Vital Statistics of Iowa, 2003

This publication is an historical recording of the most requested statistics on vital events and is a source of information that can be used in further analysis.

Vital Statistics of Iowa, 2002

This publication is an historical recording of the most requested statistics on vital events and is a source of information that can be used in further analysis.

Vital Statistics of Iowa in Brief, 2004

This publication is an historical recording of the most requested statistics on vital events and is a source of information that can be used in further analysis.

Vital Statistics of Iowa in Brief, 2001

This publication is an historical recording of the most requested statistics on vital events and is a source of information that can be used in further analysis.

Vital Statistics of Iowa in Brief, 2002

This publication is an historical recording of the most requested statistics on vital events and is a source of information that can be used in further analysis.

Vital Statistics of Iowa in Brief, 2003

This publication is an historical recording of the most requested statistics on vital events and is a source of information that can be used in further analysis.

Diagnosis and treatment of resistant hypertension.

Hypertension resistant to lifestyle interventions and antihypertensive medications is a common problem encountered by physicians in everyday practice. It is most often defined as a blood pressure remaining ≥ 140/90 mmHg despite the regular intake of at least three drugs lowering blood pressure by different mechanisms, one of them being a diuretic. It now appears justified to include, unless contraindicated or not tolerated, a blocker of the renin-angiotensin system and a calcium channel blocker in this drug regimen, not only to gain antihypertensive efficacy, but also to prevent or regress target organ damage and delay the development of cardiorenal complications. A non-negligible fraction of treatment-resistant hypertension have normal "out of office" blood pressures. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and/or home blood pressure recording should therefore be routinely performed to identify patients with true resistant hypertension, i.e. patients who are more likely to benefit from treatment intensification.

Effect of biomagnetic therapy versus physiotherapy for treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of pulsed signal therapy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (Kellgren II or III). METHODS: A randomized, double-blind controlled clinical trial. The first 95 patients sent to the clinic with knee osteo-arthritis were selected and randomized into treatment with pulsed signal therapy or conventional physiotherapy. Assessment included recording of usual demographic data, pertinent history, baseline medication and radiographs. Clinical evaluation was made at baseline, 6 weeks and 6 months after the end of treatment by the same blinded doctor. At each follow-up time, the patient was asked to complete a visual analogue pain scale and a Lequesne score. The doctor recorded the degree of pain on motion and the ability to move the affected knee. RESULTS: Both treatments resulted in significant improvements in pain and physical function. A statistical difference was observed only for activities of daily living, where the physiotherapy was more efficient (p<0.03). The cost of treatment with pulsed signal therapy was significantly higher, double the treatment cost of conventional physiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Like physiotherapy, pulsed signal therapy has improved the clinical state of treated patients but with no significant statistical difference. Pulsed signal therapy is, however, more expensive.

Ei ne suuret tulot, vaan... : riippumattoman musiikintekijän tulomuodot digitalisoituvassa maailmassa

Opinnäytetyö selvittää musiikkiteollisuuden ansaintalogiikkaa ja riippumattoman musiikintekijän tulomuotoja, sekä teknologisen kehityksen ja Internetin aiheuttaman rakennemuutoksen vaikutusta niihin. Alan nykyisenä ongelmana nähdään musiikintekijälle päätyvän rahan pieni osuus teollisuudessa liikkuvasta tulovirrasta. Työn tavoitteena on löytää kustannustehokkaita väyliä musiikin saattamiseen kuulijoille, pohtien samalla erilaisten promootiokanavien vaikutusarvoa. Lopullisena tarkoituksena on löytää tapa elättää itseään musiikin tekemisellä. Lähdeaineistona on käytetty alan kirjallisuutta, tilastoja, Internet-artikkeleita, sekä kirjoittajan omaa kokemusta alalta. Työ osoittaa, kuinka hankalaa musiikin tekemisellä tienaaminen on Suomessa. Kustannusten pitäminen mahdollisimman alhaisina ja asioiden tekeminen omatoimisesti mahdollisimman pitkälle ovat perusedellytys voitolliselle liiketoiminnalle. Digitaaliteknologia yhdessä Internetin kanssa tarjoaa mahdollisuuden tähän. Musiikintekijän merkittävimmiksi tulomuodoiksi osoittautuvat esiintymis- ja tekijänoikeuskorvaukset. Äänitteillä ansaitseminen on todennäköisintä pienlevy-yhtiöiden kanssa toimiessa, isojen levy-yhtiöiden raskas kulurakenne takaa sen että itse musiikintekijälle tuloutuu vain murto-osa tuotoista. Äänitteiden digijakelu ei vielä tarjoa varteenotettavaa tulonlähdettä musiikintekijälle, mutta sen merkitys kasvaa lähitulevaisuudessa, samoin kuin erilaisista edelleenlisensioinneista ja oheistuotteista kertyvät tulot.

Kahden kulttuurin ääniä

Opinnäytetyöni Kahden kulttuurin ääniä on monimuototyö, jonka teososa koostuu kuudesta suunnittelemastani ja äänittämästäni konkreettisen musiikin teoksesta. Materiaali on äänitetty 2006 kesällä ja syksyllä Suomessa ja Japanissa. Kirjallisessa osassa tarkastelin lajityypin historiaa sekä omaan työskentelyyni peilaten keinoja, joilla tein kenttä-äänistä musiikillisen teoksen jaettuna kolmeen eri teemaan kunkin maan äänimateriaalista: luontoäänet, kaupunkiäänet sekä uskonnollisten palvelusten äänet. Teoksille ei tehty ennakkokäsikirjoitusta, vaan niiden kokoaminen tapahtui konkreettisen musiikin perinteiden mukaisesti vasta äänityöasemalla. Työ koostettiin ja miksattiin stereona ja surroundina (5.0) Pro Toolsissa vuoden 2007 aikana. Osa äänimateriaalista säilyi käsittelemättömänä, osa käsiteltiin lähes tunnistamattomaksi. Kahden kulttuurin ääniä poikkeaa lajityypin klassikoista nopealla tempollaan ja runsaalla tunnelmien vaihtelevuudellaan. Toisinaan työ lähentelee jo nykyaikaisia elektronisen musiikin alalajeja. Teokset sisältävät paljon elementtejä, jotka aiheuttavat eri ihmisissä erilaisia assosiaatioita. Tämän vuoksi konkreettinen musiikki voisi hyvin toimia muun muassa musiikkiterapian välineenä.

New evidence for the social embeddedness of infants' early triangular capacities.

Infants appear to be active participants in complex interactional sequences with their parents far earlier than previously theorized. In this report, we document the capacity of 3-month-old infants to share attention with two partners (mothers and fathers) simultaneously, and trace links between this capacity and early family group-level dynamics. During comprehensive evaluations of the family's emergent coparenting alliance completed in 113 homes, we charted infants' eye gaze patterns during two different mother-father-infant assessment paradigms. Triangular capacities (operationalized as the frequency of rapid multishift gaze transitions between parents during interactions) were stable across interaction context. Infants exhibiting more advanced triangular capacities belonged to families showing evidence of better coparental adjustment. Theoretical and practice implications of these findings are discussed.

Neuronal responses in mouse barrel cortex:Comparison of two signal discriminators

Barrels are discrete cytoarchitectonic neurons cluster located in the layer IV of the somatosensory¦cortex in mice brain. Each barrel is related to a specific whisker located on the mouse snout. The¦whisker-to-barrel pathway is a part of the somatosensory system that is intensively used to explore¦sensory activation induced plasticity in the cerebral cortex.¦Different recording methods exist to explore the cortical response induced by whisker deflection in¦the cortex of anesthetized mice. In this work, we used a method called the Single-Unit Analysis by¦which we recorded the extracellular electric signals of a single barrel neuron using a microelectrode.¦After recording the signal was processed by discriminators to isolate specific neuronal shape (action¦potentials).¦The objective of this thesis was to familiarize with the barrel cortex recording during whisker¦deflection and its theoretical background and to compare two different ways of discriminating and¦sorting cortical signal, the Waveform Window Discriminator (WWD) or the Spike Shape Discriminator (SSD).¦WWD is an electric module allowing the selection of specific electric signal shape. A trigger and a¦window potential level are set manually. During measurements, every time the electric signal passes¦through the two levels a dot is generated on time line. It was the method used in previous¦extracellular recording study in the Département de Biologie Cellulaire et de Morphologie (DBCM) in¦Lausanne.¦SSD is a function provided by the signal analysis software Spike2 (Cambridge Electronic Design). The¦neuronal signal is discriminated by a complex algorithm allowing the creation of specific templates.¦Each of these templates is supposed to correspond to a cell response profile. The templates are saved¦as a number of points (62 in this study) and are set for each new cortical location. During¦measurements, every time the cortical recorded signal corresponds to a defined number of templates¦points (60% in this study) a dot is generated on time line. The advantage of the SSD is that multiple¦templates can be used during a single stimulation, allowing a simultaneous recording of multiple¦signals.¦It exists different ways to represent data after discrimination and sorting. The most commonly used¦in the Single-Unit Analysis of the barrel cortex are the representation of the time between stimulation¦and the first cell response (the latency), the representation of the Response Magnitude (RM) after¦whisker deflection corrected for spontaneous activity and the representation of the time distribution¦of neuronal spikes on time axis after whisker stimulation (Peri-Stimulus Time Histogram, PSTH).¦The results show that the RMs and the latencies in layer IV were significantly different between the¦WWD and the SSD discriminated signal. The temporal distribution of the latencies shows that the¦different values were included between 6 and 60ms with no peak value for SSD while the WWD¦data were all gathered around a peak of 11ms (corresponding to previous studies). The scattered¦distribution of the latencies recorded with the SSD did not correspond to a cell response.¦The SSD appears to be a powerful tool for signal sorting but we do not succeed to use it for the¦Single-Unit Analysis extracellular recordings. Further recordings with different SSD templates settings¦and larger sample size may help to show the utility of this tool in Single-Unit Analysis studies.

Peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma activation stimulates keratinocyte differentiation.

Previous studies demonstrated that peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha or PPAR-delta activation stimulates keratinocyte differentiation, is anti-inflammatory, and improves barrier homeostasis. Here we demonstrate that treatment of cultured human keratinocytes with ciglitazone, a PPAR-gamma activator, increases involucrin and transglutaminase 1 mRNA levels. Moreover, topical treatment of hairless mice with ciglitazone or troglitazone increases loricrin, involucrin, and filaggrin expression without altering epidermal morphology. These results indicate that PPAR-gamma activation stimulates keratinocyte differentiation. Additionally, PPAR-gamma activators accelerated barrier recovery following acute disruption by either tape stripping or acetone treatment, indicating an improvement in permeability barrier homeostasis. Treatment with PPAR-gamma activators also reduced the cutaneous inflammatory response that is induced by phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate, a model of irritant contact dermatitis and oxazolone, a model of allergic contact dermatitis. To determine whether the effects of PPAR-gamma activators are mediated by PPAR-gamma, we next examined animals deficient in PPAR-gamma. Mice with a deficiency of PPAR-gamma specifically localized to the epidermis did not display any cutaneous abnormalites on inspection, but on light microscopy there was a modest increase in epidermal thickness associated with an increase in proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining. Key functions of the skin including permeability barrier homeostasis, stratum corneum surface pH, and water-holding capacity, and response to inflammatory stimuli were not altered in PPAR-gamma-deficient epidermis. Although PPAR-gamma activators stimulated loricrin and filaggrin expression in wild-type animals, however, in PPAR-gamma-deficient mice no effect was observed indicating that the stimulation of differentiation by PPAR-gamma activators is mediated by PPAR-gamma. In contrast, PPAR-gamma activators inhibited inflammation in both PPAR-gamma-deficient and wild-type mouse skin, indicating that the inhibition of cutaneous inflammation by these PPAR-gamma activators does not require PPAR-gamma in keratinocytes. These observations suggest that thiazolidindiones and perhaps other PPAR-gamma activators maybe useful in the treatment of cutaneous disorders.

Projection Par La Microsimulation de La Population Active Cap-Vert (2000-2025)

À l‟aide des microdonnées du recensement de 2000 et des données administratives sur l‟éducation et en s‟appuyant sur : 1) les scénarios concernant l‟évolution démographique, d‟éducation et d‟activité économique et 2) un modèle de microsimulation, on a projeté pour la période 2000 à 2025, certaines caractéristiques et comportements démographiques et socio-économiques de la population du Cap-Vert, notamment ceux liés à l‟évolution du statut d‟activité. Selon le scénario le plus plausible, à l‟horizon 2025, le pays se trouvera à l‟étape avancée de la seconde phase de sa transition démographique. Sa population continuerait de croître en raison de sa structure par âge relativement jeune. Bien que le solde migratoire tende à être nul et que la mortalité tende à se stabiliser (près de 5 à 7 décès pour 1 000 habitants par an), cette croissance sera à un rythme moins rapide (d‟environ 1,8 % par an) que celui de la décennie 1990-2000, et ce, malgré le déclin de la fécondité. De 2000 à 2025, le pays pourrait connaître également une augmentation des personnes âgées de 15 à 24 ans, variant de 26 % à 29 % selon les scénarios envisagés, soit ceux et celles qui entreront sur le marché du travail au cours de la période. Le nombre de ces jeunes n‟ayant pas obtenu un diplôme d‟études secondaire, en 2025, pourrait augmenter, selon les scénarios envisagés, variant de 30 % à 44 % de plus qu‟en 2000. Le nombre de personnes de ce groupe d‟âge ayant obtenu un diplôme d‟études secondaires ou plus, le pays pourrait voir leur nombre à décupler de 11 fois à 13 fois à la à l‟horizon 2025.

Activin a inhibits antigen-induced allergy in murine epicutaneous sensitization.

Activin A, a member of the TGFβ superfamily, is involved in physiological processes such as cell differentiation, tissue homeostasis, wound healing, reproduction, and in pathological conditions, such as fibrosis, cancer, and asthma. Activin enhances mast cell maturation, as well as regulatory T-cell and Langerhans cell differentiation. In this study we investigated the potential role of activin in epicutaneous sensitization with ovalbumin (OVA), notably with respect to its effect on known Th2-polarization. For this purpose, transgenic mice overexpressing activin in keratinocytes and their wild-type (WT) controls were sensitized epicutaneously with OVA. Skin biopsies were analyzed with regard to histopathological features and mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory and Th1/Th2 cytokines, and Ig levels were measured in the serum. Unexpectedly, activin overexpressing animals were protected from Th2-cytokine expression and induction of OVA-specific IgE levels compared to WT animals. On the other hand, transgenic mice were more susceptible to inflammation compared to WT littermates after tape-stripping and saline (vehicle) or OVA application, as shown by increased pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNA levels and neutrophil accumulation at the site of the treatment. We conclude that activin protects from antigen-induced cutaneous Th2-polarization through modulation of the immune response. These findings highlight the role of activin in cutaneous sensitization, allergy, and in skin homeostasis.