Chicago to Iowa City Passenger Rail Service, January 12, 2011

Iowa’s investment in the Chicago to Iowa City passenger rail service will produce more ongoing benefits than costs for Iowa residents and taxpayers over the next 30 years. An Iowa investment of $20.6 million will match a federal investment of $86.8 million for the capital costs of the Iowa segment of the Chicago to Iowa City service. Iowa’s share of the expected gap between revenues and operating and maintenance expense is estimated at $3 million annually. The economic analysis included in this document demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of the Iowa investments in the Chicago to Iowa City service and details the benefits that Iowa can expect from Iowa’s expenditures.

Policy Environment and Public Service Motivation

This article analyzes whether and to what extent the policy environment of civil servants has an impact on their level of Public Service Motivation (PSM). It hypothesizes that public employees working in different policy domains and stages of the policy cycle are diversely motivated by four PSM orientations (Compassion, Commitment to the public interest, Self-sacrifice and Attraction to politics). The empirical results are based on a survey of 6885 Swiss civil servants. They show that those in charge of Welfare State policies are inclined to have higher levels of 'Compassion', whereas those performing core state functions report lower levels. Furthermore, employees whose main tasks are related to policy formulation display high levels of the 'Attraction to politics' dimension of PSM. This study questions the generalization of previous findings on PSM that are based on heterogeneous survey populations.

EZ-IO(®) intraosseous device implementation in a pre-hospital emergency service: A prospective study and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Intraosseous access is increasingly recognised as an effective alternative vascular access to peripheral venous access. We aimed to prospectively study the patients receiving prehospital intraosseous access with the EZ-IO(®), and to compare our results with those of the available literature. METHODS: Every patient who required an intraosseous access with the EZ-IO from January 1st, 2009 to December 31st, 2011 was included. The main data collected were: age, sex, indication for intraosseous access, localisation of insertion, success rate, drugs and fluids administered, and complications. All published studies concerning the EZ-IO device were systematically searched and reviewed for comparison. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients representing 60 EZ-IO procedures were included. Mean age was 47 years (range 0.5-91), and the success rate was 90%. The main indications were cardiorespiratory arrest (74%), major trauma (12%), and shock (5%). The anterior tibia was the main route. The main drugs administered were adrenaline (epinephrine), atropine and amiodarone. No complications were reported. We identified 30 heterogeneous studies representing 1603 EZ-IO insertions. The patients' characteristics and success rate were similar to our study. Complications were reported in 13 cases (1.3%). CONCLUSION: The EZ-IO provides an effective way to achieve vascular access in the pre-hospital setting. Our results were similar to the cumulative results of all studies involving the use of the EZ-IO, and that can be used for comparison for further studies.

Status Report Midwest Regional Rail Passenger Initiative and Passenger Rail Service in Iowa, February 1, 2012

This report fulfills the requirements of the following Code of Iowa Sections: Section 327J.3(1): “The director may expend moneys from the fund to pay the costs associated with the initiation, operation, and maintenance of rail passenger service. The director shall report by February 1 of each year to the legislative services agency concerning the status of the fund including anticipated expenditures for the following fiscal year.” Section 327J.3(5): "The director shall report annually to the general assembly concerning the development and operation of the midwest regional rail system and the state's passenger rail service."

Audit report of the accompanying Schedule of Debt Service and Coverage for Iowa State University of Science and Technology as of February 10, 2012 for the Athletic Facilities Revenue Bond Funds

Audit report of the accompanying Schedule of Debt Service and Coverage for Iowa State University of Science and Technology as of February 10, 2012 for the Athletic Facilities Revenue Bond Funds

Covalent binding of C3b to monoclonal antibodies selectively up-regulates heavy chain epitope recognition by T cells.

Protein C3 of the complement system is known for its role in the nonspecific immune response. Covalent binding of C3b to antigen upon complement activation also plays a significant role in specific T cell immune response. C3b-antigen complexes can bind to complement receptors on the antigen-presenting cell, and the C3b antigen link (most often an ester link) remains fairly stable inside the cells. In this study, IgG1,kappa and IgG2a,kappa murine monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were used as antigens; covalent complexes between mAb and C3b were produced and purified in vitro from purified proteins; human B cell lines and T cell clones were raised from tumor patients who received mAb injections for cancer therapy or diagnosis. Recognition of epitopes of these mAb by T cell clones when the mAb were processed alone or bound to C3b was compared. IgG or IgG-C3b complexes presented by B cell lines were able to stimulate proliferation of kappa light chain-specific T cell clones at similar concentrations. In contrast, IgG-C3b complex recognition by heavy chain-specific T cell clones required 100-fold less IgG-C3b than uncomplexed IgG. As C3b was shown to be covalently bound only to the IgG heavy chains in the complexes, C3b chaperoning is restricted to only the IgG heavy chain and selectively influences intracellular steps of IgG heavy chain processing. This differential modulation of C3b suggests an early dissociation of IgG heavy and light chains in antigen-presenting cells.

Agency Fact Sheet, Department of Human Services: Comm. Service, FY2009

This document produced by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has been developed to provide a multitude of information about executive branch agencies/department on a single sheet of paper. The facts provides general information, contact information, workforce data, leave and benefits information and affirmative action data.

A natural structural variant of the mouse TCR beta-chain displays intrinsic receptor function and antigen specificity.

The Cbeta0 alternate cassette exon is located between the Jbeta1 and Cbeta1 genes in the mouse TCR beta-locus. In T cells with a VDJbeta1 rearrangement, the Cbeta0 exon may be included in TCRbeta transcripts (herein called TCRbeta-Cbeta0 transcripts), potentially inserting an additional 24 aa between the V and C domains of the TCR beta-chain. These TCRbeta splice isoforms may be differentially regulated after Ag activation, because we detected TCRbeta-Cbeta0 transcripts in a high proportion (>60%) of immature and mature T cells having VDJbeta1 rearrangements but found a substantially reduced frequency (<35%) of TCRbeta-Cbeta0 expression among CD8 T cells selected by Ag in vivo. To study the potential activity of the TCRbeta-Cbeta0 splice variant, we cloned full-length TCR cDNAs by single-cell RT-PCR into retroviral expression vectors. We found that the TCRbeta-Cbeta0 splice isoform can function during an early stage of T cell development normally dependent on TCR beta-chain expression. We also demonstrate that T hybridoma-derived cells expressing a TCRbeta-Cbeta0 isoform together with the clonally associated TCR alpha-chain recognize the same cognate peptide-MHC ligand as the corresponding normal alphabetaTCR. This maintenance of receptor function and specificity upon insertion of the Cbeta0 peptide cassette signifies a remarkable adaptability for the TCR beta-chain, and our findings open the possibility that this splice isoform may function in vivo.

Epidémiologie de la psychiatrie de consultation-liaison du Centre Psychosocial Neuchâtelois dans le service de Médecine interne de l'Hôpital de la Chaux-de-Fonds en 1994 et 1998 : Interactions et régulations

Résumé La psychiatrie de consultation-liaison (CL) connaît depuis une décennie un essor majeur en Europe sous l'impulsion des recherches multicentriques du groupe European Consultation Liaison Psychiatry - ECLVV (Huyse). En Suisse, la discipline reste à développer par manque de consultants spécialisés selon le rapport 2000 de l'Association des professeurs titulaires de chaires. Néanmoins une harmonisation progressive des standards européens de documentation et d'évaluation apparaît progressivement, notamment dans les travaux du Service de Psychiatrie de Liaison du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois. Afin d'améliorer sa pratique de consultation-liaison qui restait jusqu'alors frustrante par un sentiment de débordement et d'absence de feed-back des interventions, le Centre Psychosocial Neuchâtelois de La Chaux-de-Fonds (CPS) a constitué une base de données informatisée de CL à des fins de recherche-action selon les recommandations du groupe ECLVV. Nous avons comparé les valeurs de prévalence de notre activité de CL dans le service de médecine interne de l'Hôpital de La Chaux-de-Fonds en 1994, année du début de l'informatisation des données du CPS, et en 1998, année des plus récents résultats exploitables. La taille de l'échantillon était de 78 cas pour 1994 et de 108 cas pour 1998. Les résultats de notre étude épidémiologique rétrospective et descriptive montraient une augmentation en volume des demandes de CL, une diversification et une complexification des cas. Cette charge croissante sur la psychiatrie de consultation-liaison s'observait également dans les données de la littérature. La réponse psychiatrique du CPS montrait une modestie de moyens et du pragmatisme dans le style des interventions. Ces dernières étaient essentiellement de nature de psychiatrie générale et d'urgence, focalisée sur les tentatives de suicides. Les tentamens, ici comme ailleurs, restent le noyau dur de toute pratique de psychiatrie à l'hôpital général. L'état de lieu de notre pratique de consultation-liaison issu de ce travail a permis de créer une base de données simplifée étendue à l'ensemble des demandes de consultation au CPS afin de réguler le flux de toutes ses interventions face aux demandes toujours croissantes. Dans ce sens, notre étude a montré la nécessité de formaliser les demandes de consultation psychiatrique à l'hôpital général afin d'optimaliser les réponses des consultants.

Agency Fact Sheet, Department of Human Services: Comm. Service, FY2011

This document produced by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has been developed to provide a multitude of information about executive branch agencies/department on a single sheet of paper. The facts provides general information, contact information, workforce data, leave and benefits information and affirmative action data.

Audit report on the Appanoose County Service Agency in Centerville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2011

Audit report on the Appanoose County Service Agency in Centerville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2011

Title IV-B Child and Family Service Plan: Annual Progress and Service Report, June 2005

The development of the Five Year Child and Family Service Plan for fiscal years 2005-2009 was based on information in the Final Report for fiscal years 2000-2004, and Iowa’s CFSR, as well as input from stakeholders and the public gathered through the CFSR and the Better Results for Kids redesign.