Estimating The Revenue Loss From Food-For-Home Consumption

This policy brief discusses the estimation of the revenue effect from eliminating the state sales tax exemption of food-for-home consumption

The Effect of Insurance Premium Taxes on Employment

This report provides estimates of the effect of the insurance premium taxes on state-level employment in the insurance industry. FRC Report 18

Effects of Rotationally-Induced Mixing in Compact Binary Systems with Low-Mass Secondaries and in Single Solar-Type Stars

Many population synthesis and stellar evolution studies have addressed the evolution of close binary systems in which the primary is a compact remnant and the secondary is filling its Roche lobe, thus triggering mass transfer. Although tidal locking is expected in such systems, most studies have neglected the rotationally-induced mixing that may occur. Here we study the possible effects of mixing in the mass-losing stars for a range in secondary star masses and metallicities. We find that tidal locking can induce rotational mixing prior to contact and thus affect the evolution of the secondary star if the effects of the Spruit-Tayler dynamo are included both for angular momentum and chemical transport. Once contact is made, the effect of mass transfer tends to be more rapid than the evolutionary time scale, so the effects of mixing are no longer directly important, but the mass transfer strips matter to inner layers that may have been affected by the mixing. These effects are enhanced for secondaries of 1-1.2 Msun and for lower metallicities. We discuss the possible implications for the paucity of carbon in the secondaries of the cataclysmic variable SS Cyg and the black hole candidate XTE J1118+480 and for the progenitor evolution of Type Ia supernovae. We also address the issue of the origin of blue straggler stars in globular and open clusters. We find that for models that include rotation consistent with that observed for some blue straggler stars, evolution is chemically homogeneous. This leads to tracks in the HR diagram that are brighter and bluer than the non-rotating main-sequence turn-off point. Rotational mixing could thus be one of the factors that contribute to the formation of blue stragglers.Comment: 46 pages, 18 figure

Modified Friedman scenario from the Wheeler-DeWitt equation

We consider the possible modification of the Friedman equation due to operator ordering parameter entering the Wheeler-DeWitt equation.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figur

Alternative Formulas for Allocating LOST Revenue to Counties and Municipalities

The focus of our research is on the allocation of the LOST revenues between the county and municipal governments. This research reviewed various aspects of the LOST allocation and considered several alternative methods of distributing LOST revenues between the county and sub-county units. This is a complex problem with high stakes. Because the allocation is a zero-sum game, any change in the allocation is almost guaranteed to make one party worse off than under the current allocation. The real gains lie in both sides being freed from negotiations that are oftimes long and costly in terms of staff time and outside consultants. Report #9

Opposite Thermodynamic Arrows of Time

A model in which two weakly coupled systems maintain opposite running thermodynamic arrows of time is exhibited. Each experiences its own retarded electromagnetic interaction and can be seen by the other. The possibility of opposite-arrow systems at stellar distances is explored and a relation to dark matter suggested.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Proximate Composition of Seed and Biomass from Soybean Plants Grown at Different Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Concentrations

Soybean plants were grown for 90 days at 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 ubar (ppm) carbon dioxide (CO2) and compared for proximate nutritional value. For both cultivars (MC and PX), seed protein levels were highest at 1000 (39.3 and 41.9 percent for MC and PX) and lowest at 2000 (34.7 and 38.9 percent for MC and PX). Seed fat (oil) levels were highest at 2000 (21.2 and 20.9 percent for MC and PX) and lowest at 5000 (13.6 and 16.6 percent for MC and PX). Seed carbohydrate levels were highest at 500 (31.5 and 28.4 percent for MC and PX) and lowest at 2000 (20.9 and 20.8 percent for MC and PX). When adjusted for total seed yield per unit growing area, the highest production of protein and carbohydrate occurred with MC at 1000, while equally high amounts of fat were produced with MC at 1000 and 2000. Seed set and pod development at 2000 were delayed in comparison to other CO2 treatments; thus the proportionately high fat and low protein at 2000 may have been a result of the delay in plant maturity rather than CO2 concentration. Stem crude fiber and carbohydrate levels for both cultivars increased with increased CO2. Leaf protein and crude fiber levels also tended to rise with increased CO2 but leaf carbohydrate levels decreased as CO2 was increased. The results suggest that CO2 effects on total seed yield out-weighed any potential advantages to changes in seed composition

High Poverty Schools and the Distribution of Teachers and Principals

Although many factors combine to make a successful school, most people agree that quality teachers and school principals are among the most important requirements for success, especially when success is defined by the ability of the school to raise the achievement of its students. The central question for this study is how the quality of the teachers and principals in high-poverty schools in North Carolina compares to that in the schools serving more advantaged students. A related question is why these differences emerge. The consistency of the patterns across many measures of qualifications for both teachers and principals leaves no doubt that students in the high-poverty schools are served by school personnel with lower qualifications than those in the lower poverty schools. Moreover, in many cases the differences are large. Additional evidence documents that the differences largely reflect predictable outcomes of the labor market for teachers and principals. Hence, active policy interventions are needed to counter these forces if the ultimate goal is to provide equal educational opportunity