title: He Pikinga Waiora Kimi Ora lifestyle programme: Case study of a successful community-based indigenous diabetes intervention.

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

subjects: Diabetes

abstract: ABSTRACT 
AIM: To co-design and implement a whānau-centred, community-based lifestyle programme (Kimi Ora) intended to ensure no worsening of HbA1c and to improve wellbeing for Māori whānau and communities with diabetes or pre-diabetes. 
METHODS: Māori healthcare providers, community members, research advisors and wider stakeholders used a co-design process underpinned by He Pikinga Waiora to collaboratively develop and implement Kimi Ora Control group comparisons and participants were recruited from Te Kōhao Health. Multi-method monitoring and collection captured individual, whānau and community data. 
RESULTS: Kimi Ora was run in two communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. In total, there were 35 participants who took part in an eight-week programme offered five times alongside a comparison group comprising 21 participants. Kimi Ora resulted in significant improvements on all biomedical measures compared to baseline, and participants had gains relative to the comparison group for variables including weight, BMI, blood pressure and waist measurement. Of particular note was the 100% retention rate and sustained community support for Kimi Ora. 
CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes from Kimi Ora demonstrate this programme, which was actively tailored for and worked with Māori communities in a responsive and flexible manner, resulted in successful biomedical outcomes, high engagement and high retention.

text: He Pikinga Waiora Kimi Ora lifestyle programme: Case study of a successful community-based indigenous diabetes intervention. ABSTRACT 
AIM: To co-design and implement a whānau-centred, community-based lifestyle programme (Kimi Ora) intended to ensure no worsening of HbA1c and to improve wellbeing for Māori whānau and communities with diabetes or pre-diabetes. 
METHODS: Māori healthcare providers, community members, research advisors and wider stakeholders used a co-design process underpinned by He Pikinga Waiora to collaboratively develop and implement Kimi Ora Control group comparisons and participants were recruited from Te Kōhao Health. Multi-method monitoring and collection captured individual, whānau and community data. 
RESULTS: Kimi Ora was run in two communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. In total, there were 35 participants who took part in an eight-week programme offered five times alongside a comparison group comprising 21 participants. Kimi Ora resulted in significant improvements on all biomedical measures compared to baseline, and participants had gains relative to the comparison group for variables including weight, BMI, blood pressure and waist measurement. Of particular note was the 100% retention rate and sustained community support for Kimi Ora. 
CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes from Kimi Ora demonstrate this programme, which was actively tailored for and worked with Māori communities in a responsive and flexible manner, resulted in successful biomedical outcomes, high engagement and high retention.

year: 2021-11-12

title: Transitioning from kōhanga reo to kura

authors: Hohepa, Margie Kahukura

abstract: This is a collaborative cross-sector research project involving a kōhanga reo (Māori immersion early childhood language nest) kura (Māori language immersion school) and university-based researchers. It focuses on tamariki (children) moving from kōhanga reo to kura classrooms and will examine the development of an 'akoranga whakawhiti', a transition programme that will be based at Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka in Hamilton. The over arching research question for this project is: Pēhea rā te āhuatanga me te kounga o ngā whakawhitinga mai i te kōhanga ki te kura mō ngā tamariki, whānau, kaiako me te hāpori? - What do effective transitions from kōhanga reo to kura look like, feel like, and sound like, for tamariki, whānau, kaiako and the community? The project aims to provide important new insights into learning and teaching in Māori-medium settings and into ways of enhancing transitions from Maori-medium early childhood education to Māori medium classrooms.

text: Transitioning from kōhanga reo to kura This is a collaborative cross-sector research project involving a kōhanga reo (Māori immersion early childhood language nest) kura (Māori language immersion school) and university-based researchers. It focuses on tamariki (children) moving from kōhanga reo to kura classrooms and will examine the development of an 'akoranga whakawhiti', a transition programme that will be based at Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka in Hamilton. The over arching research question for this project is: Pēhea rā te āhuatanga me te kounga o ngā whakawhitinga mai i te kōhanga ki te kura mō ngā tamariki, whānau, kaiako me te hāpori? - What do effective transitions from kōhanga reo to kura look like, feel like, and sound like, for tamariki, whānau, kaiako and the community? The project aims to provide important new insights into learning and teaching in Māori-medium settings and into ways of enhancing transitions from Maori-medium early childhood education to Māori medium classrooms.

year: 2014

title: Cysteine biosynthesis and the role of CysE in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

authors: Oldham, Keely

abstract: Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative organism of the sexually transmitted infection (STI), gonorrhoea. Over decades of antibiotic use, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of N. gonorrhoeae has dramatically increased and we are facing the reality of almost untreatable gonorrhoea. Combined with increasing incidence, there is an urgent need for new antimicrobial treatments for gonorrhoea infection. The synthesis of the amino acid cysteine is a promising new target for the development of new antimicrobials. Cysteine plays an important role in protein molecules, but also in the synthesis of glutathione for protection against oxidative stress. In addition, cysteine is the key step for the incorporation of sulphur into a variety of cellular constituents. N. gonorrhoeae displays unique differences in assimilation of sulphate for the synthesis of cysteine, yet little is known about the synthesis of this important amino acid in N. gonorrhoeae. 

The first step in the dual-step cysteine biosynthesis pathway is catalysed by the serine acetyltransferase, CysE, an essential gene in N. gonorrhoeae. To design inhibitors against this key enzyme we need to elucidate the enzymatic mechanism and the three-dimensional structure. In this thesis, we determine the kinetic parameters and regulation of CysE and present the structure of CysE to 2.01 Å. Biochemical assays demonstrate that CysE has serine acetyltransferase activity and experiences substrate inhibition by acetyl CoA. CysE is also sensitive to feedback inhibition by L-cysteine, which competitively inhibits CysE relative to the substrate L-serine. The structure shows CysE belongs to the left-handed β helix family and adopts a hexameric structure consisting of a dimer of trimers. Our structure reveals the first evidence of domain swapping for a CysE structure, where C-terminal tails domain swap with neighbouring monomers in the crystal lattice. Although an artefact of crystallisation it provides insight into the flexibility of this region. 

Collectively the data presented in this thesis represents key advances in our understanding of the uncharacterised cysteine biosynthetic pathway in N. gonorrhoeae. Data presented here is the basis for future work using the structure of CysE to guide computational inhibitor design, to identify lead compounds for CysE inhibition, and for the development of new antimicrobials for treatment of gonorrhoea.

text: Cysteine biosynthesis and the role of CysE in Neisseria gonorrhoeae Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative organism of the sexually transmitted infection (STI), gonorrhoea. Over decades of antibiotic use, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of N. gonorrhoeae has dramatically increased and we are facing the reality of almost untreatable gonorrhoea. Combined with increasing incidence, there is an urgent need for new antimicrobial treatments for gonorrhoea infection. The synthesis of the amino acid cysteine is a promising new target for the development of new antimicrobials. Cysteine plays an important role in protein molecules, but also in the synthesis of glutathione for protection against oxidative stress. In addition, cysteine is the key step for the incorporation of sulphur into a variety of cellular constituents. N. gonorrhoeae displays unique differences in assimilation of sulphate for the synthesis of cysteine, yet little is known about the synthesis of this important amino acid in N. gonorrhoeae. 

The first step in the dual-step cysteine biosynthesis pathway is catalysed by the serine acetyltransferase, CysE, an essential gene in N. gonorrhoeae. To design inhibitors against this key enzyme we need to elucidate the enzymatic mechanism and the three-dimensional structure. In this thesis, we determine the kinetic parameters and regulation of CysE and present the structure of CysE to 2.01 Å. Biochemical assays demonstrate that CysE has serine acetyltransferase activity and experiences substrate inhibition by acetyl CoA. CysE is also sensitive to feedback inhibition by L-cysteine, which competitively inhibits CysE relative to the substrate L-serine. The structure shows CysE belongs to the left-handed β helix family and adopts a hexameric structure consisting of a dimer of trimers. Our structure reveals the first evidence of domain swapping for a CysE structure, where C-terminal tails domain swap with neighbouring monomers in the crystal lattice. Although an artefact of crystallisation it provides insight into the flexibility of this region. 

Collectively the data presented in this thesis represents key advances in our understanding of the uncharacterised cysteine biosynthetic pathway in N. gonorrhoeae. Data presented here is the basis for future work using the structure of CysE to guide computational inhibitor design, to identify lead compounds for CysE inhibition, and for the development of new antimicrobials for treatment of gonorrhoea.

year: 2020