Long-Term Community Recovery Strategy, Waverly, IA, December 2008

Long-Term Community Recovery Targeted Technical Assistance Strategy is an outcome of the coordinated effort of the city, Rebuild Iowa Office and Federal Emergency Management Agency Emergency Support Function. In partnership with City officials and RIO and informed by community outreach efforts, provided Targeted Technical Assistance to the community. This support helped the community identify and provide visibility to recovery issues, needs and opportunities that when addressed can result in a more effective long-term recovery for the community.

Long-Term Community Recovery Strategy, Iowa City, IA, December 2008

Long-Term Community Recovery Targeted Technical Assistance Strategy is an outcome of the coordinated effort of the city, Rebuild Iowa Office and Federal Emergency Management Agency Emergency Support Function. In partnership with City officials and RIO and informed by community outreach efforts, provided Targeted Technical Assistance to the community. This support helped the community identify and provide visibility to recovery issues, needs and opportunities that when addressed can result in a more effective long-term recovery for the community.

Long-Term Community Recovery Strategy, New Hartford, IA, December 2008

Long-Term Community Recovery Targeted Technical Assistance Strategy is an outcome of the coordinated effort of the city, Rebuild Iowa Office and Federal Emergency Management Agency Emergency Support Function. In partnership with City officials and RIO and informed by community outreach efforts, provided Targeted Technical Assistance to the community. This support helped the community identify and provide visibility to recovery issues, needs and opportunities that when addressed can result in a more effective long-term recovery for the community.

Long-Term Community Recovery Strategy, Palo, IA, December 2008

Long-Term Community Recovery Targeted Technical Assistance Strategy is an outcome of the coordinated effort of the city, Rebuild Iowa Office and Federal Emergency Management Agency Emergency Support Function. In partnership with City officials and RIO and informed by community outreach efforts, provided Targeted Technical Assistance to the community. This support helped the community identify and provide visibility to recovery issues, needs and opportunities that when addressed can result in a more effective long-term recovery for the community.

Forms and accumulation of copper and zinc in a sandy typic hapludalf soil after long-term application of pig slurry and deep litter

Successive applications of pig slurry and pig deep litter may lead to an accumulation of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) fractions in the soil profile. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Cu and Zn forms and accumulation in a Sandy Typic Hapludalf soil after long-term application of pig slurry and deep litter. In March 2010, eight years after initiating an experiment in Braço do Norte, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil, on a Sandy Typic Hapludalf soil, soil samples were collected from the 0-2.5, 2.5-5.0, 5-10 and 10-15 cm layers in treatments consisting of no manure application (control) and with applications of pig slurry and deep litter at two levels: the single and double rate of N requirement for maize and black oat succession. The soil was dried, ground in an agate mortar and analyzed for Cu and Zn contents by 0.01 mol L-1 EDTA and chemically fractionated to determine Cu and Zn. The applications of Pig deep litter and slurry at doses equivalent to 90 kg ha-1 N increased the contents of available Cu and Zn in the surface soil layer, if the double of this dose was applied in pig deep litter or double this dose in pig slurry, Cu and Zn migrated to a depth of 15 cm. Copper is accumulated mainly in the organic and residual fractions, and zinc preferentially in the fraction linked to clay minerals, especially in the surface soil layers.

Residual effect of soil tillage on water erosion from a Typic Paleudalf under long-term no-tillage and cropping systems

Soil erosion is one of the chief causes of agricultural land degradation. Practices of conservation agriculture, such as no-tillage and cover crops, are the key strategies of soil erosion control. In a long-term experiment on a Typic Paleudalf, we evaluated the temporal changes of soil loss and water runoff rates promoted by the transition from conventional to no-tillage systems in the treatments: bare soil (BS); grassland (GL); winter fallow (WF); intercrop maize and velvet bean (M+VB); intercrop maize and jack bean (M+JB); forage radish as winter cover crop (FR); and winter cover crop consortium ryegrass - common vetch (RG+CV). Intensive soil tillage induced higher soil losses and water runoff rates; these effects persisted for up to three years after the adoption of no-tillage. The planting of cover crops resulted in a faster decrease of soil and water loss rates in the first years after conversion from conventional to no-tillage than to winter fallow. The association of no-tillage with cover crops promoted progressive soil stabilization; after three years, soil losses were similar and water runoff was lower than from grassland soil. In the treatments of cropping systems with cover crops, soil losses were reduced by 99.7 and 66.7 %, compared to bare soil and winter fallow, while the water losses were reduced by 96.8 and 71.8 % in relation to the same treatments, respectively.

Aeration condition of a clayey oxisol under long-term no-tillage

The hypothesis of this study was that the absence of soil tillage in long-term no-tillage (NT) systems can be detrimental to soil aeration. The objective was to assess the aeration condition of an Oxisol (Rhodic Ferrasol), very clayey texture (750 g kg-1 of clay; 200 g kg-1 of sand), after 30 years of cultivation under NT. The physical property soil air permeability (Ka) is sensitive to changes in the soil pore system. Aside from Ka, the air-filled porosity (ε a) and indices of pore continuity (K1 and N), derived from the relationship between Ka and εa, were used as indices of soil aeration. From the soil layers 0.0-0.1 and 0.1-0.2 m, 240 undisturbed samples were collected along a transect perpendicular to the crop rows, at three sampling positions: corn plant row (CR); center of the interrow (INT); and the equidistant point between CR and INT (PE). The properties Ka and εa were determined at soil matric potentials (Ψm) of -2, -4, -6, -10, -30, and -50 kPa. Soil bulk density (BD) was also determined. The results confirmed the hypothesis. In the 0.0-0.1 m layer, Ka, K1, N and Ψa were significantly greater and BD significantly lower in CR than at the other sampling positions. At a Ψm of -10 kPa, the Ka of CR was 6.9 and 8.4 times higher than in PE and INT, respectively, in the 0.0-0.1 m layer. The properties Ka, K1 and N were sensitive enough to detect changes in the pore system and their differences between the sampling positions demonstrated the importance of the spatial location for soil sampling. Tilling the crop rows provides better soil aeration under NT.

State of Iowa Long-Term Economic Recovery Strategy Prepared for the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, October 2010

The Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) continues to coordinate the state‘s recovery effort from the storms, tornadoes and floods of 2008. Much has been accomplished since the Office‘s last quarterly report was issued in July 2010. State funding has been disbursed to help Iowans with unmet needs and housing. Local governments and entities are utilizing millions of federal dollars so thousands of disaster-impacted homeowners can be offered a buyout. More infrastructure projects are under construction and new neighborhoods are being built with mitigation efforts in mind. However, as Iowa continues to celebrate many successes along the road to recovery, it must also address the numerous challenges that are encountered along the path. Recovering from the state‘s largest disaster must be looked at as a marathon, not a sprint. Over the past three months, the RIO has especially remained focused on helping small business owners impacted by the 2008 disasters. Many disaster-affected businesses have reopened their doors, however their debt load continues to be overwhelming and many still struggle with the timeliness of the disbursement of funds. This report describes how programs and recent modifications are working to assist recovering businesses. This report contains updates on housing progress while outlining the complexities behind certain programs and the bottlenecks communities are facing due to strict federal guidelines for implementation. This following pages also describe how Iowa is implementing Smart Planning principles, publicizing flood awareness through outreach efforts and preparing a blueprint for the state to follow when future disasters occur. As always, the RIO recognizes and thanks the countless leaders and front-line workers from local, regional, state and federal government, businesses, non-profit organizations and private citizens that have provided input, support and leadership. Their dedication to Iowa‘s disaster recovery has made the plans and projects on the following pages possible.

What factors influence long-term antidepressant use in primary care? Findings from the Australian diamond cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Antidepressants are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in primary care. The rise in use is mostly due to an increasing number of long-term users of antidepressants (LTU AD). Little is known about the factors driving increased long-term use. We examined the socio-demographic, clinical factors and health service use characteristics associated with LTU AD to extend our understanding of the factors that may be driving the increase in antidepressant use. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of 789 participants with probable depression (CES-D≥16) recruited from 30 randomly selected Australian general practices to take part in a ten-year cohort study about depression were surveyed about their antidepressant use. RESULTS: 165 (21.0%) participants reported <2 years of antidepressant use and 145 (18.4%) reported ≥2 years of antidepressant use. After adjusting for depression severity, LTU AD was associated with: single (OR 1.56, 95%CI 1.05-2.32) or recurrent episode of depression (3.44, 2.06-5.74); using SSRIs (3.85, 2.03-7.33), sedatives (2.04, 1.29-3.22), or antipsychotics (4.51, 1.67-12.17); functional limitations due to long-term illness (2.81, 1.55-5.08), poor/fair self-rated health (1.57, 1.14-2.15), inability to work (2.49, 1.37-4.53), benefits as main source of income (2.15, 1.33-3.49), GP visits longer than 20min (1.79, 1.17-2.73); rating GP visits as moderately to extremely helpful (2.71, 1.79-4.11), and more self-help practices (1.16, 1.09-1.23). LIMITATIONS: All measures were self-report. Sample may not be representative of culturally different or adolescent populations. Cross-sectional design raises possibility of "confounding by indication". CONCLUSIONS: Long-term antidepressant use is relatively common in primary care. It occurs within the context of complex mental, physical and social morbidities. Whilst most long-term use is associated with a history of recurrent depression there remains a significant opportunity for treatment re-evaluation and timely discontinuation.

Obesity in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Rapport de synthèse : Le traitement des leucémies aiguës chez l'enfant représente un des succès de la médecine moderne avec des taux de guérison avoisinant les 80% ce qui implique la nécessité de suivre les effets secondaires à long terme des traitements chez cette population de patients. Récemment plusieurs études internationales ont relevé une prévalence plus importante de surpoids et d'obésité chez les enfants traités pour une leucémie aiguë. L'origine de ce processus reste incertaine :aux effets secondaires bien connus et décrits des traitements (stéroïdes et radiothérapie) semblent s'ajouter des facteurs génétiques, familiaux (age, BMI au diagnostic, BMI parents et fratrie), environnementaux. L'objectif de ce travail est d'estimer la prévalence et les facteurs de risque pour le surpoids et l'obésité chez les enfants traités et guéris d'une leucémie aiguë en Suisse romande et de comparer ces résultats à ceux d'études internationales. Pour répondre à ces questions nous avons inclus 54 patients (40 de Lausanne et 14 de Genève) traités pour une leucémie aiguë. Seuls les enfants à 5 ans de leur première rémission clinique, sans atteinte du système nerveux central, testiculaire ou médullaire et traités par chimiothérapie seule sont retenus. Leur poids, taille sont enregistrés durant les phases précises de traitement (au diagnostic, à la rémission, fin de consolidation, milieumaintenance et en fin de traitement) puis annuellement jusqu'à 12 ans post fin de traitement. Le BMI (kg/ml) et sa déviation standard BMI-SDS (spécifique pour Page et le sexe) pour les patients et leurs parents sont calculés selon les valeurs internationales (IOTF) respectivement BMI-SDS >1.645 (p<0.05) pour le surpoids et> 1.96 (p<0.025) pour l'obésité. Les résultats de ce travail confirment une prévalence double de surpoids (30% versus 17%) et quadruple d'obésité (18% versus 4%) au sein de la population d'enfants traités pour une leucémie aiguë comparées à la population suisse standard. Les facteurs de risque impliqués sont le BMI initial au diagnostic et le BMI maternel contrairement à Page, sexe, stéroïdes et au BMI paternel. Ces données confirment une prévalence significative d'enfants en surpoids/obèses au sein de cette population avec des résultats similaires à ceux retrouvés dans des études internationales récentes. Les facteurs de risque identifiés semblent plutôt liés à l'environnement familial qu'aux traitements. Ces constatations pourraient être le résultat d'interactions complexes entre "le background génétique", les facteurs environnementaux, les habitudes socioculturelles (activité physique, status nutritionnel) paramètres non évalués dans cette revue. Des études plus larges, prospectives sont nécessaires pour clarifier les rôles des différents facteurs de risque et de leurs interactions ;celles-ci devraient inclure des données génétiques (LEPR), taux de leptine, activité physique et le status nutritionnel. Enfin, l'identification des patients à risque est cruciale afin de prévenir les effets secondaires cardio-vasculaires, métaboliques bien connus liés au surpoids et à l'obésité.