Inequities in the delivery of services to a female farm clientele: some implications for policy

This paper is based on data collected in 1975 from a geographically stratified sample of 212 small-scale farm households in one administrative location of Kakamega District, western Kenya. It is found that women farm managers experience a persistent and pervasive bias in the delivery of the government agricultural services to which they are entitled. The bias increases in intensity as the value of the service increases. Moreover, the bias holds under a number of different controls including economic standing, size of land holding and demonstrated interest in adopting agricultural innovations in a timely way. Despite these inequities in access to services, women farm manager in the area appear to be as productive and as willing to adopt innovations as other types of farmers. A number of suggestions are made to deal with the problem of inequity in the delivery of agricultural services

In Defense of AID

The trashing of the Agency for International Development and the public scapegoating by my sisters at the National Women\u27s Studies Association Convention is an experience which must, I feel, be noted in the annals of the conference. Recognizing that U.S. women\u27s studies programs tend to be relatively parochial, AID\u27s and, in particular, the Women in Development office\u27s concern was to bring an international development dimension, including the participation of Third World women, to the wide array of panels. On one panel— U.S. and Third World Women: What Are the Connections? —were researchers who discussed women in multinational corporations, the changing sex division of labor in agricultural economies, female-headed households, and the decolonialization of research on women. The second panel— Broadening Women\u27s Studies: Developing World Dimensions —built on the first, with participants discussing models of existing international women\u27s studies programs both inside and outside the U.S., and resources available for networking among women within and across campuses. As with all other panels, our proposal was approved by the Convention Coordinators. Both panels were well received by the attendees, partly because, as chair, I structured presentations and discussion toward content, to avoid disruption

Preclinical and clinical evaluation of German-sourced ONC201 for the treatment of H3K27M-mutant diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

Background Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a fatal childhood brainstem tumor for which radiation is the only treatment. Case studies report a clinical response to ONC201 for patients with H3K27M-mutant gliomas. Oncoceutics (ONC201) is only available in the United States and Japan; however, in Germany, DIPG patients can be prescribed and dispensed a locally produced compound-ONC201 German-sourced ONC201 (GsONC201). Pediatric oncologists face the dilemma of supporting the administration of GsONC201 as conjecture surrounds its authenticity. Therefore, we compared GsONC201 to original ONC201 manufactured by Oncoceutics Inc. Methods Authenticity of GsONC201 was determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Biological activity was shown via assessment of on-target effects, in vitro growth, proliferation, and apoptosis analysis. Patient-derived xenograft mouse models were used to assess plasma and brain tissue pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and overall survival (OS). The clinical experience of 28 H3K27M+ mutant DIPG patients who received GsONC201 (2017-2020) was analyzed. Results GsONC201 harbored the authentic structure, however, was formulated as a free base rather than the dihydrochloride salt used in clinical trials. GsONC201 in vitro and in vivo efficacy and drug bioavailability studies showed no difference compared to Oncoceutics ONC201. Patients treated with GsONC201 (n = 28) showed a median OS of 18 months (P = .0007). GsONC201 patients who underwent reirradiation showed a median OS of 22 months compared to 12 months for GsONC201 patients who did not (P = .012). Conclusions This study confirms the biological activity of GsONC201 and documents the OS of patients who received the drug; however, GsONC201 was never used as a monotherapy

Transcriptome Profiling of Whole Blood Cells Identifies PLEK2 and C1QB in Human Melanoma

Developing analytical methodologies to identify biomarkers in easily accessible body fluids is highly valuable for the early diagnosis and management of cancer patients. Peripheral whole blood is a "nucleic acid-rich" and "inflammatory cell-rich" information reservoir and represents systemic processes altered by the presence of cancer cells.We conducted transcriptome profiling of whole blood cells from melanoma patients. To overcome challenges associated with blood-based transcriptome analysis, we used a PAXgene™ tube and NuGEN Ovation™ globin reduction system. The combined use of these systems in microarray resulted in the identification of 78 unique genes differentially expressed in the blood of melanoma patients. Of these, 68 genes were further analyzed by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR using blood samples from 45 newly diagnosed melanoma patients (stage I to IV) and 50 healthy control individuals. Thirty-nine genes were verified to be differentially expressed in blood samples from melanoma patients. A stepwise logit analysis selected eighteen 2-gene signatures that distinguish melanoma from healthy controls. Of these, a 2-gene signature consisting of PLEK2 and C1QB led to the best result that correctly classified 93.3% melanoma patients and 90% healthy controls. Both genes were upregulated in blood samples of melanoma patients from all stages. Further analysis using blood fractionation showed that CD45(-) and CD45(+) populations were responsible for the altered expression levels of PLEK2 and C1QB, respectively.The current study provides the first analysis of whole blood-based transcriptome biomarkers for malignant melanoma. The expression of PLEK2, the strongest gene to classify melanoma patients, in CD45(-) subsets illustrates the importance of analyzing whole blood cells for biomarker studies. The study suggests that transcriptome profiling of blood cells could be used for both early detection of melanoma and monitoring of patients for residual disease

Policy, politics, and gender

vi, 243 p. ; 23 c

Tycoons and contraband: informal cross-border trade in West Nile, north-western Uganda

This article presents ethnographic evidence on the activities of the "tycoons'' - large-scale cross-border contraband traders in north-western Uganda. It shows how engagement with state officials, but also integration in the broader community are two crucial aspects which explain the functioning of informal cross-border trade or "smuggling'' in north-western Uganda. In doing so, it shows how, although there is a high degree of interaction between the "formal'' and the "informal'', the informal economy still has a distinct regulatory authority rather than simply merging in the state regulatory framework. Secondly, the regulatory authority governing this trade has a distinct plural character: rather than being either a "weapon of the weak'' for marginalised sections of the population or a "weapon of the strong'' for political elites, it has a much more ambiguous character, which influences the behaviour of the tycoons: both of these interactions limit the maneuvering space of these traders