Polarization singularities in the clear sky

Ideas from singularity theory provide a simple account of the pattern of polarization directions in daylight. The singularities (two near the Sun and two near the anti-Sun) are points in the sky where the polarization line pattern has index +1/2 and the intensity of polarization is zero. The singularities are caused by multiple scattering that splits into two each of the unstable index +1 singularities at the Sun and anti-Sun, which occur in the single-dipole scattering (Rayleigh) theory. The polarization lines are contours of an elliptic integral. For the intensity of polarization (unnormalized degree), it is necessary to incorporate the strong depolarizing effect of multiple scattering near the horizon. Singularity theory is compared with new digital images of sky polarization, and gives an excellent description of the pattern of polarization directions. For the intensity of polarization, the theory can reproduce not only the zeros but also subtle variations in the polarization maxima

Separate and Unequal: The Effect of Unequal Access to Employment-Based Health Insurance on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual People

Employers' standard practice of including legal spouses in health insurance is likely to place people in unmarried couples at a significant disadvantage for obtaining coverage. Data from married and unmarried couples in the Current Population Survey confirm that people with unmarried partners are two to three times more likely to lack health insurance than are people in married couples, even after controlling for factors that influence coverage. A requirement to provide the same benefits for partners as are provided to spouses would reduce the proportion of uninsured people in same-sex couples and different-sex couples by as much as 50%. We find no evidence of adverse selection. We predict that a typical employer offering domestic partner coverage will see a small increase in enrollment, ranging from 0.1% to 0.3% for same-sex partners and 1.3% to 2.1% for different-sex unmarried partners.health, health insurance, benefits, employment benefits, health disparities, domestic partners, minorities, discrimination, gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, gay, lesbian, marriage, same-sex couples

The Impact on Maryland\u27s Budget of Allowing Same-Sex Couples to Marry

This analysis estimates the potential impact of extending marriage rights to same-sex couples on Maryland’s state budget. Drawing on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Maryland statistical reports, we estimate that extending marriage rights to same-sex couples would result in a net gain of approximately $3.2 million each year. This net gain is attributable to savings in expenditures on meanstested public benefit programs and an increase in sales and lodging tax revenue from weddings and wedding-related tourism

Now That We Do: Same-sex Couples and Marriage in Massachusetts, a Demographic and Economic Perspective

Gay and lesbian couples can now legally marry in Massachusetts. This article examines the demographics of same-sex couples and concludes that gay marriage will have a relatively small but positive long-term aggregate economic impact on the Commonwealth

Potentiometric measurement of State-of-Charge of Lead-Acid batteries using Polymeric Ferrocene and Quinones derivatives

Measurement of state-of-charge of lead-acid batteries using potentiometric sensors would be convenient; however, most of the electrochemical couples are either soluble or are unstable in the battery electrolyte. This paper describes the results of an investigation of poly (divinylferrocene) (PDVF) and Poly(diethynylanthraquinone) (PAQ) couples in sulfuric acid with the view to developing a potentiometric sensor for lead-acid batteries. These compounds were both found to be quite stable and undergo reversible reduction/oxidation in sulfuric acid media. Their redox potential difference varied linearly with sulfuric acid concentration in the range of 1 M - 5 M (i.e. simulated lead-acid electrolyte during battery charge/discharge cycles). A sensor based on these compounds has been investigated

Bias in the Workplace: Consistent Evidence of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination 1998-2008

This article summarizes social science data published during the past decade documenting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in employment. Over the last ten years, many researchers have conducted studies to find out whether LGBT people face sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. These studies include surveys of LGBT individuals\u27 workplace experiences, wage comparisons between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and heterosexual persons, analyses of discrimination complaints filed with administrative agencies, and testing studies and controlled experiments

Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community

In 2007, 12.5% of Americans were officially counted as poor by the United States Census Bureau. People from every region, race, age, and sex are counted among our nation’s poor, where ―poor‖ is defined as living in a family with an income below the federal poverty level. In contrast, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people are invisible in these poverty statistics. This report undertakes the first analysis of the poor and low-income lesbian, gay, and bisexual population. The social and policy context of LGB life provides many reasons to think that LGB people are at least as likely—and perhaps more likely—to experience poverty as are heterosexual people: vulnerability to employment discrimination, lack of access to marriage, higher rates of being uninsured, less family support, or family conflict over coming out. All of those situations could increase the likelihood of poverty among LGB people. In this report, we analyze data from three surveys to compare poverty (as defined by the federal poverty line) between LGB and heterosexual people: Census 2000, the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), and the 2003 & 2005 California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS).We find clear evidence that poverty is at least as common in the LGB population as among heterosexual people and their families. After adjusting for a range of family characteristics that help explain poverty, gay and lesbian couple families are significantly more likely to be poor than are heterosexual married couple families. Notably, lesbian couples and their families are much more likely to be poor than heterosexual couples and their families. Children in gay and lesbian couple households have poverty rates twice those of children in heterosexual married couple households. Within the LGB population, several groups are much more likely to be poor than others. African American people in same-sex couples and same-sex couples who live in rural areas are much more likely to be poor than white or urban same-sex couples. While a small percentage of all families receive government cash supports intended for poor and low-income families, we find that gay and lesbian individuals and couples are more likely to receive these supports than are heterosexuals

No equity, no triple aim: strategic proposals to advance health equity in a volatile policy environment

Health professionals, including social workers, community health workers, public health workers, and licensed health care providers, share common interests and responsibilities in promoting health equity and improving social determinants of health—the conditions in which we live, work, play, and learn. This article summarizes underlying causes of health inequity and comparatively poor health outcomes in the U.S. It describes barriers to realizing the hope embedded in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that moving away from fee-for-service payments will naturally drive care upstream as providers respond to greater financial risk for the health of their patients by undertaking greater prevention efforts. The article asserts that health equity should serve as the guiding framework for achieving the Triple Aim of health care reform. It outlines practical opportunities for improving care and for promoting stronger efforts to address social determinants of health. These proposals include developing a dashboard of measures to assist providers committed to health equity and community-based prevention and to promote institutional accountability for addressing socio-economic factors that influence health

Lessons from the Pandemic: Analyzing the Experience of Distant Learning in Secondary Schools

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions switched to distance learning in March 2020. The study focuses on how the sudden transition affected the level of teachers’ anxiety and professional burnout. A total of 282 teachers from general education schools participated in the study. The results showed that the teachers successfully coped with the transition: the level of anxiety and burnout was similar to the results of previous studies of teachers before the pandemic. A significant role in the adaptation of teachers to the urgent transition to online education was played by their attitudes. In particular, those who adapted to the change and were able to get used to the distance format of work showed the lowest levels of anxiety compared with other groups who resisted the change and experienced difficulties. An important condition for successful distance learning, according to teachers, is the detailed regulation of infrastructural aspects of the educational process by the administration. The article discusses the next steps to improve the quality of distance learning based on experience

Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy in BaRuO3_3 systems

We investigated the temperature-dependence of the Raman spectra of a nine-layer BaRuO$_3$ single crystal and a four-layer BaRuO$_3$ epitaxial film, which show pseudogap formations in their metallic states. From the polarized and depolarized spectra, the observed phonon modes are assigned properly according to the predictions of group theory analysis. In both compounds, with decreasing temperature, while $A_{1g}$ modes show a strong hardening, $E_g$ (or $E_{2g}$) modes experience a softening or no significant shift. Their different temperature-dependent behaviors could be related to a direct Ru metal-bonding through the face-sharing of RuO$_6$. It is also observed that another $E_{2g}$ mode of the oxygen participating in the face-sharing becomes split at low temperatures in the four layer BaRuO$_3$. And, the temperature-dependence of the Raman continua between 250 $\sim$ 600 cm$^{-1}$ is strongly correlated to the square of the plasma frequency. Our observations imply that there should be a structural instability in the face-shared structure, which could be closely related to the pseudogap formation of BaRuO$_3$ systems.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. to be published in Phys. Rev.