2011 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

This policy-neutral report is the sixth statewide greenhouse gas inventory conducted for Iowa as required by Iowa Code 455B.104.

2011 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report - Technical Support Document

This Technical Support Document is an addendum to the "2011 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory Report".

2012 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

This policy-neutral report is the seventh statewide greenhouse gas inventory conducted for Iowa as required by Iowa Code 455B.104. Note: This report was amended on 12/11/14 to correct minor typographical errors.

2012 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report Technical Support Document

This technical support document is an addendum to the 2012 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report. Note: This report was amended on 12/11/14 to correct minor typographical errors.

2013 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

This policy-neutral report is the eighth statewide greenhouse gas inventory conducted for Iowa as required by Iowa Code 455B.104.

2013 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report Technical Support Document.

This technical support document is an addendum to the 2013 Iowa Statewide Greenhouse Ga Emissions Inventory.

Improving the Asset Inventory Process

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is required by the State of South Carolina to provide an accurate physical count of all Capitalized assets listed on their inventory by the end of the fiscal year. There were no published procedures for employees to follow as guidelines for identifying, tracking, reporting and disposing of assets. This has led to errors in identifying items that require asset numbers, completing the shopping carts and transfer/disposal of assets. These errors cause additional work for the Asset Accountant, Procurement Analyst and Accounts Payable Supervisor. The scope of this project is to improve the fixed asset process by developing and publishing asset inventory procedures to ensure accountability and accuracy of all item listed on SCDE inventory.

Design and management of a supply chain: a joint location-inventory problem under uncertainty (Part A)

In this paper, a joint location-inventory model is proposed that simultaneously optimises strategic supply chain design decisions such as facility location and customer allocation to facilities, and tactical-operational inventory management and production scheduling decisions. All this is analysed in a context of demand uncertainty and supply uncertainty. While demand uncertainty stems from potential fluctuations in customer demands over time, supply-side uncertainty is associated with the risk of “disruption” to which facilities may be subject. The latter is caused by external factors such as natural disasters, strikes, changes of ownership and information technology security incidents. The proposed model is formulated as a non-linear mixed integer programming problem to minimise the expected total cost, which includes four basic cost items: the fixed cost of locating facilities at candidate sites, the cost of transport from facilities to customers, the cost of working inventory, and the cost of safety stock. Next, since the optimisation problem is very complex and the number of evaluable instances is very low, a "matheuristic" solution is presented. This approach has a twofold objective: on the one hand, it considers a larger number of facilities and customers within the network in order to reproduce a supply chain configuration that more closely reflects a real-world context; on the other hand, it serves to generate a starting solution and perform a series of iterations to try to improve it. Thanks to this algorithm, it was possible to obtain a solution characterised by a lower total system cost than that observed for the initial solution. The study concludes with some reflections and the description of possible future insights.

Design and management of a supply chain: a joint location-inventory problem under uncertainty (Part B)

In recent years, global supply chains have increasingly suffered from reliability issues due to various external and difficult to-manage events. The following paper aims to build an integrated approach for the design of a Supply Chain under the risk of disruption and demand fluctuation. The study is divided in two parts: a mathematical optimization model, to identify the optimal design and assignments customer-facility, and a discrete-events simulation of the resulting network. The first one describes a model in which plant location decisions are influenced by variables such as distance to customers, investments needed to open plants and centralization phenomena that help contain the risk of demand variability (Risk Pooling). The entire model has been built with a proactive approach to manage the risk of disruptions assigning to each customer two types of open facilities: one that will serve it under normal conditions and a back-up facility, which comes into operation when the main facility has failed. The study is conducted on a relatively small number of instances due to the computational complexity, a matheuristic approach can be found in part A of the paper to evaluate the problem with a larger set of players. Once the network is built, a discrete events Supply Chain simulation (SCS) has been implemented to analyze the stock flow within the facilities warehouses, the actual impact of disruptions and the role of the back-up facilities which suffer a great stress on their inventory due to a large increase in demand caused by the disruptions. Therefore, simulation follows a reactive approach, in which customers are redistributed among facilities according to the interruptions that may occur in the system and to the assignments deriving from the design model. Lastly, the most important results of the study will be reported, analyzing the role of lead time in a reactive approach for the occurrence of disruptions and comparing the two models in terms of costs.

What Is The Best Indication For Single-incision Ophira Mini Sling? Insights From A 2-year Follow-up International Multicentric Study.

The Ophira Mini Sling System involves anchoring a midurethral, low-tension tape to the obturator internus muscles bilaterally at the level of the tendinous arc. Success rates in different subsets of patients are still to be defined. This work aims to identify which factors influence the 2-year outcomes of this treatment. Analysis was based on data from a multicenter study. Endpoints for analysis included objective measurements: 1-h pad-weight (PWT), and cough stress test (CST), and questionnaires: International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI)-6. A logistic regression analysis evaluated possible risk factors for failure. In all, 124 female patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) underwent treatment with the Ophira procedure. All patients completed 1 year of follow-up, and 95 complied with the 2-year evaluation. Longitudinal analysis showed no significant differences between results at 1 and 2 years. The 2-year overall objective results were 81 (85.3%) patients dry, six (6.3%) improved, and eight (8.4%) incontinent. A multivariate analysis revealed that previous anti-incontinence surgery was the only factor that significantly influenced surgical outcomes. Two years after treatment, women with previous failed surgeries had an odds ratio (OR) for treatment failure (based on PWT) of 4.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-15.57). The Ophira procedure is an effective option for SUI treatment, with durable good results. Previous surgeries were identified as the only significant risk factor, though previously operated patients showed an acceptable success rate.

[factors Associated With Satisfaction With Life Among Elderly Caregivers And Non-caregivers].

This article seeks to investigate associations between satisfaction with life and sociodemographic variables, health conditions, functionality, social involvement and social support among elderly caregivers and non-caregivers, as well as between satisfaction and the intensity of stress in the caregiver group. A sample of 338 caregivers was selected according to two items of the Brazilian version of the Elders Life Stress Inventory. A comparison-group of elderly non-caregivers was selected at random, with a similar gender, age and income profile. Data were derived from self-reported questionnaires and scales. Elderly caregivers with low levels of satisfaction and high levels of stress revealed more symptoms of insomnia, fatigue, diseases and worse IADL performance. Those with greater satisfaction and less stress revealed a good level of social support. Insomnia, depression and fatigue were associated with low satisfaction among caregivers, and with fatigue, depression and low social support among non-caregivers. It was considered relevant that instrumental, psychological and informative support can improve the quality of life and the quality of care provided by elderly caregivers, especially if they are affected by unfavorable health and psychosocial conditions and low satisfaction with life.

[maternal Perception Regarding Hospitalized Newborns].

Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the neonatal unit of a public teaching hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, which aimed to determine the perceptions of mothers about their newborns hospitalized children. The sample consisted of 100 women questioned, through the Neonatal Perception Inventory Broussard, about how much trouble was expected to be presented by babies of the general unit, on behaviors such as crying; feeding; regurgitate or vomit; evacuate; sleep and have a routine. Then, the same questions were repeated about their own babies. Ninety mothers considered their children with fewer difficulties than other babies at the unit. Younger women and mothers of infants with higher weights tended to consider their children with more difficulty. The Inventory is easy to apply and may be useful in the evaluation of mother-child interaction, although its result cannot be considered in isolation.

The Environment Of Professional Practice And Burnout In Nurses In Primary Healthcare.

to assess how nurses perceive autonomy, control over the environment, the professional relationship between nurses and physicians and the organizational support and correlate them with burnout, satisfaction at work, quality of work and the intention to quit work in primary healthcare. cross-sectional and correlation study, using a sample of 198 nurses. The tools used were the Nursing Work Index Revised, Maslach Burnout Inventory and a form to characterize the nurses. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics were applied and Spearman's correlation coefficient was used. the nurses assessed that the environment is partially favorable for: autonomy, professional relationship and organizational support and that the control over this environment is limited. Significant correlations were evidenced between the Nursing Work Index Revised, Maslach Burnout Inventory and the variables: satisfaction at work, quality of care and the intent to quit the job. the nurses' perceptions regarding the environment of practice are correlated with burnout, satisfaction at work, quality of care and the intent to quit the job. This study provides support for the restructuring of work processes in the primary health care environment and for communication among the health service management, human resources and occupational health areas.

Pain Threshold And Sleep Quality In Women With Endometriosis.

Pain is a common complaint in women with endometriosis and can be influenced by many variables, including sleep disorders; however, no data are available on the sleep quality of women with endometriosis or on the correlation between sleep quality and pain. The 510 volunteers included in this study were divided into two groups: 257 women with a laparoscopic and histopathological diagnosis of endometriosis and 253 women with no history of endometriosis and no endometriosis-related symptoms. The volunteers answered two questionnaires: the Post-Sleep Inventory to evaluate sleep quality and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to assess their level of physical activity. Pain was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and women were also submitted to a physical examination, during which their pain threshold was assessed at 20 different body sites. Sleep quality was significantly poorer in women with endometriosis compared to women without the disease. The pain threshold was significantly lower in the greater trochanter and abdomen in women with endometriosis when compared to women without the disease; however, there was no difference in VAS pain score between the groups. The higher the VAS pain score, the lower the Post-Sleep Inventory score. Additionally, there was a significant positive correlation between the pain threshold at some body sites and sleep quality. Sleep quality was poorer and the pain threshold at certain body sites was lower in the group of women with endometriosis.

Burnout Syndrome In Nursing Assistants Of A Public Hospital In The State Of São Paulo.

The burnout syndrome is a psychosocial phenomenon that arises as a response to chronic interpersonal stressors present at work. There are many aspects that make nursing assistants vulnerable to chronic stress situations that may lead to burnout, highlighting the low degree of autonomy in the healthcare staff and spending more in direct contact with patients. To assess the prevalence of the burnout syndrome in nursing assistants in a public hospital, as well as its association with socio-demographic and professional variables. A socio-demographic and professional questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-SS) were applied to 534 nursing assistants. The prevalence of burnout syndrome among nursing assistants was 5.9%. High emotional exhaustion was observed in 23.6%, 21.9% showed high depersonalization, and 29.9% low professional achievement. It was found statistically significant associations between emotional exhaustion, job sector and marital status; depersonalization, having children and health problems; low professional achievement and job sector and number of jobs. There was association between job satisfaction and the three dimensions. Professionals working in the health area must pay intense and extended attention to people who are dependent upon others. The intimate contact of the nursing assistants with hard-to-handle patients, as well as being afraid to make mistakes in healthcare are additional chronic stress factors and burnout syndrome cases related in this study.