City of Newhall, Independent Accountant's Report on Applying Agreed Upon Procedures, For the Period July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005

City Audit Report

A Comparative Study of Transvaginal Tape, Transobturator Tape Outside-in, and Transvaginal Tape-obturator Inside-out Surgical Procedures in the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence

The aim of this work was to use the Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Quality of Life (IIQ-7) questionnaires to compare 3 surgical techniques for stress urinary incontinence: the transvaginal tape (TVT) (105 women), the transobturator tape outside-in (TOT) (43 women), and the transvaginal tape-obturator inside-out (TVT-O) (54 women). There were no significant differences in frequent urination, urine leakage related to the feeling of urgency, urine leakage related to physical activity, or small amounts of urine leakage. TVT-operated women had a lower percentage of micturition difficulties compared with TOT women. TVT-O-operated women described slight discomfort in the genital area compared with the TVT technique, but this difference was not significant when compared with the TOT technique. When utilizing the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 scoring modifications before and after surgery, no difference among these 3 techniques is apparent.

City of Oakland, Independent Accountant's Report on Applying Agreed Upon Procedures, For the Period July 1, 2005 through February 28,2006

City Audit Report

City of Springbrook, Independent Accountant's Report on Applying Agreed Upon Procedures, For the Period July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005

City Audit Report

Materials and Mix Optimization Procedures for PCC Pavements, March 2006

Severe environmental conditions, coupled with the routine use of deicing chemicals and increasing traffic volume, tend to place extreme demands on portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements. In most instances, engineers have been able to specify and build PCC pavements that met these challenges. However, there have also been reports of premature deterioration that could not be specifically attributed to a single cause. Modern concrete mixtures have evolved to become very complex chemical systems. The complexity can be attributed to both the number of ingredients used in any given mixture and the various types and sources of the ingredients supplied to any given project. Local environmental conditions can also influence the outcome of paving projects. This research project investigated important variables that impact the homogeneity and rheology of concrete mixtures. The project consisted of a field study and a laboratory study. The field study collected information from six different projects in Iowa. The information that was collected during the field study documented cementitious material properties, plastic concrete properties, and hardened concrete properties. The laboratory study was used to develop baseline mixture variability information for the field study. It also investigated plastic concrete properties using various new devices to evaluate rheology and mixing efficiency. In addition, the lab study evaluated a strategy for the optimization of mortar and concrete mixtures containing supplementary cementitious materials. The results of the field studies indicated that the quality management concrete (QMC) mixtures being placed in the state generally exhibited good uniformity and good to excellent workability. Hardened concrete properties (compressive strength and hardened air content) were also satisfactory. The uniformity of the raw cementitious materials that were used on the projects could not be monitored as closely as was desired by the investigators; however, the information that was gathered indicated that the bulk chemical composition of most materials streams was reasonably uniform. Specific minerals phases in the cementitious materials were less uniform than the bulk chemical composition. The results of the laboratory study indicated that ternary mixtures show significant promise for improving the performance of concrete mixtures. The lab study also verified the results from prior projects that have indicated that bassanite is typically the major sulfate phase that is present in Iowa cements. This causes the cements to exhibit premature stiffening problems (false set) in laboratory testing. Fly ash helps to reduce the impact of premature stiffening because it behaves like a low-range water reducer in most instances. The premature stiffening problem can also be alleviated by increasing the water–cement ratio of the mixture and providing a remix cycle for the mixture.

Clarinda Correctional Facility, Independent Accountant's Report on Applying Agreed Upon Procedures, March 30, 2006

Other Audit Reports - Letters

Procedures’ costs related to outpatient chemotherapy treatment of women suffering from breast cancer

To identify the direct cost of procedures related to an outpatient chemotherapy treatment for women with breast cancer. Method: This is a quantitative research, using the case study methodology, performed in an outpatient chemotherapy of a private hospital. The total cost was calculated by multiplying the time spent by professionals involved in therapeutic procedures, the unit cost of direct labor, adding to the cost of materials, drugs and solutions. For performing the calculations, we used the Brazilian currency (R$). Results: The average total cost per chemotherapy session corresponded to R$ 1,783.01 (100%), being R$ 1,671.66 (93,75%) spent with drugs, R$ 74,98 (4.21%) with materials, R$ 28.49 (1.60%) with labor and R$ 7.88 (0.44%) with solutions. Conclusion: The results may support discussions and decision making for the management of costs related to chemotherapy aimed at reducing expenses and eliminating waste without harm to the care provided. 


Compétences en santé déficientes: obstacle à une prise en charge optimale [Low health literacy: barrier to optimal care].

Health literacy is defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions." Low health literacy mainly affects certain populations at risk limiting access to care, interaction with caregivers and self-management. If there are screening tests, their routine use is not advisable and recommended interventions in practice consist rather to reduce barriers to patient-caregiver communication. It is thus important to include not only population's health literacy but also communication skills of a health system wich tend to become more complex.

Audit report on applying agreed-upon procedures for the City of Linden’s compliance with road use tax requirements for the period July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2004

Audit report on applying agreed-upon procedures for the City of Linden’s compliance with road use tax requirements for the period July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2004

Agreed upon procedures report of the Protective Payee Program of Lee County as of February 15, 2007

Agreed upon procedures report of the Protective Payee Program of Lee County as of February 15, 2007

Agreed upon procedures report on the City of Emerson, Iowa for the period July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006

Agreed upon procedures report on the City of Emerson, Iowa for the period July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006

Report on applying agreed-upon procedures to the City of Protivin’s certification of compliance with Chapter 388.10 of the Code of Iowa

Report on applying agreed-upon procedures to the City of Protivin’s certification of compliance with Chapter 388.10 of the Code of Iowa

Department of Human Services agreed upon procedures engagement for the year ended June 30, 2006

Department of Human Services agreed upon procedures engagement for the year ended June 30, 2006

Agreed upon procedures report for evaluating compliance with provisions of IowaCare (Project No 11-W-00189/7) within the Iowa Department of Human Services for the year ended June 30, 2006

Agreed upon procedures report for evaluating compliance with provisions of IowaCare (Project No 11-W-00189/7) within the Iowa Department of Human Services for the year ended June 30, 2006