Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Investment Bonds: Creating Iowa Jobs by Investing in Iowa Infrastructure, January, 2009

The Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Investment Bonds are exactly that: an investment in Iowa and Iowans. Proposed by Governor Chet Culver in his 2009 Condition of the State address, the Rebuild Iowa bonds are an investment of $700 million to create jobs by addressing much-needed infrastructure projects across the state.

Rebuild Iowa Office Quarterly Performance Report 3rd Quarter, April 2009

As the anniversaries of 2008 tornado’s and floods approach, the Rebuild Iowa Office vision of a safer, stronger and smarter Iowa is coming into sharper focus. While much more remains to be done, hundreds of displaced Iowans and businesses are on the road to recovery and the building blocks for communities coming together. While recovery is a marathon and not a sprint, the work done so far couldn’t have been accomplished without an extensive recovery planning effort and an unprecedented level of cooperation among local, state and federal governments, private citizens, businesses and non-profit organizations, there is a rebirth and recovery underway in Iowa.

Rebuild Iowa Office Quarterly Report, July 2009

The RIO’S 90-page July Quarterly Report details the economic recovery strategy in housing; business; workforce development; infrastructure investments; individual services and guidance; local economic recovery; smart growth; mitigation planning; floodplain and watershed management; floodplain mapping; quality of life; and emergency management.The report also includes an updated selection of charts showing the flow of federal and state disaster recovery funding to the state, counties, cities and individuals affected by the 2008 disasters.

Governor's Task Force on Efficiencies and Cost-Effectiveness in Iowa State Government,Final Report, December 1983

A special task force was formed and worked through its various committees to uncover and investigate possible areas for cutting costs and saving money in State Government operations. A total of 81 recommendations are made in this report, with potential savings of over $32 million during the next several years.

Rebuild Iowa Office Quarterly Report, October 2009

The RIO’S October Quarterly Report details the economic recovery strategy in housing; business; workforce development; infrastructure investments; individual services and guidance; local economic recovery; smart growth; mitigation planning; floodplain and watershed management; floodplain mapping; quality of life; and emergency management.The report also includes an updated selection of charts showing the flow of federal and state disaster recovery funding to the state, counties, cities and individuals affected by the 2008 disasters.

p27 and Skp2 immunoreactivity and its clinical significance with endocrine and chemo-endocrine treatments in node-negative early breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Low p27 and high Skp2 immunoreactivity are associated with a poor prognosis and other poor prognostic features including resistant phenotypes and antiestrogen drug resistance. We investigated these proteins in two International Breast Cancer Study Group trials studying node-negative early breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Trial VIII compared chemotherapy followed by goserelin with either modality alone in premenopausal patients. Trial IX compared chemotherapy followed by tamoxifen with tamoxifen alone in postmenopausal patients. Central Pathology Office assessed p27 and Skp2 expression in the primary tumor by immunohistochemistry among 1631 (60%) trial patients. RESULTS: p27 and Skp2 were inversely related; 13% of tumors expressed low p27 and high Skp2. Low p27 and high Skp2 were associated with unfavorable prognostic factors including larger size and higher grade tumors, absence of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 overexpression and high Ki-67 (each P < 0.05). Low p27 and high Skp2 were not associated with disease-free survival (P = 0.42 and P = 0.48, respectively). The relative effects of chemo-endocrine versus endocrine therapy were similar regardless of p27 or Skp2. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm the association of low p27 and high Skp2 with other poor prognostic features, but found no predictive or prognostic value, and therefore do not recommend routine determination of p27 and Skp2 for node-negative breast cancer.

Prevalence rate and reasons for refusals of influenza vaccine in elderly.

More knowledge on the reasons for refusal of the influenza vaccine in elderly patients is essential to target groups for additional information, and hence improve coverage rate. The objective of the present study was to describe precisely the true motives for refusal. All patients aged over 64 who attended the Medical Outpatient Clinic, University of Lausanne, or their private practitioner's office during the 1999 and 2000 vaccination periods were included. Each patient was informed on influenza and its complications, as well as on the need for vaccination, its efficacy and adverse events. The vaccination was then proposed. In case of refusal, the reasons were investigated with an open question. Out of 1398 patients, 148 (12%) refused the vaccination. The main reasons for refusal were the perception of being in good health (16%), of not being susceptible to influenza (15%), of not having had the influenza vaccine in the past (15%), of having had a bad experience either personally or a relative (15%), and the uselessness of the vaccine (10%). Seventeen percent gave miscellaneous reasons and 12% no reason at all for refusal. Little epidemiological knowledge and resistance to change appear to be the major obstacles for wide acceptance of the vaccine by the elderly.

Uses and Benefits of Aviation in Iowa: Executive Summary, 2009

Air transportation is a key contributor to Iowa’s economy. The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation developed this 2009 report to evaluate and analyze the uses and benefits of aviation in Iowa. The statewide economic impact study shows how aviation serves as an economic engine, documents various ways air transportation is used in Iowa, and discusses other benefits that air transportation supports. Aviation related economic benefits measured in this study fall into two categories. In one category, benefits are measured in terms of jobs, payroll, and annual economic activity that various aviation and air transportation groups support. In the other category, added efficiency that businesses realize from their use of aviation is estimated in terms of increased productivity. Many of the economic benefits identified in this study are associated with commercial and general aviation airports that serve communities throughout Iowa. Beyond the boundaries of the airports are other aviation related activities that also add significant value to Iowa’s economy. Both types of economic benefit are discussed in this summary report.

Iowa Department on Aging Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2009, (Federal Fiscal Year October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009), January 2010.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Iowa Department on Aging. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, residential care facilities, nursing facilities in hospitals, elder group homes and assisted living programs. In order to carry out all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act this office recommends to increase the number of staff and create a volunteer ombudsman program. NOTE: The second file includes a correction to the report on page 8.

Protecting the Public,Iowa Office of Citizens’ Aide/Ombudsman, January 2010

The Ombudsman helps citizens understand and maneuver through the often complicated depths and layers of government. In many cases, assistants facilitate citizen dialogue with an agency, explain the reasons for laws or policies, recommend revisions to unfair policies or unreasonable decisions, and resolve disputes informally. In some cases, the Ombudsman will pursue more formal investigations, take sworn testimony, and issue public reports. Here, in this periodic newsletter, you’ll find a small sampling of the ombudsman’s work over the previous two months. If you need help resolving a problem with state or local government, please see our contact information at the bottom of the page.

Understanding the Many Faces of Child Neglect: A Review of Denial of Critical Care Cases in Iowa, 2005

In recent years, Iowa leaders and the general public have focused on the abuse children have suffered from several causes, including sexual abuse, methamphetamine manufacturing, and serious physical injury. While this public attention and concern is welcome, the harm that children suffer from neglect, which Iowa law calls denial of critical care, has received little attention, despite representing almost three-quarters of all child abuse cases. With financial assistance from the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation in 2003-2004, Prevent Child Abuse Iowa started a Child Neglect Awareness Project, with the goal of creating greater understanding and awareness of child neglect in Iowa.

Methamphetamine Abuse in Iowa, January 19, 2007

This second, and final, report is respectfully submitted to fully satisfy the following Senate File 169 requirement, as approved by the 2005 Iowa Legislature: “The Drug Policy Coordinator shall report, in a joint meeting, to the Committee on Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on Public Safety of the House of Representatives in January 2006 and in January 2007, the effects of this Act on methamphetamine abuse and related criminal activity.” (*Please note that impact data contained in this document have been updated since the initial 2006 report, and are based on the most recent information available to the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy.)

Why Objective Monitoring of Compliance is Important in the Management of Hypertension.

Hypertensive patients often experience poor adherence to treatment, a frequent cause of uncontrolled blood pressure. In this study, we have evaluated whether or not the use of electronic monitoring for drug adherence is a useful approach to identify and correct compliance problems in hypertensive patients, which may ultimately enhance the effect of antihypertensive therapy. Sixty-nine treated patients with an office blood pressure greater than 140/90 mm Hg were enrolled in this study. With patient consent, current antihypertensive therapy was dispensed in electronic pillboxes that record the time and date of each opening without changing the drug regimen. The intention was to provide physicians with objective measurements of drug compliance. The monitoring of compliance per se without any other intervention induced a marked decrease of blood pressure in the whole group (from 159/104Â+/-23/12 mm Hg to 143/92Â+/-20/15, meansÂ+/-standard deviation, p less than 0.001). A complete normalization of blood pressure (less than 140/90 mm Hg) was obtained in one third of the patients (group 1, n=23) during the monitoring period. A significant improvement of blood pressure control was found in another third (group 2, n=23), whereas in the remaining patients (group 3, n=23) no change in blood pressure was observed. The distribution of individual compliance values, as well as the mean compliances was comparable in the three subgroups. Conversely, the compliance reports have identified several potentially overtreated patients in group 1, a large number of patients with a poor adherence to the prescribed therapy in all groups, and patients who clearly needed a change in pharmacotherapy mainly in group 3. Thus, our results suggest that electronic monitoring of compliance can considerably enhance the efficacy of antihypertensive therapy in patients with uncontrolled hypertension. This procedure should be used more extensively in clinical practice whenever the blood pressure response to therapy appears insufficient. (c)2000 by Le Jacq Communications, Inc.