Executive Order Number Eighty-One May 15, 2013

This order strengthens the Governor's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Advisory Council.

Simultaneous Mendelian and clonal genome transmission in a sexually reproducing, all-triploid vertebrate.

Meiosis in triploids faces the seemingly insuperable difficulty of dividing an odd number of chromosome sets by two. Triploid vertebrates usually circumvent this problem through either asexuality or some forms of hybridogenesis, including meiotic hybridogenesis that involve a reproductive community of different ploidy levels and genome composition. Batura toads (Bufo baturae; 3n = 33 chromosomes), however, present an all-triploid sexual reproduction. This hybrid species has two genome copies carrying a nucleolus-organizing region (NOR+) on chromosome 6, and a third copy without it (NOR-). Males only produce haploid NOR+ sperm, while ova are diploid, containing one NOR+ and one NOR- set. Here, we conduct sibship analyses with co-dominant microsatellite markers so as (i) to confirm the purely clonal and maternal transmission of the NOR- set, and (ii) to demonstrate Mendelian segregation and recombination of the NOR+ sets in both sexes. This new reproductive mode in vertebrates ('pre-equalizing hybrid meiosis') offers an ideal opportunity to study the evolution of non-recombining genomes. Elucidating the mechanisms that allow simultaneous transmission of two genomes, one of Mendelian, the other of clonal inheritance, might shed light on the general processes that regulate meiosis in vertebrates.

Executive Order Number Eighty-Two August 20, 2013

This order has developed a Task Force for the Department of Human Services to schedule trauma-informed care training for staff at the Iowa Juvenile Home within 30 days. Titled Iowa Juvenile Home protection Task Force.

Executive Order Number Eighty-Three October 16, 2013

This order mandates that the State of Iowa, not the federal government or any other organization, shall determine the content of Iowa's state academic standards, which are known as the Iowa Core. The Iowa Department of Education shall develop a regular review cycle for the Iowa Core, including public comment, to determine the contents of and to continually improve state, academic standards.

Changes in volume, surface estimate, three-dimensional shape and total number of neurons of the human primary visual cortex from midgestation until old age.

Macroscopic features such as volume, surface estimate, thickness and caudorostral length of the human primary visual cortex (Brodman's area 17) of 46 human brains between midgestation and 93 years were studied by means of camera lucida drawings from serial frontal sections. Individual values were best fitted by a logistic function from midgestation to adulthood and by a regression line between adulthood and old age. Allometric functions were calculated to study developmental relationships between all the features. The three-dimensional shape of area 17 was also reconstructed from the serial sections in 15 cases and correlated with the sequence of morphological events. The sulcal pattern of area 17 begins to develop around 21 weeks of gestation but remains rather simple until birth, while it becomes more convoluted, particularly in the caudal part, during the postnatal period. Until birth, a large increase in cortical thickness (about 83% of its mean adult value) and caudorostral length (69%) produces a moderate increase in cortical volume (31%) and surface estimate (40%) of area 17. After birth, the cortical volume and surface undergo their maximum growth rate, in spite of a rather small increase in cortical thickness and caudorostral length. This is due to the development of the pattern of gyrification within and around the calcarine fissure. All macroscopic features have reached the mean adult value by the end of the first postnatal year. With aging, the only features to undergo significant regression are the cortical surface estimate and the caudorostral length. The total number of neurons in area 17 shows great interindividual variability at all ages. No decrease in the postnatal period or in aging could be demonstrated.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 1, number 1 (Spring/Summer 2007)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 1, number 2 (Fall/Winter 2007). University of Iowa

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 2, number 1 (Spring/Summer 2008). University of Iowa

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 4, number 1 (Spring/Summer 2010)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 4, number 2 (Fall/Winter 2010)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 1, number 2 (Fall/Winter 2007)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 2, number 1 (Spring/Summer 2008)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 2, number 2 (Fall/Winter 2008)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 3, number 1 (Spring/Summer 2009)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.

IRENE newsletter. Volume 3, number 2 (Fall/Winter 2009)

IRENE’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Iowans through collaboration in practice-based research on questions important to primary care physicians and their patients. IRENE’s purpose is to create and foster a network of research collaboration between the academic medical center and primary care physicians through out the state of Iowa with a particular focus on improving rural health.