Development Of An Award Winning Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program: A Case Study

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, sponsored by the IRS, offers free tax services for individuals with low-to-moderate incomes, the elderly, disabled and/or those who lack English language proficiency.  Although established by the IRS in 1969, it is administered by partnering community based volunteer organizations throughout U.S., like universities, schools, religious groups, credit unions or other non-profit organizations.  Many VITA sites are sponsored and run by universities through their Accounting departments.  The 2012 Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council Public Report indicated that in 2010 only 3% of qualifying tax returns were prepared at VITA sites, with 62% of qualifying returns being prepared by paid preparers (IRS, 2012, p.51).  In addition, there are still a large number of individuals who fail to file returns at all often leaving potential tax refunds and credits unclaimed (Lim, DeJohn and Murray, 2012).  The purpose of this paper is to share the best practices used at our university to create an award winning VITA program.  The specific topics to be addressed are location, layout, operating hours, staffing & training, process, promotion, electronic filing, other services and things to avoid.  These topics are not only what we believe to be the most important in running a successful VITA site but the American Taxation Association 2007 Best Practices Report lists these same topics as well (ATA, 2007).  We will conclude the paper with a discussion of our plans for the future growth of the program

Enabling large-scale ex vivo production of megakaryocytes and platelets from CD34+ cells using gas-permeable surfaces and microfluidic bioreactors

Patients suffering from acute or sustained thrombocytopenia require platelet transfusions, which are entirely donor-based and limited by challenges related to storage and fluctuating supply. Developing cell-culture technologies enables ex vivo and donor-independent platelet production. However, the ability to generate large numbers of platelets is limited by the challenges of (1) producing many megakaryocytes (Mks) from each input CD34+ cell and (2) efficiently generating platelet-like-particles (PLPs) from Mks. To address the first challenge, we evaluated Mk production from mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells cultured on a commercially available gas-permeable silicone membrane, which provides efficient gas exchange, and investigated the use of fed-batch media dilution schemes. Starting with a cell surface density of 4 x 104 CD34+ cells/cm2 (G4), culturing cells on the membrane for the first 5 days and employing media dilutions yielded 38 ± 25 Mks per input CD34+ cell by day 11 – a 2.2-fold increase compared to using standard tissue culture surfaces with full media exchanges. By day 7, G4 conditions generated 1.5-fold more CD34+ cells due to greater CD34 retention. Media dilution schemes for G4 and standard tissue culture surfaces improved culture viability, leading to a 3.6-fold increase in Mks produced per mL of media for G4 and 2.8-fold for tissue culture compared to controls. G4-Mks exhibited lower mean ploidy yet the number of high-ploidy Mks was equal to or greater than controls. Finally, G4-Mks produced proplatelets and PLPs that activated and aggregated upon stimulation. Further optimization is required to take full advantage of the gas-permeable system for Mk production. Additional studies would include refining surface densities, adjusting cytokine concentrations and initial media volumes and evaluating cord blood CD34+ cells. To address the second challenge, we applied computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to assess published microfluidic platelet bioreactors and used those results to develop an improved 7-μm slit bioreactor with well-defined flow patterns and uniform shear profiles (USRB-7µm). The slits mimic fenestrations in endothelial cells lining sinuses in the bone marrow through which Mks extend cytoplasmic projections, called proplatelets (proPLTs), that are sheared off (50-200 s-1) into platelets. In the USRB-7µm, a center channel flow pushes Mks into 7-μm slits, with shear rates of 5000 s-1. Two outside flows converge at the slits exerting near uniform shear rates (250-350 s-1) to fragment extending proPLTs, similar to the in vivo process. The USRB-7µm permits real-time visualization of proPLT formation and the rapid-release of individual platelet-like-particles (PLPs), which has been observed in vivo, but not previously reported for bioreactors. Collected PLPs exhibited characteristics similar to fresh blood platelets. Surprisingly, using only the center flow without the outside flows led to a 6-fold increase in PLP production. Based on this, we scaled-up the USRB-7µm using only a single flow to carry Mks into high-shear slit regions, mimicking in vivo observations of Mks being processed directly into platelets within the lung capillary bed (\u3e2600 s-1). The new lung-USRB retained uniform shear rates with a 93-fold capture area increase to allow more Mks to be processed into PLPs. The USRB-7µm and lung-USRB will be useful tools for the analysis of proPLT/PLP formation to further understanding of how to increase ex vivo platelet production. These results highlight distinct improvements in Mk cell-culture and demonstrate how new technologies and techniques are needed to enable clinically-relevant production of Mks for platelet generation and cell-based therapies

Ethics In The Accounting Curriculum: What Is Really Being Covered?

This paper examines the current level of ethics integration across the accounting curriculum, analyzing the quantity, methods and topics included in coverage. Results of a survey of U.S. accounting faculty from 44 states and 97 different institutions on these issues are presented. The study is broken into two sections: the actual level of ethics integration and what is actually being taught. Prior research in the field has been limited to the extent to which ethics is covered in the classroom and avoided looking at what specifically is being done. This study extends this research by providing an update on the level of coverage as it exists today in the U.S., and by identifying the specific ethics topics being covered. Overall, we find that ethics integration efforts on a per-course basis are modest, and may be inadequate. We suggest that accounting programs that integrate ethics develop a formal ethics integration plan to ensure essential topics are covered, and to maximize the impact on students ethics

Korea and the global software industry

노트 : Final Report to the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agenc

Global demographic history of human populations inferred from whole mitochondrial genomes.

The Neolithic transition has led to marked increases in census population sizes across the world, as recorded by a rich archaeological record. However, previous attempts to detect such changes using genetic markers, especially mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), have mostly been unsuccessful. We use complete mtDNA genomes from over 1700 individuals, from the 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3, to explore changes in populations sizes in five populations for each of four major geographical regions, using a sophisticated coalescent-based Bayesian method (extended Bayesian skyline plots) and mutation rates calibrated with ancient DNA. Despite the power and sophistication of our analysis, we fail to find size changes that correspond to the Neolithic transitions of the study populations. However, we do detect a number of size changes, which tend to be replicated in most populations within each region. These changes are mostly much older than the Neolithic transition and could reflect either population expansion or changes in population structure. Given the amount of migration and population mixing that occurred after these ancient signals were generated, we caution that modern populations will often carry ghost signals of demographic events that occurred far away from their current location

DGR mutagenic transposition occurs via hypermutagenic reverse transcription primed by nicked template RNA.

Diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) are molecular evolution machines that facilitate microbial adaptation to environmental changes. Hypervariation occurs via a mutagenic retrotransposition process from a template repeat (TR) to a variable repeat (VR) that results in adenine-to-random nucleotide conversions. Here we show that reverse transcription of the Bordetella phage DGR is primed by an adenine residue in TR RNA and is dependent on the DGR-encoded reverse transcriptase (bRT) and accessory variability determinant (Avd ), but is VR-independent. We also find that the catalytic center of bRT plays an essential role in site-specific cleavage of TR RNA for cDNA priming. Adenine-specific mutagenesis occurs during reverse transcription and does not involve dUTP incorporation, indicating it results from bRT-catalyzed misincorporation of standard deoxyribonucleotides. In vivo assays show that this hybrid RNA-cDNA molecule is required for mutagenic transposition, revealing a unique mechanism of DNA hypervariation for microbial adaptation

Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to design and characterize a microfluidic bioreactor for rapid release of culture-derived platelets

Platelet transfusions are entirely dependent on human volunteer donors, and these methods are limited by platelet storage at room temperature, a 5-day platelet shelf life, and differences in donor/recipient immunology. Much progress has been made in generating large numbers of culture-derived megakaryocytes (Mks, the precursor cells to platelets). However, much remains unknown about what initiates and regulates platelet formation, so stimulating a high percentage of Mks to undergo terminal maturation and platelet release in vitro remains a major challenge. Methods of in vitro platelet production have typically yielded less than 10 platelets/Mk, compared to \u3e1,000 in vivo. In vivo, platelets are formed when bone marrow Mks extend long, cytoplasmic projections, called proplatelets (proPLTs), into the sinusoid where shear forces accelerate proPLT elongation and release platelets into circulation. Recent studies have demonstrated the utility of shear forces to enhance platelet release from cultured Mks in vitro. We are exploring the production of platelet-like particles (PLPs) within a microfluidic bioreactor that utilizes shear forces on Mks to generate proPLTs and PLPs. Microfluidic devices have emerged as a valuable tool for cell culture studies. Advantages include low input cell requirements, the ability to screen multiple conditions in parallel, compatibility with time-lapse imaging, and tight control of microenvironment conditions. In addition, device fabrication is straightforward and inexpensive using soft photolithography. In this study, we performed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of several published platelet microbioreactor systems, and used the results to develop a new bioreactor system. Through CFD simulations and microfluidic device fabrication, a design – test – build methodology was used to develop a dual-flow microfluidic bioreactor system with uniform shear stress at levels similar to those found in the bone marrow niche. Experimental studies were conducted to validate the simulations in terms of streamline profiles and flow patterns with and without cell capture. Furthermore, the design of the bioreactor allows for a wide physiological shear rate range, and fits within the stage of a fluorescent microscope housed in an incubator that allows for real-time analysis of proPLT formation and PLP release. The videos and images captured within our system show that the new bioreactor not only promotes the prototypical proPLT formation process with beadson-a-string morphology, but also supports rapid release of individual PLPs – which has been observed in vivo, but not previously reported for platelet bioreactors. In addition, we demonstrate that step increases in the shear forces within the microbioreactor system can be used to enhance proPLT and PLP formation. Bioreactor-derived PLPs exhibit functional activity, as evidenced by CD41a and CD42b surface marker expression, CD62P translocation from granules to the surface in response to thrombin agonist activation, and morphological/ cytoskeletal changes upon binding to fibrinogen – before and after activation. The system can be further scaled, for example, through parallelization of reactors

Historical Reconstruction of Population Density of the Echinoid Diadema antillarum on Florida Keys Shallow Bank-Barrier Reefs

The 1983–1984 caribbean-wide mass mortality of the once ubiquitous long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum Philippi, 1845, is one of several factors considered responsible for coral reef change throughout the region. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of pre-mortality event density data for D. antillarum in the Florida Keys, making it difficult to determine pre-1983 population density levels. results from surveys conducted during 1970–1973 in the lower Florida Keys, in shallow (\u3c12 m) fore reef habitats, yielded relatively abundant and widespread D. antillarum densities in qualitative transects at five reefs prior to the 1983–1984 die-off. In quantitative surveys at one reef, Middle sambo reef in 1972, up to 7.9 individuals m–2 were recorded using quadrats in high-relief spur and groove habitat. A second mortality event in the Florida Keys, beginning in April 1991, again depressed urchin densities that had begun to recover from the 1983–1984 mass mortality. By 1992, D. antillarum densities (\u3c0.01 m–2) were two orders of magnitude lower than pre-die-off estimates (range of 0.07–0.57 m–2 from several spur and groove reefs in the lower Florida Keys) and remained so through 2009. The pre-mortality echinoid density estimates detailed in the Florida Keys provide a baseline to compare with their current population status and should help inform managers about realistic recovery or restoration targets for D. antillarum