Ongoing Covenant with Black Iowa, 2006

This Manual is designed to help targeted communities organize and train local steering groups and task force leaders. The Ongoing Covenant with Black Iowa (OCBI) model will engage and empower African Americans in various communities to work together in developing strategies that bridge local priorities to statewide goals. Trained Task Force Leaders play a critical role in establishing productive dialogue and planning that is essential to moving the OCBI forward in meeting its goals. They must ensure consistency within each Task Force as the OCBI is a multilevel partnership and collaboration among local communities, the Commission on the Status of African Americans and the Covenant with Black America. Task Force Leaders assist with constructive dialogue among local residents to engage and focus on the issues, and work collectively towards a solution. Patience in developing a strategy and trained Task Force Leaders are essential to the success of the OCBI. It is our hope that this Manual will serve as a guide to assist you in all aspects of building your local strategic plan.

The OCBI Tipping Point, July 10, 2007, Vol. 1

This is the weekly e-Newsletter called “The OCBI Tipping Point.” We hope that you find it very informative as we explore all possibilities to keep our constituency and the general public informed about all matters that affect Blacks in the state of Iowa.

The OCBI Tipping Point, August 7, 2007, Vol. 2

This is the weekly e-Newsletter called “The OCBI Tipping Point.” We hope that you find it very informative as we explore all possibilities to keep our constituency and the general public informed about all matters that affect Blacks in the state of Iowa.

The OCBI Tipping Point, August 23, 2007, Vol. 1, no.3

This is the weekly e-Newsletter called “The OCBI Tipping Point.” We hope that you find it very informative as we explore all possibilities to keep our constituency and the general public informed about all matters that affect Blacks in the state of Iowa.

The OCBI Tipping Point, August 29, 2007, Vol. 1, no.4

This is the weekly e-Newsletter called “The OCBI Tipping Point.” We hope that you find it very informative as we explore all possibilities to keep our constituency and the general public informed about all matters that affect Blacks in the state of Iowa.

The OCBI Tipping Point, December 7, 2007, Vol. 1, no.5

This is the weekly e-Newsletter called “The OCBI Tipping Point.” We hope that you find it very informative as we explore all possibilities to keep our constituency and the general public informed about all matters that affect Blacks in the state of Iowa.

Undocumented migrants in Switzerland: geographical origin versus legal status as risk factor for tuberculosis.

Undocumented migrants, meaning migrants without a legal residency permit, come to Geneva from countries with high tuberculosis (TB) incidence. We estimate here whether being undocumented is a determinant of TB, independently of origin. Cross-sectional study including undocumented migrants in a TB screening program in 2002; results were compared to 12,904 age and frequency matched participants in a general TB screening program conducted at various workplaces in Geneva, Switzerland from 1992 to 2002. A total of 206 undocumented migrants (36% male, 64% female, mean age 37.8 years (SD 11.8), 82.5% from Latin America) participated in the TB screening program. Compared to legal residents, undocumented migrants had an adjusted OR for TB-related fibrotic signs of 1.7 (95% CI 0.8;3.7). The OR of TB-related fibrotic signs for Latin American (vs. other) origin was 2.7 (95% CI 1.6;4.7) among legal residents and 5.5 (95% CI 2.8;10.8) among undocumented migrants. Chest X-ray screening identified a higher proportion of TB-related fibrotic signs among Latin Americans, independently of their residency status.

Integration of genome-wide association studies with biological knowledge identifies six novel genes related to kidney function.

In conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS), analytical approaches leveraging biological information may further understanding of the pathophysiology of clinical traits. To discover novel associations with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of kidney function, we developed a strategy for integrating prior biological knowledge into the existing GWAS data for eGFR from the CKDGen Consortium. Our strategy focuses on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in genes that are connected by functional evidence, determined by literature mining and gene ontology (GO) hierarchies, to genes near previously validated eGFR associations. It then requires association thresholds consistent with multiple testing, and finally evaluates novel candidates by independent replication. Among the samples of European ancestry, we identified a genome-wide significant SNP in FBXL20 (P = 5.6 × 10(-9)) in meta-analysis of all available data, and additional SNPs at the INHBC, LRP2, PLEKHA1, SLC3A2 and SLC7A6 genes meeting multiple-testing corrected significance for replication and overall P-values of 4.5 × 10(-4)-2.2 × 10(-7). Neither the novel PLEKHA1 nor FBXL20 associations, both further supported by association with eGFR among African Americans and with transcript abundance, would have been implicated by eGFR candidate gene approaches. LRP2, encoding the megalin receptor, was identified through connection with the previously known eGFR gene DAB2 and extends understanding of the megalin system in kidney function. These findings highlight integration of existing genome-wide association data with independent biological knowledge to uncover novel candidate eGFR associations, including candidates lacking known connections to kidney-specific pathways. The strategy may also be applicable to other clinical phenotypes, although more testing will be needed to assess its potential for discovery in general.

Hipertextualidad, multimedialidad, interactividad y publicidad en la prensa digital internacional. El caso de ‘Le Monde’, ‘USA Today’, ‘Clarín’ Y ‘The Telegraph'

Aquest treball té com a objecte l’anàlisi de la implantació de la hipertextualitat, la multimedialitat, la interactivitat i la publicitat com a elements vertebradors de la premsa digital internacional. Primerament, es descriuen de forma teòrica els meritats elements. A continuació, es presenten els resultats de l’estudi empíric desenvolupat, analitzant els anteriors factors, sobre quatre capçaleres digitals internacionals. Finalment, concloem que la implantació de les variables estudiades es troba en fase d'expansió, tot i que encara lluny del nivell òptim d'explotació; també que els diaris europeus són més proclius a fomentar l'ús de la hipertextualitat, mentre els americans prefereixen la multimedialitat; que els principals problemes a superar seran les formes tradicionals de pensar i treballar així com la falta d'inversió generalitzada i, per acabar, que el futur passarà per continuar en la línia de treball sense oblidar-se d'evolucionar.

Iowa Department on Aging Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2009, (Federal Fiscal Year October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009), January 2010.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Iowa Department on Aging. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, residential care facilities, nursing facilities in hospitals, elder group homes and assisted living programs. In order to carry out all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act this office recommends to increase the number of staff and create a volunteer ombudsman program. NOTE: The second file includes a correction to the report on page 8.

La tecnología en el cuerpo: Biomecánica de los quilombolas en dos selvas brasileñas

Vull plantejar la possibilitat d'una lectura tecnològica dels usos del cos a dues selves brasileres. L'objectiu és discutir tres tòpics: 1) la tecnologia és una conseqüència directa de la ciència, 2) la tecnologia és indissociable de l'artefacte, 3) la tecnologia és el que ens separa de la natura. Enfront d'això construiré altres tres tòpics: 1) la ciència és conseqüència de la tecnologia, 2) la tecnologia és anterior a l'artefacte, 3) la tecnologia és el que ens enfonsa a la natura.

Genome-wide association analysis of blood-pressure traits in African-ancestry individuals reveals common associated genes in African and non-African populations.

High blood pressure (BP) is more prevalent and contributes to more severe manifestations of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in African Americans than in any other United States ethnic group. Several small African-ancestry (AA) BP genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been published, but their findings have failed to replicate to date. We report on a large AA BP GWAS meta-analysis that includes 29,378 individuals from 19 discovery cohorts and subsequent replication in additional samples of AA (n = 10,386), European ancestry (EA) (n = 69,395), and East Asian ancestry (n = 19,601). Five loci (EVX1-HOXA, ULK4, RSPO3, PLEKHG1, and SOX6) reached genome-wide significance (p < 1.0 × 10(-8)) for either systolic or diastolic BP in a transethnic meta-analysis after correction for multiple testing. Three of these BP loci (EVX1-HOXA, RSPO3, and PLEKHG1) lack previous associations with BP. We also identified one independent signal in a known BP locus (SOX6) and provide evidence for fine mapping in four additional validated BP loci. We also demonstrate that validated EA BP GWAS loci, considered jointly, show significant effects in AA samples. Consequently, these findings suggest that BP loci might have universal effects across studied populations, demonstrating that multiethnic samples are an essential component in identifying, fine mapping, and understanding their trait variability.

Between Cultures: The Dyadic and Triadic Therapeutic Alliance in Multicultural Setting

Many researchers have identified the therapeutic alliance (TA) as the main factor that predicts psychotherapeutic success regardless the type of approach or treatment. In a multicultural setting, the construction of the therapeutic alliance is accompanied by elements that specially influence the flow of the interaction. Some examples of these elements are language, cultural beliefs, and traditions. For Hispanic-American clients in Lausanne (Switzerland), this encounter could take place in a dyadic setting, in the presence of a therapist who speaks Spanish and shares or not the client's culture of origin. On the other hand, it can take place in a triadic setting, in the presence of a therapist who does not speak Spanish and an interpreter that serves as a communication bridge. This present project has the purpose of studying the TA between different health professionals and the Hispanic- American clients who are assisted with and without an interpreter in Lausanne's health system. My goal is to study this relationship in the clients' context (many of them are clandestine) and based on their perception and subjective experience through a quantitative and qualitative complementary methodology. Because this project is in progress, this communication will focus on presenting the population's socio-demographic characteristics, the research questionings, methodology, and preliminary results.This project can enhance our knowledge about relationships between two cultures in a therapeutic encounter (psychological/psychiatric or medical). At the same time, it can bring us a better understanding about the migration movements of Hispanic-Americans in Switzerland.

Executive Order Number Twenty-Four, May 28, 2010

Restructures the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman by mandating that the Office become institutionally independent by means of relocating to a separate physical space and directing the Ombudsman’s Office to propose legislation that will ensure the independence of the Office, as required under the federal Older Americans Act.

Genetic Variants of Serum Uric Acid and Gout: An Analysis of > 170,000 Individuals

Background/Purpose: Gout is a common and excruciatingly painful inflammatory arthritis caused by hyperuricemia. In addition to various lifestyle risk factors, a substantial genetic predisposition to gout has long been recognized. The Global Urate Genetics Consortium (GUGC) has aimed to comprehensively investigate the genetics of serum uric acid and gout using data from _ 140,000 individuals of European-ancestry, 8,340 individuals of Indian ancestry, 5,820 African-Americans, and 15,286 Japanese. Methods: We performed discovery GWAS meta-analyses of serum urate levels (n_110,347 individuals) followed by replication analyses (n_32,813 different individuals). Our gout analysis involved 3,151 cases and 68,350 controls, including 1,036 incident gout cases that met the American College of Rheumatology Criteria. We also examined the association of gout with fractional excretion of uric acid (n_6,799). A weighted genetic urate score was constructed based on the number of risk alleles across urate-associated loci, and their association with the risk of gout was evaluated. Furthermore, we examined implicated transcript expression in cis (expression quantitative trait loci databases) for potential insights into the gene underlying the association signal. Finally, in order to further identify urate-associated genomic regions, we performed functional network analyses that incorporated prior knowledge on molecular interactions in which the gene products of implicated genes operate. Results: We identified and replicated 28 genome-wide significant loci in association with serum urate (P 5_10_8), including all previously-reported loci as well as 18 novel genetic loci. Unlike the majority of previouslyidentified loci, none of the novel loci appeared to be obvious candidates for urate transport. Rather, they were mapped to genes that encode for purine production, transcription, or growth factors with broad downstream responses. Besides SLC2A9 and ABCG2, no additional regions contained SNPs that differed significantly (P _ 5_10_8) between sexes. Urateincreasing alleles were associated with an increased risk of gout for all loci. The urate genetic risk score (ranging from 10 to 45) was significantly associated with an increased odds of prevalent gout (OR per unit increase, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.09-1.14) and incident gout (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.08-1.13). Associations for many of the loci were of similar magnitude in individuals of non-European ancestry. Detailed characterization of the loci revealed associations with transcript expression and the fractional excretion of urate. Network analyses implicated the inhibins-activins signaling pathways and glucose metabolism in systemic urate control. Conclusion: The novel genetic candidates identified in this urate/gout consortium study, the largest to date, highlight the importance of metabolic control of urate production and urate excretion. The modulation by signaling processes that influence metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway appear to be central mechanisms underpinned by the novel GWAS candidates. These findings may have implications for further research into urate-lowering drugs to treat and prevent gout.