Data in Context: Notes on Employment and Labor Force Data

This paper provides a brief review of readily available labor force and employment data for the United States and local areas. Labor force and employment terminology, geographic parameters, and strengths and weaknesses of available data sets are discussed.employment; labor force; demographics

Preliminary Market and Cost Analysis of a Five-Station Hemodialysis Facility in Marengo, Iowa

This report was commissioned by the Marengo Memorial Hospital to evaluate the market potential for a new kidney dialysis facility. Marengo Memorial Hospital is a rural hospital located in Marengo, a town of 2,535 people in north central Iowa County, Iowa (see the star in Map 1). In 2001, the hospital reported a capacity of 25 acute-care beds, 228 admissions, 8,485 inpatient admission days, and 8,750 outpatient visits. Marengo Memorial Hospital intends to add space in order to expand its wellness, health maintenance, and community programs. One of the options for use of this added space is a fivestation hemodialysis facility. Our primary goal is to determine whether there is enough current and anticipated demand for in-center hemodialysis services within the immediate area and surrounding region to support such a facility. Our secondary aim is to determine the utilization levels at which a five-station hemodialysis facility's operations can be self-financed. For the purposes of this report, it is assumed that suitable facility space will be included in hospital expansion, regardless of whether the space is utilized for dialysis operations. This report focuses on the potential market for and operational costs and revenues associated with the proposed dialysis facility.

A Preliminary Investigation of School District Expenditures with Respect to School District Size in Iowa

This is a preliminary investigation into the relationships between public school district size and patterns in school district expenditures and revenues in Iowa.  The report uses Internet-accessible revenue and expenditure data to examine the relative importance of primary education to the Iowa’s budget and to local government budgets.  Data derived from the Certified Annual Report that each public school district files with the Iowa Department of Education are used to examine patterns of revenues and expenditures for all Iowa public school districts relative to school district sizes and state averages.  The analysis finds a reciprocal relationship between total district expenditures per student and district size.  Economy of scale is a substantial factor as district enrollments decline below 750 students.

Expected Wages and Other Labor Market Factors Affecting the Labor Force Decisions of Nurses in the State of Iowa

The Iowa Department of Public Health has undertaken several independent projects to evaluate various aspects of the labor environment affecting Iowa healthcare over the recent past.  This research expands upon the results of these efforts to estimate the effects of a number of wage and nonwage factors on nurses’ decisions regarding where and how much to employment to seek within the nursing sector.  Utilizing data collected through Department of Public Health surveys, average county-level wages for Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, and unlicensed practitioners (nursing assistants) are estimated.  Estimated county-level wages for each group are then matched with information on each county’s health care demand environment to estimate the influence of wage and type of employing firm upon nurses’ joint decisions regarding place of work and place of residence.  Finally, average county wage estimates are combined with individual nurse data for 13 counties in North-central Iowa to evaluate the extent to which personal characteristics affect the labor-force decisions of RNs.employment; Wages; income; labor-force; nurse

Analysis of Energy Supply and Usage in the Iowa Economy

This report addresses the needs of state policymakers to understand the implications to the state’s economy from current levels of energy supply imports. Historical energy consumption patterns for the state and the role of energy in the performance of the Iowa economy are reviewed using current data. Economic modeling techniques are then used to analyze the linkages of these energy sectors, forward and backwards, with the rest of the economy. Information on the importance of energy to various economic activities and the share of energy expenditure that goes to in-state vs. out-of-state sources, including the energy distribution functions, is also provided. The objective of this report is to review the information on the quantities of energy consumed and dollars spent in Iowa and evaluate the share of these energy dollars that are leaving the state.

Pharmacokinetic study of slaframine in lactating goats and transfer into milk

Slaframine is an alkaloidal mycotoxin produced by the fungus Rhizoctonia leguminicola. This mycotoxin is responsible for Blackpatch disease on clover and other legumes and Slobber disease in livestock. Slaframine causes salivation, lacrimation, urination, and defecation in intoxicated animals;The goal of this research was to do a preliminary pharmacokinetic study on slaframine in lactating goats and determine if slaframine was transferred into milk. Slaframine was produced to dose five lactating Saanen goats at a level of 0.05 mg/kg. The slaframine was delivered as an IV bolus dose. Blood, milk, and saliva samples were collected at timed intervals;All samples were analyzed by a newly developed HPLC procedure for slaframine. This procedure used fluorescamine derivatized slaframine to enhance detection 10-fold over previous GC technology. The slaframine derivative was found to be stable for several weeks. The mean recoveries of slaframine from plasma, milk, and saliva were 95%, 91%, and 82%, respectively;The pharmacokinetic study indicated a two compartment model. The half-life for the elimination phase derived for the sample-mean of all five goats was 1.28 hours. The volume of distribution indicated that slaframine was highly protein-bound in goat blood. The mean clearance value of slaframine was 2.6 ml/kg/h, indicating a rapid elimination of slaframine from the body;Due to the unpredictably long half-life of slaframine in the milk, sampling duration was insufficient in all but one goat to study the pharmacokinetics of slaframine in milk. This data would best describe the pharmacokinetic behavior as a two- or three- compartment model. As a two-compartment model, the elimination phase of slaframine in milk was 23 hours. To describe the data as a three-compartment model, (with or without a deep compartment) lower levels of slaframine would need to be detected in plasma. Higher levels of slaframine were seen in milk than in plasma, which correlates well with the pH partition theory. A milk/plasma ratio of 20:1 was obtained using experimental pH values;As a result of slaframine transfer into milk, a potential hazard exists for nursing goats and consumers of goat milk and its by-products. Further studies are necessary for making risk assessments for young animals with the occurrence of slaframine in milk

Preliminary Investigations of Hospital Geography and Patient Choice in Iowa

This report provides a spatial representation of hospital geography in Iowa and of the decisions of patients to patronize hospitals. It begins with a brief analysis of hospital proximity and hospital proximity’s relationship to population distributions and existing hospital capacity.  This is followed with a discussion of hospital capacity as a proxy for the supply of hospital services and the construction of hospital service area gravity models based upon capacity.   Patient patronage of hospitals is then presented as a proxy of demand for hospital services, and gravity models are estimated on the basis of patronage. healthcare; hospital

Local dependency: the independent farmer myth

The purpose of this dissertation is to achieve a higher level of understanding of the adoption and diffusion process of conservation technology on Iowa farms. The tools used in this discovery process are a qualitative analysis of farmers\u27 perceptions of conservation technologies, an analysis of the adoption and diffusion model, and the formulation of a local dependency theory to explain the patterns of adoption on Iowa farms. Specifically, this investigation comes to the conclusion that the Iowa farmer is trapped in a dependency situation that is controlled by the government, trans-national corporations, and local capital, a triad known as the triple alliance. The resulting dependency hampers the adoption of technologies that do not benefit the triple alliance;The argument is based on an USDA funded study of mid-western farmers known as the Management Systems Evaluations Area project, or MSEA. The socio-economic, portion of the study employed the focus group and case study methods of investigating farmers\u27 reaction to the conservation technologies of ridge tillage and permanent vegetative filter strips. The studies revealed a dependency situation on the farm that was preventing the adoption of the two technologies. As a result, the dependency theory of international development was reformulated to the local level of abstraction to explain the adoption process in relation to conservation technology adoption. The use of dependency theory to explain the adoption of conservation technology overcomes the traditional shortcomings of the widely accepted adoption model that originates from the modernization theory of development and the concepts of rational choice and the free market. The reformulation provides an understanding of the conservation technology adoption process that better fits the current sociopolitical situation of the Iowa farmers

Wages, Benefits, Hours, Commuting Time, and License Renewal for Iowa Registered Nurses

The Iowa Board of Nursing licensing database for Registered Nurses (RNs) contains information on Registered Nurses who have renewed their licenses including age, race, gender, education, and location of employment.  It also contains comparable information on nurses who opted not to renew at the time of their last renewal. This report contains an analysis of the nurses’ characteristics that increase the likelihood of license renewal based on all useable information contained in the licensing database.  In addition, we randomly sampled subpopulations of nurses who had current licenses and nurses who had allowed their licenses to expire.  A survey of these nurses was analyzed to provide insights into the effects of individual wages, benefits, family income, family responsibilities, hours worked, and commuting time on the decision to work, work in nursing, and maintain a nursing license. Wages; workforce; benefits; labor force; nurses; health care