Distributional Effects on a Lifetime Basis

All government agencies charged with the responsibility of estimating distributional effects use annual income to classify households and one year's tax to characterize tax burdens. In this paper, we describe an alternative procedure to estimate lifetime tax burdens as proportions of lifetime income. To illustrate this model, we calculate lifetime effects of a uniform consumption tax and a wage tax. This kind of analysis can supplement existing annual analyses, since policymakers might want to insure both that current taxes reflect current ability to pay and that lifetime taxes reflect lifetime ability to pay.

A-2000: Close air support aircraft design team

The US Air Force is currently faced with the problem of providing adequate close air support for ground forces. Air response to troops engaged in combat must be rapid and devastating due to the highly fluid battle lines of the future. The A-2000 is the result of a study to design an aircraft to deliver massive fire power accurately. The low cost A-2000 incorporates: large weapons payload; excellent maneuverability; all weather and terrain following capacity; redundant systems; and high survivability

Leaching of rare earths from fine-grained zirconosilicate ore

© 2016 The Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Leaching of rare earths Y, La and Ce by sulphuric acid from fine-grained zirconosilicate ore was investigated using Taguchi method of experimental design. An orthogonal array of L8, 27 which denotes 7 factors at 2 levels was chosen to consider the various factors relevant to the leaching process: baking time, baking temperature, acid dosage, leaching time, leaching temperature, grind size and dilution. Statistical analysis showed that sulphation baking was a significant step for the leaching of rare earths from the whole-of-ore and optimized leaching of rare earths involved the following condition: baking for 3 h at 320 °C at 3.2 g acid/g ore acid dosage followed by water leaching at 20 °C for 1 h and dilution of 20 mL water/g ore using 300 um grind size. The effect of each leaching factor was also discussed

A Winogradsky-based culture system shows an association between microbial fermentation and cystic fibrosis exacerbation.

There is a poor understanding of how the physiology of polymicrobial communities in cystic fibrosis (CF) lungs contributes to pulmonary exacerbations and lung function decline. In this study, a microbial culture system based on the principles of the Winogradsky column (WinCF system) was developed to study the physiology of CF microbes. The system used glass capillary tubes filled with artificial sputum medium to mimic a clogged airway bronchiole. Chemical indicators were added to observe microbial physiology within the tubes. Characterization of sputum samples from seven patients showed variation in pH, respiration, biofilm formation and gas production, indicating that the physiology of CF microbial communities varied among patients. Incubation of homogenized tissues from an explant CF lung mirrored responses of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa pure culture, supporting evidence that end-stage lungs are dominated by this pathogen. Longitudinal sputum samples taken through two exacerbation events in a single patient showed that a two-unit drop in pH and a 30% increase in gas production occurred in the tubes prior to exacerbation, which was reversed with antibiotic treatment. Microbial community profiles obtained through amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene showed that fermentative anaerobes became more abundant during exacerbation and were then reduced during treatment where P. aeruginosa became the dominant bacterium. Results from the WinCF experiments support the model where two functionally different CF microbial communities exist, the persistent Climax Community and the acute Attack Community. Fermentative anaerobes are hypothesized to be the core members of the Attack Community and production of acidic and gaseous products from fermentation may drive developing exacerbations. Treatment targeting the Attack Community may better resolve exacerbations and resulting lung damage

Spleen as a site for hematopoiesis

Hematopoiesis occurs throughout the lifespan of an organism and involves the formation of blood cells from hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) which are self-renewing multipotent progenitors. The hematopoietic niche environment comprises nonhematopoietic cells, extracellular matrix components and soluble regulatory factors which contribute to the quiescence, dormancy, self-renewal and differentiation of HSC. While multiple HSC niches have been described in bone marrow, as endosteal, vascular and perivascular, niches which support hematopoiesis in other sites like spleen remain to be elucidated. Previous studies in this lab have described unique splenic stroma cell lines 5G3 and 3B5 which can support hematopoiesis and reflect HSC niches. In addition, previously obtained transcriptome data has shown that 5G3 and 3B5 stroma express many genes in parallel with perivascular cells described in bone marrow. This information forms the basis of the current study. In this thesis, both 5G3 and 3B5 stroma have been shown to share a mesenchymal lineage origin with perivascular cells in bone marrow, including mesenchymal stem cells and C-XC motif ligand 12 (CXCL12)-abundant reticular cells. 5G3 and 3B5 express many cell surface markers in common with these cells including CD105, CD29, VCAM1, Sca-1, CD51, CD140a and Thy1.2. In addition, the concept of niches for hematopoiesis in spleen has been advanced. Splenic stromal cells with the phenotype of Sca-1+gp38+Thy1.2+CD29+CD51+ were found to be important for in vitro hematopoiesis. Their phenotype reflects cells of mesenchymal lineage, consistent with our primary hypothesis that HSC niches involve at least perivascular reticular cells resembling the stromal line models of 5G3 and 3B5. Stromal cells expressing gp38 or Thy1.2 appear to be associated with some HSC in spleen identified through section staining, although this is restricted to neonatal spleen in the case of gp38+ stromal cells. Restricted hematopoiesis giving rise to L-DC and myeloid cells was replicated in vivo following grafting of splenic stromal cell lines including 5G3 and 3B5 under the kidney capsule. While L-DC production was clearly shown to occur within 3B5 grafts, 5G3 was difficult to engraft and then formed niches which appeared to support hematopoietic cells with a transformed phenotype. Specific signaling pathway inhibitors added into in vitro stromal co-cultures involving lineage-depleted bone marrow over 5G3 stroma, was also used to identify the important role of SCF but not CXCL12 in supporting in vitro hematopoiesis. In similar experiments, the DAPT inhibitor of Notch signalling was used to identify a role for Notch signalling in the development of L-DC from MPP added into co-cultures over 5G3 stroma in vitro. This study has improved our current understanding of HSC niches in spleen and identified some of the molecular regulators of haematopoiesis. Information obtained in this thesis verifies the existence of HSC niches in spleen and will be important for development therapies involving spleen as an extramedullary niche for hematopoiesis. The amplification of existing splenic niches or the ability to generate ectopic niches could be used to support enhancement of hematopoietic output, in immunocompromised patients or following HSC transplantation

Faculty-Wide Peer-Support Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Design and Preliminary Results

Background: Physicians experience higher rates of burnout relative to the general population. Concerns of confidentiality, stigma, and professional identities as health care providers act as barriers to seeking and receiving appropriate support. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, factors that contribute to burnout and barriers to seeking support have been amplified, elevating the overall risks of mental distress and burnout for physicians. Objective: This paper aimed to describe the rapid development and implementation of a peer support program within a health care organization located in London, Ontario, Canada. Methods: A peer support program leveraging existing infrastructures within the health care organization was developed and launched in April 2020. The “Peers for Peers” program drew from the work of Shapiro and Galowitz in identifying key components within hospital settings that contributed to burnout. The program design was derived from a combination of the peer support frameworks from the Airline Pilot Assistance Program and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. Results: Data gathered over 2 waves of peer leadership training and program evaluations highlighted a diversity of topics covered through the peer support program. Further, enrollment continued to increase in size and scope over the 2 waves of program deployments into 2023. Conclusions: Findings suggest that the peer support program is acceptable to physicians and can be easily and feasibly implemented within a health care organization. The structured program development and implementation can be adopted by other organizations in support of emerging needs and challenge

Lifetime vs. Annual Perspectives on Tax Incidence

Recent academic research on tax incidence has shifted from an emphasis on static and annual perspectives to examinations of dynamic and lifetime issues. Meanwhile, policy economists are forced to rely on annual data and hence annual analyses. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nature and analysis of lifetime tax incidence, and to compare and contrast this lifetime perspective with the more familiar annual perspective. In our comparison, we find that (1) the lifetime perspective requires much more data over longer periods of time, because results depends critically on the whole shape of the lifetime earnings profile, (2) individuals classified by annual income decile are often reclassified into very different lifetime income deciles, (3) the personal income tax and corporate income tax appear less progressive on a lifetime basis, while consumption taxes appear less regressive on a lifetime basis, and (4) despite the different approaches and the different reasons underlying the incidence of each particular tax, the lifetime incidence of the entire U.S. tax system is strikingly similar to the annual incidence.

Neglected Effects on the Uses Side: Even a Uniform Tax Would Change Relative Goods Prices

Fundamental tax reform may change relative prices of consumption goods and may therefore have important effects on the uses side that are ignored by most general equilibrium simulation models. For a uniform rate of tax, in our model, results on the uses side are driven by the nonuniform tax system being replaced. Similar effects occur under any uniform and comprehensive tax reform, whether the current system is replaced by a consumption tax, a wage tax, or a pure income tax. Any such reform that eliminates the current preferential treatment of housing would impose an additional one-time levy on the elderly, and any reform that eliminates the current double taxation of corporate capital would reduce the relative prices of corporate-capital-intensive goods bought by the poor.

Adaptive strategies in nocturnally migrating insects and songbirds: contrasting responses to wind.

1. Animals that use flight as their mode of transportation must cope with the fact that their migration and orientation performance is strongly affected by the flow of the medium they are moving in, i.e. by the winds. Different strategies can be used to mitigate the negative effects and benefit from the positive effects of a moving flow. The strategies an animal can use will be constrained by the relationship between the speed of the flow and the speed of the animal’s own propulsion in relation to the surrounding air. 2. Here we analyse entomological and ornithological radar data from north-western Europe to investigate how two different nocturnal migrant taxa, the noctuid moth Autographa gamma and songbirds, deal with wind by analysing variation in resulting flight directions in relation to the wind-dependent angle between the animal’s heading and track direction. 3. Our results, from fixed locations along the migratory journey, reveal different global strategies used by moths and songbirds during their migratory journeys. As expected, nocturnally migrating moths experienced a greater degree of wind drift than nocturnally migrating songbirds, but both groups were more affected by wind in autumn than in spring. 4. The songbirds’ strategies involve elements of both drift and compensation, providing some benefits from wind in combination with destination and time control. In contrast, moths expose themselves to a significantly higher degree of drift in order to obtain strong wind assistance, surpassing the songbirds in mean ground speed, at the cost of a comparatively lower spatiotemporal migratory precision. 5. Moths and songbirds show contrasting but adaptive responses to migrating through a moving flow, which are fine-tuned to the respective flight capabilities of each group in relation to the wind currents they travel within