University of Missouri

About: University of Missouri is a education organization based out in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 41427 authors who have published 83598 publications receiving 2911437 citations. The organization is also known as: Mizzou & Missouri-Columbia.

Cystic Fibrosis Pigs Develop Lung Disease and Exhibit Defective Bacterial Eradication at Birth

Abstract: Lung disease causes most of the morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF). Understanding the pathogenesis of this disease has been hindered, however, by the lack of an animal model with characteristic features of CF. To overcome this problem, we recently generated pigs with mutated CFTR genes. We now report that, within months of birth, CF pigs spontaneously developed hallmark features of CF lung disease, including airway inflammation, remodeling, mucus accumulation, and infection. Their lungs contained multiple bacterial species, suggesting that the lungs of CF pigs have a host defense defect against a wide spectrum of bacteria. In humans, the temporal and causal relations between inflammation and infection have remained uncertain. To investigate these processes, we studied newborn pigs. Their lungs showed no inflammation but were less often sterile than controls. Moreover, after introduction of bacteria into their lungs, pigs with CF failed to eradicate bacteria as effectively as wild-type pigs. These results suggest that impaired bacterial elimination is the pathogenic event that initiates a cascade of inflammation and pathology in CF lungs. Our finding that pigs with CF have a host defense defect against bacteria within hours of birth provides an opportunity to further investigate CF pathogenesis and to test therapeutic and preventive strategies that could be deployed before secondary consequences develop.

Aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement.

Abstract: DESCRIPTION Update of the 2002 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation about the use of aspirin for the prevention of coronary heart disease. METHODS Review of the literature since 2002, focusing on new evidence on the benefits and harms of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction and stroke. The new evidence was reviewed and synthesized according to sex. RECOMMENDATIONS Encourage men age 45 to 79 years to use aspirin when the potential benefit of a reduction in myocardial infarctions outweighs the potential harm of an increase in gastrointestinal hemorrhage. (A recommendation) Encourage women age 55 to 79 years to use aspirin when the potential benefit of a reduction in ischemic strokes outweighs the potential harm of an increase in gastrointestinal hemorrhage. (A recommendation) Evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of aspirin for cardiovascular disease prevention in men and women 80 years or older. (I statement) Do not encourage aspirin use for cardiovascular disease prevention in women younger than 55 years and in men younger than 45 years. (D recommendation).

Scientific Teams and Institution Collaborations: Evidence from U.S. Universities, 1981-1999

Abstract: This paper explores recent trends in the size of scientific teams and in institutional collaborations. The data derive from 2.4 million scientific papers written in 110 leading U.S. research universities over the period 1981-1999. We measure team size by the number of authors on a scientific paper. Using this measure we find that team size increases by 50 percent over the 19-year period. We supplement team size with measures of domestic and foreign institutional collaborations, which capture the geographic dispersion of team workers. The time series evidence suggests that the trend towards larger and more dispersed teams accelerates at the start of the 1990s. This acceleration suggests a sudden decline in the cost of collaboration, perhaps due to improvements in telecommunications. Using a panel of top university departments we find that private universities and departments whose scientists have earned prestigious awards participate in larger teams, as do departments that have larger amounts of federal funding. Placement of former graduate students is a key determinant of institutional collaborations, especially collaborations with firms and foreign scientific institutions. Finally, the evidence indicates that scientific influence increases with team size and institutional collaborations. Since increasing team size implies an increase in the division of labor, these results suggest that scientific productivity increases with the scientific division of labor.

A community study of anxiety in children and adolescents.

Abstract: The authors used an epidemiologic approach to investigate rates, symptoms, and behavioral concomitants of anxiety across the child and adolescent age span. They drew 210 children aged 8, 12, and 17 in equal numbers from a community sample and evaluated them with structured diagnostic assessments. They found anxiety to be the most frequently reported type of psychopathology across all three age groups. Although the prevalence of any anxiety symptom remained constant, specific types of anxiety varied with age. Age differences in nonanxiety behavior were found between subjects with and without anxiety, particularly with regard to interpersonal dysfunction.

Global Market Integration: An Alternative Measure and its Application

Abstract: Many previous studies of international markets have attempted to measure integration by correlations among broad stock market indexes. Yet such correlations have been found to poorly mimic other measures of integration. We show that a simple correlation between two stock markets is likely to be a poor indicator of integration for a very simple reason: when there are multiple factors driving returns, such as global macro factors or even industry factors, two markets can be perfectly integrated and yet still be imperfectly correlated. Perfect integration implies that the same international factors explain 100% of the broad index returns in both countries, but if the countries differ in their sensitivities to these factors, they will not exhibit perfect correlation. We derive a new integration measure based on the explanatory power of a multi-factor model and use it empirically to investigate recent trends in global integration. For most countries, there has been a marked increase in measured integration, but this is not indicated by simple correlations among countries.