The role of the N-acetylglucosamine phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system from Lactobacillus plantarum 8014 in the mechanism of action of glycocin F : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biochemistry at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

The rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is becoming a severe public health problem because of the shortage of new antibiotics to combat existing resistant bacterial pathogens. Should this trend of increasing bacterial drug resistance continue, the previously treatable conditions may once again become fatal. Using broad-spectrum antibiotics causes collateral damage to the commensal microbiota of the host leading to complications and a greater susceptibility to opportunistic pathogenic infection. As a result, narrow spectrum antibacterials effective against specific pathogens, are becoming increasingly sought after. Among the many alternative classes of narrow-spectrum antibiotics, is a diverse group of ribosomally-synthesised antimicrobial peptides known as bacteriocins. Glycocin F (GccF), a rare and uniquely diglycosylated bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus plantarum KW80, appears to target a specific N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) phosphotransferase system (PTS) and causes almost instant bacteriostasis by an as yet unknown mechanism. This thesis demonstrates how the GlcNAc-PTS is involved in the GccF mechanism of action and that the gccH gene provides immunity to GccF. Using transgenic and gene editing techniques, regions of the GlcNAc-PTS were either removed or altered to prevent normal function before being tested in vivo. The results demonstrated that only the EIIC domain of the GlcNAc-PTS is required in the GccF mechanism of action and that it acts like a "lure" that attracts the bacteriocin to the main target that is as yet unknown. Furthermore, the immunity gene was discovered, and using PTS knockout cell lines the immunity mechanism was shown to act independently of the GlcNAc-PTS. This work will form the foundation for the work needed to unravel the bacteriostatic mechanism of action of GccF, which may lead to the development a novel antimicrobial agent

Primary health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

This final report presents the findings from each of the phases of the Engaging Stakeholders in Identifying Priority Evidence-Practice Gaps and Strategies for Improvement in Primary Health Care (ESP) Project. This report is designed for people working in a range of roles including national and jurisdictional policy makers, managers, community-controlled organisations and government health authorities, peak bodies, clinical leaders, researchers, primary health care staff and continuous quality improvement (CQI) practitioners who may have an interest in the interpretation and use of aggregated CQI data to drive decision making. Stakeholders across services and systems that deliver Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care (PHC) engaged in a process to analyse and interpret national continuous quality improvement (CQI) data from 132 health centres. We used a consensus process to identify priority evidence-practice gaps in child health care, based on these data. Stakeholders drew on their knowledge and experience working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PHC to identify barriers and enablers to addressing the priority evidence- practice gaps, and to suggest strategies to overcome barriers and strengthen enablers to addressing the priority evidence-practice gaps. Important messages emerge from these findings

Chronic illness care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: final report

This project engage a range of stakeholders across different levels of the primary health care system, including service providers, management, policy-makers and researchers and capture their knowledge on the barriers and enablers to addressing the identified priority-evidence practice gaps and their suggestions on strategies for improvement. Overview The purpose of this project is to engage key stakeholders in the use of aggregate continuous quality improvement (CQI) data to identify and address system-wide evidence-practice gaps in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chronic illness care. We aimed to engage a range of stakeholders across different levels of the primary health care (PHC) system, including service providers, management, policy-makers and researchers and capture their knowledge on the barriers and enablers to addressing the identified priority-evidence practice gaps and their suggestions on strategies for improvement. Our research has highlighted the wide variation in performance between different aspects of care and between health centres. While many aspects of care are being done well in many health centres, there are important gaps between evidence and practice in some aspects of PHC. System-wide gaps are likely to be due to deficiencies in the broader (PHC) system, indicating that system-level action is required to improve performance. Such system-level action should be developed with a deep understanding of the holistic nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander wellbeing beyond just physical health (including healthy connections to culture, community and country), of the impact of Australian colonist history on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and of how social systems – including the health system - should be shaped to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This project aims to build on the collective strengths within PHC services in order to continue improving the quality of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

The Ebola Crisis: A Communicative Response from Samaritan\u27s Purse

Crisis does not discriminate. It can strike without warning, at any time or place. Managers, organizations, and leaders alike, must be ready at all times to respond to them, whether they are planned for or not. An efficient and quick response is especially necessary when health crises or natural disasters strike, because human life may be at stake. Crisis communication has become more and more important in a world that is daily filled with catastrophes. This study uses W. Timothy Coomb’s situational crisis communication theory as a lens to view the Ebola crisis. The purpose of the research is to analyze news articles released from the non-profit Samaritan’s Purse and conduct interviews to determine the communicative response to the Ebola outbreak from both the Liberian healthcare system and the international non governmental organization, Samaritan’s Purse

Examining the effect of interstitial space on Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica): applications of photogrammetry and three-dimensional modeling

Global oyster populations have decreased by as much as 99% in the past century. Oysters are known ecosystem engineers, providing benthic habitat for macrofauna, linking benthic and pelagic food webs, improving water quality, and mitigating shoreline erosion. Restoration efforts are critical in re-establishing native oyster populations. In the Chesapeake Bay, where oyster loss is primarily due to severe over harvest, artificial substrates with geometric shapes are widely used in restoration efforts. However, natural oyster reefs form emergent shapes with a high degree of aggregation and many interstitial spaces (three-dimensional volumetric spaces between oysters within a reef). The lack of interstitial space in artificial substrates contrasted with the presence of interstitial spaces in natural reefs led to the research question: Is there an amount of interstitial space which facilitates oyster recruitment and survival? Previous studies have hypothesized the importance of interstitial space in oyster reefs; however, current research lacks practical and effective methodology for measuring interstitial space of any ecosystem. We implemented a field study to observe the direct effect of interstitial space on oyster recruitment and survival using a concrete artificial oyster reef. Additionally, we used photogrammetry and three-dimensional digital modeling to develop a method for measuring interstitial space of the concrete artificial oyster reef used in the field. We found there to be significantly greater oyster recruitment and survival on substrates with 50 – 100 cm3 interstitial space per 50 mm2 surface area. This is the first study to directly examine the effect of interstitial space on oyster recruitment and survival. This is also the first study to develop a practical methodology for measuring interstitial space which may be transferred for use in other systems, as photogrammetry and three-dimensional modeling are not limited to oyster reef ecosystems. Filling these knowledge gaps will have positive impacts on oyster reef restoration and other ecosystems in which interstitial space is hypothesized to play a critical role

Can Summer Philosophy Programs Help Close the Achievement Gap?

While summer break presents educational and recreational opportunities for some students, students from depressed socioeconomic groups may face significant obstacles in the summer, including learning loss. In general, these students also lack access to a wide range of intrinsic and instrumental benefits attached to the study of philosophy. While there are currently existing philosophy programs, this contribution highlights the connections between summer experiences and the overall achievement gap, while identifying specific practices shown to yield successful summer programs. Philosophy provides an impressive set of benefits, including academic skills and opportunities for personal growth and development. Incorporating best practices while focusing on the methods and content of philosophy should, therefore, yield particularly rewarding programs. Due to these benefits, summer philosophy programs should be researched, developed, and expanded

The Effects of Sexual Victimization on College Women

This thesis analyzed the effects of sexual victimization among college women. Previous research has found that victimization has several negative effects. This thesis was designed to add to this literature by addressing how sexual victimization effects both behavior and academic performance. Results indicated that there was a significant relationship between sexual victimization and behavior changes, the type of victimization experienced had a different impact on the victim based on the type of victimization they experienced, and that academic performance was significantly affected by sexual victimization

Peter Pan and Coraline: Gender’s Impact on Mapping Psychoanalysis onto Physical Spaces

In this essay I show the complications that arise when psychoanalytical theory is imposed onto a child’s secondary world. In both J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline the child’s unconscious desires are displayed in the way the child either dominates over or is threatened by the physical space he or she is in. As a boy who will never have to grow up, Peter dominates over both Hook’s masculine threat of patriarchal authority and the crocodile’s feminine threat of consumption. As a girl who will grow into a woman Coraline has to learn to both defy the monstrous feminine and embrace the aspects of it that are within her. Coraline learns to defend her own individuality and agency through defiance and deceit, while Peter uses outright physical violence and domination. Ultimately both children are gendered inversions of each other and their genders play a significant role in how they act and develop