Consumer Advisory Bulletin, How to Find Reputable In-Home Health Care and Service Plans, January 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: How to Find Reputable In-Home Health Care and Service Plans

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, "Credit Card Protection Plans" -- Paying for What You Can Do for Free?, January 2008

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: "Credit Card Protection Plans" -- Paying for What You Can Do for Free?

Iowa 2008 Medicare Part D Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plans, 2008

Medicare Deductible, co-insurance and premiuns form, and rescription drugs plans.

Testing financing constraints on firm investment using variable capital

We consider a dynamic multifactor model of investment with financing imperfections,adjustment costs and fixed and variable capital. We use the model to derive a test offinancing constraints based on a reduced form variable capital equation. Simulation resultsshow that this test correctly identifies financially constrained firms even when the estimationof firms investment opportunities is very noisy. In addition, the test is well specified inthe presence of both concave and convex adjustment costs of fixed capital. We confirmempirically the validity of this test on a sample of small Italian manufacturing companies.

Pay-as-you-go social security and the distribution of bequests

This paper studies the impact of an unfunded social security system on the distribution of bequests in a framework where savings are due both by life cycle and by random altruistic motivations. We show that the impact of social security on the distribution of bequests depends crucially on the importance of the bequest motive in explaining savings behavior. If the bequest motive is strong, then an increase in the social security tax raises the bequests left by altruistic parents. On the other hand, when the importance of bequests in motivating savings is sufficiently low, theincrease in the social security tax could result in a reduction of the bequests left by altruistic parents under some conditions on the attitude of individuals toward risk and on the relative returns associated with private saving and social security. Some implications concerning the transitional effects of introducing an unfunded social security scheme are also discussed.

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Contractor Pay System for the period May 5, 2008 through July 31, 2008

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Contractor Pay System for the period May 5, 2008 through July 31, 2008

Granulomatosis-associated common variable immunodeficiency disorder: a case-control study versus sarcoidosis.

The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent interstitial lung disease (ILD) in common variable immunodeficiency disorder (CVID)-associated granulomatous disease (GD) is similar to pulmonary sarcoidosis 20 patients with CVID/GD were included in a retrospective study conducted by the Groupe Sarcoïdose Francophone. Medical records were centralised. Patients were compared with 60 controls with sarcoidosis. Clinical examination showed more frequent crackles in patients than controls (45% versus 1.7%, respectively; p<0.001). On thoracic computed tomography scans, nodules (often multiple and with smooth margins), air bronchograms and halo signs were more frequent in patients than controls (80% versus 42%, respectively; p=0.004) as well as bronchiectasis (65% versus 23%, respectively; p<0.001). The micronodule distribution was perilymphatic in 100% of controls and in 42% of patients (p<0.001). Bronchoalveolar lavage analysis showed lower T-cell CD4/CD8 ratios in patients than in controls (mean±sd 1.6±1.1 versus 5.3±4, respectively; p<0.01). On pathological analysis, nodules and consolidations corresponded to granulomatous lesions with or without lymphocytic disorders in most cases. Mortality was higher in patients than controls (30% versus 0%, respectively) and resulted from common variable immunodeficiency complications. ILD in CVID/GD presents a specific clinical picture and evolution that are markedly different from those of sarcoidosis.

Variable phenotypic expressivity in a Swiss family with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa due to a T494M mutation in the PRPF3 gene.

PURPOSE: To characterize the clinical, psychophysical, and electrophysiological phenotypes in a five-generation Swiss family with dominantly inherited retinitis pigmentosa caused by a T494M mutation in the Precursor mRNA-Processing factor 3 (PRPF3) gene, and to relate the phenotype to the underlying genetic mutation. METHODS: Eleven affected patients were ascertained for phenotypic and genotypic characterization. Ophthalmologic evaluations included color vision testing, Goldmann perimetry, and digital fundus photography. Some patients had autofluorescence imaging, Optical Coherence Tomography, and ISCEV-standard full-field electroretinography. All affected patients had genetic testing. RESULTS: The age of onset of night blindness and the severity of the progression of the disease varied between members of the family. Some patients reported early onset of night blindness at age three, with subsequent severe deterioration of visual acuity, which was 0.4 in the best eye after their fifties. The second group of patients had a later onset of night blindness, in the mid-twenties, with a milder disease progression and a visual acuity of 0.8 at age 70. Fundus autofluorescence imaging and electrophysiological and visual field abnormalities also showed some degree of varying phenotypes. The autofluorescence imaging showed a large high-density ring bilaterally. Myopia (range: -0.75 to -8) was found in 10/11 affected subjects. Fundus findings showed areas of atrophy along the arcades. A T494M change was found in exon 11 of the PRPF3 gene. The change segregates with the disease in the family. CONCLUSIONS: A mutation in the PRPF3 gene is rare compared to other genes causing autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP). Although a T494M change has been reported, the family in our study is the first with variable expressivity. Mutations in the PRPF3 gene can cause a variable ADRP phenotype, unlike in the previously described Danish, English, and Japanese families. Our report, based on one of the largest affected pedigree, provides a better understanding as to the phenotype/genotype description of ADRP caused by a PRPF3 mutation.

Gross to Net Calculator, November 2009

Gross-to-Net is a payroll calculator modeled after the actual payroll calculation program used for state employees’ pay warrants. This calculator can be used to project changes in deduction amounts and net pay when there are changes in pay amounts, hours worked, mandatory and voluntary deductions, including all pre-tax deductions such as retirement, insurances, deferred compensation or flexible spending plans. Federal and state tax withholding, retirement rates, OASDI and Medicare (FICA), and insurance deductions are calculated using current rates on HRIS Production. The Gross-to-Net Calculator is accessed through the employee’s timesheet. For instructions on accessing the timesheet, please refer to the HRIS Time Reporting System Manual. When viewing the timesheet, enter “GN” in the header action field to go to the calculator.