Concatenation of Kerr solitary waves in ceramic YAG: application to coherent Raman imaging.

A coherent concatenation of multiple solitary waves may lead to a stable infrared and visible broadband filament in a ceramic YAG polycrystal. This self-trapped soliton train is leveraged to implement self-referenced multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SR-M-CARS) imaging. Simulations and experiments illustrating the filamentation process and the concatenation of focusing-defocusing cycles in ceramic and crystal YAG are presented.

Differential Regulation of Echinocandin Targets Fks1 and Fks2 in by the Post-Transcriptional Regulator Ssd1.

Invasive infections caused by the opportunistic pathogen are treated with echinocandin antifungals that target β-1,3-glucan synthase, an enzyme critical for fungal cell wall biosynthesis. Echinocandin resistance develops upon mutation of genes ( or ) that encode the glucan synthase catalytic subunits. We have analyzed cellular factors that influence echinocandin susceptibility and here describe effects of the post-transcriptional regulator Ssd1, which in , can bind cell wall related gene transcripts.

The Coronavirus and the Risks to the Elderly in Long-Term Care.

The elderly in long-term care (LTC) and their caregiving staff are at elevated risk from COVID-19. Outbreaks in LTC facilities can threaten the health care system. COVID-19 suppression should focus on testing and infection control at LTC facilities.

Innovative Contracting for Pharmaceuticals and Medicaid's Best-Price Rule.

In recent years, drug manufacturers and private payers have expressed interest in novel pricing models that more closely link a drug's price to its value. Indication-based pricing, outcome-based pricing, drug licenses, and drug mortgages have all been discussed as alternatives to paying strictly for volume. Manufacturers and payers have complained, however, that Medicaid's "best-price rule" inhibits their ability to enter into these new pricing arrangements.

Medicine as a Public Calling.

The debate over how to tame private medical spending tends to pit advocates of government-provided insurance--a single-payer scheme--against those who would prefer to harness market forces to hold down costs. When it is mentioned at all, the possibility of regulating the medical industry as a public utility is brusquely dismissed as anathema to the American regulatory tradition. This dismissiveness, however, rests on a failure to appreciate just how deeply the public utility model shaped health law in the twentieth century-- and how it continues to shape health law today.

Three Words and the Future of the Affordable Care Act.

As an essential part of its effort to achieve near universal coverage, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) extends sizable tax credits to most people who buy insurance on the newly established health care exchanges. Yet several lawsuits have been filed challenging the availability of those tax credits in the thirty-four states that refused to set up their own exchanges. The lawsuits are premised on a strained interpretation of the ACA that, if accepted, would make a hash of other provisions of the statute and undermine its effort to extend coverage to the uninsured.