Project Newsletter Iowa Public Health Tracking, June 2013

The Data Warehouse Replacement Project includes updated County Health Snapshot reports. The snapshots provide an overview of key health indicators for local communities. They contain county-level measures that are organized into eight categories. The categories are asthma, cancer, health behaviors and outcomes, heart disease and other chronic conditions, infectious disease, mortality and injury prevention, population statistics and reproductive outcomes. The updated county health snapshots include almost forty new chronic disease indicators in addition to all of the indicators in the existing snapshots.There will be two different reports available in the Data Warehouse replacement system. One of the reports is a multi-year county health snapshot. This report has a similar format to the previous county health snapshot report in the current Data Warehouse. It will display multiple years of data for a single county. The data will be for the most current year available and the two years prior. The state values for the current year will also be included.

Evaluation of Bias in the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device, RB00-010, 2013

As the list of states adopting the HWTD continues to grow, there is a need to evaluate how results are utilized. AASHTO T 324 does not standardize the analysis and reporting of test results. Furthermore, processing and reporting of the results among manufacturers is not uniform. This is partly due to the variation among agency reporting requirements. Some include only the midpoint rut depth, while others include the average across the entire length of the wheel track. To eliminate bias in reporting, statistical analysis was performed on over 150 test runs on gyratory specimens. Measurement location was found to be a source of significant variation in the HWTD. This is likely due to the nonuniform wheel speed across the specimen, geometry of the specimen, and air void profile. Eliminating this source of bias when reporting results is feasible though is dependent upon the average rut depth at the final pass. When reporting rut depth at the final pass, it is suggested for poor performing samples to average measurement locations near the interface of the adjoining gyratory specimens. This is necessary due to the wheel lipping on the mold. For all other samples it is reasonable to only eliminate the 3 locations furthest from the gear house. For multi‐wheel units, wheel side was also found to be significant for poor and good performing samples. After eliminating the suggested measurements from the analysis, the wheel was no longer a significant source of variation.

Motivational intervention to reduce cannabis use in young people with psychosis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cannabis use has a negative impact on psychosis. Studies are needed to explore the efficacy of psychological interventions to reduce cannabis use in psychosis. Our aim is to study the efficacy of a specific motivational intervention on young cannabis users suffering from psychosis. Methods: Participants (aged less than 35 years) were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) alone, or treatment as usual plus motivational intervention (MI + TAU). TAU was comprehensive and included case management, early intervention and mobile team when needed. Assessments were completed at baseline and at 3, 6 and12 months follow-up. Results: Sixty-two participants (32 TAU and 30 MI + TAU) were included in the study. Cannabis use decreased in both groups at follow-up. Participants who received MI in addition to TAU displayed both a greater reduction in number of joints smoked per week and greater confidence to change cannabis use at 3 and 6 months follow-up, but differences between groups were nonsignificant at 12 months. Conclusions: MI is well accepted by patients suffering from psychosis and has a short-term impact on cannabis use when added to standard care. However, the differential effect was not maintained at 1-year follow-up. MI appears to be a useful active component to reduce cannabis use which should be integrated in routine clinical practice.

Evaluer les troubles de la marche des personnes âgées au cabinet [Assessment of gait disorders in older people]

Gait disorders are frequent and important to assess in older people because they provide unique diagnostic and prognostic information. Gait disorders can be regarded as a marker of frailty because they are associated with several adverse consequences, including falls, cognitive disorders, functional decline, institutionalization, hospitalization, and death. Using structured instruments, gait assessment could be performed in primary care practice to classify the level of sensorimotor deficit and provide the necessary information to decide how to best intervene to improve gait performances, prevent falls as well as functional decline.

Evidence-Based Recommendations for Optimal Dietary Protein Intake in Older People: A Position Paper From the PROT-AGE Study Group.

New evidence shows that older adults need more dietary protein than do younger adults to support good health, promote recovery from illness, and maintain functionality. Older people need to make up for age-related changes in protein metabolism, such as high splanchnic extraction and declining anabolic responses to ingested protein. They also need more protein to offset inflammatory and catabolic conditions associated with chronic and acute diseases that occur commonly with aging. With the goal of developing updated, evidence-based recommendations for optimal protein intake by older people, the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS), in cooperation with other scientific organizations, appointed an international study group to review dietary protein needs with aging (PROT-AGE Study Group). To help older people (>65 years) maintain and regain lean body mass and function, the PROT-AGE study group recommends average daily intake at least in the range of 1.0 to 1.2 g protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Both endurance- and resistance-type exercises are recommended at individualized levels that are safe and tolerated, and higher protein intake (ie, ≥1.2 g/kg body weight/d) is advised for those who are exercising and otherwise active. Most older adults who have acute or chronic diseases need even more dietary protein (ie, 1.2-1.5 g/kg body weight/d). Older people with severe kidney disease (ie, estimated GFR <30 mL/min/1.73m(2)), but who are not on dialysis, are an exception to this rule; these individuals may need to limit protein intake. Protein quality, timing of ingestion, and intake of other nutritional supplements may be relevant, but evidence is not yet sufficient to support specific recommendations. Older people are vulnerable to losses in physical function capacity, and such losses predict loss of independence, falls, and even mortality. Thus, future studies aimed at pinpointing optimal protein intake in specific populations of older people need to include measures of physical function.

People on the Edge See More. A conversation with the cuban-american writer Cristina García

L'entrevista amb l'escriptora cubano-americana Cristina García explora el tema de la identitat cubanoamericana i desvetlla la riquesa literària que sorgeix de la fusió de dues cultures, la cubana i la nord-americana, i com aquesta fusió innova la literatura nord-americana tradicional. En la seva novel·la, Dreaming in Cuban (1992), l'escriptora explora els efectes de la Revolució castrista des de la perspectiva de les dones cubanes que van quedar-se a l'illa, així com de les dones que emigraren als Estats Units. The conversation with Cuban-American writer Cristina García explores what it means to be Cuban-American, and reveals how to grow bicultural enriches mainstream American literature. In her novel Dreaming in Cuban (1992), the writer explores the effects of the Castro Revolution from the perspective of Cuban women who remained in Cuba, as well as from the experience of women who emigrated to the United States.

Chromosomal versus mitochondrial DNA evolution: tracking the evolutionary history of the southwestern european populations of the Sorex araneus group (Mammalia Insectivora)

The shrews of the Sorer araneus group have undergone a spectacular chromosome evolution. The karyotype of Sorer granarius is generally considered ancestral to those of Sorer coronatus and S. araneus. However, a sequence of 777 base pairs of the cytochrome b gene of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) produces a quite different picture: S. granarius is closely related to the populations of S. araneus from the Pyrenees and from the northwestern Alps, whereas S. coronatus and S. araneus from Italy and the southern Alps represent two well-separated lineages. It is suggested that mtDNA and chromosomal evolution are in this case largely independant processes. Whereas mtDNA haplotypes are closely linked to the geographical history of the populations, chromosomal mutations were probably transmitted from one population to another. Available data suggest that the impressive chromosome polymorphism of this group is quite a recent phenomenon.

Direct three-dimensional myocardial strain tensor quantification and tracking using zHARP.

Images of myocardial strain can be used to diagnose heart disease, plan and monitor treatment, and to learn about cardiac structure and function. Three-dimensional (3D) strain is typically quantified using many magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained in two or three orthogonal planes. Problems with this approach include long scan times, image misregistration, and through-plane motion. This article presents a novel method for calculating cardiac 3D strain using a stack of two or more images acquired in only one orientation. The zHARP pulse sequence encodes in-plane motion using MR tagging and out-of-plane motion using phase encoding, and has been previously shown to be capable of computing 3D displacement within a single image plane. Here, data from two adjacent image planes are combined to yield a 3D strain tensor at each pixel; stacks of zHARP images can be used to derive stacked arrays of 3D strain tensors without imaging multiple orientations and without numerical interpolation. The performance and accuracy of the method is demonstrated in vitro on a phantom and in vivo in four healthy adult human subjects.

Family burden related to clinical and functional variables of people with intellectual disability with and without a mental disorder

Few studies have been found that to assess the factors that explain higher levels of familyburden in adults with intellectualdisability (ID) and intellectualdisability and mental disorders (ID-MD). The aims of this study were to assess familyburden in people with ID and ID-MD and to determine which sociodemographic, clinical and functionaldisabilityvariables account for familyburden. The sample is composed of pairs of 203 participants with disability and their caregivers, of which 33.5% are caregivers of people with ID and 66.5% of ID-MD. Assessments were performed using scales of clinical and functionaldisability as the following instruments: Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III), Inventory for Client and Agency Planning (ICAP), Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with Development Disability (PAS-ADD checklist), Disability Assessment Schedule of the World Health Organization (WHO-DAS-II) and familyburden (Subjective and Objective FamilyBurden Inventory - SOFBI/ECFOS-II). People with ID-MD presented higher levels of functionaldisability than those with ID only. Higher levels of familyburden were related to higher functionaldisability in all the areas (p < 0.006-0.001), lower intelligence quotient (p < 0.001), diagnosis of ID-MD (p < 0.001) and presence of organic, affective, psychotic and behavioral disorders (p < 0.001). Stepwise multiple regression showed that behavioral problems, affective and psychotic disorder, disability in participation in society, disability in personal care and presence of ID-MD explained more than 61% of the variance in familyburden. An integrated approach using effective multidimensional interventions is essential for both people with ID and ID-MD and their caregivers in order to reduce familyburden.

Soil Tracking Paint Test, MLR-89-13, 1989

A new paint testing device was built to determine the resistance of paints to darkening due to road grime being tracked onto them. The device consists of a tire rotating on a sample drum. Soil was applied to the tire and then tracked onto paint samples which were attached to the drum. A colorimeter was used to measure the lightness of the paints after being tracked. Lightness is measured from 0 (absolute black) to 100 (absolute white). Four experiments were run to determine the optimum time length to track a sample, the reproducibility, the effects of different soils, and the maximum acceptable level for darkening of a paint. The following conclusions were reached: 1) the optimum tracking time was 10 minutes; 2) the reproducibility had a standard deviation of 1.5 lightness units; 3) different soils did not have a large effect on the amount of darkening on the paints; 4) a maximum acceptable darkness could not be established based on the limited amount of data; and 5) a correlation exists between the paints which were darkening in the field and the paints which were turning the darkest on the tracking wheel.

Body fat distribution in white and black women: different patterns of intraabdominal and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue utilization with weight loss.

BACKGROUND: Intraabdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) is the body fat depot most strongly related to disease risk. Weight reduction is advocated for overweight people to reduce total body fat and IAAT, although little is known about the effect of weight loss on abdominal fat distribution in different races. OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects of diet-induced weight loss on changes in abdominal fat distribution in white and black women. DESIGN: We studied 23 white and 23 black women, similar in age and body composition, in the overweight state [mean body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)): 28.8] and the normal-weight state (mean BMI: 24.0) and 38 never-overweight control women (mean BMI: 23.4). We measured total body fat by using a 4-compartment model, trunk fat by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and cross-sectional areas of IAAT (at the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) by using computed tomography. RESULTS: Weight loss was similar in white and black women (13.1 and 12.6 kg, respectively), as were losses of total fat, trunk fat, and waist circumference. However, white women lost more IAAT (P < 0.001) and less SAAT (P < 0.03) than did black women. Fat patterns regressed toward those of their respective control groups. Changes in waist circumference correlated with changes in IAAT in white women (r = 0.54, P < 0.05) but not in black women (r = 0.19, NS). CONCLUSIONS: Despite comparable decreases in total and trunk fat, white women lost more IAAT and less SAAT than did black women. Waist circumference was not a suitable surrogate marker for tracking changes in the visceral fat compartment in black women.

We, the people : conserving Iowa's constitution. 1989.

Describes the drafting of Iowa's 1857 constitution and its restoration in 1988 by University of Iowa conservator William Anthony.

People on the Edge See More. A conversation with the cuban-american writer Cristina García

L'entrevista amb l'escriptora cubano-americana Cristina García explora el tema de la identitat cubanoamericana i desvetlla la riquesa literària que sorgeix de la fusió de dues cultures, la cubana i la nord-americana, i com aquesta fusió innova la literatura nord-americana tradicional. En la seva novel·la, Dreaming in Cuban (1992), l'escriptora explora els efectes de la Revolució castrista des de la perspectiva de les dones cubanes que van quedar-se a l'illa, així com de les dones que emigraren als Estats Units. The conversation with Cuban-American writer Cristina García explores what it means to be Cuban-American, and reveals how to grow bicultural enriches mainstream American literature. In her novel Dreaming in Cuban (1992), the writer explores the effects of the Castro Revolution from the perspective of Cuban women who remained in Cuba, as well as from the experience of women who emigrated to the United States.