Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the State University of Iowa ePost and Effort Reporting systems for the period May 29, 2013 through July 19, 2013

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the State University of Iowa ePost and Effort Reporting systems for the period May 29, 2013 through July 19, 2013

Iron Supplementation Therapy in a Large Swiss Cohort of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: Shift from Oral to Intravenous Therapy over Time

Background a nd A ims: T he 2 007 ECCO g uidelines o nanemia in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) favour intravenous(iv) over oral (po) i ron supplementation due to bettereffectiveness and tolerance. Application of guidelines in clinicalpractice m ay r equire time. We a imed to determine thepercentage of IBD patients under iron supplementation therapyand its application mode over time in a large IBD cohort.Methods: Helsana, a leading Swiss health insurance companyprovides c overage f or approximately 18% of t he Swisspopulation, corresponding to about 1.2 million enrollees.Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)were identified b y keyword search from t he a nonymisedHelsana database.Results: I n total, 6 29 CD ( 61% female) a nd 4 03 UC ( 56%female) patients w ere identified, mean retrospectiveobservation time w as 2 0.4 m onths f or CD and 13 m onths f orUC patients. Of t he entire study population, 29.3% wereprescribed iron. O ccurrence of iron prescription was 21.3% inmales a nd 31.2% in f emales ( odds r atio [OR] 1 .69, 95%-confidence interval [CI] 1.26-2.28). The prescription of iv i ronincreased from 2006/2007 ( 48.8% w ith iv i ron) to 2 008/2009(65.2% with iv iron) by a factor of 1.89.Conclusions: One third of the IBD population was treated withiron supplementation. A gradual s hift from oral t o iv iron wasobserved over time in a large Swiss IBD cohort. This switch inprescription habits g oes a long with the implementation of theECCO consensus guidelines on anemia in IBD.

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Vehicle Registration and Title System for the period April 16, 2012 through May 15, 2012

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Vehicle Registration and Title System for the period April 16, 2012 through May 15, 2012

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System I-Que Pension Administration System for the period May 20, 2013 through July 12, 2013

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System I-Que Pension Administration System for the period May 20, 2013 through July 12, 2013

Iron supplementation in a large Swiss Cohort of Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients demonstrates a shift form oral to intravenous therapy over time

Background and Aims: The 2007 European Crohn's and Colitis Organization guidelines on anemia in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) favour intravenous (iv) over oral (po) iron supplementation due to better effectiveness and tolerance. We aimed to determine the percentage of IBD patients under iron supplementation therapy and the dynamics of prescription habits (iv versus po) over time. Methods: Helsana, a leading Swiss health insurance company provides coverage for approximately 18% of the Swiss population, corresponding to about 1.2 million enrollees. Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) were analyzed from the anonymised Helsana database. Results: In total, 629 CD (61% female) and 398 UC (57% female) patients were identified, mean observation time was 31.8 months for CD and 31.0 months for UC patients. Of the entire study population, 27.1% were prescribed iron (21.1% in males and 31.1% in females). Patients treated with IBD-specific drugs (steroids, immunomodulators, anti-TNF agents) were more frequently treated with iron compared to patients without any medication (35.0% vs. 20.9%, OR 1.91, 95%-CI 1.41-2.61). The prescription of iv iron increased from 2006/2007 (48.8% of all patients receiving any iron priscription) to 65.2% in 2008/2009 by a factor of 1.89. Conclusions: One third of the IBD population was treated with iron supplementation. A gradual shift from oral to iv iron was observed over time. This switch in prescription habits goes along with the implementation of the ECCO consensus guidelines on anemia in IBD.

Additive effects of ectoparasites over reproductive attempts in the long-lived Alpine swift

1. Parasitism is a non-negligible cost of reproduction in wild organisms, and hosts are selected to partition resources optimally between current and future reproduction. While parents can compensate for the cost of parasitism by increasing their current reproductive investment, such change in resource allocation is expected to carry-over costs on future reproduction. 2. Life history theory predicts that because long-lived organisms have a high residual reproductive value, they should be more reluctant to increase parental effort in response to parasites. Also, when rearing successive infested broods, the cost of parasitism can cumulate over the years and hence be exacerbated by past infestations. 3. We tested these two predictions in the alpine swift Apus melba, a long-lived colonial bird that is infested intensely by the nest-based blood sucking louse-fly Crataerina melbae. For this purpose, we manipulated ectoparasite load over 3 consecutive years and measured reproductive parameters in successive breeding attempts of adults assigned randomly to 'parasitized' and 'deparasitized' treatments. 4. In current reproduction, fathers of experimentally parasitized broods produced a similar number of offspring as fathers from the deparasitized treatment, but the rearing period was prolonged by 4 days. Fathers that were assigned to the parasitized treatment in year x produced significantly fewer fledglings the following year x + 1 than those of the deparasitized treatment. The number of young produced by fathers in year x + 1 was correlated negatively with the number of days they cared for their brood in the previous year x. We also found a significant interaction between treatments performed over 2 successive years, with fathers of parasitized broods suffering a larger fitness loss if in the past they had already cared for a parasitized brood rather than for a deparasitized one. Similar effects of parasitism, although partly non-significant (0.05 < P-values > 0.10), were found in mothers. 5. Altogether, our results show that parasites can modify resource allocation between current and future reproduction in long-lived hosts, and that the cost of parasitism can cumulate over the years. It emphasizes the fact that effects of parasites can depend on past infestations and become apparent in future reproduction only.

Juvenile delinquency in Switzerland over 50 years: assessing trends beyond statistics

The general public seems to be convinced that juvenile delinquency has massively increased over the last decades. However, this assumption is much less popular among academics and some media where doubts about the reality of this trend are often expressed. In the present paper, trends are followed using conviction statistics over 50 years, police and victimization data since the 1980s, and self-report data collected since 1992. All sources consistently point to a massive increase of offending among juveniles, particularly for violent offences during the 1990s. Given that trends were similar in most European countries, explanations should be sought at the European rather than the national level. The available evidence points to possible effects of increased opportunities for property offences since 1950, and although causality remains hard to prove, effects of increased exposure to extreme media violence since 1985.

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Vendor Payment System for the period March 11, 2013 through April 12, 2013

Report on a review of selected general and application controls over the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Vendor Payment System for the period March 11, 2013 through April 12, 2013

Koiran katkenneen etummaisen ristisiteen hoito muunnellulla "over-the-top"-menetelmällä : tulosten seurantatutkimus

Summary

Members of the PHO1 gene family show limited functional redundancy in phosphate transfer to the shoot, and are regulated by phosphate deficiency via distinct pathways.

The PHO1 family comprises 11 members in Arabidopsis thaliana. In order to decipher the role of these genes in inorganic phosphate (Pi) transport and homeostasis, complementation of the pho1 mutant, deficient in loading Pi to the root xylem, was determined by the expression of the PHO1 homologous genes under the control of the PHO1 promoter. Only PHO1 and the homologue PHO1;H1 could complement pho1. The PHO1;H1 promoter was active in the vascular cylinder of roots and shoots. Expression of PHO1;H1 was very low in Pi-sufficient plants, but was strongly induced under Pi-deficient conditions. T-DNA knock-out mutants of PHO1;H1 neither showed growth defects nor alteration in Pi transport dynamics, or Pi content, compared with wild type. However, the double mutant pho1/pho1;h1 showed a strong reduction in growth and in the capacity to transfer Pi from the root to the shoot compared with pho1. Grafting experiments revealed that phenotypes associated with the pho1 and pho1/pho1;h1 mutants were linked to the lack of gene expression in the root. The increased expression of PHO1;H1 under Pi deficiency was largely controlled by the transcription factor PHR1 and was suppressed by the phosphate analogue phosphite, whereas the increase of PHO1 expression was independent of PHR1 and was not influenced by phosphite. Together, these data reveal that although transfer of Pi to the root xylem vessel is primarily mediated by PHO1, the homologue PHO1;H1 also contributes to Pi loading to the xylem, and that the two corresponding genes are regulated by Pi deficiency by distinct signal transduction pathways.

Überinfusion von Verbrennungsopfern: häufig und schädlich [Over infusion in burn victims: frequent and injurious]

Major burns are characterized by an initial capillary leak, which requires fluid resuscitation for hemodynamic stabilization. While under resuscitation was the major cause of death until the 1980s, over resuscitation has become an important source of complications, including abdominal compartment syndrome, escharosis, impaired gas exchange with prolonged mechanical ventilation and hospital stay. Fluid over infusion started in the 1990s with an increasing proportion of the fluid delivered within the first 24 h being well above the 4 ml/kg/% burn surface area (BSA) according to the Parkland formula. The first alerts were published in the form of case reports of increased mortality due to abdominal compartment syndrome and respiratory failure. This paper analyses the causes of this fluid over infusion and the ways to prevent it, which include rationing prehospital fluid delivery, avoiding early administration of colloids and prevention by permissive hypovolemia.

A Study on the Use of Fabric to Retard Reflective Cracking Over Widened Joints, MLR-88-4, 1992

Reflective cracking of asphalt resurfacing has been a concern for a long time. Years ago wire mesh was used to control widening cracks. More recently it has been fabrics or fiberglass. In 1986, part of the proposed fabric was deleted from projects in different parts of Iowa with various histories and designs. These projects were monitored in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1992 with only the thin (3 inch) overlays on newly widened pavements showing a significantly greater percentage of cracks in the areas where the fabric was deleted.