Audit report on the City of Center Point, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the City of Center Point, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the City of Strawberry Point, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Audit report on the City of Strawberry Point, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Special investigation of the City of Center Point Library for the period January 1, 2006 through December 6, 2007

Special investigation of the City of Center Point Library for the period January 1, 2006 through December 6, 2007

The gain-loss asymmetry and single-self preferences

Kahneman and Tversky asserted a fundamental asymmetry between gains and losses, namely a reflection effect which occurs when an individual prefers a sure gain of $ pz to anuncertain gain of $ z with probability p, while preferring an uncertain loss of $z with probability p to a certain loss of $ pz.We focus on this class of choices (actuarially fair), and explore the extent to which thereflection effect, understood as occurring at a range of wealth levels, is compatible with single-self preferences.We decompose the reflection effect into two components, a probability switch effect,which is compatible with single-self preferences, and a translation effect, which is not. To argue the first point, we analyze two classes of single-self, nonexpected utility preferences, which we label homothetic and weakly homothetic. In both cases, we characterize the switch effect as well as the dependence of risk attitudes on wealth.We also discuss two types of utility functions of a form reminiscent of expected utility but with distorted probabilities. Type I always distorts the probability of the worst outcome downwards, yielding attraction to small risks for all probabilities. Type II distorts low probabilities upwards, and high probabilities downwards, implying risk aversion when the probability of the worst outcome is low. By combining homothetic or weak homothetic preferences with Type I or Type II distortion functions, we present four explicit examples: All four display a switch effect and, hence, a form of reflection effect consistent a single self preferences.

Forecasting and turning point predictions in a Bayesian panel VAR model

We provide methods for forecasting variables and predicting turning points in panel Bayesian VARs. We specify a flexible model which accounts for both interdependencies in the cross section and time variations in the parameters. Posterior distributions for the parameters are obtained for a particular type of diffuse, for Minnesota-type and for hierarchical priors. Formulas for multistep, multiunit point and average forecasts are provided. An application to the problem of forecasting the growth rate of output and of predicting turning points in the G-7 illustrates the approach. A comparison with alternative forecasting methods is also provided.

Audit report on the City of Center Point, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2008

Audit report on the City of Center Point, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2008

Rein et tabac : revue de la littérature et mise au point [Kidney and smoking: literature review and focus].

Smoking remains a major public health problem. It is associated with a considerable number of deaths in the world's population. Smoking is just like high blood pressure, an independent predictor of progression to any primary renal disease and renal transplant patients. It seems that smoking cessation slows the progression of kidney disease in smokers. The literature data are sometimes contradictory about it because of some methodological weaknesses. However, experimental models highlight the harmful effects of tobacco by hemodynamic and non-hemodynamic factors. The conclusion is that a major effort should be further produced by the nephrology community to motivate our patients to stop smoking.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 fitness is a determining factor in viral rebound and set point in chronic infection.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates from 20 chronically infected patients who participated in a structured treatment interruption (STI) trial were studied to determine whether viral fitness influences reestablishment of viremia. Viruses derived from individuals who spontaneously controlled viremia had significantly lower in vitro replication capacities than viruses derived from individuals that did not control viremia after interruption of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and replication capacities correlated with pre-ART and post-STI viral set points. Of note, no clinically relevant improvement of viral loads upon STI occurred. Virus isolates from controlling and noncontrolling patients were indistinguishable in terms of coreceptor usage, genetic subtype, and sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies. In contrast, viruses from controlling patients exhibited increased sensitivity to inhibition by chemokines. Sensitivity to inhibition by RANTES correlated strongly with slower replication kinetics of the virus isolates, suggesting a marked dependency of these virus isolates on high coreceptor densities on the target cells. In summary, our data indicate that viral fitness is a driving factor in determining the magnitude of viral rebound and viral set point in chronic HIV-1 infection, and thus fitness should be considered as a parameter influencing the outcome of therapeutic intervention in chronic infection.