Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2004

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Summer 2004

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2005

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Summer 2005

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2006

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Investigation of Luther City Council Violation of Open Meetings Law, 2006

Case File 0603454 The Ombudsman received a complaint on August 29, 2006 alleging violations of the Iowa Open Meetings Law by the Luther City Council (Council) in its meeting on August 2, 2006. Based upon my review of the complaint, I identified the following allegations for investigation: • The Council violated Iowa Code section 21.5 by failing to announce the reason session on the August 2, 2006 meeting agenda. • The Council violated Iowa Code section 21.5 by holding a closed session for an impermissible reason. • The Council violated Iowa Code section 21.5(2) by discussing unrelated issues in the closed session.

A new approach in the treatment of high flow native AV fistula: the open-pore external scaffolding prosthesis

Objective: The vascular access steal syndrome is a complication occurring in 1-6% after native arterio-venous (AV) fistulas, often due to huge diameter of the vein. This results in very high flow, which could also be responsible for cardiac overload. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of a new approach in the treatment of this pathology using open-pore external scaffolding prosthesis.Methods: This a retrospective review of all patients presenting symptomatic high flow after native AV fistula between January 2007 and December 2009 in 3 vascular centers. Pre-operative duplex exam confirmed the diagnosis of high flow. The operation consisted in preparation of the whole fistula, measurement of the flow and section on the venous side. The vein was wrapped with this 6 to 8 mm open-pore external scaffolding prosthesis (ProVena, BBraun, Germany) according to its diameter and to the flow and then sutured. Measurement of the flow was repeated. Patients were followed by duplex exam at 1 week and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Procedural success was defined as complete implantation of the prosthesis and reduction of the flow. Primary outcomes were reduction of the flow and recovery of the symptoms and secondary endpoint was patency of the fistula.Results: During the study period, 14 patients, with a mean age of 65・8 years old, have been operated with this technique.There were 2 native forearmfistulas and 12 on the armwith a mean pre-operative flow of 2600 ml/min (1800-3800). The mode of presentation was pain in 6 patients, neurological disorders in 10 and necrosis in 4. Moreover, 3 patients had cardiac insufficiency due to high flow in the fistula. The procedure was technically successful in 100% of cases. Re-intervention was necessary in 2 patients due to hematoma. Recovery of the initial symptoms occurred in 13 patients (93%). The mean flow reduction was 1200 ml/min (600-2000). In 1 patient, a persistent steal syndrome despite flow reduction to 1400 ml/min resulted in fistula closure 2 months later. At a mean follow-up of 22 months (4-35), all remaining patients (13/14) presented a patent fistula without recurrence.Conclusion: This new approach seems to be safe and effective in the treatment of symptomatic high flow native AV fistulas by significantly reducing the flow and avoiding closure of the vascular access. Longer follow-up with more patients are necessary to evaluate the risk of recurrence.

Sistema de Informação Geográfica na Internet para apoio à gestão de Infra-estruturas, baseado em ferramentas Open Source

A gestão de infra-estruturas é um processo de coordenação, avaliação sistemática e manutenção efectiva das infra-estruturas relacionadas com os serviços básicos. A gestão eficaz de infra-estruturas exige que a disposição dos equipamentos no meio urbano seja conhecida, bem como sua relação com o uso do solo. Sendo a gestão de infra-estruturas uma questão de natureza espacial, é natural pensar na utilização de um Sistema de Informação Geográfica como ferramenta com potencial de grande utilidade, pois permite a georreferenciação de dados espaciais e sua interligação com atributos alfanuméricos, para além da realização de análises complexas e a possibilidade de simular diversos cenários de modo a propiciar uma tomada de decisão eficaz. O elevado custo das licenças e a especificidade de utilização a nível técnico, tornam-se obstáculos na criação e manutenção de dados geográficos. Contudo os recentes desenvolvimentos em tecnologias da Internet têm contribuído para o acesso, publicação, exploração e distribuição da Informação Geográfica. A utilização de SIG distribuídos na Internet (WebGIS), nomeadamente na vertente livre, pode ser uma solução adequada visto que coloca funcionalidades de SIG ao alcance de utilizadores, através de um simples browser, sem necessidade de investimentos em relação a software ou mesmo em formação técnica especializada. Assim, com este projecto pretende-se a criação de um sistema de Informação geográfico na Internet, utilizando softwares livres, que disponibiliza toda a informação geográfica e alfanumérica das infra-estruturas construídas e sob a responsabilidade do Ministério das Infra-estruturas e Economia Marítima, permitindo a visualização e a realização de pesquisas e operações de análise.

On optimal monetary and fiscal policy interactions in open economies

This paper studies monetary and fiscal policy interactions in a two country model, where taxes on firms sales are optimally chosen and the monetary policy is set cooperatively.It turns out that in a two country setting non-cooperative fiscal policy makers have an incentive to change taxes on sales depending on shocks realizations in order to reduce output production. Therefore whether the fiscal policy is set cooperatively or not matters for optimal monetary policy decisions. Indeed, as already shown in the literature, the cooperative monetary policy maker implements the flexible price allocation only when special conditions on the value of the distortions underlying the economy are met. However, if non-cooperative fiscal policy makers set the taxes on firms sales depending on shocks realizations, these conditions cannot be satisfied; conversely, when fiscal policy is cooperative, these conditions are fulfilled. We conclude that whether implementing the flexible price allocation is optimal or not depends on the fiscal policy regime.

Portanus Ball: descrições de dez espécies novas (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Xestocephalinae)

The following new species are described and illustrated from Brazil: Portanus vittatus sp. nov. (Paraná), P. castaneus sp. nov. (Rondônia), P. variatus sp. nov. (Rondônia), P. ocellatus sp. nov. (Mato Grosso), P. cinctus sp. nov. (Mato Grosso), P. bimaculatus sp. nov. (Rondônia), P. eliasi sp. nov. (Rondônia), P. marginatus sp. nov. (Paraná), P. maculatus sp. nov. (Paraná) and P. bicornis sp. nov. (Mato Grosso).

Portanus Ball: descrição de uma espécie nova (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Xestocephalinae)

Portanus dubius sp. nov. é descrita e ilustrada a partir de espécimens que foram coletados com armadilha Malaise durante um levantamento entomológico no Estado do Paraná, Brasil (PROFAUPAR).

Uma nova espécie de Portanus Ball (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) do Brasil

Uma nova espécie de Portanus Ball, 1932 é descrita a partir de material coletado nos Estados de Rondônia e Mato Grosso, Brasil. A genitália da fêmea também é descrita.

Transapical aortic 'valve-in-valve' procedure for degenerated stented bioprosthesis.

Standard surgical aortic valve replacement with a biological prosthesis remains the treatment of choice for low- and mid-risk elderly patients (traditionally >65 years of age) suffering from severe symptomatic aortic valve stenosis or insufficiency, and for young patients with formal contraindications to long-lasting anticoagulation. Unfortunately, despite the fact that several technical improvements have noticeably improved the resistance of pericardial and bovine bioprostheses to leaflet calcifications and ruptures, the risk of early valve failure with rapid degeneration still exists, especially for patients under haemodialysis and for patients <60 years of age at the time of surgery. Until now, redo open heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass and on cardioplegic arrest was the only available therapeutic option in case of bioprosthesis degeneration, but it carried a higher surgical risk when elderly patients with severe concomitant comorbidities were concerned. Since a few years, the advent of new transcatheter aortic valve procedures has opened new horizons in cardiac surgery and, in particular, the possibility of implanting stented valves within the degenerated stented bioprosthesis, the so-called 'valve-in-valve' (VinV) concept, has become a clinical practice in experienced cardiac centres. The VinV procedure represents a minimally invasive approach dedicated to high-risk redo patients, and published preliminary reports have shown a success rate of 100% with absence of significant valvular leaks, acceptable transvalvular gradients and low complication rate. However, this procedure is not riskless and the most important concerns are about the size mismatch and the right positioning within the degenerated bioprosthesis. In this article, we review the limited available literature about VinV procedures, underline important technical details for the positioning and provide guidelines to prevent valve-prosthesis mismatch comparing the three sizes of the only commercially available transapical device, the Edwards Sapien, with the inner diameter of three of the most commonly used stented bioprostheses.