A guide to understanding the variation in premiums in rural health insurance marketplaces (RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis rural policy brief)

This brief discusses several important factors that should be considered when comparing health insurance plans in the health insurance marketplaces across geographic areas.

Synthesis of Iowa Research to Address Rural Safety, RB04-013, 2014

Information about roadway departures, rural intersections, and rural speed management countermeasures relevant to Iowa was summarized on webpages (www.ctre.iastate.edu/research-synthesis/) to allow agencies to more effectively target specific types of crashes in Iowa. More information about each of the countermeasures described in this tech transfer summary, as well as speed impacts, reported crash modification factors, costs, usage within Iowa, and Iowa-specific guidance, is available on the Synthesis of Safety-Related Research web pages at www.ctre.iastate.edu/research-synthesis/. The project provides Iowa agencies with a resource (both web pages and relevant publications) to address rural safety. The team is coordinating with the Iowa Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), the Iowa Highway Research Board, the Iowa Association of Counties, and other groups to explore additional ways to distribute the information to local and county agencies.

Evaluation of Rumble Stripes on Low-Volume Rural Roads in Iowa—Phase I, TR-577, 2009

Single-vehicle run-off-road crashes are the most common crash type on rural two-lane Iowa roads. Rumble strips have been proven effective in mitigating these crashes, but these strips are commonly installed in paved shoulders adjacent to higher-volume roads owned by the State of Iowa. Lower-volume paved rural roads owned by local agencies do not commonly feature paved shoulders but frequently experience run-off-road crashes. This project involved installing “rumble stripes,” which are a combination of conventional rumble strips with a painted edge line placed on the surface of the milled area, along the edge of the travel lanes but at a narrow width to avoid possible intrusion into the normal vehicle travel paths. Candidate locations were selected from a list of paved local rural roads that were most recently listed in the top 5% of roads for run-off-road crashes in Iowa. Horizontal curves were the most favored locations for rumble stripe installation because they commonly experience roadway departure crashes. The research described in this report was part of a project funded by the Federal Highway Administration, Iowa Highway Research Board, and Iowa Department of Transportation to evaluate the effectiveness of edge line rumble strips in Iowa. The project evaluated the effectiveness of “rumble stripes” in reducing run-off-road crashes and in improving the longevity and wet weather visibility of edge line markings. This project consists of two phases. The first phase was to select pilot study locations, select a set of test sites, install rumble stripes, summarize lessons learned during installation, and provide a preliminary assessment of the rumble stripes’ performance. This information is summarized in this report. The purpose of the second phase is to provide a more long-term assessment of the performance of the pavement markings, conduct preliminary crash assessments, and evaluate lane keeping. This will result in a forthcoming second report.

High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry applied to the identification of new metabolites and transformation products of quinolones in chicken muscle tissues

The aim of this work was the identification of new metabolites and transformation products (TPs) in chicken muscle from Enrofloxacin (ENR), Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Difloxacin (DIF) and Sarafloxacin (SAR), which are antibiotics that belong to the fluoroquinolones family. The stability of ENR, CIP, DIF and SAR standard solutions versus pH degradation process (from pH 1.5 to 8.0, simulating the pH since the drug is administered until its excretion) and freeze-thawing (F/T) cycles was tested. In addition, chicken muscle samples from medicated animals with ENR were analyzed in order to identify new metabolites and TPs. The identification of the different metabolites and TPs was accomplished by comparison of mass spectral data from samples and blanks, using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight (LC-QqToF) and Multiple Mass Defect Filter (MMDF) technique as a pre-filter to remove most of the background noise and endogenous components. Confirmation and structure elucidation was performed by liquid chromatography coupled to linear ion trap quadrupole Orbitrap (LC-LTQ-Orbitrap), due to its mass accuracy and MS/MS capacity for elemental composition determination. As a result, 21 TPs from ENR, 6 TPs from CIP, 14 TPs from DIF and 12 TPs from SAR were identified due to the pH shock and F/T cycles. On the other hand, 14 metabolites were identified from the medicated chicken muscle samples. Formation of CIP and SAR, from ENR and DIF, respectively, and the formation of desethylene-quinolone were the most remarkable identified compounds.

Tourism destination zoning in rural regions: a consumer-based approach in Terres de l’Ebre

This document puts into question the conventional way of delineating tourism destinations. It intends to show a model of spatial analysis, to find new interpretations of the reality, more balanced and more optimized, in comparison with other territorial views most of them based on administrative boundaries. This paper portrays a methodological exercise that aims to structure tourism geographies into new tourism areas on the basis of visitor’s consumption patterns, which would be better fitted to the needs of tourist demand

Audit report on the Xenia Rural Water District for the year ended December 31, 2014

Audit report on the Xenia Rural Water District for the year ended December 31, 2014

El poblament rural del Camp de Tarragona en època tardo-republicana (segles II-I aC)

This project consists of a study of the settlement of population during the Late Republican period in the Camp de Tarragona, an extensive agricultural plain in the shape of a crescent moon opening out towards the sea which constitutes the area of land in closest proximity to the capital, Tarraco. It does not therefore include the entirety of the ager Tarraconensis, which covered a considerably larger area. After reviewing the preceding Iberian presence in the area, the study focuses on the archaeological evidence corroborating the settlement of population referred to above and its evolution during the course of the two centuries prior to the rule of Augustus. Attention is also given to certain speciic themes, such as the centuriation of certain sectors, the presence of military checkpoints, the production of ceramics during the Republican period (at Fontscaldes and Valls) and the appearance of the irst Roman villas (El Moro and El Mas d’en Gras).

The ager tarraconensis project (right side of river Francoli) (PAT): the application of geophysical survey to identify rural Roman settlement typologies

The methodology of the ager Tarraconensis project also included geophysical surveys aiming to distinguish different categories of rural settlements. Two geophysical techniques (resistivity and magnetometry) were combined to reveal traces of unearth structures from a selection of sites identified from the field survey. Results of geophysical surveys of these seven sites as well as conclusions obtained from this approach are discussed here.

Medio siglo de cambios paisajísticos en la montaña mediterránea. Percepción y valoración social del paisaje en la alta Garrotxa (Girona)

Rural depopulation and abandonment of farming activities have resulted in an intense transformation of the characteristic landscapes of Mediterranean mountains. A dynamic characterized by an intense process of expansion of forested cover in detriment to livestock and agricultural areas. This process, which produces effects such as biodiversity and cultural heritage loss and contributes to the spread of wildfires, can be mapped, quantified and described with high accuracy through the means of digital mapping, geographic information systems and landscape indexes. But what is the perception and valuation of these changes by the stakeholders involved in the management of these territories? This article attempts to answer this question in the protected area of Alta Garrotxa (Girona), where a strong correlation between landscape dynamics and their perception by the stakeholders is revealed. On the other hand, the valuation and future prospects produce diverse and often contradictory points of views that illustrate the existing difficulties to management