Do Cigarette Taxes Make Smokers Happier Than Nonsmokers?

Public health advocates justify cigarette taxes, claiming they discourage smoking, which results in a healthier population. However, the more pertinent issue with which health advocates should be concerned is that of smoker well‐being. In this paper, I investigate whether cigarette taxes make smokers relatively more satisfied than nonsmokers. Additionally, because poor smokers have a higher discount rate than wealthy smokers, and therefore, perceive the tax differently, I explore the effect that income, in conjunction with a cigarette tax increase, has on smokers’ life‐satisfaction. Using cross‐sectional and time‐series data from the 2005‐2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, this paper utilizes regression analysis to investigate the effect of cigarette tax on the happiness of smokers relative to nonsmokers and of poor smokers relative to wealthy smokers. Inflation‐adjusted tax data was collected from The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and state unemployment rates were collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Inconsistent with the findings of Gruber and Mullainathan (2005), this paper finds that the satisfaction of smokers does not change relative to nonsmokers in response to cigarette taxes, implying that they do not act in a time‐inconsistent manner as was previously thought. In addition, this paper finds some evidence that the satisfaction of low‐income smokers increases relative to high‐income smokers in response to a cigarette tax. Policymakers should consider this result when enacting tax hikes

The Three Laws: The Chinese Communist Party Throws Down the Data Regulation Gauntlet

Criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) runs a wide gamut. Accusations of human rights abuses, intellectual property theft, authoritarian domestic policies, disrespecting sovereign borders, and propaganda campaigns all have one common factor: the CCP’s desire to control information. Controlling information means controlling data. Lurking beneath the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) tumultuous relationship with the rest of the world is the fight between nations to control their citizens’ data while also keeping it out of the hands of adversaries. The CCP’s Three Laws are its newest weapon in this data war. One byproduct of the CCP’s emphasis on controlling the narrative is that analyzing the PRC’s laws and policies requires reading between the lines—in the dark, by candlelight. Even the most informed analysis requires assumptions. The Three Laws are no different. Their broad language, drastic penalties, and sweeping scope rule out the traditional tools of statutory interpretation. Ordinary meaning, canons of construction, and legislative history are useless. In the PRC, the law means what the CCP says it means. To understand the Three Laws and predict the associated regulatory risks, lawyers, economists, and politicians alike must think and reason by analogy. This Note offers analyses, case studies, and recommendations that provide practitioners a solid framework to assess a company’s regulatory risk under the Three Laws. First, this Note outlines the guiding tenets of the CCP to understand the motivations behind the Three Laws. Next, it provides case studies of different companies’ relationships with the CCP. Realizing how the CCP has dealt with some of the largest companies in the world—Ant Group, Didi Chuxing, Apple, Tesla—is crucial to understanding the threat of future capricious CCP action. This Note then analyzes alleged CCP hacking campaigns and global influence building so the reader may better understand the types of actions that the CCP undertakes—and fears being done to it by others. Finally, this Note provides recommendations for companies with different levels of exposure to the CCP and its ability to enforce its laws. Ultimately, this Note provides the reader with a primer on an important geopolitical issue: the shadowy battle between the world’s great powers to control their citizens’ information, procure their adversaries’ data, and the ways that the law is being used to further these goals

Peroxidase and Senescence

Kinetin and α, α1 - dipryridyl prevented the rapid decrease of chlorophyll content in oat leaf intact segments senescing in the dark

Advising New Students with Disabilities

This study focuses on students with disabilities' (SWD) transition to and experiences in college using both quantitative and qualitative data. SWD report similar levels of interaction with advisors and faculty, despite the additional contact that accommodations typically require. SWD also persist at lower rates than do their non-disabled peers. On campuses, SWD must contend with decisions about disclosure, seeking accomodations, self-advocacy, college bureaucracy, and time management. Recommendations are to include disabilities as one aspect of campus diversity within orientation programming and created orientation programs specifically designed for SWD and their parents

Peroxidase and Senescence

ABSTRACT Kinetin and a.a'-dipyridyl prevented the rapid decrease of chlorophyll content in detached oat leaves senescing in the dark. In the light, detachment caused a 27-40% rise in peroxidase activity and kinetin enhanced the enzyme in the segments by about 80%. Darkness prevented any detachment-induced rise of the activity and decreased the stimulating action of kinetin and mechanical injury. The effect of dipyridyl on peroxidase activity in the dark was similar to that of kinetin. Kinetin enhanced the same distinctive isoperoxidases under light and dark conditions. Neither horseradish peroxidase nor that extracted from oat leaves showed any ability to hydroxylate free proline in vitro. A system which supposedly led to peroxidase-catalysed proline hydroxylation yielded small amounts of hydroxyproline in the absence of the enzyme. Staining with Fast Blue BB salt in the presence of IAA as a substrate after electrophoresis indicated that all detected oat isoperoxidases had an IAA oxidase activity visually paralleling their peroxidase activity. Crude extracts contained IAA oxidase inhibitors that could be partially or fully removed by dialysis. The possible significance of the rise in peroxidase activity during senescence is discussed

Sinonasal complications of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2: A single center case series

Background: The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in an unprecedented global pandemic. Most infected patients are either asymptomatic or have mild upper respiratory infection symptoms. However, life-threatening sequelae have been observed. In this report, we reviewed nine cases of patients with severe complications from sinonasal disease in the setting of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: IRB approval was obtained prior to study initiation. A retrospective chart review was performed of patients admitted to a tertiary hospital with complex sinonasal symptoms that required otolaryngologic evaluation and management in the setting of concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: Nine patients, ranging from ages 3 to 71 years, with sinonasal disease and simultaneous SARS-CoV-2 infection were identified. Initial presentations ranged from asymptomatic infection to mild/moderate disease (nasal obstruction, cough) or more severe sequelae including epistaxis, proptosis, or neurologic changes. SARS-CoV-2 tests were positive from one to 12 days after symptom onset, with three patients receiving SARS-CoV-2-directed treatment. Complex disease presentations included bilateral orbital abscesses, suppurative intracranial infection, cavernous sinus thrombosis with epidural abscess, systemic hematogenous spread with abscess development in four distinct anatomic locations, and hemorrhagic benign adenoidal tissue. Eight of nine patients (88.8%) required operative intervention. Patients with abscesses also required prolonged, culture-directed antibiotic courses. Conclusion: Though most SARS-CoV-2 infections are asymptomatic and/or self-limited, there is significant morbidity and mortality in patients with severe disease sequela as outlined in our reported cases. This suggests early identification and treatment of sinonasal disease in this patient population is critical to minimizing poor outcomes. Further research on the pathophysiology of these atypical presentations is needed. Level of Evidence: 4 (Case Series)

The role of melanin pathways in extremotolerance and virulence of <em>Fonsecaea</em> revealed by <em>de novo</em> assembly transcriptomics using illumina paired-end sequencing

AbstractMelanisation has been considered to be an important virulence factor of Fonsecaea monophora. However, the biosynthetic mechanisms of melanisation remain unknown. We therefore used next generation sequencing technology to investigate the transcriptome and digital gene expression data, which are valuable resources to better understand the molecular and biological mechanisms regulating melanisation in F. monophora. We performed de novo transcriptome assembly and digital gene expression (DGE) profiling analyses of parent (CBS 122845) and albino (CBS 125194) strains using the Illumina RNA-seq system. A total of 17 352 annotated unigenes were found by BLAST search of NR, Swiss-Prot, Gene Ontology, Clusters of Orthologous Groups and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) (E-value <1e‒5). A total of 2 283 unigenes were judged to be the differentially expressed between the two genotypes. We identified most of the genes coding for key enzymes involved in melanin biosynthesis pathways, including polyketide synthase (pks), multicopper oxidase (mco), laccase, tyrosinase and homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase (hmgA). DEG analysis showed extensive down-regulation of key genes in the DHN pathway, while up-regulation was noted in the DOPA pathway of the albino mutant. The transcript levels of partial genes were confirmed by real time RT-PCR, while the crucial role of key enzymes was confirmed by either inhibitor or substrate tests in vitro. Meanwhile, numbers of genes involved in light sensing, cell wall synthesis, morphology and environmental stress were identified in the transcriptome of F. monophora. In addition, 3 353 SSRs (Simple Sequence Repeats) markers were identified from 21 600 consensus sequences. Blocking of the DNH pathway is the most likely reason of melanin deficiency in the albino strain, while the production of pheomelanin and pyomelanin were probably regulated by unknown transcription factors on upstream of both pathways. Most of genes involved in environmental tolerance to oxidants, irradiation and extreme temperatures were also assembled and annotated in transcriptomes of F. monophora. In addition, thousands of identified cSSR (combined SSR) markers will favour further genetic linkage studies. In conclusion, these data will contribute to understanding the regulation of melanin biosynthesis and help to improve the studies of pathogenicity of F. monophora

Cryptococcus neoformans Requires a Functional Glycolytic Pathway for Disease but Not Persistence in the Host

Cryptococcus neoformans is an important fungal pathogen of immunocompromised individuals, with a close relative, Cryptococcus gattii, emerging as a serious threat for the immunocompetent. During initial infection, C. neoformans colonizes the airspaces of the lungs, resulting in pneumonia, and subsequently migrates to the central nervous system (CNS). We sought to understand fungal carbon utilization during colonization of these fundamentally different niches within the host, in particular the roles of gluconeogenesis and glycolysis. We created mutants at key points in the gluconeogenesis/glycolysis metabolic pathways that are restricted for growth on lactate and glucose, respectively. A phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mutant (the pck1∆ mutant), blocked for entry of 2- and 3-carbon substrates into gluconeogenesis and attenuated for virulence in a murine inhalation model, showed wild-type (WT) persistence in a rabbit cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) model of cryptococcosis. Conversely, both the pyruvate kinase (pyk1∆) and the hexose kinase I and II (hxk1∆/hxk2∆) mutants, which show impaired glucose utilization, exhibited severely attenuated virulence in the murine inhalation model of cryptococcosis and decreased persistence in the CNS in both the rabbit CSF and the murine inhalation models while displaying adequate persistence in the lungs of mice. These data suggest that glucose utilization is critical for virulence of C. neoformans and persistence of the yeast in the CNS

Iron Regulation of the Major Virulence Factors in the AIDS-Associated Pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans

Iron overload is known to exacerbate many infectious diseases, and conversely, iron withholding is an important defense strategy for mammalian hosts. Iron is a critical cue for Cryptococcus neoformans because the fungus senses iron to regulate elaboration of the polysaccharide capsule that is the major virulence factor during infection. Excess iron exacerbates experimental cryptococcosis and the prevalence of this disease in Sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with nutritional and genetic aspects of iron loading in the background of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We demonstrate that the iron-responsive transcription factor Cir1 in Cr. neoformans controls the regulon of genes for iron acquisition such that cir1 mutants are “blind” to changes in external iron levels. Cir1 also controls the known major virulence factors of the pathogen including the capsule, the formation of the anti-oxidant melanin in the cell wall, and the ability to grow at host body temperature. Thus, the fungus is remarkably tuned to perceive iron as part of the disease process, as confirmed by the avirulence of the cir1 mutant; this characteristic of the pathogen may provide opportunities for antifungal treatment

Transcription Factors Mat2 and Znf2 Operate Cellular Circuits Orchestrating Opposite- and Same-Sex Mating in Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans is a human fungal pathogen that undergoes a dimorphic transition from a unicellular yeast to multicellular hyphae during opposite sex (mating) and unisexual reproduction (same-sex mating). Opposite- and same-sex mating are induced by similar environmental conditions and involve many shared components, including the conserved pheromone sensing Cpk1 MAPK signal transduction cascade that governs the dimorphic switch in C. neoformans. However, the homeodomain cell identity proteins Sxi1α/Sxi2a encoded by the mating type locus that are essential for completion of sexual reproduction following cell–cell fusion during opposite-sex mating are dispensable for same-sex mating. Therefore, identification of downstream targets of the Cpk1 MAPK pathway holds the key to understanding molecular mechanisms governing the two distinct developmental fates. Thus far, homology-based approaches failed to identify downstream transcription factors which may therefore be species-specific. Here, we applied insertional mutagenesis via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and transcription analysis using whole genome microarrays to identify factors involved in C. neoformans differentiation. Two transcription factors, Mat2 and Znf2, were identified as key regulators of hyphal growth during same- and opposite-sex mating. Mat2 is an HMG domain factor, and Znf2 is a zinc finger protein; neither is encoded by the mating type locus. Genetic, phenotypic, and transcriptional analyses of Mat2 and Znf2 provide evidence that Mat2 is a downstream transcription factor of the Cpk1 MAPK pathway whereas Znf2 functions as a more terminal hyphal morphogenesis determinant. Although the components of the MAPK pathway including Mat2 are not required for virulence in animal models, Znf2, as a hyphal morphology determinant, is a negative regulator of virulence. Further characterization of these elements and their target circuits will reveal genes controlling biological processes central to fungal development and virulence