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Cyclooxygenase (COX) is a two-step enzyme that converts arachidonic acid into prostaglandin H 2 , a labile intermediate used in the production of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) and prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α ). In vertebrates and corals, COX must be N -glycosylated on at least two asparagine residues in the N-(X)-S/T motif to be catalytically active. Although COX glycosylation requirement is well-characterized in many species, whether crustacean COXs require N -glycosylation for their enzymatic function have not been investigated. In this study, a 1,842-base pair cox gene was obtained from ovarian cDNA of the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon . Sequence analysis revealed that essential catalytic residues and putative catalytic domains of P . monodon COX (PmCOX) were well-conserved in relation to other vertebrate and crustacean COXs. Expression of PmCOX in 293T cells increased levels of secreted PGE 2 and PGF 2α up to 60- and 77-fold, respectively, compared to control cells. Incubation of purified PmCOX with endoglycosidase H, which cleaves oligosaccharides from N -linked glycoproteins, reduced the molecular mass of PmCOX. Similarly, addition of tunicamycin, which inhibits N -linked glycosylation, in PmCOX-expressing cells resulted in PmCOX protein with lower molecular mass than those obtained from untreated cells, suggesting that PmCOX was N -glycosylated. Three potential glycosylation sites of PmCOX were identified at N79, N170 and N424. Mutational analysis revealed that although all three residues were glycosylated, only mutations at N170 and N424 completely abolished catalytic function. Inhibition of COX activity by ibuprofen treatment also decreased the levels of PGE 2 in shrimp haemolymph. This study not only establishes the presence of the COX enzyme in penaeid shrimp, but also reveals that N -glycosylation sites are highly conserved and required for COX function in crustaceans.

Polyesters are a vital part of modern day life, with a plethora of different uses such as clothing, coatings, biomedical engineers, drug encapsulation and much more. This means that the synthesis of these products from the raw materials is vital and investigating a way to increase the synthesis efficiency is an important topic of research. The work discussed within this thesis aims to assess in depth the impact which microwave energy has on a melt polycondensation system, suggesting that implementing a microwave heating into the polycondensation, there is potential to reduce production times and potentially increase product molecular weights. This is explained through a discussion about catalytic mechanisms and selective microwave heating. This led to the design and commissioning of a 5 L scale-up vessel with hybrid conventional and microwave heating capabilities to show that these technologies can be scaled to an industrially meaningful scale. Chapter 1 introduces the background to polymers and polymer chemistry, with a detailed assessment of polyester synthesis routes and properties. Powder coatings are presented with the different types and application methods discussed. Microwave theory is then presented with the challenges and potential benefits toward scale-up outlined. Finally, a literature review is completed on polyester synthesis using microwave heating as well as recent developments in large scale microwave reactions. Chapter 2 discusses the specific microwave equipment used throughout this thesis. The materials used and synthesis methods are then discussed. There is also a brief discussion about the characterisation techniques implemented. Chapter 3 focusses on the polymerisation of adipic acid and 1,6-hexanediol using both conventional and microwave heating. A detailed investigation into catalyst effects on the polymerisation are discussed. This focusses on mechanistic differences between the catalysts and heating methods. Chapter 4 furthers the catalyst investigation from chapter 3 but with an industrially used monomer system. This focusses on the importance of catalyst selection for the polymerisation and outlines how microwaves can be used to efficiently produce product within reduced reaction times. There is also a brief examination into whether microwaves increase product qualities. Chapter 5 discusses the impact of using a high powered pulse on a polyesterification compared to a lower powered, continuous pulse. This is discussed for both previously investigated polymerisations and outlines if continued high power application is better than a more intermitted use. Finally, the scale-up process is discussed and initial reactions using the vessel are detailed. Again, differences in product quality are investigated. Lastly, Chapter 6 provides the overall conclusions from the body of work with potential future work detailed for each section.

The diversity and quality of available and affordable foods vary vastly across income groups and countries, affecting adolescent food choices. 9 Those choices change with economic development, urbanisation, and shifts in the food industry and agriculture. [...]research on adolescent nutrition interventions and programmes has overwhelmingly emphasised single interventions, such as weekly iron folic acid supplementation, rather than the many drivers of adolescent food choice and nutritional status. 10 Adolescent food environments and nutrition are affected by factors at multiple levels and across sectors, including agriculture, food processing, retail, and marketing, through to the settings where adolescents are growing up. 12,13 Effective adolescent nutrition programmes will differ across food environments, but in all places strategies will need to be intersectoral, taking action across educational settings, social protection programmes, health services, food retailers, and in local communities and domestic households. 10,13,14 As this Series underlines, the most effective national policies will coordinate actions beyond health and nutrition to engage education, food manufacturing and marketing, and agriculture, with an emphasis on adolescents facing the greatest socioeconomic disadvantage. 9,10 Adolescents also have views on the food they eat that extend beyond the immediate effects on their health and wellbeing. Beyond government, multiple stakeholders, including the food industry, will need to take action to reverse the increased consumption of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods and help end adolescent malnutrition. 16 Despite calls for action, transnational food companies continue to influence and reframe national political debates on food regulation. 16 Social media allows direct marketing and influences community attitudes beyond national borders. 17 Given these increasingly transnational dimensions of the ultra-processed food industry, it is timely for WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, and their partners to revisit calls for global regulatory frameworks to assist governments in taking action. 16,18 Given the speed of nutritional change, there is perhaps no greater immediate threat to the health of adolescents.

Besides, until Christmas 2000, neither [Gabby] nor I had any idea how much damage cannabis was doing to [Nicky]'s brain. We also did not realise at that stage that the cannabis kids smoke these days is not the relatively mild, supposedly groovy 'weed' of the Sixties and Seventies which I had never smoked but the vastly more potent, modified form of cannabis known as skunk. Having come through his own personal cannabis hell, Nicky is now finally free from the effects of a drug that the Government has downgraded thus sending the message to young people everywhere that the drug is not as bad as first thought. I do not have to tell Nicky that he cannot smoke cannabis the doctors and his own body do that far better than I ever could. BACK FROM THE BRINK ... REV [George Hargreaves] WITH HIS SON NICKY, WHO TRIED TO KILL HIMSELF IN A DRUG-INDUCED PARANOIA ;FAMILY BOND ... NICKY AND HIS MOTHER GABBY AT HIS CHRISTENING IN 1978, AND, TOP LEFT WITH HIS FATHER AT THE SAME EVENT. TOP RIGHT: NICKY ON A CHILDHOOD TRIP TO LONDON ZOO

The next day I wrote the song Cruisin' and recorded it with a singer called Desiree Heslop. We took it to [Simon Cowell] and he loved it but could not agree terms with Desiree. So Sinitta asked if she could record the vocals. Simon hated the idea of the record so much that I even recorded it with alternative lyrics. But the new version just did not have the X-factor, and Sinitta and I joined forces to fight for So Macho to be released.Eventually, we won. The record was released at the end of 1985 and received a great reception from the gay community. It remained in the bottom reaches of the Top 100 for six months. When I saw a taxi driver holding a sign saying 'Simon Cowell'. I went up to him and said: 'Hi, I'm a friend of Simon's and want to play a little trick on him, can I carry your sign please?' When Simon came through customs and saw me standing there his face fell. '[GEORGE HARGREAVES], what's happened?' he said, full of concern.

Many people in the UK have real concern about this important omission. Our Government needs to hear the deep concern of people about plans to airbrush Europe's common heritage out of history.