Budget gaps and balanced-budget proposals in Third District states
The Great Recession has severely tested the strength of state finances and the soundness of state budget practices. Quarterly state tax revenues have declined year-over-year for a record five quarters, from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the fourth quarter of 2009. The depth of decline is also unprecedented, with a 16.5 percent drop in the second quarter of 2009. An immediate consequence is that states are facing massive fiscal shortfalls, triggering rounds of tax increases and service cuts, plus reliance on federal stimulus money, reserves, one-off actions, and borrowing against the future. The Third District states (Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) have been similarly affected. Examining how each state is coping with the worst fiscal crisis of the last half-century sheds light on their respective fiscal practices and raises questions for further research. This report describes the scope of each state’s fiscal problems, including current and projected budget gaps, the effect of stimulus funding, and anticipated state-level policy responses. Key findings from this report include:  Budget gap estimates for Third District states vary significantly on a percentage-of-budget basis. The District’s aggregate gap is virtually identical to the national aggregate in FY 2009 and FY 2010, and somewhat smaller in FY 2011 than nationally.  Federal stimulus funding has reduced, but not eliminated, state budget gaps.  Delaware has avoided persistent structural budget problems and has been able to address this budget crisis with a balance of revenue increases, expenditure cuts, and federal stimulus aid, rather than deferring pension payments or employing other one-off strategies.  New Jersey has faced annual structural deficits since at least FY 1994 and will close its FY 2011 $10 billion budget gap in a technical sense. However, by relying on deferred payments and oneoff policies, New Jersey will fail to balance its budget from a long-term perspective.  Revenue declines were smaller for Pennsylvania, but the state has been heavily reliant on stimulus funds, it faces mounting long-term pension obligations, and it is responsible for an unusually large number of distressed cities and municipalities.
State tax revenue in the Third District
Recently several state governments have announced that their tax collections have fallen short of expectations. In the Third District states—Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware—state tax collections in recent months have been below amounts anticipated in state budgets. The governors of these states have announced reductions from budgeted spending. This report looks at the recent trend in state tax collections in the three states and reviews how state tax collections fared in past periods of economic weakness. The purpose is to understand how the current softening in national and regional economic conditions might affect state tax collections in the immediate future.
Haemopoietic activity and effect of crude fruit extract of phoenix dactylifera on peripheral blood parameters.
Aim: Phoenix dactylifera (date palm), has been reported to posses a variety of pharmacological activities which indicate its usefulness in various kinds of diseases and disorders. The present study was aimed at investigating the haemopoietic activity of crude fruit extract of Phoenix dactylifera (P. dactylifera) and its effect on peripheral blood parameters. 
Method: Fifty (50) Wistar rats weighing 100 to 200 grams and aged 2 to 3 months obtained from the Animal House of College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus were acclimatized for two weeks. They were divided into 10 groups of 5 rats per group labeled A1 ,A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2, E1 and E2. The first 5 groups were orally administered with graded doses of the crude Aqueous Extract of P. Dactylifera (AEPD) (A1=0.4, B1=0.1, C1=0.52, D1=0.90 mg/kg body weight and E1 [control]= 0.24ml Dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) while the second 5 groups were orally administered with graded doses of the crude Methanolic Extract of P. Dactylifera (MEPD) (A2=0.4, B2=0.1, C2=0.52, D2=0.90 mg/kg body weight and E2[control]=0.24ml DMSO). The administrations were once daily for 112 days. On Day 113, 2.5ml of blood samples were collected from each rat through the retro bulbar plexus of the median canthus of the eye into tri-potassium- Ethylenediamine tetracetic acid (K3-EDTA) anticoagulant container and bone marrow was also collected for the analysis using stantard operative procedure. 
Results: The results revealed dosage dependent significant increase in Absolute values, Red Blood Cell (RBC), Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Reticulocytes and Platelet count in both aqueous and methanolic extract when compared with the controls (p 0.05). 
Conclusion: The observed changes in this study has demonstrated that P. Dactylifera has haemopoietic effect when orally administered in Wistar rats.