Access to thermostable enzymes and their application in flow biocatalysis

The immobilization of biocatalysts in a continuous fluidic setup is one way to achieve compartmentalization and thus precise control over artificial reaction cascades for synthetic chemistry. We recently demonstrated the encapsulation of unmodified thermostable enzymes in a 3D printed, agarose-based thermoreversible hydrogel to enable multi-step sequential biotransformations.[1] To test the feasibility of the encapsulation strategy, we used a naturally thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) as well as a ketoisovalerate decarboxylase (KIVD) from a mesophile organism as exemplary biocatalysts. KIVD was thermostabilized by different computational or evolutionary methods to increase the T50 value by up to 9°C.[1,2] After the successful proof-of-concept study, we further expanded the scope of this system by integrating phenacrylate decarboxylases (PAD) into this microfluidic system.[3] As an alternative for the hydrogel based immobilization strategy, thermostable enzymes can be covalently attached onto beads in a packed-bed reactor. In this context thermostable enzymes offer improved process stability and we selected a benzaldehyde lyase (BAL) as an example, since only one enzyme had been biochemically characterized before, which was rather instable.[4] To this end, we employed a computational prediction tool[5] for the identification of a novel thermostable benzaldehyde lyase and employed the enzyme for the continuous production of α-hydroxy-ketones. A homology-model based approach was used to create enzyme variants with altered substrate scope, which also showed further increased thermal stability

Reseña de la trilogía Using Data Better, de Sam Knowles

Review of Dr. Sam Knowles's Using Data Better trilogy of books (Narrative By Numbers, 2018; How To Be Insightful, 2020; Asking Smarter Questions, 2023).&nbsp

Direction of the Musical: \u3cem\u3eA Year with Frog and Toad\u3c/em\u3e

This project entailed the selection, background research and documentation, musical analysis, casting, direction, vocal coaching, and post-production analysis of Palo Verde College\u27s production of Willie and Robert Reale\u27s A Year with Frog and Toad. Documentation includes research and analysis of the play, its music, and an evaluation of the musical as a production vehicle for Palo Verde College at Blythe, CA The analysis also includes a discussion as to the directorial vision of this production

Primary Care Patient Experience in Pneumonia Patient and the Effects of Readmissions

Patient primary care experience is an essential component of patient care. Research has consistently demonstrated that patient experience correlates with clinical processes of care for prevention and disease management and with better health outcomes. Patients who are admitted to the hospital face numerous challenges upon discharge, including high readmission rates. In fact, one-fifth of Medicare patients admitted to the hospital will be readmitted within 30 days of discharge. With the Affordable Care Act’s creation of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), hospitals are now penalized for excess readmission rates for common admitting diagnoses such as pneumonia. The purpose of this study was to examine how patients’ baseline primary care experiences relate to the likelihood of readmission. Patients diagnosed with pneumonia were identified during their initial hospitalization and administered the CG-CAHPS 3.0 and Supplementary CAHPS PCMH. The results of these surveys were compared between readmitted and non-readmitted patients. Also, the differences between the primary care experiences of the pneumonia patient cohort and patients at the hospital system’s primary care sites were examined. Results showed that 5 patients out of the 33 patients surveyed were readmitted with non-pneumonia related causes. Patients across 18 primary care sites report higher levels of satisfaction with their PCP (88.7%) compared to patients hospitalized for Pneumonia (66.7%; X2 =14.9,

Geographic information systems and perceptual dialectology: a method for processing draw-a-map data

This article presents a new method for processing data gathered using the "draw-a-map” task in perceptual dialectology (PD) studies. Such tasks produce large numbers of maps containing many lines indicating nonlinguists' perceptions of the location and extent of dialect areas. Although individual maps are interesting, and numerical data relating to the relative prominence of dialect areas can be extracted, an important value of the draw-a-map task is in aggregating data. This was always an aim of the contemporary PD method, although the nature of the data has meant that this has not always been possible. Here, we argue for the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in order to aggregate, process, and display PD data. Using case studies from the United Kingdom and Germany, we present examples of data processed using GIS and illustrate the future possibilities for the use of GIS in PD researc

Relaciones públicas, posverdad y grandes desafíos: una mejor investigación hacia el valor social

La trayectoria histórica del campo, su fundamento neoliberal, la centralidad organizacional y un exceso de confianza producto de un enfoque cuantitativo y pragmático son algunas de las razones por las que se cree que las Relaciones Públicas no están preparadas para los desafíos que imponen los entornos hipercomplejos que emergen. del contexto social posmoderno. Este artículo propone una lógica de planificación revisada y ampliada para la ejecución, medición y evaluación de actividades de comunicación con un enfoque en las partes interesadas para enfrentar problemas de gran escala.A trajetória histórica do campo, sua fundamentação neoliberal, a centralidade organizacional e uma confiança excessiva advinda de uma abordagem quantitativa e pragmática são algumas das razões pelas quais acredita-se que as Relações Públicas não estão preparadas para os desafios impostos por ambientes hipercomplexos que emergem do contexto social pós-moderno. Este artigo propõe uma lógica de planejamento revisada e ampliada para execução, mensuração e avaliação das atividades de comunicação com foco nos stakeholders para o enfrentamento de grandes desafios.The historical trajectory of the field, its neoliberal foundation, its organizational centrality, and an excessive confidence resulting from a quantitative and pragmatic approach are some of the reasons why it is believed that Public Relations are ill-prepared for the challenges imposed by the hypercomplex environments that emerge from the postmodern social context. This study proposes a revised and expanded planning logic to perform, measure, and evaluate communication activities with a focus on stakeholders to face large scale issues

Immunotherapy: from basic research to clinical applications

Activation or modulation of host immune responses is emerging as a promising strategy to combat many diseases, including autoimmune disorders and cancer. However, although initial successes have sometimes been encouraging, larger trials have unfortunately often shown only limited efficacy. There is clearly much room for improvement. The development of new therapies and their translation into clinical practice is the aim of the Collaborative Research Centre (Sonderforschungsbereich, SFB) 685, Tübingen, coordinated by Professor Hans-Georg Rammensee. To provide a forum for discussion of new developments, the SFB 685 hosted a symposium on immunotherapy, between 6 and 7 March 2008. The scope of this symposium encompassed basic research topics including NK cell, T cell and antigen-presenting cell (APC) biology as well as clinical applications of therapies developed from such research. Especially, the potentiation or attenuation of specific T cell responses is the common goal of many immunotherapeutic strategies. Since these responses are to a great extent determined by the delicate interplay between T cells and APC, manipulation of either cell type offers the opportunity for selective, yet at the same time powerful intervention. Dendritic cells (DC) are particularly interesting in this context as they bridge innate and adaptive immunity. Being able to harness their full potential would allow recruitment of both arms of the immune system for the desired therapeutic response. This, however, requires a good understanding of the basic processes governing the fate and actions of the cells involved. Although first successes are clearly being achieved with immunotherapeutic interventions, especially with soluble molecules such as antibodies or cytokines, the breakthrough in cellular immunotherapies crucially depends on knowledge gained by further research, both basic and clinical

Drawing areal information from a corpus of noisy dialect data

This article is an analysis of linguistic survey data representing German dialects in Switzerland in 1933/34 based on the so-called Wenker sentences. The data are impressionistic in terms of applied phonetic transcriptions, which were produced by non-specialists using the Latin alphabet. Due to the lack of pre-defined standardization, the phonetic transcriptions are very heterogeneous. From a technical perspective, this leads to very noisy data, which is why the validity of the Wenker data in general and the Swiss Wenker data in particular has been questioned. Using methods from computational linguistics, we compare, for the first time, Wenker data with linguistic data collected at virtually the same time by linguistics professionals. Direct comparison with a sample from the published atlas of German-speaking Switzerland (SDS) reveals that despite the noisiness of the data, they nevertheless provide reliable information, e.g., in terms of the spatial structuring of Swiss dialects. The study is thus a successful pilot for other corpus-based studies dealing with unstructured Wenker data in other regions

Sustaining Success: Developing an Ambulatory Practice Toolkit to Maintain Quality Improvement Gains

Achieving success in performance improvement in primary care is an accomplishment, but sustaining those improvements can be exceedingly difficult. Often, a lack of time, resources, and staff burnout are cited as barriers (Chin et al, 2008) to sustaining even the most robust initiatives. In this presentation, we will identify the core elements of a quality toolkit that will assist practices and leadership with implementing and sustaining quality improvement in the ambulatory setting. We will share the latest evidence and our recent organizational experience with risk-based stratification, peer-to-peer clinical and provider support, and data strategies that have proven outcomes in sustaining initiatives in our ambulatory practices. The importance of data transparency and visibility, methods for optimally displaying quality data, and how to analyze quality data will be addressed. Key aspects of effective provider and staff education will be explained. Finally the important elements of a developing a culture of quality will be described, with examples from our personal experience