A Comparison of Clustered and Isolated Casino Performance in Missouri

This paper utilizes data on Missouri’s casino industry to examine how clustered casinos, such as those in Kansas City and St. Louis, perform compared to dispersed or isolated casinos, such as those in Boonville, Caruthersville, La Grange, and St. Joseph. Missouri limits the number of casino licenses allowed; however, it does not explicitly mandate casino locations. Missouri provides a unique natural experiment for comparing location model performance. Although there is no published research on which type of casino location model is more effective for generating industry revenues and associated taxes, state legislatures have nevertheless been following an isolated casino location model. But it is not at all obvious that this strategy leads to higher aggregate revenues. Using 2011 data on Missouri’s casino industry, we find that casino performance may not depend on whether it is isolated or in a cluster. This result suggests that the casino market is relatively efficient, given the regulations it faces. However, there may still be significant costs from restricting casino locations. We speculate that politicians are likely to use the isolated model as a mechanism to maximize voter support for casino legalization

Do optometrists see 20/20? A survey of vision care utilized by optometrists: Implications for the profession

Purpose: The American Optometric Association\u27s Optometric Clinical Practice Guidelines identify appropriate utilization strategies for eye and vision examinations. Optometrists, like all health care providers, should follow the recommended standard of care as a doctor and as a patient. The purpose of this survey was to evaluate if optometrists seek and recommend the standard of vision care. Method: A survey was mailed to 650 randomly selected optometrists in the states of Oregon and Washington. The survey provided data describing the optometrists\u27 personal demographics, medical conditions, visual conditions, and utilization of vision care. Additional data included a survey of the optometrists\u27 recommendation of preventive eye care for their patients. Results: A 41% response rate was achieved from the mailing. In evaluating the data from optometrists who reported no ocular or medical conditions, the data show that 70% of the doctors surveyed, between the age of twenty and forty, have met the AOA guidelines recommendation of having a refraction, anterior segment exam, posterior segment exam, and intraocular pressure measurement within the recommended three year interval. Sixty-four percent of the doctors surveyed, between the age of forty-one and sixty, have met the AOA guidelines recommendation of having all of the procedures listed performed within the past two years. Of the doctors surveyed over the age of sixty, 36% have met the AOA guidelines of having all the procedures listed performed within the past year. With respect to preventive vision care for their patients, 90% of doctors, of all ages, reported that they recommend the AOA guidelines recommendation for their patients between the age of twenty and forty. Eighty-one percent of doctors, of all ages, reported recommending the AOA guidelines to their patients between the age of forty-one and sixty. Of those doctors surveyed, 30% of the respondents recommend the AOA guidelines to their patients over the age of sixty. Conclusion: Most optometrists\u27 personal eye care is consistent with the AOA Optometric Clinical Practice Guidelines. Most optometrists are recommending to their patients care intervals that are consistent with these guidelines. However, optometrists over the age of sixty are not seeking the standard of vision care recommended by the AOA guidelines and optometrists off all ages are not recommending the AOA guidelines to their patients over the age of sixty. It is recommended that all optometrists be educated as to the reason for the frequency of optometric examinations for themselves as well as for their patients over the age of sixty

The Relationship Between Gambling Behavior and Binge Drinking, Hard Drug Use, and Paying for Sex

We examine the relationship between gambling behavior and other vices : hard drug use, binge drinking, and paying for sex. We utilize survey data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a comprehensive survey of a representative sample of young adults in the US. We analyze survey data on the behavior of 6,145 respondents using linear probability modeling and a comprehensive set of control variables. Our results indicate that individuals who exhibit signs of problem gambling behavior are significantly more likely to use hard drugs, to binge drink, and to pay for sex. These findings, based on data collected on the general public, provide an interesting contribution to the gambling literature

Adaptive genomic structural variation in the grape powdery mildew pathogen, Erysiphe necator.

BackgroundPowdery mildew, caused by the obligate biotrophic fungus Erysiphe necator, is an economically important disease of grapevines worldwide. Large quantities of fungicides are used for its control, accelerating the incidence of fungicide-resistance. Copy number variations (CNVs) are unbalanced changes in the structure of the genome that have been associated with complex traits. In addition to providing the first description of the large and highly repetitive genome of E. necator, this study describes the impact of genomic structural variation on fungicide resistance in Erysiphe necator.ResultsA shotgun approach was applied to sequence and assemble the genome of five E. necator isolates, and RNA-seq and comparative genomics were used to predict and annotate protein-coding genes. Our results show that the E. necator genome is exceptionally large and repetitive and suggest that transposable elements are responsible for genome expansion. Frequent structural variations were found between isolates and included copy number variation in EnCYP51, the target of the commonly used sterol demethylase inhibitor (DMI) fungicides. A panel of 89 additional E. necator isolates collected from diverse vineyard sites was screened for copy number variation in the EnCYP51 gene and for presence/absence of a point mutation (Y136F) known to result in higher fungicide tolerance. We show that an increase in EnCYP51 copy number is significantly more likely to be detected in isolates collected from fungicide-treated vineyards. Increased EnCYP51 copy numbers were detected with the Y136F allele, suggesting that an increase in copy number becomes advantageous only after the fungicide-tolerant allele is acquired. We also show that EnCYP51 copy number influences expression in a gene-dose dependent manner and correlates with fungal growth in the presence of a DMI fungicide.ConclusionsTaken together our results show that CNV can be adaptive in the development of resistance to fungicides by providing increasing quantitative protection in a gene-dosage dependent manner. The results of this work not only demonstrate the effectiveness of using genomics to dissect complex traits in organisms with very limited molecular information, but also may have broader implications for understanding genomic dynamics in response to strong selective pressure in other pathogens with similar genome architectures

The Value of Information Technology-Enabled Diabetes Management

Reviews different technologies used in diabetes disease management, as well as the costs, benefits, and quality implications of technology-enabled diabetes management programs in the United States

Evidence of Uppermost Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian miogeoclinal rocks and the Mojave-Snow Lake Fault: Snow Lake Pendant, central Sierra Nevada, California

This is the published version. Copyright 2010 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Displaced uppermost Precambrian to Lower Cambrian miogeoclinal strata occur within Snow Lake pendant in the central Sierra Nevada. These rocks have been correlated with the Stirling Quartzite, the Wood Canyon Formation, the Zabriskie Quartzite, and the Carrara Formation in the western Mojave Desert and the San Bernardino Mountains (Lahren and Schweickert, 1989; Lahren, 1989). This correlation is based on new, updated, and previously reported data including (1) lithologic similarities, (2) overall stratigraphic sequence, (3) vertical sequence within individual formations, (4) approximate stratigraphic thicknesses, (5) Skolithos in the correct stratigraphie position, (6) depositional environments, and (7) petrographic character and provenance of quartz arenites. The correlation is strengthened by the fact that Snow Lake pendant and the western Mojave share many other close similarities including (1) initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of associated granitic rocks >0.706, (2) passive margin tectonic setting of Precambrian to Cambrian miogeoclinal rocks, (3) dikes of the Independence dike swarm, (4) possible Lower Triassic overlap sequence, the Fairview Valley Formation, (5) petrographically similar gabbroic complexes of the same age, (6) associated eugeoclinal rocks, and (7) identical(?) pre-Tertiary structural configuration. New U/Pb zircon geochronology unequivocally shows that dikes at Snow Lake pendant are coeval with the Independence dike swarm of the eastern Sierra and the western Mojave desert and that associated gabbroic complexes in both the Mojave and Snow Lake pendant are the same age. Correlation of Snow Lake pendant with the western Mojave requires about 400 km of dextral displacement of the rocks of Snow Lake pendant, together with associated rocks (Snow Lake block), from the western Mojave Desert along the Mojave-Snow Lake fault. Displacement most likely occurred after 150 Ma, the age of the Independence dike swarm, and before about 110 Ma, the age of major plutons within the Sierra Nevada batholith. This interpretation, if correct, holds major implications for allochthonous terranes west of Snow Lake pendant, which were probably attached to the Snow Lake block before its northward transport. In addition, a number of Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic features in western Nevada and eastern California may have been offset dextrally along the proposed Mojave-Snow Lake fault

Effect of oil palm sustainability certification on deforestation and fire in Indonesia.

Many major corporations and countries have made commitments to purchase or produce only "sustainable" palm oil, a commodity responsible for substantial tropical forest loss. Sustainability certification is the tool most used to fulfill these procurement policies, and around 20% of global palm oil production was certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2017. However, the effect of certification on deforestation in oil palm plantations remains unclear. Here, we use a comprehensive dataset of RSPO-certified and noncertified oil palm plantations (∼188,000 km2) in Indonesia, the leading producer of palm oil, as well as annual remotely sensed metrics of tree cover loss and fire occurrence, to evaluate the impact of certification on deforestation and fire from 2001 to 2015. While forest loss and fire continued after RSPO certification, certified palm oil was associated with reduced deforestation. Certification lowered deforestation by 33% from a counterfactual of 9.8 to 6.6% y-1 Nevertheless, most plantations contained little residual forest when they received certification. As a result, by 2015, certified areas held less than 1% of forests remaining within Indonesian oil palm plantations. Moreover, certification had no causal impact on forest loss in peatlands or active fire detection rates. Broader adoption of certification in forested regions, strict requirements to avoid all peat, and routine monitoring of clearly defined forest cover loss in certified and RSPO member-held plantations appear necessary if the RSPO is to yield conservation and climate benefits from reductions in tropical deforestation

Pliocene–Pleistocene basin evolution along the Garlock fault zone, Pilot Knob Valley, California

Exposed Pliocene–Pleistocene terrestrial strata provide an archive of the spatial and temporal development of a basin astride the sinistral Garlock fault in California. In the southern Slate Range and Pilot Knob Valley, an ∼2000-m-thick package of Late Cenozoic strata has been uplifted and tilted to the northeast. We name this succession the formation of Pilot Knob Valley and provide new chronologic, stratigraphic, and provenance data for these rocks. The unit is divided into five members that record different source areas and depositional patterns: (1) the lowest exposed strata are conglomeratic rocks derived from Miocene Eagle Crags volcanic field to the south and east across the Garlock fault; (2) the second member consists mostly of fine-grained rocks with coarser material derived from both southern and northern sources; and (3) the upper three members are primarily coarse-grained conglomerates and sandstones derived from the adjacent Slate Range to the north. Tephrochronologic data from four ash samples bracket deposition of the second member to 3.6–3.3 Ma and the fourth member to between 1.1 and 0.6 Ma. A fifth tephrochronologic sample from rocks south of the Garlock fault near Christmas Canyon brackets deposition of a possible equivalent to the second member of the formation of Pilot Knob Valley at ca. 3.1 Ma. Although the age of the base of the lowest member is not directly dated, regional stratigraphic and tectonic associations suggest that the basin started forming ca. 4–5 Ma. By ca. 3.6 Ma, the northward progradation fanglomerate sourced in the Eagle Crags region waned, and subsequent deposition occurred in shallow lacustrine systems. At ca. 3.3 Ma, southward progradation of conglomerates derived from the Slate Range began. Circa 1.1 Ma, continued southward progradation of fanglomerate with Slate Range sources is characterized by a shift to coarser grain sizes, interpreted to reflect uplift of the Slate Range. Overall, basin architecture and the temporal evolution of different source regions were controlled by activity on three regionally important faults—the Garlock, the Marine Gate, and the Searles Valley faults. The timing and style of motions on these faults appear to be directly linked to patterns of basin development