosphenia geminata diatoms, or Didymo, was first found to be an invasive species that could have negative impacts on the environment due to the aggressive growth of its polysaccharide-based stalks. The stalks’ adhesive properties have prompted park officials to alert the general public to limit further spread and contamination of this algae to other bodies of water. Although the negative effects of Didymo have been studied in the past, recent studies have demonstrated a potential positive side to this alga. One of the potential benefits includes the structural component of the polysaccharide stalks. The origin of the polysaccharides within stalks remains unknown; however, they can be useful in a waste management and agricultural setting. The primary purpose of this study was to describe both the harmful and beneficial nature of Didymo. Important outcomes include findings related to its application in various fields such as medicine and technology. These polysaccharides can be isolated and studied closely to produce efficient solar power cells and batteries. Though they may be harmful while uncontained in nature, they appear to be very useful in the technological and medical advancement of our society.

An Overview of Osmotic Power: A Viable Power Generation Technology for Present and Future

2013 ◽  
Vol 684 ◽  
pp. 680-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Shahinur Islam ◽  
Tausif Ali ◽  
Ahsan Uddin Ahmed ◽  
Syed Ashraful Karim ◽  
Hossain Mursalin
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Resources ◽  
The Past ◽  
Load Power ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Power Generation Technology ◽  
Power Generation System ◽  
Base Load ◽  
Generation Technology

World climate change challenges and the world’s consistent growing demand for energy during the past decade have brought the need to explore for more renewable energy resources. The continuation of exploring green energy sources results Osmotic Power- a new emission-free source of sustainable energy that can be used to generate electricity. Osmotic power plant is only feasible in places where rivers flow out to the ocean. The leading virtue of osmotic power is that it would be capable to produce a steady and reliable supply of renewable base load power as an alternative of other variable sources like solar or wind. There are some hurdles to generate osmotic power. Developing suitable membrane and initial construction cost are top on of them. Though Osmotic power is years from commercial feasibility but researchers think that it could provide thousands of terawatts of base load power per year around the globe. This paper presents an overview of osmotic power generation system with the analysis of potential benefits and limitations of it.

scholarly journals Immunizing the Flock: How the Pandemic Court Rewrote Religious Freedom

Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Paul Baumgardner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
The Past ◽  
The U.S

When coronavirus began to descend upon the United States, religious freedom advocates across the country sounded the alarm that citizens’ religious practices and institutions were under threat. Although some of the most extreme arguments championed by these advocates were not validated by our legal system, many were. This article explores the underappreciated gains made by religious freedom advocates before the U.S. Supreme Court over the past year. As a result of the “Pandemic Court”, religious freedom in the United States has been rewritten. This promises to radically change the educational, employment, and health prospects of millions of Americans for the rest of the pandemic and long afterwards.

Solar Powered Water Pumps: The Past, the Present—and the Future?

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Short ◽  
R. Oldach
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
The Past ◽  
Water Pumping ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Solar Powered ◽  
Water Pumps

Solar (photovoltaic) powered water pumps could be a real instrument for the alleviation of water related deaths and illnesses in developing countries through the provision of clean water. However, despite the benefits that access to sustainable potable water supplies can bring, solar powered water pumps have a long way to go before they even begin to meet the needs of those who could use them. This paper addresses some of the complex, inter-related social and technical issues that have prevented solar powered water pumping from reaching its full potential and shows how future efforts should be directed in order to respond to these issues.

The past is prologue

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cassels Johnson ◽  
Crissa Stephens ◽  
Stephanie Gugliemo Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
New Latino Diaspora ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The U.S

Abstract This article examines reactions to the changing linguistic ecology in the U.S. state of Iowa, which is experiencing a demographic phenomenon often referred to as the New Latino Diaspora (NLD) (Hamann et al., 2002). We first examine the historical processes and social structures that link current language policy initiatives within Iowa to local and national nativism. We then analyze public policies and texts to reveal how language ideologies circulate across diverse texts and contexts, forming discourses that shape the experiences of Latin@s in Iowa.

The Madness beyond MAD—Current American Nuclear Strategy

1984 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Robert Jervis
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Reagan Administration ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Nuclear Strategy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Means And Ends ◽  
Soviet Force ◽  
Nuclear Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

A rational strategy for the employment of nuclear weapons is a contradiction in terms. The enormity of the destruction, either executed or threatened, severs the nexus of proportionality between means and ends which used to characterize the threat and use of force. This does not mean, however, that all nuclear strategies are equally irrational. The nuclear policy of the Reagan administration—which is essentially the same as that of the Carter administration and which has its roots in developments initiated by even earlier administrations—is particularly ill-formed. As I will demonstrate, the basic reason for this is that the strategy rests on a profound underestimation of the impact of nuclear weapons on military strategy and attempts to understand the current situation with intellectual tools appropriate only in the pre-nuclear era.American strategy for the past several years—the “countervailing strategy”—has been based on the assumption that what is crucial is the ability of American and allied military forces to deny the Soviets military advantage from any aggression they might contemplate. The U.S. must be prepared to meet and block any level of Soviet force. The strategy is then one of counterforce—blocking and seeking to destroy Soviet military power. The goal is deterrence. Although it is concerned with how the U.S. would fight many different kinds of wars, both nuclear and non-nuclear, it is not correct to claim that the strategy seeks to engage in wars rather than deter them.

scholarly journals How Effective Are Existing Phosphorus Management Strategies in Mitigating Surface Water Quality Problems in the U.S.?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6565
Author(s):  
Shama E. Haque
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Surface Water Quality ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Phosphorus Recovery ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
The Past ◽  
The U.S

Phosphorus is an essential component of modern agriculture. Long-term land application of phosphorous-enriched fertilizers and animal manure leads to phosphorus accumulation in soil that may become susceptible to mobilization via erosion, surface runoff and subsurface leaching. Globally, highly water-soluble phosphorus fertilizers used in agriculture have contributed to eutrophication and hypoxia in surface waters. This paper provides an overview of the literature relevant to the advances in phosphorous management strategies and surface water quality problems in the U.S. Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made to control phosphorus discharge into surface water bodies of the U.S. However, the current use of phosphorus remains inefficient at various stages of its life cycle, and phosphorus continues to remain a widespread problem in many water bodies, including the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie. In particular, the Midwestern Corn Belt region of the U.S. is a hotspot of phosphorous fertilization that has resulted in a net positive soil phosphorous balance. The runoff of phosphorous has resulted in dense blooms of toxic, odor-causing phytoplankton that deteriorate water quality. In the past, considerable attention was focused on improving the water quality of freshwater bodies and estuaries by reducing inputs of phosphorus alone. However, new research suggests that strategies controlling the two main nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, are more effective in the management of eutrophication. There is no specific solution to solving phosphorus pollution of water resources; however, sustainable management of phosphorus requires an integrated approach combining at least a reduction in consumption levels, source management, more specific regime-based nutrient criteria, routine soil fertility evaluation and recommendations, transport management, as well as the development of extensive phosphorus recovery and recycling programs.

Abstract P183: 20-year Secular Trend of Cardiovascular Disease Comorbidities in the United States, 1997-2016

Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianjianyi Sun ◽  
Tao Zhou ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
Yoriko Heianza ◽  
Xiaoyun Shang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Secular Trend ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Us ◽  
Metabolic Conditions ◽  
Respiratory Conditions ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Chronic Comorbidities

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the number one cause of death and disability in the US and globally for decades, and its comorbidity complicates the management of CVD. However, little is known about the secular trend of CVD comorbidities in national representative populations in the last 20 years. Methods: Prevalence of CVD and nine major chronic comorbidities was estimated using data from 1,324,214 adults aged 18 years and older in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 1997 through 2016, with age-standardized to the U.S. population in the year 2000. Results: CVD prevalence in the US adult population significantly declined in the past twenty years (from 6.6% in 1997 to 5.9% in 2016, P trend <0.01in Figure a). And such trend was shown in women and whites (P trend <0.01), but not in men and blacks (P trend >0.05). We ranked the nine major chronic comorbidities (high to low) in the CVD patients (Figure b.), including (1) hypertension, (2) respiratory conditions, (3) nervous system conditions, (4) digestive conditions, (5) diabetes, (6) cancer, (7) genitourinary conditions, (8) circulatory conditions, and (9) endocrine/nutritional/metabolic conditions. From 1997 to 2016, the prevalence of CVD comorbidities including hypertension (38.8% to 50.2%), digestive conditions (17.0% to 27.1%), diabetes (10.0% to 19.2%), cancer (9.4% to 12.8%), and genitourinary conditions (4.1% to 5.2%) continuingly increased (all P trend <0.01), while respiratory conditions declined (35.9% to 27.6%, P trend <0.01). Similar trends of CVD comorbidities were observed among subgroups stratified by gender or by race. Conclusions: CVD prevalence in the U.S. adults have declined significantly in the past two decades, but rates of CVD comorbidities including hypertension, digestive conditions, diabetes, cancer, and genitourinary conditions increased substantially.

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