Road Safety Audit for County Road W-55 in Washington County, Iowa, 2009

A road safety audit was conducted for a seven-mile section of County Road W-55 in Washington County, Iowa. In 2006, the average annual daily traffic on this roadway was found to be 1,290 vehicles per day. Using crash data from 2001 to 2007, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) has identified this roadway as being in the top 5% of Iowa secondary rural roads with the highest density of serious (fatal and major injury) crashes for single-vehicle run-off-road incidents. Considering these safety data, the Washington County Engineer requested that a road safety audit be conducted to identify areas with safety concerns and to recommend low-cost mitigation to address those concerns. Staff and officials from the Iowa DOT, Iowa State Patrol, Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Federal Highway Administration, Institute for Transportation, and local law enforcement and transportation agencies met to review crash data and discuss potential safety improvements to this segment of W-55. This report outlines the findings and recommendations of the road safety audit team to address the safety concerns on this W-55 corridor and explain several selected mitigation strategies.

Health consultation : Sub-Slab Gas and Air Sampling Data Alcoa – Davenport Works CERCLIS No. IAD005270160 Riverdale, Scott County, Iowa (2005)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Alcoa – Davenport Works Facility (Alcoa), and concerned citizens and community leaders of Riverdale, Iowa requested the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) Hazardous Waste Site Health Assessment Program to evaluate the health impacts of exposures to volatile organic vapors detected within residences located immediately to the west of the Alcoa property. This health consultation addresses inhalation exposure to individuals that may have occupied the currently vacant residences in which the air sampling was completed.

Road Safety Audits for County Road X-23 from IA 2 to the South Corporate Limits of West Point and for County Road W-62 from US 218 to IA 27 in Lee County, Iowa, 2010

On October 20–21, 2009, two road safety audits were conducted in Lee County, Iowa: one for a 6 mile section of County Road X-23 from IA 2 to the south corporate limits of West Point and one for a 9.7 mile section of County Road W-62 from US 218 to IA 27. Both roads have high severe crash histories for the years of 2001 through 2008. Using these crash data, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) has identified County Road X-23 as being in the top 5 percent of similar roads for run-off-road crashes. The Iowa DOT lists County Road W-62 as a high-risk rural road that has above-average crash numbers and is eligible for funding under the Federal High-Risk Rural Road Program. Considering these issues, the Lee County Engineer and Iowa DOT requested that road safety audits be conducted to address the safety concerns and to suggest possible mitigation strategies.

Four novel Loci (19q13, 6q24, 12q24, and 5q14) influence the microcirculation in vivo.

There is increasing evidence that the microcirculation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Changes in retinal vascular caliber reflect early microvascular disease and predict incident cardiovascular events. We performed a genome-wide association study to identify genetic variants associated with retinal vascular caliber. We analyzed data from four population-based discovery cohorts with 15,358 unrelated Caucasian individuals, who are members of the Cohort for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, and replicated findings in four independent Caucasian cohorts (n  =  6,652). All participants had retinal photography and retinal arteriolar and venular caliber measured from computer software. In the discovery cohorts, 179 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) spread across five loci were significantly associated (p<5.0×10(-8)) with retinal venular caliber, but none showed association with arteriolar caliber. Collectively, these five loci explain 1.0%-3.2% of the variation in retinal venular caliber. Four out of these five loci were confirmed in independent replication samples. In the combined analyses, the top SNPs at each locus were: rs2287921 (19q13; p  =  1.61×10(-25), within the RASIP1 locus), rs225717 (6q24; p = 1.25×10(-16), adjacent to the VTA1 and NMBR loci), rs10774625 (12q24; p  =  2.15×10(-13), in the region of ATXN2,SH2B3 and PTPN11 loci), and rs17421627 (5q14; p = 7.32×10(-16), adjacent to the MEF2C locus). In two independent samples, locus 12q24 was also associated with coronary heart disease and hypertension. Our population-based genome-wide association study demonstrates four novel loci associated with retinal venular caliber, an endophenotype of the microcirculation associated with clinical cardiovascular disease. These data provide further insights into the contribution and biological mechanisms of microcirculatory changes that underlie cardiovascular disease.

[Archives de la Parole]. , Jisgadal wějiskadasch [Magnificat] / Cantor Gershon Sirota, ténor, solo ; [Wilnaer Grossen Synagog Chor], choeur

[Qaddich]

Association analyses of 249,796 individuals reveal 18 new loci associated with body mass index.

Obesity is globally prevalent and highly heritable, but its underlying genetic factors remain largely elusive. To identify genetic loci for obesity susceptibility, we examined associations between body mass index and ∼ 2.8 million SNPs in up to 123,865 individuals with targeted follow up of 42 SNPs in up to 125,931 additional individuals. We confirmed 14 known obesity susceptibility loci and identified 18 new loci associated with body mass index (P < 5 × 10⁻⁸), one of which includes a copy number variant near GPRC5B. Some loci (at MC4R, POMC, SH2B1 and BDNF) map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance, and one of these loci is near GIPR, an incretin receptor. Furthermore, genes in other newly associated loci may provide new insights into human body weight regulation.

Six new loci associated with body mass index highlight a neuronal influence on body weight regulation.

Common variants at only two loci, FTO and MC4R, have been reproducibly associated with body mass index (BMI) in humans. To identify additional loci, we conducted meta-analysis of 15 genome-wide association studies for BMI (n > 32,000) and followed up top signals in 14 additional cohorts (n > 59,000). We strongly confirm FTO and MC4R and identify six additional loci (P < 5 x 10(-8)): TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2 and NEGR1 (where a 45-kb deletion polymorphism is a candidate causal variant). Several of the likely causal genes are highly expressed or known to act in the central nervous system (CNS), emphasizing, as in rare monogenic forms of obesity, the role of the CNS in predisposition to obesity.