Transportation in Iowa: A Historical Summary, 1988

“This book traces the development of transportation in Iowa from territorial days to the 19 80s. It shows the evolution of the transportation systems; how they originated, progressed and functioned; their structural organizations; effectiveness in overcoming obstacles, under the guidance of state and federal legislation; and their impact upon the development of the state.” – From the Prologue, page xiii

Report on the Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit program administered by the State Historic Preservation Office within the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, for the period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2013

Report on the Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit program administered by the State Historic Preservation Office within the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, for the period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2013

A comparative study of difficulties in accounting preparation and judgement in agriculture using fair value and historical cost for biological assets valuation

Este estudio realiza un investigación empírica comparando las dificultades que se derivan de la utilización del valor razonable (VR) y del coste histórico (CH) en el sector agrícola. Se analiza también la fiabilidad de ambos métodos de valoración para la interpretación de la información y la toma de decisiones por parte de los agentes que actúan en el sector. Mediante un experimento realizado con estudiantes, agricultores y contables que operan en el sector agrícola, se halla que estos tienen más dificultades, cometen mayores errores e interpretan peor la información contable realizada a CH que la realizada a VR. Entrevistas en profundidad con agricultores y contables agrícolas desvelan prácticas contables defectuosas derivadas de la necesidad de aplicar el CH en el sector en España. Dadas las complejidades del cálculo del coste de los activos biológicos y el predominio de pequeñas explotaciones en el sector en los países occidentales avanzados, el estudio concluye que la contabilidad a VR constituye una mejoría de utilización y desarrollo de la contabilidad en el sector que la confeccionada a CH. Asimismo, el CH transmite una peor representación de la situación real de las explotaciones agrícolas.

Historical reconstruction of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposures for workers in a capacitor manufacturing plant

We developed a semiquantitative job exposure matrix (JEM) for workers exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a capacitor manufacturing plant from 1946 to 1977. In a recently updated mortality study, mortality of prostate and stomach cancer increased with increasing levels of cumulative exposure estimated with this JEM (trend p values = 0.003 and 0.04, respectively). Capacitor manufacturing began with winding bales of foil and paper film, which were placed in a metal capacitor box (pre-assembly), and placed in a vacuum chamber for flood-filling (impregnation) with dielectric fluid (PCBs). Capacitors dripping with PCB residues were then transported to sealing stations where ports were soldered shut before degreasing, leak testing, and painting. Using a systematic approach, all 509 unique jobs identified in the work histories were rated by predetermined process- and plant-specific exposure determinants; then categorized based on the jobs' similarities (combination of exposure determinants) into 35 job exposure categories. The job exposure categories were ranked followed by a qualitative PCB exposure rating (baseline, low, medium, and high) for inhalation and dermal intensity. Category differences in other chemical exposures (solvents, etc.) prevented further combining of categories. The mean of all available PCB concentrations (1975 and 1977) for jobs within each intensity rating was regarded as a representative value for that intensity level. Inhalation (in microgram per cubic milligram) and dermal (unitless) exposures were regarded as equally important. Intensity was frequency adjusted for jobs with continuous or intermittent PCB exposures. Era-modifying factors were applied to the earlier time periods (1946-1974) because exposures were considered to have been greater than in later eras (1975-1977). Such interpolations, extrapolations, and modifying factors may introduce non-differential misclassification; however, we do believe our rigorous method minimized misclassification, as shown by the significant exposure-response trends in the epidemiologic analysis.

The Implied Book and the Narrative Text. On a Blind Spot in Narratological Theory - from a Media Studies Perspective

The article is concerned with the formal definition of a largely unnoticed factor in narrative structure. Based on the assumptions that (1) the semantics of a written text depend, among other factors, directly on its visual alignment in space, that (2) the formal structure of a text has to meet that of its spatial presentation and that (3) these assumptions hold true also for narrative texts (which, however, in modern times typically conceal their spatial dimensions by a low-key linear layout), it is argued that, how ever low-key, the expected material shape of a given narrative determines the configuration of its plot by its author. The ,implied book' thus denotes an author's historically assumable, not necessarily conscious idea of how his text, which is still in the process of creation, will be dimensionally presented and under these circumstances visually absorbed. Assuming that an author's knowledge of this later (potentially) substantiated material form influences the composition, the implied book is to be understood as a text-genetically determined, structuring moment of the text. Historically reconstructed, it thus serves the methodical analysis of structural characteristics of a completed text.

La construcción narrativa de la identidad en un contexto educativo intercultural = The narrative construction of identity in a intercultural educative setting

En este trabajo se expone e ilustra un modelo teórico para entender las funciones de la identidad, así como los mecanismospsicosociales asociados a su construcción: “Modelo Evolutivo y Funcional de la Identidad Mediada” (MEBIM). La identidad, mediada narrativamente, cumple una función personal orientada a la dirección de la propia vida, así como una función sociocultural vinculada a la búsqueda de reconocimiento de los derechos de los grupos sociales a los que uno se siente apegado. Se ilustran los factores asociados a la construcción de la identidad personal (sí mismos posibles, transiciones vitales, vínculo afectivo) y sociocultural (acción-transformación e identificación simbólica) a partir de 12 historias de vida realizadas con mestizos e indígenasde la Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas (México). Se sugiere que en contextos educativos formales, como la escuela o la Universidad, se deben propiciar narrativas personales y socioculturales con el objetivo de optimizar la identidad en un mundo a la vez globalizado y plural

Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant State Narrative for Iowa Application for 2015 Annual Report for 2013, September 21, 2014

Key factors that provide context for the state's Maternal and Child Health (MCH) annual report and state plan are highlighted in this overview. This section briefly outlines Iowa's demographics, population changes, economic indicators and significant public initiatives. Major strategic planning efforts affecting development of program activities are also identified.

Mesoscale numerical analysis of the historical November 1982 heavy precipitation event over Andorra (Eastern Pyrenees)

From 6 to 8 November 1982 one of the most catastrophic flash-flood events was recorded in the Eastern Pyrenees affecting Andorra and also France and Spain with rainfall accumulations exceeding 400 mm in 24 h, 44 fatalities and widespread damage. This paper aims to exhaustively document this heavy precipitation event and examines mesoscale simulations performed by the French Meso-NH non-hydrostatic atmospheric model. Large-scale simulations show the slow-evolving synoptic environment favourable for the development of a deep Atlantic cyclone which induced a strong southerly flow over the Eastern Pyrenees. From the evolution of the synoptic pattern four distinct phases have been identified during the event. The mesoscale analysis presents the second and the third phase as the most intense in terms of rainfall accumulations and highlights the interaction of the moist and conditionally unstable flows with the mountains. The presence of a SW low level jet (30 m s-1) around 1500 m also had a crucial role on focusing the precipitation over the exposed south slopes of the Eastern Pyrenees. Backward trajectories based on Eulerian on-line passive tracers indicate that the orographic uplift was the main forcing mechanism which triggered and maintained the precipitating systems more than 30 h over the Pyrenees. The moisture of the feeding flow mainly came from the Atlantic Ocean (7-9 g kg-1) and the role of the Mediterranean as a local moisture source was very limited (2-3 g kg-1) due to the high initial water vapour content of the parcels and the rapid passage over the basin along the Spanish Mediterranean coast (less than 12 h).