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

Conduction Block in the Peripheral Nervous System in Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis

Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis (EAE) has been widely studied as a model of multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system (CNS) disease of unknown aetiology. The clinical features of both EAE and multiple sclerosis provide the only guide to the progress and severity of these diseases, and are used to assess the response to treatment. In such comparisons the clinical features of EAE are assumed to be due to lesions in the CNS, but in this disease there is also histological evidence of damage to the peripheral nervous system (1-8). However, the functional consequences of such peripheral lesions have been entirely ignored. To examine this, we have studied nerve conduction in rabbits with EAE. We report here that most of the large diameter afferent fibres are blocked in the region of the dorsal root ganglion and at the dorsal root entry zone, thus accounting for the loss of tendon jerks and also, through the severe loss of proprioceptive information, the ataxia of thse animals. We conclude that whenever clinical comparisons are made between EAE and multiple sclerosis, the pathophysiology associated with histological damage of the peripheral nervous system must be taken into account

Incoherent dynamics in neutron-matter interaction

Coherent and incoherent neutron-matter interaction is studied inside a recently introduced approach to subdynamics of a macrosystem. The equation describing the interaction is of the Lindblad type and using the Fermi pseudopotential we show that the commutator term is an optical potential leading to well-known relations in neutron optics. The other terms, usually ignored in optical descriptions and linked to the dynamic structure function of the medium, give an incoherent contribution to the dynamics, which keeps diffuse scattering and attenuation of the coherent beam into account, thus warranting fulfilment of the optical theorem. The relevance of this analysis to experiments in neutron interferometry is briefly discussed.Comment: 15 pages, revtex, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Mirrors for slow neutrons from holographic nanoparticle-polymer free-standing film-gratings

We report on successful tests of holographically arranged grating-structures in nanoparticle-polymer composites in the form of 100 microns thin free-standing films, i.e. without sample containers or covers that could cause unwanted absorption/incoherent scattering of very-cold neutrons. Despite their large diameter of 2 cm, the flexible materials are of high optical quality and yield mirror-like reflectivity of about 90% for neutrons of 4.1 nm wavelength

The Orbits of Meteorites from Natural Thermoluminescence

The natural thermoluminescence (TL) of meteorites reflects their irradiation and thermal histories. Virtually all ordinary chondrites have been irradiated long enough to reach saturation natural TL levels, and thus natural TL levels in these meteorites are determined largely by thermal history. The primary heat source for most meteorites is the Sun, and thus natural TL levels are determined primarily by the closest approach to the Sun, i.e., perihelion. By converting natural TL levels to perihelia, using an assumed albedo typical of meteoroid bodies, it is found that most ordinary chondrites had perihelia of 0.85 to 1.0 AU prior to reaching Earth. This range is similar to that calculated from meteor and fireball observations. All common classes of ordinary chondrites exhibit similar perihelia distributions; however, H and LL chondrites that fell in the local morning differ in their natural TL distribution from those that fell in the local afternoon or evening. This is consistent with earlier suggestions that time of fall reflects orbital distribution. The data also suggest that the orbits of some of the H chondrites cluster and may have come from a debris 'stream' of meteoroids. If meteorites can exist in "orbital groups," significant changes in the types and number of meteorites reaching Earth could occur on the less than 10(exp 5)-year time scale