Iowa Division of Persons with Disabilities Annual Report, 2003

This report highlights the achievements of the Division of Persons with Disabilities, especially new and innovative directions to improve the employment opportunities for Iowans with disabilities.

Division of Persons With Disabilities Annual Report, 2002

This report highlights the achievements of the Division of Persons with Disabilities, especially new and innovative directions to improve the employment opportunities for Iowans with disabilities.

Transcriptional activation of the macrophage migration-inhibitory factor gene by the corticotropin-releasing factor is mediated by the cyclic adenosine 3',5'- monophosphate responsive element-binding protein CREB in pituitary cells.

Macrophage migration-inhibitory factor (MIF) has recently been identified as a pituitary hormone that functions as a counterregulatory modulator of glucocorticoid action within the immune system. In the anterior pituitary gland, MIF is expressed in TSH- and ACTH-producing cells, and its secretion is induced by CRF. To investigate MIF function and regulation within pituitary cells, we initiated the characterization of the MIF 5'-regulatory region of the gene. The -1033 to +63 bp of the murine MIF promoter was cloned 5' to a luciferase reporter gene and transiently transfected into freshly isolated rat anterior pituitary cells. This construct drove high basal transcriptional activity that was further enhanced after stimulation with CRF or with an activator of adenylate cyclase. These transcriptional effects were associated with a concomitant rise in ACTH secretion in the transfected cells and by an increase in MIF gene expression as assessed by Northern blot analysis. A cAMP-responsive element (CRE) was identified within the MIF promoter region which, once mutated, abolished the cAMP responsiveness of the gene. Using this newly identified CRE, DNA-binding activity was detected by gel retardation assay in nuclear extracts prepared from isolated anterior pituitary cells and AtT-20 corticotrope tumor cells. Supershift experiments using antibodies against the CRE-binding protein CREB, together with competition assays and the use of recombinant CREB, allowed the detection of CREB-binding activity with the identified MIF CRE. These data demonstrate that CREB is the mediator of the CRF-induced MIF gene transcription in pituitary cells through an identified CRE in the proximal region of the MIF promoter.

The Effect of occupational sex-composition on earnings: job-specialisation, sex-role attitudes and the division of domestic-labour in Spain

Important theoretical controversies remain unresolved in the literatire on occupational sex-segregation and the gender wage-gap. A useful way of summarising these controversies is viewing them as a debate between - cultural -socialisation. The paper discusses these theories in detail and carries out a preliminary test of the relative explanatory performance of some of their most consequential predictions. This is done by drawing on the Spanish sample of the second wave of the European Social Survey, ESS. The empirical analysis of ESS data illustrates the notable analytical pay-offs that can stem from using rich individual-level indicators, but also exemplifies the statistical llimitations generated by small sample size and high rates of non-response. Empirical results should, therefore, be taken as preliminary. They seem to suggest that the effect of occupational sex-segregation on wages could be explicable by workers' sex-role attitutes, their relative input in domestic production and the job-specific human capital requirements of their jobs. Of these three factors, job-specialisation seeems clearly the most important one.

Cyclic AMP induces differentiation in vitro of human melanoma cells.

Treating human melanoma lines with dibutyryl adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (dbc AMP) resulted in morphologic changes associated with the altered expression of cell surface antigens. After treatment, cells developed long cellular projections characteristic of mature melanocytes and showed the presence of an increased number of Stage II premelanosomes. In addition, induction of melanin synthesis, detected as brown perinuclear pigmentation, was observed. The AMP further drastically reduced the growth rate of the five melanoma cell lines that were tested. The influence of dbc AMP was completely reversible 3 days after the agent was removed from the culture medium. The antigenic phenotype of the melanoma lines was compared before and after dbc AMP treatment. This was done with four monoclonal antibodies directed against major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class I and II antigens and 11 monoclonal antibodies defining eight different melanoma-associated antigenic systems. Treatment with dbc AMP reduced the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-ABC antigens and beta-2-microglobulin in five of five melanoma lines. In the two HLA-DR-positive cell lines dbc AMP reduced the expression of this antigen in one line and enhanced it in the other. No induction of HLA-DR or HLA-DC antigens was observed in the Class II negative cell lines. Furthermore, dbc-AMP modulated the expression of the majority of the melanoma antigenic systems tested. The expression of a 90-kilodalton (KD) antigen, which has been found to be upregulated by interferon-gamma, was markedly decreased in all the five cell lines. A similar decrease in the expression of the high molecular weight proteoglycan-associated antigen (220-240 KD) was observed. The reduced expression of Class I and II MHC antigens as well as the altered expression of the melanoma-associated antigens studied were shown to be reversible after dbc AMP was removed. Our results collectively show that the monoclonal antibody-defined melanoma-associated molecules are linked to differentiation. They could provide useful tools for monitoring the maturation of melanomas in vivo induced by chemical agents or natural components favoring differentiation.

Annual Report of Highway Division Highway Research and Development in Iowa, 2005

Annual report for Iowa Department of Transportation

Department of Commerce Iowa Division of Banking Performance Report, FY 2004

Agency Performance Report from the Banking Division

Department of Commerce Iowa Division of Banking Performance Report, FY 2005

Agency Performance Report from the Banking Division

Department of Commerce Iowa Credit Union Division Performance Report, FY 2004

Agency Performance Report from the Credit Union Division

Department of Commerce Iowa Credit Union Division Performance Report, FY 2005

Agency Performance Report from the Credit Union Division

Department of Commerce Iowa Insurance Division Performance Report, FY 2004

Agency Performance Report from the Insurance Division

Department of Commerce Iowa Professional Licensing and Regulation Division Performance Report, FY 2004

Agency Performance Report from the Professional Licensing and Regulation Division

Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management Division Performance Report, FY 2005

Agency Performance Report

Iowa Division of Labor, January 2006

This is an informational newsletter and stat card about the happenings in the Division of Labor.

Annual Report of Highway Division Highway Research and Development in Iowa for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2005

The Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled Highway Division Highway Research and Development in Iowa, is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund respectively. It is a report of the status of research and development projects, which were in progress on June 30, 2005; it is also a report on projects completed during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004, and ending June 30, 2005. Detailed information on each of the research and development projects mentioned in this report is available in the Research and Technology Bureau in the Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation.