Founders, Feminists, and a Fascist -- Some Notable Women in the Missouri Section of the MAA

In the history of the Missouri Section of the MAA, some of the more interesting people who influenced the growth and development of the section through the years were and are women. In this chapter, we discuss the contributions of a few (certainly not all) of these women to the Missouri Section and mathematics as a whole, including Emily Kathryn Wyant (founder of KME), Margaret F. Willerding (who dealt with sexism in the 1940s), Maria Castellani (an official in Mussolini’s Italy before coming to America), and T. Christine Stevens (co-founder of Project NExT). Without them, and others like them, both mathematics and the Missouri Section of the MAA would be poorer

Changes in locomotor activity and naloxone-induced jumping in mice produced by WIN 35,197-2 (Ethylketazocine) and morphine

Acute i.p. administration of morphine or cocaine produced increase in locomotor activity in Swiss-Webster female mice that were maximal at 32–100 mg/kg for morphine and at 32 mg/kg for cocaine. WIN 35,197-2 produced dose-dependent decreases in locomotor activity from 3.2–32 mg/kg. Chronic administration of WIN 35,197-2 led to a 6–10 fold shift to the right in the locomotor activity decreasing effect of the drug, but WIN 35,197-2-tolerant mice retained their sensitivity to the locomotor stimulant effects of morphine and cocaine. Acute administration of WIN 35,197-2 failed to sensitize mice to naloxone-induced jumping, although morphine did so. Chronic administration of WIN 35,197-2 did lead to sensitization to naloxone, but WIN 35,197-2 was much less efficacious in this regard than morphine. These behavioral effects of WIN 35,197-2 may be helpful in the classification of modes of action of different narcotic agonists.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46405/1/213_2004_Article_BF00426894.pd

Birth cohorts in asthma and allergic diseases: Report of a NIAID/NHLBI/MeDALL joint workshop

Population-based birth cohorts on asthma and allergies increasingly provide new insights into the development and natural history of the diseases. Over 130 birth cohorts focusing on asthma and allergy have been initiated in the last 30 years. A NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), NHLBI (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute), MeDALL (Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy, Framework Programme 7 of the European Commission) joint workshop was held in Bethesda, MD, USA September 11–12, 2012 with 3 objectives (1) documenting the knowledge that asthma/allergy birth cohorts have provided, (2) identifying the knowledge gaps and inconsistencies and (3) developing strategies for moving forward, including potential new study designs and the harmonization of existing asthma birth cohort data. The meeting was organized around the presentations of 5 distinct workgroups: (1) clinical phenotypes, (2) risk factors, (3) immune development of asthma and allergy, (4) pulmonary development and (5) harmonization of existing birth cohorts. This manuscript presents the workgroup reports and provides web links (AsthmaBirthCohorts.niaid.nih.gov or www.medall-fp7.eu) where the reader will find tables describing the characteristics of the birth cohorts included in this report, type of data collected at differing ages, and a selected bibliography provided by the participating birth cohorts

BacHBerry: BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits

BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits (BacHBerry) was a 3-year project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union that ran between November 2013 and October 2016. The overall aim of the project was to establish a sustainable and economically-feasible strategy for the production of novel high-value phenolic compounds isolated from berry fruits using bacterial platforms. The project aimed at covering all stages of the discovery and pre-commercialization process, including berry collection, screening and characterization of their bioactive components, identification and functional characterization of the corresponding biosynthetic pathways, and construction of Gram-positive bacterial cell factories producing phenolic compounds. Further activities included optimization of polyphenol extraction methods from bacterial cultures, scale-up of production by fermentation up to pilot scale, as well as societal and economic analyses of the processes. This review article summarizes some of the key findings obtained throughout the duration of the project

Promoting continuity of care for homeless adults with unmet health needs: The role of brief interventions

Promoting timely and continuous care for people experiencing homelessness has been a challenge in many jurisdictions, plagued by access barriers and service fragmentation. As part of a larger programme evaluation, this study used qualitative methods to examine the role of a brief interdisciplinary intervention in supporting continuity of care for this population in a large Canadian urban centre. The intervention provides time-limited case management, primary and psychiatric care, and peer accompaniment to homeless adults with unmet health needs discharged from hospital. Data were collected from 52 study participants between July 2013 and December 2014. Three focus groups were conducted with service providers and people with lived experience of homelessness, and 29 individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with service users and other key informants. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Analysis was informed by existing frameworks for continuity of care, while remaining open to additional or unexpected findings. Findings suggest that brief interdisciplinary interventions can promote continuity of care by offering low-barrier access, timely and responsive service provision, including timely connection to long-term services and supports, appropriate individualised services and effective co-ordination of services. Although brief interdisciplinary interventions were perceived to promote access, timeliness and co-ordination of care for this population with complex health and social needs, gaps in the local service delivery context can present persisting barriers to care comprehensiveness and continuity.We appreciate funding support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We thank Adam Whisler and Dr. Agnes Gozdzik for their contributions to data collection and analysis