Audit report on America's Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape Inc. d/b/a Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Independent Auditor's Reports, Financial Statements and Supplementary Information, Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs, December 31st, 2003 & 2004

Other Audit Reports

Vers une conception intégrative de la dépression du sujet âgé : structure cérébrale, cognition et personnalité

Contexte : la prévalence des épisodes dépressifs majeurs parmi la population âgée générale est de 1-4%. Plusieurs études proposent la dissociation entre la dépression à début tardive (late onset depression, LOD), plus souvent associée à des déficits neuropsychologiques, des lésions cérébrales et des facteurs de risque cardio-vasculaire, et la dépression à début précoce (early onset depression, EOD) associée, elle, aux facteurs génétiques et à certains profiles de personnalité. Toutefois, aucune étude transversale ou longitudinale n'a jusqu'à maintenant mesuré et comparé de façon concomitante les profiles cognitifs, la neuro-imagerie (IRM) et les profiles de personnalité des patients âgés LOD et EOD euthymiques. Méthodes : ce travail se base sur une étude menée par différents services des Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG) et du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) qui ont collaboré afin de recruter le collectif de patients dépressifs nécessaire. La partie expérimentale est divisée en deux parties. La première, transversale, compare 30 EOD, 11 LOD et 30 sujets contrôles, puis 38 EOD à 62 sujets contrôles. Une évaluation neuropsychologique, des évaluations des lésions et volumes cérébraux à l'IRM, ainsi que des traits de personnalité ont été effectuées. La deuxième partie, longitudinale, évalue sur 2 ans 28 patients EOD à 48 sujets contrôles avec les mêmes outils. Résultats : lors de la première partie, transversale, les performances cognitives et les volumes cérébraux sont préservés chez les patients EOD, alors que les patients LOD présentent une réduction significative de la mémoire épisodique et un taux plus élevé de lésions cérébrales périventriculaires (hyperintensités de la matière blanche) en comparaison avec les patients EOD et les sujets contrôles. Au niveau des traits de personnalité, les patients EOD sont associés à un niveau élevé de Névrosisme, en particulier les facettes Anxiété (N1) et Dépression (N3) mais diminué d'Extraversion, en particulier les facettes Chaleur (E1) et Emotions positives (E6). Dans la seconde partie, longitudinale, les performances cognitives et les volumes cérébraux des patients EOD sont restés, après les 2 ans de suivi (follow-up) comparables aux sujets contrôles. Les niveaux élevés du Névrosisme et sa facette Anxiété (N1) constatés au baseline diminuèrent pour atteindre un niveau normal. Les niveaux diminués des facettes Chaleur (E1) et Emotions positives (E6) au baseline ne persistèrent pas non plus. Seule la facette Dépression (N3) est restée chez les patients EOD significativement plus élevée que chez les sujets contrôles après les 2 ans de suivi. Conclusion : nos résultats supportent la dissociation entre EOD, associée à des facteurs génétiques et psychosociaux, et LOD associée aux facteurs de risque et comorbidités cardio-vasculaires. Après rémission d'un épisode dépressif aigu, les performances cognitives ainsi que les volumes cérébraux des patients EOD restent intactes au long terme, alors que le patient LOD garde des lésions cérébrales ainsi que des atteintes au niveau de la mémoire épisodique. Au niveau de la personnalité, la facette Dépression (N3) du domaine Névrosisme, connu pour être un facteur de risque de dépression, reste une caractéristique bien présente chez le patient EOD.

The political economy of childcare in OECD countries : Explaining cross-national variation in spending and coverage rates

If childcare policy has become topical in most OECD countries over the last ten years or so, actual developments display huge cross-national variations. Countries like Sweden and Denmark spend around 2 per cent of GDP on this service, and provide affordable childcare places to most children below school age. At the other extreme, in Southern Europe, only around 10 per cent of this age group has access to formal daycare. Against this background, this article aims to account for cross-national variations in childcare services. It distinguishes two dependent variables: the coverage rate and the proportion of GDP spent subsidising childcare services. Using a mix of cross-sectional and pooled times-series methods, it tests a series of hypotheses concerning the determinants of the development of this policy. Its main conclusion for the coverage rate is that key factors are public spending and wage dispersion (both positive). For spending, key factors are the proportion of women in parliaments (positive) and spending on age-related policies (negative).

What made him change? an individual and national analysis of men's participation in housework in 26 countries

We offer new evidence on multi-level determinants of the gender division of housework. Using data from the 2004 European Social Survey (ESS) for 26 European, we study the micro and macro-level factors which increase the likelihood of men doing an equal or greater share of housework than their female partners. A sample of 11,915 young men and women is analysed with a multi-level logistic regression in order to test at individual level the classic relative-income, time-availability and gender-role values, and a new couple conflict hypothesis. At individual level we find significant relationships between relative resources, values, couple's disagreement, and the division of housework which support more economic dependency than "doing gender" perspectives. At the macro-level, we find important composition effects and also support for gender empowerment, family model and social stratification explanations of cross-country differences.

Cross National Contact Strategies

Using paradata gathered from the 11-nation Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this paper examines the impact of the first contact attempt and the first contact properties, respectively, on contact and response efficiency using logistic multilevel models. We find that despite the different sample frames and interviewer compensation structure between countries, there are no considerable country effects with respect to making contact, once interviewer effects are controlled. Moreover, results point to an increased efficiency associated with evenings especially on Sundays, at least on the very first contact attempt. For attempts that result in initial contact, Saturday afternoons are most likely to eventually lead to completed interviews, followed by initial contact on weekdays during the daytime. We hypothesize that this may be due to the SHARE sample being composed of people aged 50 and over.

Immigration and contested nation-building : explaining the political salience of immigration in multi-national societies

Multi-national societies present a complex setting for the politics of immigration, as migration’s linguistic, economic and cultural effects may coincide with existing contestation over nationhood between sub-units and the central state. Empirically, though, political actors only sometimes, and in some places, explicitly connect the politics of immigration to the stakes of multi-level politics. With reference to Canada, Belgium and the United Kingdom, this paper examines the conditions under which political leaders link immigration to ongoing debate about governance in multi-national societies. The paper argues that the distribution of policy competencies in the multi-level system is less important for shaping immigration and integration politics than is the perceived impact (positive or negative) on the sub-unit’s societal culture or its power relationship with the center. Immigration and integration are more often politicized where center and sub-unit hold divergent views on migration and its place in national identity.

[Archives de la Parole]. , [The Coorg national anthem : Swadēsi priya kirtane] : dialecte Kodagu (i.e.koḍaga), chant / [Sir George Grierson], éd. ; Linguistic survey of India ; Voix parlée, homme

[Traditions. Asie. Inde. Province de Madras [i.e. Chennai]]

Audit report on America's Agricultural Industrial Heritage Landscape Inc., D/B/A Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Independent Auditor's Reports, Financial Statements and Supplementary Information, Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs, December 31, 2004 & 2005

Other Audit Reports - 28E Organizations

Design Guide and Construction Specifications for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Site Runoff Control, 2006

According to the 1972 Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a set of regulations for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The purpose of these regulations is to reduce pollution of the nation’s waterways. In addition to other pollutants, the NPDES regulates stormwater discharges associated with industrial activities, municipal storm sewer systems, and construction sites. Phase II of the NPDES stormwater regulations, which went into effect in Iowa in 2003, applies to construction activities that disturb more than one acre of ground. The regulations also require certain communities with Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) to perform education, inspection, and regulation activities to reduce stormwater pollution within their communities. Iowa does not currently have a resource to provide guidance on the stormwater regulations to contractors, designers, engineers, and municipal staff. The Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS) manuals are widely accepted as the statewide standard for public improvements. The SUDAS Design manual currently contains a brief chapter (Chapter 7) on erosion and sediment control; however, it is outdated, and Phase II of the NPDES stormwater regulations is not discussed. In response to the need for guidance, this chapter was completely rewritten. It now escribes the need for erosion and sediment control and explains the NPDES stormwater regulations. It provides information for the development and completion of Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) that comply with the stormwater regulations, as well as the proper design and implementation of 28 different erosion and sediment control practices. In addition to the design chapter, this project also updated a section in the SUDAS Specifications manual (Section 9040), which describes the proper materials and methods of construction for the erosion and sediment control practices.

Mandement... au sujet de l'incendie de l'Hôtel-Dieu

[Acte. 1772-12-31]