Report on a special investigation of the Burlington Community School District and the Parent Teacher Organization at Grimes Elementary School for the period August 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Burlington Community School District and the Parent Teacher Organization at Grimes Elementary School for the period August 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Department of Natural Resources’ Honey Creek Resort for the period October 1, 2010 through October 20, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Department of Natural Resources’ Honey Creek Resort for the period October 1, 2010 through October 20, 2011

Mutations causing Liddle syndrome reduce sodium-dependent downregulation of the epithelial sodium channel in the Xenopus oocyte expression system.

Liddle syndrome is an autosomal dominant form of hypertension resulting from deletion or missense mutations of a PPPxY motif in the cytoplasmic COOH terminus of either the beta or gamma subunit of the epithelial Na channel (ENaC). These mutations lead to increased channel activity. In this study we show that wild-type ENaC is downregulated by intracellular Na+, and that Liddle mutants decrease the channel sensitivity to inhibition by intracellular Na+. This event results at high intracellular Na+ activity in 1.2-2.4-fold higher cell surface expression, and 2.8-3.5-fold higher average current per channel in Liddle mutants compared with the wild type. In addition, we show that a rapid increase in the intracellular Na+ activity induced downregulation of the activity of wild-type ENaC, but not Liddle mutants, on a time scale of minutes, which was directly correlated to the magnitude of the Na+ influx into the oocytes. Feedback inhibition of ENaC by intracellular Na+ likely represents an important cellular mechanism for controlling Na+ reabsorption in the distal nephron that has important implications for the pathogenesis of hypertension.

Report on a special investigation of the Sunrise Sunset Daycare of the Southeast Warren Community School District for the period September 1, 2010 through September 26, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Sunrise Sunset Daycare of the Southeast Warren Community School District for the period September 1, 2010 through September 26, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Starmont Community School District for the period July 1, 1993 through November 30, 2010

Report on a special investigation of the Starmont Community School District for the period July 1, 1993 through November 30, 2010

Role of glast-positive glial cells during photoreceptor development

Purpose: Taking advantage of two transgenic lines, glast.DsRed and crx.gfp, that express fluorescent proteins in glial and photoreceptor cells respectively, we investigate the role of glast-positive glial cells (GPCs) in the survival/differentiation/proliferation of age-matched photoreceptor cells. Methods: Primary retinal cells were isolated from newborn transgenic mouse retina (glast.dsRed::crx.gfp) at postnatal day (P0/P1) and propagated in defined medium containing epidermal growth factor (EGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (bFGF). By flow-sorting another population of pure GPCs was isolated. Both populations were expanded and analyzed for the presence of specific retinal cell markers. Notably, the primary cell culture collected from the transgenic line glast.dsRed::crx.gfp showed a conspicuous presence of immature photoreceptors growing on top of GPCs. In order to reveal the role of such cells in the survival/differentiation/proliferation of photoreceptors we set up in vitro cultures of retina-derived cells that allowed long-term time-lapse recordings charting every cell division, death and differentiation event. To assess the regenerative potential of GPCs we challenged them with compounds mimicking retinal degeneration (NMU, NMDA, Zaprinast). Mass spectrometry (MS), immunostainings and other molecular approaches were performed to reveal adhesion molecules involved in the relationship between glial cells and photoreceptors. Results: Both primary cell lines were highly homogenous, with an elongated morphology and the majority expressed Müller glia markers (MG) such as glast, blbp, glt-1, vimentin, glutamine synthetase (GS), GFAP, cd44, mash1 and markers of reactive Müller glia such as nestin, pax6. Conversely, none of them were found positive for retinal neuron markers like tuj1, otx2, recoverin. Primary cultures of GPCs show the incapability of glial cells to give rise to photoreceptors in both wild type or degenerative environment. Furthermore, primary cultures of pure GPCs challenged with different compounds did not highlight the production of new glial cell-derived photoreceptors. Adhesion molecules involved in the contact between photoreceptors and glial cells are still under investigation. Conclusions: Primary glia cells do not give rise to photoreceptor cells in wt and degenerative conditions at least in vitro. The roles of glial cells seem to be more linked to the maintenance/proliferation of photoreceptor cells.

Special investigation of the City of Scarville for the period January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2011

Special investigation of the City of Scarville for the period January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2011

Finite-size scaling investigation of the liquid-liquid critical point in ST2 water and its stability with respect to crystallization.

The liquid-liquid critical point scenario of water hypothesizes the existence of two metastable liq- uid phases low-density liquid (LDL) and high-density liquid (HDL) deep within the supercooled region. The hypothesis originates from computer simulations of the ST2 water model, but the stabil- ity of the LDL phase with respect to the crystal is still being debated. We simulate supercooled ST2 water at constant pressure, constant temperature, and constant number of molecules N for N ≤ 729 and times up to 1 μs. We observe clear differences between the two liquids, both structural and dynamical. Using several methods, including finite-size scaling, we confirm the presence of a liquid-liquid phase transition ending in a critical point. We find that the LDL is stable with respect to the crystal in 98% of our runs (we perform 372 runs for LDL or LDL-like states), and in 100% of our runs for the two largest system sizes (N = 512 and 729, for which we perform 136 runs for LDL or LDL-like states). In all these runs, tiny crystallites grow and then melt within 1 μs. Only for N ≤ 343 we observe six events (over 236 runs for LDL or LDL-like states) of spontaneous crystal- lization after crystallites reach an estimated critical size of about 70 ± 10 molecules.

Report on a special investigation of the City of Bloomfield Volunteer Fire Department for the period July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2010

Report on a special investigation of the City of Bloomfield Volunteer Fire Department for the period July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2010

Report on a special investigation of the Mills County Treasurer’s Office for the period January 1, 2005 through March 31, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Mills County Treasurer’s Office for the period January 1, 2005 through March 31, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the City of Davis City for the period October 1, 2006 through November 26, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the City of Davis City for the period October 1, 2006 through November 26, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Amana Colonies Land Use District for the period May 21, 2007 through March 31, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Amana Colonies Land Use District for the period May 21, 2007 through March 31, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the City of Callender for the period January 1, 2009 through January 3, 2012

Report on a special investigation of the City of Callender for the period January 1, 2009 through January 3, 2012

An Investigation of the Interstate 80 Rutting in Adair County, October 1983

This investigation was initiated to determine the causes of a rutting problem that occurred on Interstate 80 in Adair County. 1-80 from Iowa 25 to the Dallas County line was opened to traffic in November, 1960. The original pavement consisted of 4-1/2" of asphalt cement concrete over 12" of rolled stone base and 12" of granular subbase. A 5-1/2" overlay of asphalt cement concrete was placed in 1964. In 1970-1972, the roadway was resurfaced with 3" of asphalt cement concrete. In 1982, an asphalt cement concrete inlay, designed for a 10-year life, was placed in the eastbound lane. The mix designs for all courses met or exceeded all current criteria being used to formulate job mixes. Field construction reports indicate .that asphalt usage, densities, field voids and filler bitumen determinations were well within specification limits on a very consistent basis. Field laboratory reports indicate that laboratory voids for the base courses were within the prescribed limits for the base course and below the prescribed limits for the surface course. Instructional memorandums do indicate that extreme caution should be exercised when the voids are at or near the lower limits and traffic is not minimal. There is also a provision that provides for field voids controlling when there is a conflict between laboratory voids and field voids. It appears that contract documents do not adequately address the directions that must be taken when this conflict arises since it can readily be shown that laboratory voids must be in the very low or dangerous range if field voids are to be kept below the maximum limit under the current density specifications. A rut depth survey of January, 1983, identified little or no rutting on this section of roadway. Cross sections obtained in October, 1983, identified rutting which ranged from 0 to 0.9" with a general trend of the rutting to increase from a value of approximately 0.3" at MP 88 to a rut depth of 0.7" at MP 98. No areas of significant rutting were identified in the inside lane. Structural evaluation with the Road Rater indicated adequate structural capacity and also indicated that the longitudinal subdrains were functioning properly to provide adequate soil support values. Two pavement sections taken from the driving lane indicated very little distortion in the lower 7" base course. Essentially all of the distortion had occurred in the upper 2" base course and the 1..;1/2" surface course. Analysis of cores taken from this section of Interstate 80 indicated very little densification of either the surface or the upper or lower base courses. The asphalt cement content of both the Type B base courses and the Type A surface course were substantially higher than the intended asphalt cement content. The only explanation for this is that the salvaged material contained a greater percent of asphalt cement than initial extractions indicated. The penetration and viscosity of the blend of new asphalt cement and the asphalt cement recovered from the salvaged material were relatively close to that intended for this project. The 1983 ambient temperatures were extremely high from June 20 through September 10. The rutting is a result of a combination of adverse factors including, (1) high asphalt content, (2) the difference between laboratory and field voids, (3) lack of intermediate sized crushed particles, (4) high ambient temperatures. The high asphalt content in the 2" upper base course produced an asphalt concrete mix that did not exhibit satisfactory resistance to deformation from heavy loading. The majority of the rutting resulted from distortion of the 2" upper base lift. Heater planing is recommended as an interim corrective action. Further recommendation is to design for a 20-year alternative by removing 2-1/2" of material from the driving lane by milling and replacing with 2-1/2" of asphalt concrete with improved stability. This would be .followed by placing 1-1/2" of high quality resurfacing on the entire roadway. Other recommendations include improved density and stability requirements for asphalt concrete on high traffic roadways.

Report on a special investigation of the Benton County Conservation Department for the period June 1, 2010 through November 7, 2011

Report on a special investigation of the Benton County Conservation Department for the period June 1, 2010 through November 7, 2011