\documentclass[10pt, twocolumn]{article}

\usepackage{todonotes}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage{amsmath}
%\setmainfont{New York}
%\setsansfont{New York}
%\setmonofont{New York}
%\usepackage[none]{hyphenat}

\usepackage{geometry} % to change the page dimensions
\geometry{a4paper, left=17.5mm, right=17.5mm, textwidth=85mm,columnsep=5mm, top=30mm}
\setlength{\parskip}{6pt}
%\setlength{\belowdisplayskip}{0pt} \setlength{\belowdisplayshortskip}{0pt}
%\setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{0pt} \setlength{\abovedisplayshortskip}{0pt}

\usepackage[backend=bibtex, dateabbrev=false]{biblatex}

\usepackage{graphicx} % support the \includegraphics command and options
%\usepackage[parfill]{parskip} % Activate to begin paragraphs with an empty line rather than an indent

%%% PACKAGES
\usepackage{booktabs} % for much better looking tables
\usepackage{array} % for better arrays (eg matrices) in maths
\usepackage{paralist} % very flexible & customisable lists (eg. enumerate/itemize, etc.)
\usepackage{verbatim} % adds environment for commenting out blocks of text & for better verbatim
\usepackage{subfig} % make it possible to include more than one captioned figure/table in a single float
% These packages are all incorporated in the memoir class to one degree or another...
\usepackage{lipsum}
%%% HEADERS & FOOTERS
\usepackage{fancyhdr} % This should be set AFTER setting up the page geometry
\pagestyle{fancy} % options: empty , plain , fancy
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt} % customise the layout...
\lhead{}\chead{}\rhead{}
\lfoot{}\cfoot{\thepage}\rfoot{}

%%% SECTION TITLE APPEARANCE
%\usepackage{sectsty}
%\allsectionsfont{\sffamily\mdseries\upshape} % (See the fntguide.pdf for font help)
% (This matches ConTeXt defaults)

%%% ToC (table of contents) APPEARANCE
\usepackage[nottoc,notlof,notlot]{tocbibind} % Put the bibliography in the ToC
\usepackage[titles,subfigure]{tocloft} % Alter the style of the Table of Contents
\renewcommand{\cftsecfont}{\rmfamily\mdseries\upshape}
\renewcommand{\cftsecpagefont}{\rmfamily\mdseries\upshape} % No bold!
\usepackage{authblk}
\usepackage{lipsum}  

\usepackage{hyperref}

\newcommand{\singlecolumnabstract}[1]{
\twocolumn[
\begin{@twocolumnfalse}
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
#1
\bigskip
\end{abstract}
\end{@twocolumnfalse}
]
}
\setlength{\marginparwidth}{1.2cm}

\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage{refcount}% http://ctan.org/pkg/refcount
\newcounter{fncntr}
\newcommand{\fnmark}[1]{\refstepcounter{fncntr}\label{#1}\footnotemark[\getrefnumber{#1}]}
\newcommand{\fntext}[2]{\footnotetext[\getrefnumber{#1}]{#2}}


%%% END Article customizations

\include{shortcuts.tex}

\newcommand{\nab}{\nabla}
\newcommand{\divrg}{\nab \cdot}
\newcommand{\curl}{\nab \cp}
\newcommand{\lap}{\Delta}
\newcommand{\p}{\partial}
\renewcommand{\d}{\mathrm{d}}
\newcommand{\rd}{~\mathrm{d}}
\newcommand{\ip}[1]{\left\langle#1\right\rangle}
\newcommand{\N}{\mathbb{N}}
\newcommand{\R}{\mathbb{R}}

%%% The "real" document content comes below...