Iowa Civil Rights Commission, 46 Years of Working Toward a State Free of Discrimination Through Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws, Annual Report FY2011

The mission of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission is to end discrimination within the state of Iowa. To achieve this goal, the ICRC must effectively enforce the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The ICRA will be as effective as the Commission is in processing complaints of discrimination. The ICRC undertook significant steps forward in improving the timeliness and competency by which complaints of discrimination are processed. The screening unit was increased with special emphasis on improving the quality and quantity of the analysis of the initial screening decisions. The investigative process for nonhousing cases was completely overhauled. The improved process builds on the screening decision and focuses on the issues raised in that decision. The new process will help the ICRC reduce a significant backlog for non-housing cases. Additionally, we revamped the mediation program by moving to an allvolunteer mediation program. Over 20 Iowa lawyers volunteered to help the ICRC resolve complaints through alternative dispute resolution.

DEA does not like positive discrimination : a comparison of alternative models based on empirical data

Due to the existence of free software and pedagogical guides, the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been further democratized in recent years. Nowadays, it is quite usual for practitioners and decision makers with no or little knowledge in operational research to run themselves their own efficiency analysis. Within DEA, several alternative models allow for an environment adjustment. Five alternative models, each of them easily accessible to and achievable by practitioners and decision makers, are performed using the empirical case of the 90 primary schools of the State of Geneva, Switzerland. As the State of Geneva practices an upstream positive discrimination policy towards schools, this empirical case is particularly appropriate for an environment adjustment. The alternative of the majority of DEA models deliver divergent results. It is a matter of concern for applied researchers and a matter of confusion for practitioners and decision makers. From a political standpoint, these diverging results could lead to potentially opposite decisions. Grâce à l'existence de logiciels en libre accès et de guides pédagogiques, la méthode data envelopment analysis (DEA) s'est démocratisée ces dernières années. Aujourd'hui, il n'est pas rare que les décideurs avec peu ou pas de connaissances en recherche opérationnelle réalisent eux-mêmes leur propre analyse d'efficience. A l'intérieur de la méthode DEA, plusieurs modèles permettent de tenir compte des conditions plus ou moins favorables de l'environnement. Cinq de ces modèles, facilement accessibles et applicables par les décideurs, sont utilisés pour mesurer l'efficience des 90 écoles primaires du canton de Genève, Suisse. Le canton de Genève pratiquant une politique de discrimination positive envers les écoles défavorisées, ce cas pratique est particulièrement adapté pour un ajustement à l'environnement. La majorité des modèles DEA génèrent des résultats divergents. Ce constat est préoccupant pour les chercheurs appliqués et perturbant pour les décideurs. D'un point de vue politique, ces résultats divergents conduisent à des prises de décision différentes selon le modèle sur lequel elles sont fondées.

Iowa Civil Rights Commission 46 Years of Working Toward a State Free of Discrimination Through Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws Annual Report Fiscal Year 2011

Annual Report for the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

The role of actions in auditory object discrimination.

Action representations can interact with object recognition processes. For example, so-called mirror neurons respond both when performing an action and when seeing or hearing such actions. Investigations of auditory object processing have largely focused on categorical discrimination, which begins within the initial 100 ms post-stimulus onset and subsequently engages distinct cortical networks. Whether action representations themselves contribute to auditory object recognition and the precise kinds of actions recruiting the auditory-visual mirror neuron system remain poorly understood. We applied electrical neuroimaging analyses to auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in response to sounds of man-made objects that were further subdivided between sounds conveying a socio-functional context and typically cuing a responsive action by the listener (e.g. a ringing telephone) and those that are not linked to such a context and do not typically elicit responsive actions (e.g. notes on a piano). This distinction was validated psychophysically by a separate cohort of listeners. Beginning approximately 300 ms, responses to such context-related sounds significantly differed from context-free sounds both in the strength and topography of the electric field. This latency is >200 ms subsequent to general categorical discrimination. Additionally, such topographic differences indicate that sounds of different action sub-types engage distinct configurations of intracranial generators. Statistical analysis of source estimations identified differential activity within premotor and inferior (pre)frontal regions (Brodmann's areas (BA) 6, BA8, and BA45/46/47) in response to sounds of actions typically cuing a responsive action. We discuss our results in terms of a spatio-temporal model of auditory object processing and the interplay between semantic and action representations.

Behavioural species discrimination in red wood ants (Formica rufa group)

The Formica rufa group (red wood ants) currently includes six species. Nevertheless, during previous work based on molecular markers, we showed the existence of one population morphologically identified as F. lugubris, but genetically different from all other analysed populations of this species. This population could represent a cryptic species within the Swiss National Park and has been provisionally named Formica lugubris-A2. To verify our hypothesis, we conducted a behavioural test based on the ability of ants to recognize pupae of their own species when compared to those of another species. The three red wood ant species present in the Swiss National Park (F. lugubris, F. paralugubris and F. aquilonia) and the F. lugubris-A2 population were used in our study. Results indicate that the F. lugubris-A2 population differs from other F. lugubris and from all other species in the behaviour of its workers and in the way its pupae are discriminated by other species. This is in accordance with the genetic data and strengthens our hypothesis on the existence of a new cryptic red wood ant species within the Swiss National Park.

Perceived discrimination against diabetics in the workplace and in work-related insurances in Switzerland.

To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of perceived diabetes-related discrimination in the workplace and in work-related insurances in persons with diabetes mellitus in Switzerland. 509 insulin-treated diabetic subjects representative of the northwestern Swiss population responded to a self-report questionnaire on perceived diabetes-related discrimination in the workplace and in work-related insurances (salary loss insurance, supplementary occupational plan). Discrimination was defined as being treated differently at least once in relation to diabetes. The reported rates of different aspects of discrimination in the workplace and in work-related insurances ranged between 5-11% and 4-15% respectively. Risk factors that independently increased the risk of not being hired due to diabetes were the presence of at least two severe hypoglycaemic events/year and relevant diabetic complications (OR 5.6 and OR 2.6 respectively; both<0.05). The presence of at least two severe hypoglycaemic events/year was also associated with an increased risk of losing one's job (OR 6.5, <0.01). Overweight or obesity were related to increased discrimination in work-related insurances (OR for denial 2.1-2.4; OR for reserve 3.9-4.4; all<0.05). Perceived diabetes-related discrimination in the workplace and by work-related insurances is a common problem. In the light of our findings the introduction of effective non-discrimination legislation for patients with chronic illnesses appears to be desirable.

Iowa Civil Rights Commission 48 Years of Working For a State Free of Discrimination Through Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws, FY2013

Annual Report for the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

Carbon isotope discrimination and yield of upland rice as affected by drought at flowering

Field experiments involving upland rice genotypes, sown in various dates in late season, were carried out to assess the relationship of carbon isotope discrimination with grain yield and drought resistance. In each one of the three years, one trial was kept under good water availability, while other suffered water shortage for a period of 18-23 days, encompassing panicle emergence and flowering. Drought stress reduced carbon isotope discrimination measured on soluble sugars (deltas) extracted from stem uppermost internode at the end of the imposition period, but had relatively less effect on bulk dry matter of leaves, sampled at the same period, or that of uppermost internodes and grains, sampled at harvest. The drought-induced reduction in deltas was accompanied of reduced spikelet fertility and grain yield. In the three trials subjected to drought, genotypes with the highest yield and spikelet fertility had the lowest deltas. However, this relationship was weak and it was concluded that deltas is not a sufficiently reliable indicator of rice drought resistance to be useful as a screening test in breeding programs. On the other hand, grain yield and spikelet fertility of genotypes which were the soonest to reach 50% flowering within the drought imposition period, were the least adversely affected by drought. Then, timing of drought in relation to panicle emergence and to flowering appeared to be a more important cause of yield variation among genotypes than variation in deltas.

Tire traces: discrimination and classification of pyrolysis-GC/MS profiles

Tire traces can be observed on several crime scenes as vehicles are often used by criminals. The tread abrasion on the road, while braking or skidding, leads to the production of small rubber particles which can be collected for comparison purposes. This research focused on the statistical comparison of Py-GC/MS profiles of tire traces and tire treads. The optimisation of the analytical method was carried out using experimental designs. The aim was to determine the best pyrolysis parameters regarding the repeatability of the results. Thus, the pyrolysis factor effect could also be calculated. The pyrolysis temperature was found to be five time more important than time. Finally, a pyrolysis at 650 °C during 15 s was selected. Ten tires of different manufacturers and models were used for this study. Several samples were collected on each tire, and several replicates were carried out to study the variability within each tire (intravariability). More than eighty compounds were integrated for each analysis and the variability study showed that more than 75% presented a relative standard deviation (RSD) below 5% for the ten tires, thus supporting a low intravariability. The variability between the ten tires (intervariability) presented higher values and the ten most variant compounds had a RSD value above 13%, supporting their high potential of discrimination between the tires tested. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was able to fully discriminate the ten tires with the help of the first three principal components. The ten tires were finally used to perform braking tests on a racetrack with a vehicle equipped with an anti-lock braking system. The resulting tire traces were adequately collected using sheets of white gelatine. As for tires, the intravariability for the traces was found to be lower than the intervariability. Clustering methods were carried out and the Ward's method based on the squared Euclidean distance was able to correctly group all of the tire traces replicates in the same cluster than the replicates of their corresponding tire. Blind tests on traces were performed and were correctly assigned to their tire source. These results support the hypothesis that the tested tires, of different manufacturers and models, can be discriminated by a statistical comparison of their chemical profiles. The traces were found to be not differentiable from their source but differentiable from all the other tires present in the subset. The results are promising and will be extended on a larger sample set.

Characterization and discrimination of soils by their reflected electromagnetic energy

The objective of this work was to verify if reflected energy of soils can characterize and discriminate them. A spectroradiometer (Spectral reflectance between: 400-2,500 nm) was utilized in laboratory. The soils evaluated are located in Bauru region, SP, Brazil, and are classified as Typic Argiudoll (TR), Typic Eutrorthox (LR), Typic Argiudoll (PE), Typic Haplortox (LE), Typic Paleudalf (PV) and Typic Quartzipsamment (AQ). They were characterized by their spectral reflectance as for descriptive conventional methods (Brazilian and International) according to the types of spectral curves. A method for the spectral descriptive evaluation of soils was established. It was possible to characterize and discriminate the soils by their spectral reflectance, with exception for LR and TR. The spectral differences were better identified by the general shape of spectral curves, by the intensity of band absorption and angle tendencies. These characteristics were mainly influenced by organic matter, iron, granulometry and mineralogy constituents. A reduction of iron and clay contents, which influenced higher reflectance intensity and shape variations, occurred on the soils LR/TR, PE, LE, PV and AQ, on that sequence. Soils of the same group with different clay textures could be discriminated. The conventional descriptive evaluation of spectral curves was less efficient on discriminating soils. Simulated orbital data discriminated soils mainly by bands 5 and 7.