The Company accounts for its uncertain tax return reporting positions in accordance with the accounting standards for income taxes, which require financial statement reporting of the expected future tax consequences of uncertain tax reporting positions on the presumption that all concerned tax authorities possess full knowledge of the reporting positions, as well as all of the pertinent facts and circumstances, but prohibit any discounting of unrecognized tax benefits associated with uncertain reporting positions for the time value of money.

The following is a summary of the activity in the Company's unrecognized tax benefits for the six months ended July 2, 2011 and July 3, 2010 (in thousands):

		July 2, 2011		July 3, 2010
Balance at the beginning of the period		$	71,523	$	77,924
	Realization of uncertain pre-acquisition tax benefits		-		(1,500)
	Increase in other uncertain tax benefits		1,846		2,244
Balance at the end of the period		$	73,369	$	78,668

During the six months ended July 3, 2010, the Company recorded approximately $2 million of tax benefit in the income tax provision related to the resolution of a pre-acquisition tax exposure. The Company's uncertain tax positions are taken with respect to income tax return reporting periods beginning after December 31, 1999, which are the periods that generally remain open to income tax audit examination by the concerned income tax authorities. The Company continuously monitors the lapsing of statutes of limitations on potential tax assessments for related changes in the measurement of unrecognized tax benefits, related net interest and penalties, and deferred tax assets and liabilities. As of July 2, 2011, the Company does not expect to record any material changes in the measurement of any other unrecognized tax benefits, related net interest and penalties or deferred tax assets and liabilities due to the settlement of tax audit examinations or to the lapsing of statutes of limitations on potential tax assessments within the next twelve months.

The Company's effective tax rates for the three months ended July 2, 2011 and July 3, 2010 were 14.0% and 17.1%, respectively. The Company's effective tax rates for the six months ended July 2, 2011 and July 3, 2010 were 15.0% and 16.6%, respectively. Included in the income tax provision for the three and six months ended July 2, 2011 is approximately $2 million of tax benefit related to the reversal of reserves for interest related to an audit settlement in the United Kingdom. This tax benefit decreased the Company's effective tax rate by 1.4 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points in the three and six months ended July 2, 2011, respectively. Included in the income tax provision for the six months ended July 3, 2010 is the aforementioned $2 million of tax benefit related to the resolution of a pre-acquisition tax exposure. This tax benefit decreased the Company's effective tax rate by 0.8 percentage points in the six months ended July 3, 2010. The remaining differences between the effective tax rates for the three and six months ended July 2, 2011 as compared to the three and six months ended July 3, 2010 were primarily attributable to differences in the proportionate amounts of pre-tax income recognized in jurisdictions with different effective tax rates.