Audit of the Telecommunications Facilities Revenue Bond Funds of Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University) as of and for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit of the Telecommunications Facilities Revenue Bond Funds of Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University) as of and for the year ended June 30, 2007

2007 Annual Report of the Iowa Railway Finance Authority

The Iowa Railway Finance Authority (IRFA) was created in 1980 by the 68th General Assembly to provide for the financing of rail facilities, and to enhance and continue the operation of essential rail facilities. IRFA was authorized to offer financial assistance for the acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, refinancing, extension, replacement, maintenance, repair or leasing of any rail facility. The 2005 legislative session amended Iowa Code 327H.20 by assigning all repayments of IRFA and other Iowa DOT rail assistance loans to the Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Fund. In 2006, a state appropriation of $235,000 was added to the program. In 2007, $2 million was appropriated to support rail development and job growth.

Audit report on the Iowa Water Pollution Control Works Financing Program and the Iowa Drinking Water Facilities Financing Program, joint programs of the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the Iowa Water Pollution Control Works Financing Program and the Iowa Drinking Water Facilities Financing Program, joint programs of the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the ADLM Facilities Management Systems Commission for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the ADLM Facilities Management Systems Commission for the year ended June 30, 2007

Hypertension. L'enregistrement tensionnel en ambulatoire: indispensable pour diagnostiquer et traiter l'hypertension [Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: essential for diagnosing and treating hypertension?].

According to recent international guidelines, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring plays an important role in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of arterial hypertension. Indications of this technique are multiple, concerning both day- and night-time blood pressures. Blood pressures provided by ambulatory monitoring may be used to stratify cardiovascular risk.

Report of the Athletic Facilities Revenue Bond Funds of Iowa State University of Science and Technology as of and for the year ended June 30, 2008

Report of the Athletic Facilities Revenue Bond Funds of Iowa State University of Science and Technology as of and for the year ended June 30, 2008

Toxic effects of essential plant oils in adult Sitophilus oryzae (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

Toxic effects of essential plant oils in adult Sitophilus oryzae (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). Stored grains are subject to losses in quality nutritional value and in sanitation from the time they are stored to the time they are consumed. Botanical insecticides may offer an alternative solution for pest control. The objective was to test the insecticidal properties of the essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus (leaf), Zingiber officinale (root) and Mentha sp. (leaf). The efficacy of these oils was tested to control the rice weevil, S. oryzae, using hydrodistillation. Chemical analysis of the essential oils was carried out by gas chromatography. Major components of C. citratus were geranial (48%) and neral (31%), of Z. officinale were α-zingibereno (13%), geranial (16%), neral (10%) and α-farneseno (5%) and of Mentha sp. was menthol (92%). Bioassays were carried out by fumigation and topical application. In topical application assays, the essential oil of C. citratus had greater toxicity (LC50 0.027 µL mL-1) and shorter exposure time than the oils of the other two plants. After 24 h and 48 h, 70% and 100% mortality of S. oryzae occurred, respectively. In fumigation assays, essential oil of Z. officinale had a lower LC50 (1.18 µL cm-2) and 70% mortality after 24 h exposure. Therefore, we recommend the use of essential oils of C. citratus and Z. officinale to control the rice weevil S. oryzae.

Genomewide association study using a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism array and case-control design identifies a novel essential hypertension susceptibility locus in the promoter region of endothelial NO synthase.

Essential hypertension is a multifactorial disorder and is the main risk factor for renal and cardiovascular complications. The research on the genetics of hypertension has been frustrated by the small predictive value of the discovered genetic variants. The HYPERGENES Project investigated associations between genetic variants and essential hypertension pursuing a 2-stage study by recruiting cases and controls from extensively characterized cohorts recruited over many years in different European regions. The discovery phase consisted of 1865 cases and 1750 controls genotyped with 1M Illumina array. Best hits were followed up in a validation panel of 1385 cases and 1246 controls that were genotyped with a custom array of 14 055 markers. We identified a new hypertension susceptibility locus (rs3918226) in the promoter region of the endothelial NO synthase gene (odds ratio: 1.54 [95% CI: 1.37-1.73]; combined P=2.58 · 10(-13)). A meta-analysis, using other in silico/de novo genotyping data for a total of 21 714 subjects, resulted in an overall odds ratio of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.25-1.44; P=1.032 · 10(-14)). The quantitative analysis on a population-based sample revealed an effect size of 1.91 (95% CI: 0.16-3.66) for systolic and 1.40 (95% CI: 0.25-2.55) for diastolic blood pressure. We identified in silico a potential binding site for ETS transcription factors directly next to rs3918226, suggesting a potential modulation of endothelial NO synthase expression. Biological evidence links endothelial NO synthase with hypertension, because it is a critical mediator of cardiovascular homeostasis and blood pressure control via vascular tone regulation. This finding supports the hypothesis that there may be a causal genetic variation at this locus.

2008 Annual Report of the Iowa Railway Finance Authority

The Iowa Railway Finance Authority (IRFA) was created in 1980 by the 68th General Assembly to provide for the financing of rail facilities and to enhance and continue the operation of essential rail facilities. IRFA was authorized to offer financial assistance for the acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, refinancing, extension, replacement, maintenance, repair, or leasing of any rail facility. Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program The 2005 legislative session amended Iowa Code 327H.20 by assigning all repayments of IRFA and other Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) rail assistance loans to the Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program (RRLGP). In addition, the following annual appropriations were allocated to the fund: • FY 2007: $235,000 • FY 2008: $2 million • FY 2009: $2 million Since the creation of the RRLGP in 2005, IRFA has awarded funding to 23 projects totaling over $7.2 million in grants and loans in its three rounds of competitive funding. These projects have pledged to create 1,672 jobs within two years of project completion and 1,361 jobs have been retained. Funded projects are associated with over $2 billion in total private capital investment. In 2008, the IRFA Board directed all available funds be used to help repair railroads devastated by summer flooding. On July 31, $3.9 million in deferred payment loans were offered to seven Iowa based railroads to allow for immediate repair of rail beds, including the cost of materials, labor and equipment.

Location of multiple server common service centers or public facilities for minimizing general congestion and travel cost functions

We propose a model and solution methods, for locating a fixed number ofmultiple-server, congestible common service centers or congestible publicfacilities. Locations are chosen so to minimize consumers congestion (orqueuing) and travel costs, considering that all the demand must be served.Customers choose the facilities to which they travel in order to receiveservice at minimum travel and congestion cost. As a proxy for thiscriterion, total travel and waiting costs are minimized. The travel costis a general function of the origin and destination of the demand, whilethe congestion cost is a general function of the number of customers inqueue at the facilities.

Renal tissue oxygenation in essential hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

Animal studies suggest that renal tissue hypoxia plays an important role in the development of renal damage in hypertension and renal diseases, yet human data were scarce due to the lack of noninvasive methods. Over the last decade, blood oxygenation level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-MRI), detecting deoxyhemoglobin in hypoxic renal tissue, has become a powerful tool to assess kidney oxygenation noninvasively in humans. This paper provides an overview of BOLD-MRI studies performed in patients suffering from essential hypertension or chronic kidney disease (CKD). In line with animal studies, acute changes in cortical and medullary oxygenation have been observed after the administration of medication (furosemide, blockers of the renin-angiotensin system) or alterations in sodium intake in these patient groups, underlining the important role of renal sodium handling in kidney oxygenation. In contrast, no BOLD-MRI studies have convincingly demonstrated that renal oxygenation is chronically reduced in essential hypertension or in CKD or chronically altered after long-term medication intake. More studies are required to clarify this discrepancy and to further unravel the role of renal oxygenation in the development and progression of essential hypertension and CKD in humans.

European Council of Legal Medicine (ECLM) accreditation of forensic pathology services in Europe.

Forensic experts play a major role in the legal process as they offer professional expert opinion and evidence within the criminal justice system adjudicating on the innocence or alleged guilt of an accused person. In this respect, medico-legal examination is an essential part of the investigation process, determining in a scientific way the cause(s) and manner of unexpected and/or unnatural death or bringing clinical evidence in case of physical, psychological, or sexual abuse in living people. From a legal perspective, these types of investigation must meet international standards, i.e., it should be independent, effective, and prompt. Ideally, the investigations should be conducted by board-certified experts in forensic medicine, endowed with a solid experience in this field, without any hierarchical relationship with the prosecuting authorities and having access to appropriate facilities in order to provide forensic reports of high quality. In this respect, there is a need for any private or public national or international authority including non-governmental organizations seeking experts qualified in forensic medicine to have at disposal a list of specialists working in accordance with high standards of professional performance within forensic pathology services that have been successfully submitted to an official accreditation/certification process using valid and acceptable criteria. To reach this goal, the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) has elaborated an accreditation/certification checklist which should be served as decision-making support to assist inspectors appointed to evaluate applicants. In the same spirit than NAME Accreditation Standards, European Council of Legal Medicine (ECLM) board decided to set up an ad hoc working group with the mission to elaborate an accreditation/certification procedure similar to the NAME's one but taking into account the realities of forensic medicine practices in Europe and restricted to post-mortem investigations. This accreditation process applies to services and not to individual practitioners by emphasizing policies and procedures rather than professional performance. In addition, the standards to be complied with should be considered as the minimum standards needed to get the recognition of performing and reliable forensic pathology service.

Audit report on the Iowa Water Pollution Control Works Financing Program and the Iowa Drinking Water Facilities Financing Program, joint programs of the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the year ended June 30, 2008

Audit report on the Iowa Water Pollution Control Works Financing Program and the Iowa Drinking Water Facilities Financing Program, joint programs of the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the year ended June 30, 2008