Report on the Iowa College Student Aid Commission for the year ended June 30, 2012

Report on the Iowa College Student Aid Commission for the year ended June 30, 2012

The InterActive Choice Aid: A new approach to supporting online consumer decision making

Interactive Choice Aid (ICA) is a decision aid, introduced in this paper, that systematically assists consumers with online purchase decisions. ICA integrates aspects from prescriptive decision theory, insights from descriptive decision research, and practical considerations; thereby combining pre-existing best practices with novel features. Instead of imposing an objectively ideal but unnatural decision procedure on the user, ICA assists the natural process of human decision-making by providing explicit support for the execution of the user's decision strategies. The application contains an innovative feature for in-depth comparisons of alternatives through which users' importance ratings are elicited interactively and in a playful way. The usability and general acceptance of the choice aid was studied; results show that ICA is a promising contribution and provides insights that may further improve its usability.

First aid in burn injuries with counterintuitive warm water improves outcome

Objective: Cooling is considered a panacea in burn injury. However, burn injuries are characterized by an ischemic zone prone to progression, a phenomenon that can substantially increase morbidity. Cold-induced vasoconstriction potentially aggravates ischemia and promotes progression. Therefore we compared the effect of warm (37°C) and cold (17°C) water on burn progression. Methods: The comb burn model creates 4 rectangular burned surfaces separated by 3 unburned interspaces that become necrotic if untreated. After heating in boiling water the template was applied for 60 seconds on 24 Wistar rats randomized into 3 groups: no treatment (CON); treatment for 20 minutes with cold water (17°C: CW) or warm water (37°C: WW). Burn progression in surface (planimetry) and Departmenth (histology), as well as microcirculatory perfusion (laser Doppler flowmetry) were assessed after 1h, as well as 1, 4, and 7 days. Results: Both CW and WW delayed burn progression without reducing the final burn Departmenth (deep dermis). In contrast, only WW but not CW increased dermal perfusion (81 ± 2% (WW) vs. 62 ± 2% (CW) and 63 ± 1% (CON), p< 0·05) already 1 hour after burn induction. The difference observed after one hour led to a complete flow recovery during the observation period and translated into increased interspace survival, respectively less necrosis with WW(65 ± 4% vs. 81 + 4% (CW) and 91 ± 2% (CON), p< 0·05) after 7 days. Conclusions: Application of warm water significantly improved dermal perfusion, increased interspace survival, and delayed burn progression.However it didn't alter the ultimate burn Departmenth of the actually burned area. Therefore, warm water can create a therapeutic window for targeted nonsurgical treatment of burn progression.

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2004

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2005

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2006

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2008

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2009

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2010

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2011

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2012

Agency Performance Report

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Report, FY 2013

Agency Performance Report

Audit report on the Iowa Federal Family Education Loan Program Division, a Division of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, for the year ended June 30, 2013

Audit report on the Iowa Federal Family Education Loan Program Division, a Division of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, for the year ended June 30, 2013

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Performance Target, FY2014

Agency performance plan and action plan for the Iowa College Student Aid Commission

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Annual Report FY 2005-2006

Iowa College Student Aid Commission Annual Report FY 2005-2006