The Future of the Live Entertainment Tax in Southern Nevada

The Live Entertainment Tax (LET) in Nevada generated nearly one billion dollars during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. LET revenue all goes to the State General Fund, even though 97 percent of LET revenue is generated in Clark County. Nevada is experiencing an economic crisis, particularly in the tourism industry. Solutions from various fields suggest the best way to boost the local economy is to reinvest revenue in its original county. One policy solution Nevada policymakers should consider is to carve out a percentage of revenue generated by the LET to return directly back to Clark County to revitalize tourism

The effect of run sprint interval training on prediabetic adults: Health related quality of life, perceived enjoyment, and exercise adherence

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine if Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and perceived exercise enjoyment are greater in a run sprint interval training (RSIT) group compared to a moderate intensity training (MIT) group in sedentary, prediabetic adults after an 8-week intervention. Methods: Over 8-weeks, subjects in the RSIT group progressed from 4 to 6 30-second sprints per session, and the MIT group progressed from 30 to 60 minutes of continuous moderate intensity exercise. Participants in both groups completed 8-weeks of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Diabetes Prevention Program educational classes. HRQOL (assessed by the CDC 4-item Healthy Days Core Module), perceived exercise enjoyment (assessed by the physical activity enjoyment scale, PACES), exercise adherence, VO2max, and body composition were assessed in both groups. Results: There was no significant difference from baseline to 8-weeks in Healthy Days in the RSIT group (p = 0.833) or the MIT group (p = 0.080). There were also no significant differences between or within groups at baseline or 8-weeks for self-reported days of negative physical health, mental health, or affected usual days scores. There was no significant difference in exercise adherence between the MIT (20.75±2.71 sessions) and RSIT (20.57±1.40 sessions) groups. There was no significant difference between groups in perceived enjoyment, however there was a significant increase from baseline to 8-weeks in the MIT group (11.88±12.38; p = 0.030). 8-weeks of MIT significantly improved body composition measures including body weight (-9.35±6.21; p = 0.004), % body fat (-2.015±1.88; p = 0.019), body mass index (-1.21±1.07; p = 0.015), and % lean mass (2.05±1.84; p = 0.016). RSIT significantly improved VO2max (mL/kg/min) (1.84±1.70; p = 0.028) over 8-weeks. Discussion: The practical implications of there being no significant difference between RSIT and MIT in perceived exercise enjoyment, exercise adherence, or HRQOL shows participants can choose their exercise preference. A significant improvement in PACES scores for the MIT may be a result of stronger social relationships formed. 8-weeks may have proven to not be long enough to see significant between or within group differences in HRQOL scores

Digital inclusion - the vision, the challenges and the way forward

This paper considers the vision and aspiration of digital inclusion, and then examines the current reality. It looks beyond the rhetoric to provide an analysis of the status quo, a consideration of some facilitators and challenges to progress and some suggestions for moving forward with renewed energy and commitment. The far-reaching benefits of digital inclusion and the crucial role it plays in enabling full participation in our digital society are considered. At the heart of the vision of universal digital inclusion is the deceptively simple goal to ensure that everyone is able to access and experience the wide-ranging benefits and transformational opportunities and impacts it offers. The reality is a long way from the vision: inequality of access still exists despite many national campaigns and initiatives to reduce it. The benefits and beneficiaries of a digital society are not just the individual but all stakeholders in the wider society. Research evidence has shown that the critical success factors for successful digital participation are (i) appropriate design and (ii) readily available and on-going ICT (Information and Communication Technology) support in the community. Challenges and proven solutions are presented. The proposition of community hubs in local venues to provide user-centred ICT support and learning for older and disabled people is presented. While the challenges to achieve digital inclusion are very considerable, the knowledge of how to achieve it and the technologies which enable it already exist. Harnessing of political will is necessary to make digital inclusion a reality rather than a vision. With the cooperation and commitment of all stakeholders actualisation of the vision of a digitally inclusive society, while challenging, can be achieved and will yield opportunities and rewards that eclipse the cost of implementation

High field magneto-transport in high mobility gated InSb/InAlSb quantum well heterostructures

We present high field magneto-transport data from a range of 30nm wide InSb/InAlSb quantum wells. The low temperature carrier mobility of the samples studied ranged from 18.4 to 39.5 m2V-1s-1 with carrier densities between 1.5x1015 and 3.28x1015 m-2. Room temperature mobilities are reported in excess of 6 m2V-1s-1. It is found that the Landau level broadening decreases with carrier density and beating patterns are observed in the magnetoresistance with non-zero node amplitudes in samples with the narrowest broadening despite the presence of a large g-factor. The beating is attributed to Rashba splitting phenomenon and Rashba coupling parameters are extracted from the difference in spin populations for a range of samples and gate biases. The influence of Landau level broadening and spin-dependent scattering rates on the observation of beating in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations is investigated by simulations of the magnetoconductance. Data with non-zero beat node amplitudes are accompanied by asymmetric peaks in the Fourier transform, which are successfully reproduced by introducing a spin-dependent broadening in the simulations. It is found that the low-energy (majority) spin up state suffers more scattering than the high-energy (minority) spin down state and that the absence of beating patterns in the majority of (lower density) samples can be attributed to the same effect when the magnitude of the level broadening is large

Libelous Ridicule by Journalists

Proof of actual malice, or even establishing that an attack in ridicule bears no relation to public conduct, seems at best, extremely difficult to bring out. The public interest in protecting itself, through criticism of those in prominence, weighs much more heavily on the scales of justice than does the interest of public figures in protecting themselves from personal attack. So go ahead and draw your cartoons, Conrad. Keep sticking pins in the kewpie dolls of America, Art Buchwald. And tell it like it is, Pogo

The relationship between Hippocampal asymmetry and working memory processing in combat-related PTSD: a monozygotic twin study

BACKGROUND: PTSD is associated with reduction in hippocampal volume and abnormalities in hippocampal function. Hippocampal asymmetry has received less attention, but potentially could indicate lateralised differences in vulnerability to trauma. The P300 event-related potential component reflects the immediate processing of significant environmental stimuli and has generators in several brain regions including the hippocampus. P300 amplitude is generally reduced in people with PTSD. METHODS: Our study examined hippocampal volume asymmetry and the relationship between hippocampal asymmetry and P300 amplitude in male monozygotic twins discordant for Vietnam combat exposure. Lateralised hippocampal volume and P300 data were obtained from 70 male participants, of whom 12 had PTSD. We were able to compare (1) combat veterans with current PTSD; (2) their non-combat-exposed co-twins; (3) combat veterans without current PTSD and (4) their non-combat-exposed co-twins. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between groups in hippocampal asymmetry. There were no group differences in performance of an auditory oddball target detection task or in P300 amplitude. There was a significant positive correlation between P300 amplitude and the magnitude of hippocampal asymmetry in participants with PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that greater hippocampal asymmetry in PTSD is associated with a need to allocate more attentional resources when processing significant environmental stimuli.Timothy Hall, Cherrie Galletly, C.R. Clark, Melinda Veltmeyer, Linda J. Metzger, Mark W. Gilbertson, Scott P. Orr, Roger K. Pitman and Alexander McFarlan