Unmasking quality: exploring meanings of health by doing art

This paper arises from a presentation at the ‘Quality in Healthcare’ symposium at Cumberland Lodge, England, in 2013. MK, CR and SH conceived the paper and led the writing of the manuscript. JF, JL-D, AC, DE contributed substantially to the intellectual content of the paper through providing critical commentary and interpretation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

Co-production of 11α-hydroxyprogesterone and ethanol using recombinant yeast expressing fungal steroid hydroxylases

Background: Bioethanol production from sustainable sources of biomass that limit effect on food production are needed and in a biorefinery approach co-products are desirable, obtained from both the plant material and from the microbial biomass. Fungal biotransformation of steroids was among the first industrial biotransformations allowing corticosteroid production. In this work, the potential of yeast to produce intermediates needed in corticosteroid production is demonstrated at laboratory scale following bioethanol production from perennial ryegrass juice. Results: Genes encoding the 11α-steroid hydroxylase enzymes from Aspergillus ochraceus (11α-SHAoch) and Rhizopus oryzae (CYP509C12) transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae for heterologous constitutive expression in p425TEF. Both recombinant yeasts (AH22:p11α-SHAoch and AH22:p509C12) exhibited efficient progesterone bioconversion (on glucose minimal medial containing 300 µM progesterone) producing either 11α-hydroxyprogesterone as the sole metabolite (AH22:p11α-SHAoch) or a 7:1 mixture of 11α-hydroxyprogesterone and 6β-hydroxyprogesterone (AH22:p509C12). Ethanol yields for AH22:p11α-SHAoch and AH22:p509C12 were comparable resulting in ≥75% conversion of glucose to alcohol. Co-production of bioethanol together with efficient production of the 11-OH intermediate for corticosteroid manufacture was then demonstrated using perennial ryegrass juice. Integration of the 11α-SHAoch gene into the yeast genome (AH22:11α-SHAoch+K) resulted in a 36% reduction in yield of 11α-hydroxyprogesterone to 174 µmol/L using 300 µM progesterone. However, increasing progesterone concentration to 955 µM and optimizing growth conditions increased 11α-hydroxyprogesterone production to 592 µmol/L product formed. Conclusions: The progesterone 11α-steroid hydroxylases from A. ochraceus and R. oryzae, both monooxygenase enzymes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily, have been functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae. It appears that these activities in fungi are not associated with a conserved family of cytochromes P450. The activity of the A. ochraceous enzyme was important as the specificity of the biotransformation yielded just the 11-OH product needed for corticosteroid production. The data presented demonstrate how recombinant yeast could find application in rural biorefinery processes where co-production of value-added products (11α-hydroxyprogesterone and ethanol) from novel feedstocks is an emergent and attractive possibility

Mobile Grocery Stores for Rural Communities

On January 19, 2018, Cowley County was contacted by a representative from Sunflower Foundation with an amazing opportunity. The funder had been in contact with Honor Capital, LLC, a veteran-owned private equity firm with the mission to build and operate grocery stores in underserved areas. While much of their work has been in urban settings, Honor Capital, LLC has a desire to tackle the very unique challenge of RURAL food deserts. They recently received funding from out of state to pilot the concept of a mobile grocery truck in rural Kansas. They wish to use the recently built Save-a-Lot store in Winfield to service surrounding towns without grocery stores. Sunflower Foundation offered to provide a grant to a local non-profit that might support the role of grocery/healthy food liaisons (paid positions) in the small communities where the truck wishes to stop. The liaisons would serve as a critical connector between the grocery store and the residents – surveying community wants/needs, figuring out best ordering system for people, promoting and publicizing the grocery truck with all forms of media including coffee shop talk and social media, perhaps even figuring out healthy food cooking demos or innovative ideas like pre-packaged meal boxes. Of critical importance is the work of local champions. How can rural communities mobilize themselves to be ready? Partnerships are key as well as the willingness to try, fail and persevere. This project reflects how strengthening communities with strong partnerships can lead to strengthened health for communities. This presentation emphasizes the importance of partnerships and being willing to try, fail and persevere. Cowley County shares data about its rural communities and existing community partnerships to help support this project. Residents in rural communities accept that they have to leave their community for many consumer goods and services. The concept of a mobile rural grocery store model strengthens communities and strengthens health

Co-production of ethanol and squalene using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae ERG1 (squalene epoxidase) mutant and agro-industrial feedstock

Background: Genetically customised Saccharomyces cerevisiae that can produce ethanol and additional bio-based chemicals from sustainable agro-industrial feedstocks (for example, residual plant biomass) are of major interest to the biofuel industry. We investigated the microbial biorefinery concept of ethanol and squalene co-production using S. cerevisiae (strain YUG37- ERG1 ) wherein ERG1 (squalene epoxidase) transcription is under the control of a doxycycline-repressible tet0 7 -CYC1 promoter. The production of ethanol and squalene by YUG37- ERG1 grown using agriculturally sourced grass juice supplemented with doxycycline was assessed. Results: Use of the tet0 7 -CYC1 promoter permitted regulation of ERG1 expression and squalene accumulation in YUG37- ERG1, allowing us to circumvent the lethal growth phenotype seen when ERG1 is disrupted completely. In experiments using grass juice feedstock supplemented with 0 to 50 μ g doxycycline mL − 1 , YUG37- ERG1 fermented ethanol (22.5 [±0.5] mg mL − 1 ) and accumulated the highest squalene content (7.89 ± 0.25 mg g − 1 dry biomass) and yield (18.0 ± 4.18 mg squalene L − 1 ) with supplements of 5.0 and 0.025 μ g doxycycline mL − 1 , respectively. Grass juice was found to be rich in water-soluble carbohydrates (61.1 [±3.6] mg sugars mL − 1 ) and provided excellent feedstock for growth and fermentation studies using YUG37- ERG1 . Conclusion: Residual plant biomass components from crop production and rotation systems represent possible substrates for microbial fermentation of biofuels and bio-based compounds. This study is the first to utilise S. cerevisiae for the co-production of ethanol and squalene from grass juice. Our findings underscore the value of the biorefinery approach and demonstrate the potential to integrate microbial bioprocess engineering with existing agriculture

Co-production of 11α-hydroxyprogesterone and ethanol using recombinant yeast expressing fungal steroid hydroxylases

Background Bioethanol production from sustainable sources of biomass that limit effect on food production are needed and in a biorefinery approach co-products are desirable, obtained from both the plant material and from the microbial biomass. Fungal biotransformation of steroids was among the first industrial biotransformations allowing corticosteroid production. In this work, the potential of yeast to produce intermediates needed in corticosteroid production is demonstrated at laboratory scale following bioethanol production from perennial ryegrass juice. Results Genes encoding the 11?-steroid hydroxylase enzymes from Aspergillus ochraceus (11?-SHAoch) and Rhizopus oryzae (CYP509C12) transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae for heterologous constitutive expression in p425TEF. Both recombinant yeasts (AH22:p11?-SHAoch and AH22:p509C12) exhibited efficient progesterone bioconversion (on glucose minimal medial containing 300 ?M progesterone) producing either 11?-hydroxyprogesterone as the sole metabolite (AH22:p11?-SHAoch) or a 7:1 mixture of 11?-hydroxyprogesterone and 6?-hydroxyprogesterone (AH22:p509C12). Ethanol yields for AH22:p11?-SHAoch and AH22:p509C12 were comparable resulting in ?75% conversion of glucose to alcohol. Co-production of bioethanol together with efficient production of the 11-OH intermediate for corticosteroid manufacture was then demonstrated using perennial ryegrass juice. Integration of the 11?-SHAoch gene into the yeast genome (AH22:11?-SHAoch+K) resulted in a 36% reduction in yield of 11?-hydroxyprogesterone to 174 ?mol/L using 300 ?M progesterone. However, increasing progesterone concentration to 955 ?M and optimizing growth conditions increased 11?-hydroxyprogesterone production to 592 ?mol/L product formed. Conclusions The progesterone 11?-steroid hydroxylases from A. ochraceus and R. oryzae, both monooxygenase enzymes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily, have been functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae. It appears that these activities in fungi are not associated with a conserved family of cytochromes P450. The activity of the A. ochraceous enzyme was important as the specificity of the biotransformation yielded just the 11-OH product needed for corticosteroid production. The data presented demonstrate how recombinant yeast could find application in rural biorefinery processes where co-production of value-added products (11?-hydroxyprogesterone and ethanol) from novel feedstocks is an emergent and attractive possibility.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Survey and Excavations at Ghawr as-Safi 2004

Survey and excavations were conducted in teh Ghawe as-Safi during March and April 2004. The project was sponsored by the Hellenic Society for Near Eastern Studies and supported by the Palestine Exploration Fund in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Additional support came from ARAMEX International Couriers. During the course of the season's work, the board of directors of the Jordan River Foundation accepted to officially sponsor the project's future activities.University College Dublin2024-01-30 JG: PDF OCR version added for accessibilit

Growth Optimal Investment and Pricing of Derivatives

We introduce a criterion how to price derivatives in incomplete markets, based on the theory of growth optimal strategy in repeated multiplicative games. We present reasons why these growth-optimal strategies should be particularly relevant to the problem of pricing derivatives. We compare our result with other alternative pricing procedures in the literature, and discuss the limits of validity of the lognormal approximation. We also generalize the pricing method to a market with correlated stocks. The expected estimation error of the optimal investment fraction is derived in a closed form, and its validity is checked with a small-scale empirical test.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure

Understanding the total airway response to exercise: current perspectives and future challenges

Exercise places a unique set of physiological demands on the airway tract. Historically, most work in this area has focused on the lower airway response, however it is now becoming increasingly apparent that the structural and functional behaviour of the upper airway and large central airways is equally important. Dysfunction in these sections of the airway tract can act to either hinder or modulate the exercise ventilatory response and as such lead to an increased work of breathing and the development of troublesome respiratory symptoms. This article provides an overview of the way in which the entire airway tract is challenged by the heightened ventilatory state mandated by physical activity, highlighting recent developments in our understanding of the physiology of laryngeal, large central and lower airway function during exercise