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The project considers how emotions were part of the practice of family within the context of Scottish imperial sojourning. A view of emotions as being constructed, historically contingent and socially produced, rather than essential, is becoming a stable position in the field of the history of emotions. This thesis contributes to that body of academic literature through an empirical study of one gentry family's archive that takes a broad view, over several generations, of how emotions construction works and to what purpose. Drawing on the key findings of historians of Scottish gender and the family, this thesis places the relevance of empire more strongly into the production of gender and emotional dispositions. While Scotland's experience of the British Empire, from politics, to material culture, and the economy provide rich scholarship, the history of emotions in Scottish empire studies is relatively new terrain. The work also contributes to research on family life in arguing that affective ties between extended kin were critical to the social and economic interests of gentry families in north-east Scotland. The requirement to maintain such ties shaped the emotional disposition of individuals, at the expense of other affective ties and individual feelings. Such familial structures were the exigencies of a period of change in which families were the primary resource for economic and social survival.

This thesis examines costing systems adopted within Turkish and British paper industries and assesses the appropriateness of Activity Based Costing for this area. It includes two case studies, one of which was performed in a Turkish paper mill and the other in a British one, that describe and examine product costing methods adopted and cost drivers employed within the costing system. The study also contains the results of two questionnaire surveys, one of which was applied to the Turkish and the other to British paper industry. All paper mills in the two industries were included within the survey response rates of which are 65.2% and 40.25% of the Turkish and British mills respectively. The questionnaire survey was designed to shed light into the costing practices adopted within the two paper industries. The results of the case studies and surveys indicated that the existing costing methods adopted and cost drivers employed within the two industries were appropriate for their manufacturing environments. Almost all the mills surveyed were found using traditional methods for their product costing and decision-making needs. Although ABC was implemented by a small number of factories, it was found inappropriate by two mills (one Turkish and one British) and hence abandoned. Different production processes and product types were identified as the main reason of this unsuitability. Also, most non-volume-related activities that may produce cost distortion in electronic and machinery-parts industries either do not exist or the effect of which over products is not important in the paper industry. Machine hour and production tonne cost drivers were found as being employed generally in both paper industries studied.

The aims of this thesis were to study the agronomic impact of paper sludge incorporation on agricultural soil. through investigation of crop physiological response to paper sludge incorporation, nutrient cycling, soil parameters, soil moisture retention and then attempting to combine this multidisciplinary approach to the study of paper sludge into one empirical model, or management tool. Paper sludge (from Federal Tait Paper, Inverurie) was characterised to determine its composition and variability. In particular, the concentrations of nitrogen, cellulose and calcite were found to vary greatly. Prior to large scale field scale application and biomass-N studies a preliminary germination trial and biomass-N feasibility study were undertaken. The germination trial assessed the potential for paper sludge incorporation into soil to cause germination failure, due to the production of phytotoxic compounds, (e.g. acetic acid). It concluded that there was no risk of germination failure. However, it also indicated possible crop chlorosis associated with those seedlings grown on soil with paper sludge additions, suggesting N immobilisation. A preliminary biomass-N experiment concluded that large cores were unsuitable for biomass-N determinations and concluded that small sealed flasks with a well homogenised soil and paper sludge matrix would be more suitable for biomass-N determinations. To assess the agronomic effects of paper sludge incorporation into agricultural soil, a series of field experiments were carried out. Soil samples were regularly removed to assess soil parameters (e.g. soil pH). The incorporation of high N-concentrations of paper sludge was associated with no reduction in crop growth, harvest index, grain weight or grain numbers per ear. However, grain N-concentration and straw N-concentration were significantly increased as compared to those plots receiving no paper sludge additions. The increase in grain N-concentration approached that permissible by the malting industry of Scotland. The incorporation of low N-concentration paper sludge into soil was associated with significant decreases in crop growth, harvest index, grain numbers per ear and grain and straw N-concentrations, as compared to grain from those plots receiving no paper sludge additions. The decrease in crop growth and grain and straw N-concentrations suggest that N was limiting crop growth. Supplementary inorganic-N additions reinforced this hypothesise that N was limiting, as inorganic-N additions partly negated the reduction in crop growth associated with those plots receiving low N-concentration paper sludge additions. However, significant crop growth reductions were also associated with those plots receiving lime additions ( 8 t ha-1), suggesting that over liming of the soil could also cause crop growth reductions. As the paper sludge has a calcite component it was not possible to distinguish between the influence of the paper sludge affecting soil-N cycling and soil pH alterations in reducing crop growth. Paper sludge significantly increased soil pH. The moisture release characteristics of soil on plots receiving paper sludge applications were also significantly affected so that soil in plots receiving paper sludge additions held more moisture (at particular moisture tensions) than control soils. The biomass-N / N-immobilisation study demonstrated the rapid rise in biomass-N associated with paper sludge incorporation. Significant increases in biomass-N after 3 days of incubation, were associated with the soil receiving paper sludge. The potential for paper sludge to increase soil biomass-N was clearly demonstrated. To analyse the effect of individual paper sludge components on crop growth, a core experiment investigated the relationship between total biological yield (TBY) and those properties of the paper sludge considered to affect the crop growth (i.e. N-concentration, calcite concentration and cellulose concentration) using multiple linear regression techniques. Statistical modelling of the effect paper sludge incorporation into soil had upon crop TBY, explained 74.3% of the observed variation. The NCON (N-concentration of the paper sludge) variable was the largest influencing factor in determining the TBY (r=0.803).

Ultrasound (the frequency range above 20 KHz) at intensities of 0-3.0 Wcm-2 is used in physical medicine to treat a variety of conditions (joint contractures, fibrosis and scarring and severe pain due to disorders such as frozen shoulder and capsulitis). It is believed to produce a reduction in pain and swelling and increase movement of joints affected by diseases such as arthritis. It is also used to generate hyperthermia for the treatment of neoplastic tumours. The technique involves irradiating tissues with either continuous or pulsed mode ultrasound, using either the field from a single or multielement transducer. Geometrically similar ultrasound transducers even from the same batch can have significantly different efficiencies and the resulting field distributions can also vary. There are several pieces of information required to characterize an ultrasound source. They are frequency, power output, spatial average and spatial peak intensity and details of ultrasonic field distribution. This application of ultrasound requires an experimental method to define the intensity distribution generated by a transducer or array of transducers. A number of different techniques have been used to record intensity distribution. These include sheets of liquid crystal on an absorbing surface, detection of signals using hydrophone probes, thermocouple probes, thermistor probes and the Schlieren technique. The dye/paper method and Starch iodine plate have been developed for the observation of the ultrasonic fields and evaluation of the source pattern.

In an introduction and five chapters, each devoted to one novel, the thesis examines the different aspects of suffering and sin with which Golding is particularly concerned. The Introduction briefly examines all of Golding's novels and two of his short stories (The Scorpion God and Clonk Clonk), giving an overview of Golding's concerns and suggesting the possibility that Golding, in his last two novels and in Rites of Passage, tried to account for some of the reasons for suffering and sin in the contemporary world. The suffering caused by the sin of egoism and greed is examined in the chapter on Pincher Martin, which also discusses the effect of sin on dying and the fear of death. The chapter on Free Fall shows suffering and sin under the aspect of the individual's inability to relate in any meaningful way to another individual. Golding's preoccupation with freedom and determinism is also briefly examined in this chapter. Much of The Pyramid is concerned with exploitation and the lack of understanding of love, and the suffering which arises as a consequence is discussed in the third chapter - a theme which is also important in Darkness Visible. The sin of egoism and its consequences, and the suffering arising out of the long process of development during a divine call to self-sacrifice are further themes examined in the chapter on Darkness Visible. The right of the individual to determine his own life is examined in the last chapter The Paper Men, where suffering is shown to arise from an individual's refusal to accept his responsibility for others and in his attempt to evade a possibly divine call to duty by 'running away'. A bibliography of works by Golding and on Golding concludes the thesis.

This is an area of high relief in the north, with a large section lying 2500's to the south of the Pass of Killiecrankie. 1500' is reached at only a few points. The underlying rooks are mainly metamorphic and the highly resistant quartzites form the most conspicuous elements of the landscape such as the barrier at the Pass of Killiecrankie. Three large rivers set the main drainage pattern, the Garry flowing mainly east to west and forming a wide strath to the north of Killiecranki and the Tummel and Tay which join to form a long broad valley running in a north-south direction. This region has been heavily glaciated and a great deal of drift, remains on the valley sides. Fluvio-glacial terraces form distinctive features on slopes in the main valleys, and morainic material is found, in the minor valleys in the north. Recent alluvial deposition has, formed extensive haughland in the Tusnmel-Tay valley in particular. On the uplands of the north particularly, snowfall is heavy in winter. The valley floors are very often affected by frosts in spring and autumn which in earlier years had a considerable effect on sowing and harvesting of crops. The valley settlement tends to be protected from certain winds, bat the valleys channel and emphasise strong winds to the detriment of the forests. This is essentially a region of valley settlement, which depends to some extent in the Tumael-Tay valley on the older fluvio-glacial terrace and also on the lower river terraces with an upper limit at 800', in. the north in Glen Fender and Glen Tilt settlement occurs at over 1000'. The population has declined uniformly throughout the area except in Moulin Pariah which includes Pitlochry; here the population has increased considerably. This decline is attributed to an 18th century drain of men to war service, to the changes in far, techniques and the dispersal of the over-populated farm-towns involving the movement away from the area of the surplus population. The Wade military road was the first improvement in communications. In late 18th Century considerable improvements were carried out on other roads. The opening of Dunkeld Bridge in 1808 opened up the country to through coach traffic. With the through railway free Perth to Inverness opened in 1863 the tourist trade wan finally established. But the insistence of the then Duke of Atholl that this railway should run on the opposite side of the river from Dunkeld to its decline. During most of the 18th century the run-rig system prevailed through the estates. Improvements wore initiated towards the end of; the 18th Century and the dispersal of the farmtowns ensued. Tenants were forced by their leases to maintain proper rotation and methods of husbandry. The amalgamation of holdings has continued during the 19th and present centuries, until in some parts several farms are held by one person. The uplands carry considerable sheep but in the Forest of Atholl sporting interests for a time Prevailed:at present both forms of occupation are practised. At the beginning of the 18th century only indigenous oakwood and birch wore found in Atholl. Important new species were introduced at this time in the larch and spruce. Towards mid-Century afforestation was commenced in the policies at Dunkeld and Blair. After 1774 the upper limit of afforestation was pushed continuously higher until in 1815 areas over 1500' were planted. Considerable experimentation went on between 1774 and 1830 with the different species of trees, and larch, spruce and Scots fir were finally placed on the soils and at the altitudes for which they are still recommended. During this period too, the larch was tried as ship-timber, and for the-first time ships, such as a Naval frigate, were built wholly of this wood. From 1774 to 1830 over 27,000,000 trees were planted. This felling of these trees was carried out in ensuing years. In mid-19th century new outlets were found for larch timber in manufactured articles such as sheep-hurdles, and in timber for railway sleepers. In late 19th Century new areas wore opened up for plantations around Blair particularly, but with the prevalence larch disease few of this species were planted. New species such as- Douglas fir and, Japanese larch wore introduced, and at the beginning of the 20th Century the hybrid larch were discovered at Dunkeld and much planted thereafter. Very heavy felling of the woods went on during both World wars, and with heavydeath duties levied on the estate re-afforestation was not fully carried out. These private estate woodlands were lately dedicated and a full re-afforestation, thinning and felling programme can now be maintained.

There is a need to find better treatments for fibromyalgia and its primary feature chronic widespread pain (CWP), and to explore mechanisms by which current treatments work. This can be done by examining evidence from epidemiological studies and randomised trials. This thesis is comprised of five publications looking at behaviour and beliefs of people with CWP. It investigates alcohol consumption behaviour as a possible treatment for CWP by looking at population-level data. It also investigates current treatments, particularly how beliefs about treatments might affect outcomes, using data from a trial. The first paper looks at the association of alcohol consumption behaviour and CWP in an observational study. It found moderate consumption is associated with reduced risk of CWP and less pain-related disability in people with CWP. The next looks at the same association stratified by changes in alcohol consumption behaviour, as changes in drinking might be due to pain status rather than vice versa. It replicated the results of the first paper in people who had not changed their alcohol consumption behaviour. The third paper uses Mendelian randomization to determine the causal effect of alcohol consumption on the risk of CWP. This paper concluded observational study results do not represent a beneficial effect of alcohol consumption on pain. The fourth paper reports results from a randomised trial of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and exercise for CWP to find out whether effects persist after completion of treatment. It found positive effects on self-reported health of CBT and exercise for people with CWP after treatment stopped. The final paper examined how patients' beliefs about treatment might affect outcomes. It found those with higher expectations for treatment effectiveness were more likely to report improvements. Findings show how studying beliefs and behaviours of people with CWP helps identify further research questions to improve treatment.

Magmatic episodes commonly occur during lithospheric stretching, thus extensional basins are often associated with extensive extrusive and intrusive volcanic activity. Basins containing volcanic sequences have undergone increased exploration focus in recent years driven by greater understanding of volcanics and advances in the quality and availability of subsurface data. Intrusive igneous activity presents a substantial geological risk for hydrocarbon exploration in volcanic rifted basins due to the inability to fully quantify the true extent of their presence in the subsurface. This thesis characterises igneous intrusions in sedimentary basins, quantifying the true volumes of igneous material to understand the impact this has for basin evolution, petroleum systems and hydrocarbon exploration. This is achieved through seismic and geophysical log analysis of intrusive complexes in the Faroe Shetland Basin (FSB), and the Exmouth sub-basin. Additionally, the observations from subsurface data are compared with field outcrop data to consolidate the interpretation and compare the scale of observations. The characterisation of igneous intrusions identified that due to the detection limits of seismic and well data there are far greater volumes of igneous material in a sedimentary basin than previous estimates (Paper 1). Analysis of the previous penetrations of igneous intrusions highlighted the potential for igneous intrusions to be overpressured, directly impacting an exploration well drilled in the FSB during 2016 (Paper 1). Paper 2 demonstrates the impact this igneous material has on petroleum systems of sedimentary basins, critically, through the reduced porosity and permeability of reservoirs. Investigation of seismic data reveals that the FSB Cragganmore gas field is compartmentalised by igneous intrusions, which will be detrimental to the reservoir quality and impede production. In Paper 3 the thickness of igneous material is calculated from seismic data to be up to 2 km thick in parts of the FSB when scaled to account for thin unresolvable intrusions. To understand the impact of this significant igneous material, the FSB is reconstructed prior to emplacement of the substantial igneous material, demonstrating that previous estimates of the Cretaceous sedimentary thickness have been overestimated. In the Exmouth sub-basin the link between the basin structure and intrusion morphologies is characterised along with the impact this has for hydrocarbon exploration, building on lessons learnt from the FSB (Paper 4).

This research explores the potential of drawing to support understanding in anatomy. It builds on the perspective of Robert Douglas Lockhart, Professor of Anatomy, University of Birmingham (1931 to 1938) and Regius Professor of Anatomy, University of Aberdeen (1938 to 1965). Lockhart was highly critical of learning by rote and advocated that medical students learn anatomy through dissection and drawing to become practical problem solvers. Lockhart did not offer a specific method, a gap this enquiry seeks to fill. Four research studies were conducted. Study 1, archival research, established Lockhart's approach to anatomical education, particularly the crucial relationship he made between drawing and dissection. He commissioned new drawings for his textbook 'Anatomy of the Human Body' and suggested anatomical contexts in which students should draw. Study 2 (interviews with Lockhart's ex-students) revealed Lockhart's emphasis on dissection as a rigorous practice for all students, but while Lockhart highlighted drawing in lectures and papers, none of them drew. Studies 3 and 4 therefore followed Lockhart's verbal and written recommendations to draw from a specimen and in dissection, resulting in a collection of over 200 drawings that explore different approaches, enriched by the interviewees' insights and the challenges presented by anatomy in the two contexts of specimen and dissection. An approach to drawing emerged, driven by questions anatomists might seek to address, such as structure, relationship, and connection, that focused drawing in deep observation. Drawing in this way from a specimen and in dissection was found to enhance observation, generate new questions, and support thinking. This research offers students a practical approach to supplement learning from memory. It places drawing at the core of learning from experience, to enhance observation and stimulate the imagination. It positions Lockhart's emphasis on experience in learning with Dewey's contemporaneous insights into the importance of the sensory in learning.

This thesis provides a comprehensive analytical account of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's discourse on the Holy Spirit. Where other studies have treated Bonhoeffer's pneumatology across part of his works or as part of a larger study, this study examines Bonhoeffer's understanding of the Spirit across his entire corpus. It argues against the now common claim that Bonhoeffer suffers from a notable pneumatological deficit in which his discourse on the Spirit is problematically subordinated to Christology. It demonstrates that Bonhoeffer in fact has a robust discourse on the Spirit which emphasizes, in accord with Martin Luther, the mutual bond between Word and Spirit. Bonhoeffer's programmatic statement in Ethics that the subject matter of ethics just is "the relation between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit" announces the fundamental place of pneumatology in Bonhoeffer's ethical theology, even where there is limited explicit pneumatological discourse, as in Ethics. Beginning with Bonhoeffer's student papers, the thesis explicates Bonhoeffer's pneumatology across his writings culminating in a pneumatological reading of Ethics. We demonstrate that Bonhoeffer's writings consistently and closely relate pneumatology and ethics: in Sanctorum Communio, the Spirit is the agent who actualizes the reality realized in Jesus Christ in the church as a community of love; in Act and Being, the Spirit appears as the essential agent of faith; while pneumatological arguments are prominent in his writings throughout the Church Struggle, they achieve their greatest concentration in Bonhoeffer's Finkenwalde material, including Discipleship, wherein the Spirit functions as the agent of formation, transforming the individual into one who heeds the will of God in simple obedience. When we return to Ethics, we find that Bonhoeffer's pneumatology functions there as the primary grammar of his conception of ethics and the Christian life.

The recent financial crisis highlights the importance of understanding factors that affect financial market price efficiency. Experimental methods allow us to control the intrinsic value of an asset, thus become an attractive technique for studying asset market price efficiency. This dissertation consist three essays, all of which devoted to experimental asset markets. The first essay explores the role of liquidity on the mispricing of an asset. This issue has been the subject of Kirchler et al. (2012) AER paper. By re-analysing the evidence in that article, the first essay concluded that their experimental design have a weakness that biased the results. Therefore, I designed an experiment that eliminates the weakness. The results of my experiment indicate that Constant C/A ratio could reduce mispricing of experimental asset market significantly, but not necessary to lead to undervaluation. The second essay explores how the description of the asset market to the human participants influences the mispricing of the asset being traded. This issue has been the subject of Kirchler et al. (2012) AER paper. When re-assessing the evidence, I was puzzled by the findings and thought that the small sample size of the dataset collected might explain why a minor change to the description of the asset market provided to the participants produced completely different behaviour. This essay replicates the experiment, with a larger sample size and relies on different statistical tests to analyse the data. I find that the treatment with a different contest (“stocks of a depletable of gold mine”) exhibits similar level of mispricing and overvaluation with the baseline treatment., which is not consistent with Kirchler et al. (2012). The third essay is about an experiment that compares how team decision-making vs. individual decision-making differ in how they influence the mispricing of the asset being traded. The main result is that team decision-making does not result in smaller price bubbles. However team decision-making result in less variance among markets (sessions). Further more, my experimental design allows us to record the chat dialogues, which enable us to have insight into team decision-making. The content of the messages allows us explore the reasons behind traders' asks and bids.

his thesis identifies and examines the practice of leisured colonialism in the lives of the Keith-Falconers, an aristocratic Aberdeenshire family, from 1873-1945. Distinct from more formal kinds of colonialism, leisured colonialism is presented as an intergenerational family practice, characterised by the privileged mobility, object acquisition, and social relationships of affluent Europeans at leisure. These practices are evident in the Keith-Falconers' extensive archive and museum collection held primarily in the University of Aberdeen Museums and Special Collections with some papers in the National Library of Australia, including around six hundred and fifty objects as well as travel journals and scrapbooks written by women in the family. Drawing on sustained fieldwork with this collection, the institutions and people associated with it in Aberdeen, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand, this thesis offers an ethnographic engagement with the Keith-Falconers' lives. Centred on moments of object acquisition, it poses a challenge to collecting as an individual-centred catch-all term for the acquisition of objects which end up in museums. Instead it interrogates the diverse and specific ways in which the Keith-Falconers acquired objects together. In chapters framed around objects from the collection, the family's travel, shopping, natural history collecting, and documentation are emphasised as active, skilled, learned, and shared practices of leisured colonialism. Following the stories of taonga Māori and secret-sacred Aboriginal Australian objects beyond the Keith-Falconers' accounts also illuminates the harmful effects of the Keith-Falconers' leisured colonialism on people and objects from the nineteenth century to the present day. Demonstrating how an ethnographic approach to the families behind large museum collections can bring new colonial practices to light, this thesis situates the harmful practices of leisured colonialism firmly within the sphere of intimate and everyday material and social lives.

This paper puts forth a radical behaviorist approach to legal theory according to which law is a set of behavioral contingencies which control the behavior of individuals according to politically defined goals. Based on the proposition that modern legal systems, because of their inherent contingency and chronic mutability, are irremediably instrumental to politically defined social goals, and on the radical behaviorist fundamental assumption that a science of human behavior is possible, the paper develops what can be called a radical behaviorist perspective on social systems theory. According to this perspective, a social system is neither a collection of individuals nor of individual acts, but a class of interconnected behavioral patterns or cultural practices conditioned and maintained through the same generalized reinforcer, which, in the case of law, is the dichotomy between legal versus illegal. To construct this radical behaviorist perspective on social systems theory, the paper relies on three major theoretical foundations. The first one is a criticism of Skinner’s concept of verbal behavior according to which instead of a special kind of behavior, it is defined as nothing but the human species-specific operant control of the vocal musculature by social reinforcement contingencies. The second one is to propose a more functional alternative to Skinner’s concept of human social behavior as that kind of operant behavior which is conditioned and maintained by other people’s behavior. The third one is a dialogue between radical behaviorism and Luhmann’s social systems theory, whose main purpose is to provide radical behaviorism with a more sophisticated description of modern society which, despite several differences, is also radically anti-individualistic and evolutionary. The final part of the paper is a detailed discussion of how law controls human behavior.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly being used as tools for fishery management and marine conservation.  This thesis investigates several aspects of the human dimensions of MPAs in Scotland with the purpose to contribute to the understanding of the attitudes of Scottish inshore fishers towards this management measure. Paper I reviews the literature on fishers’ attitudes towards MPAs.  It reveals that most empirical work collects information on fishers’ attitudes towards three general issues of importance to MPAs: governance, conservation of biodiversity and the environment, and the impact of MPAs on fishing activity. Using data from surveys conducted with Scottish fishers, papers II, III, IV and V investigate fishers’ attitudes towards, and perceptions of, several issues of interest to MPAs.  Plus, multivariate data analysis was used in all papers in order to identify which individual characteristics influence fishers’ attitudes towards, or perceptions about, the issues under investigation.  Papers II, IV and V use data collected on a survey conducted with Scottish inshore fishers in 2006/07, while Paper III uses data from a survey conducted previously (in 2001/02). Paper II investigates Scottish inshore fishers’ perceptions about participation in the decision-making process. Results reveal that around half of the fishers perceived themselves to be informed about management, but most did not perceive themselves to be consulted or involved in the decision-making process. Papers III and IV investigate fishers’ attitudes towards labour mobility.  More precisely, the papers investigate fishers’ willingness to leave the fishing sector, change to another gear or move to another area to remain fishing.  Results reveal that fishers’ attitudes towards leaving the fishing sector were different in the two periods.  In 2002 most fishers were willing to leave the fishing sector (Paper III) while five years later most were not (Paper V).  Most importantly, both papers point to the importance of job satisfaction for fishers. Results point to the importance of understanding the economic, social and cultural contexts of the fishing industry for the success of measures and policies aimed at providing fishers with alternative job opportunities in order to counter impacts of displacement caused by the implementation of MPAs and reduction of the overcapacity of the European fishing fleets. Paper V investigates inshore fishers’ attitudes towards MPAs and issues of relevance to MPAs (e.g. compliance with, and enforcement of, rules, and state of resources). More precisely, the paper investigates the attitudes towards closed areas between users of different gears which are affected by closed areas in different ways.  Results reveal that Scottish inshore fishers are not a homogenous collective; the attitudes towards closed areas differ among users of different gears.

The hypothesis underlying this thesis was that abnormal, dysfunctional breathing may occur commonly in people with asthma, and when identified and treated using a breathing training programme supervised by a physiotherapist, will result in improved asthma control.  The thesis is based around four original research papers published in peer-reviewed journals.  These papers present epidemiological surveys quantifying the extent of symptoms attributable to dysfunctional breathing in adults with asthma in comparison with the non-asthmatic adult population, and randomised controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of a breathing training programme in improving asthma control. Initially, a review of the existing evidence of co-morbidity between asthma and dysfunctional breathing is presented, together with that of effectiveness of breathing training interventions.  In subsequent chapters, two epidemiological surveys are presented, showing that symptoms consistent with dysfunctional breathing were more common in the asthmatic than the non-asthmatic adult population.  Data from a pilot and a subsequent full randomised controlled trial are then presented.  These show that breathing training was associated with improved patient-reported outcomes in comparison with a control intervention of asthma education (chosen to control for the non-specific effects of professional contact and interest on a symptomatic patient). The thesis shows that in a clinical trial situation, many people with asthma can benefit from breathing training.

This thesis describes two primary care intervention studies which aimed to improve breastfeeding initiation, duration and satisfaction in Scotland. I review the evidence for breastfeeding interventions in group settings and propose a framework for their design and evaluation. A clinical overview of breastfeeding was commissioned by The British Medical Journal. Three papers describe a preliminary action research controlled intervention study which significantly increased breastfeeding at 2 weeks after birth. A qualitative paper provides insights into why women preferred groups to one-to-one peer support. The intervention was not uniformly effective in the four intervention areas and mixed method data suggests that the quality of inter- and intra- health professional team relationships may have contributed to effectiveness. This preliminary study informed the design of a cluster randomised controlled trial of a policy to provide breastfeeding groups for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in primary care. A paper describes the processes, barriers and facilitators to recruiting primary care organisations to participate and recommends using a qualitative ethnographic approach. The breastfeeding group intervention had no effect and a paper describes the outcomes, the amount of intervention delivered and the costs. A model of health service attributes necessary for a locality to successfully deliver the policy emerged from the prospectively analysed mixed method case studies, and appears to explain breastfeeding outcomes. A policy to provide breastfeeding groups can be effective if the health service context is favourable as it was in the preliminary study. However in the trial, the negative aspects of the current health service system outweighed any positive effects from the intervention. I propose embedding randomised controlled trials of complex interventions within qualitative research to evaluate context.

This thesis comprises a collection of papers that describe a process of hypothesis development, followed by testing, and ending in revision. The hypothesis developed in the first paper is that dysfunction of ‘mirror neurons’ might explain the cluster of symptoms that characterise autism. Mirror neurons are located primarily in ventral preomotor and parietal cortex. They are characterised by a property of firing in response to the observation of specific actions, and also when those same actions are executed. Mirror neurons offer a potential mechanism of connecting neural processes that serve action perception with those that serve action execution. It is proposed that mirror neuron function is important for the development of normal imitation skills, ‘theory of mind’ and joint attention. This was investigated taking several approaches. A systematic literature review revealed strong evidence for impaired imitation ability in autism and suggested that imitation of gesture might be more impaired than imitation of object-directed action. Functioning of the mirror neuron system in autism during imitation was investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This revealed evidence for mirror neuron dysfunction, but also, dysfunction of associated neural systems. An fMRI study of joint attention, an important ability that is disrupted in autism, found that joint attention, an important ability that is disrupted in autism, found that joint attention relies on medial frontal cortex and superior frontal gyrus function. The superior frontal gyral function matched onto an area of grey matter abnormality that we identified in a voxel-based morphometry study of autism. A study of auditory visual integration in autism investigated another facet of the hypothesis. The final two chapters are review articles that synthesise recent evidence from studies that are relevant to the mirror neuron hypothesis of autism. The final chapter represents the latest and most comprehensive review of the mirror neuron hypothesis and presents a reformulation and novel hypotheses for future work.

The papers presented here represented an effort to investigate body-size relationships explicitly, using a variety of different approaches, scales of observation and empirical methods, and addressed issues pertinent to several aspects of food web theory, macroecology, and experimental community ecology. At the scale of the food web, (Paper I) the inclusion of parasites in the Ythan food web challenged previous empirical studies of predator-prey body-size relationships and the assumptions underlying food web models. Specifically body-size was neither the determinant of the trophic hierarchy of feeding links in the web, a key assumption in the cascade model and its variants, nor a constraint on the distribution of feeding links between individuals within the food web. Continuing the food web theme, but using a macroecological approach (Paper II), abundance body-size relationships reported in the literature were shown to be biased. Although the shape of the abundance body-size constraint space in the Ythan was broadly similar to the polyhedral shape reported for entire ecosystems, when the body-sizes of small taxa were included in the data set, the statistical relationship between body-size and abundance differed markedly from those documented for most other terrestrial and aquatic studies. At the scale of the marine invertebrate guild (Papers III and IV), an experimental approach demonstrated that the mechanisms proposed to generate patterns in body-size and patterns of re-assembly in benthic assemblages could not be rigorously supported. Specifically, habitat architecture was not as intimately related to body-size patterns as originally claimed, and the re-assembly of benthic communities was not driven by a directional change in organisms size. In both experiments issues of spatio-temporal scale made it difficult to relate patterns to underlying processes.

Reduced water availability and salinity are two major environmental factors influencing crop establishment in semi-arid environments. Therefore the effect of reduced water availability using polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 solutions and of salinity (NaCl) on the germination of six soybean cultivars was examined. Cultivars differed in their response to reduced water availability and salinity and in their ability to recover from the stresses. A large increase in germination during a recovery period at 0 MPa following water stress suggested that PEG was not toxic whilst the failure of seeds to recover from high salinity revealed the toxic effects of NaCl. At the same water potential, germination in saline conditions was higher than that in PEG and the rate of water uptake by individual seeds was more rapid in NaCl solutions than in PEG. The most plausible explanation for the greater water uptake and germination in NaCl is that seeds accumulated salts which lowered their osmotic potential. The effects of NaCl on seedling growth were much greater when experiments were conducted in a hydroponic system compared with a paper towel method. However, analysis of the solutions soaking the paper towels revealed that 4.25 mMolal Ca2+ was available to the seeds in this system in saline conditions. This may have reduced Na+ uptake or provided a protective effect against Na+ toxicity. Germination (40%) was possible at a tissue Na+ concentration in the embryonic axis of 9.3mg g-1 FW whilst seedling growth was completely inhibited at a tissue Na+ concentration of 6.1 mg g-1 FW. Germination at higher tissue Na+ concentrations was associated with higher K++Ca2+ concentrations, suggesting that these ions may protect the seeds in the pregermination phase against salinity. A reduction in seed vigour due to ageing resulted in reduced germination under saline conditions compared to the germination of unaged seeds, but there was no significant interaction between salinity and seed ageing. However, unaged seeds showed a greater increase in germination after transfer to 0 MPa than did the aged seeds. Since both the site of ageing and the toxic effect of NaCl is the cell membrane, there may be additive effects of NaCl toxicity on cell membrane in aged seeds.

Education is facing many challenges in a time of globalization and technological progress, including the responsibility to prepare generations capable of keeping pace with the requirements of the modern era. Therefore, tools and support are required to enable the students to obtain and develop several competencies, such as using language for communication and participation in academic discourse. There has been very limited research into impact on students' learning in KSA in general and on learning algebra in particular; although, it is widely assumed that CLIL has a positive impact on students' language competences. Therefore, this study focuses mainly on CLIL as a pedagogical approach and its impact on simultaneously learning both content (algebra) and language (English) on students' conceptual understanding and language proficiency. The questions addressed by the present study are as follows; (1) What kinds of difficulties do female Saudi students in Prince Mohammed bin Fahd University (PMU) encounter in learning Introductory Algebra? (2) What kind of impact does a pedagogical approach that integrates language and algebra learning have on students' learning? (3) What are the female Saudi students' perceptions of the new learning approach? A mixed-method design was implemented to collect and analyze data in three phases; pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention phase. The study sample comprised one group of an Introductory Algebra class. The study group (SG) was receiving instructions using a CLIL instructional model. The content of documents, such as HW, CW, test and exam papers were analyzed to learn about the kind of challenges that students encounter in learning algebra. Tasks and learning conversations were two of the essential sources of data that aimed to answer the first research question. Additionally, students were tested in the pre- and post-intervention phases for score comparisons to learn about the impact on the pedagogical approach on students' conceptual understanding and linguistic proficiency. Similarly, the means of the students' responses to the Likert Scale items were compared in the pre- and post intervention phases. The last part of the post-intervention questionnaire was designed to provide data about the students' perception of the used instructional approach. Data analysis revealed that female Saudi students were mainly encountering three types of difficulties that included; conceptual, linguistic, and cultural difficulties. The findings also suggested that the pedagogical approach had positive impacts on students' conceptual understanding of algebra and had the potential of improving their academic language. Moreover, students had a positive perception of the instructional approach and they were open to new and modern approaches of learning. The study evolves a pedagogic model for CLIL approaches in specific mathematical contexts Saudi tertiary contexts which could be further developed to include other subjects and contexts in the future.

Chronic pain, defined as pain that lasts or recurs for more than three to six months, is a common problem affecting an estimated 46.5% of the adult UK population. There is evidence that chronic pain can impact physical, psychological health, social wellbeing, activity levels and employment. Despite pharmacological treatments, there is often a lack of improvement in physical and emotional functioning and overall health-related quality of life. Other treatments are needed that address the multifactorial nature of chronic pain. Mindfulness meditation has become increasingly popular for self-management of many longterm conditions, including chronic pain. A modern definition of mindfulness is 'paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally' (Kabat-Zinn 1994 p4), which is described as occurring with an affectionate, compassionate quality of attending. The most frequently cited method of mindfulness training is the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme (MBSR), conducted as an eight to 10-week course for groups of participants who meet weekly for instruction and practice in mindfulness meditation. Two systematic reviews have reported effects of mindfulness-based interventions for people with chronic pain. Both looked at papers published up to 2009 and included both randomised and non-randomised trials. Clinical outcomes were explored but not humanistic or economic outcomes. Studies that were more rigorous showed no effect and there were high attrition rates ranging up to 49% of patients from the intervention group. The overarching aim of this PhD was to conduct a programme of development and feasibility work to inform a future RCT of a mindfulness programme for people with chronic pain.

The introduction of lux genes, able to express bioluminescence, into terrestrial bacteria enabled the optimisation of a bioluminescence-based bioassay that was environmentally relevant. Individual assay parameters such as growth phase, cell washing, lyophilisation, pH tolerance and temporal response to a range of metal and xenobiotic pollutants were evaluated. The effects of a range of pollutants upon the metabolic response of the lux-marked organisms were assessed using declines in bioluminescence. The lux -based bioassay proved more sensitive to the sub-lethal effects of metal pollutants than tests relying on culturability. Uncontaminated soils were spiked with metal and xenobiotic solutions both as single pollutants and in combination with other contaminants. Relative toxicity of metal and xenobiotic pollutants in soil systems were investigated using ecotoxicity assays based upon lux-marked constructs of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii (an important associative nitrogen fixer) and the respiration of the microbial community. The lux-marked bioassay proved to be more sensitive than the community microbial assay to the presence of multiple contaminants at sub-lethal concentrations. The relative toxicities of metal and organic xenobiotic compounds were shown to be time dependent and better represented using chronic assaying of lux-marked microorganisms. Following a field trial involving the application of paper mill sludge to land and subsequent crop failure a rapid diagnosis of soil pollutants was required. A suite of ecotoxicity assays including lux-based bioassays, respirometry and enzyme activity were used to assess the toxicity of paper mill sludge to the soil microbial biomass. The selected lux-marked soil bacteria showed potential for use as rapid, field-based screening techniques to provide early warning of the potential hazards of waste application.

The studies reported here, used sorghum to: (i) investigate the effect of changes in the matric suction (m) of filter-paper on germination and water uptake (ii) assess the effect of seed vigour on seedling response to the m of filter paper and to soil mechanical impedance, (iii) investigate the effect of root-shoot interaction on establishment of seedlings subjected to mechanical impedance (MI), and (iv) evaluate the effects of different amounts of planting rain on crop establishment. A technique for controlling matric suction on seed test paper is described and used to study seed germination at m of 0.1, 1 and 10 kPa. Time to 50% germination was increased, and final lengths of both radicles and cleoptiles reduced by an increase in m from either 0.1 to 1, or 1 to 10 kPa. A link between filter paper m, seed-liquid contact area, seed size, the rate of water uptake and germination is discussed. Unimpeded, pregerminated low vigour and fresh seeds produced a similar root and shoot length, fresh mass, and number of leaves and lateral roots. When grown in compacted soil, low vigour seed took longer to emerge but only when seeds were severely aged. (i) Impedance to the shoot delayed emergence, more so when the root was also impeded. (ii) Shoots emerging through a mechanically impeding layer, had greater extension rates after emergence than unimpeded ones. (iii) Mesocotyls became thicker only when the root systems were impeded. (iv) Impeding the shoot system, increased root extension rate. (v) The length of the first internode, the number of leaves and the spacing of lateral roots were not changed by any of the treatments. Germination was >95% in sand columns watered with 5, 10 or 15 mm equivalents of rain. However, seedling emergence was <15% in the 5 mm compared to 77-100% in the 10 and 15 mm treatments. At harvest (9 DAP), all seedlings in the 5 mm treatment were dead. Seedlings given 10 mm rain showed signs of water stress. The interaction between seed vigour, the amount of water available to germinating seed, and soil mechanical impedance and their effect on crop establishment is discussed.

The effect of L. terrestris on the transport of marked bacterial inocula in the absence of percolating water was investigated using repacked soil microcosms over a 10 day period. The microcosms consisted of cylindrical cores containing loamy sand. The bacterial inoculum was applied in filter paper disks to the surface of soil cores containing L. terrestris and to control cores. Destructive analysis of cores was carried out 5 and 10 days after inoculation to facilitate enumeration of marked bacterial inocula at 3 depths in the soil. Significantly greater vertical transport of marked bacteria occurred in cores containing L. terrestris. The effect of L. terrestris on the dispersal of marked bacteria in the presence of percolating water was investigated using both repacked soil cores and larger intact cores over a one month period. Bacterial inocula were again applied in filter paper disks to the surface of cores and the cores subjected to simulated rainfall events at 3 day intervals. Concentrations of marked bacteria in leachate were determined and destructive harvests of cores carried out after 24 days. The results from repacked soil cores demonstrated that cores containing earthworms were associated with early breakthrough, higher percentage recovery and greater numbers of marked bacteria in the leachate than control cores without earthworms. Results from intact soil cores demonstrated that cores containing earthworms were associated with different bacterial leaching patterns, higher percentage recovery and greater numbers of bacteria in the leachate than control cores. For both repacked and intact cores, the presence of earthworms in cores led to transport of marked bacteria to greater depths in the soil. Plaster of Paris impregnation of repacked and intact cores highlighted the importance of earthworm burrowing in providing pathways for bypass water flow and hence bacterial transport through soil. Results from the use of interdisciplinary methods developed and adapted in this study identify the importance of earthworms in the fate of microbial inocula in soil and the potential for use of earthworms in biotechnology.

My extensive studies throughout the maritime Antarctic allowed me to discover many new localities where the two Antarctic vascular plants (Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica) occur, including extending their known range to the farthest south site in the world for flowering plants. As a result of my interest in the cryptogamic flora of the maritime Antarctic, and because of my knowledge of the aquatic bryophytes of the Signy Island, I was invited to examine material of the farthest south collection of an aquatic moss by a team of American limnologists. This led to a brief review of Antarctic aquatic mosses [a related study of aquatic bryophytes from the highest Scottish lochs is referred to here, but is not included as part of the Doctorate submission]. An interesting situation has developed over the past 20 years at Signy Island. This concerns the interaction between a rapidly increasing population of fur seals (from a few dozen in 1965 to 13,350 in 1987) and the fragile and highly vulnerable plant communities. Much of the island's vegetation has been devastated or eradicated during the past five years and I have been able to quantitatively assess the changes induced by the seals by reanalysing several of precisely the same sites I studied 20 years earlier. During an ecological survey of part of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, and having an increasing interest in the spread of fur seals and their impact on terrestrial ecosystems, I undertood an investigation of the early history of the Antarctic fur seal industry in the 1800s and of the 'archaeological' sites (sealers' refuges) which abound on that island. My ecophysiological research included a study of the influence of growth-form on the water relations of mosses at Signy Island. Some comparable studies at a continental site are being prepared for an international symposium in Kiel, West Germany, September 1987. Several studies have been made of the chemistry of South Georgia and Signy Island plants, including one on the amount of DNA in the chromosomes of alien and native vascular species; low DNA levels in the former category of plants at South Georgia and in Europe have provided a possible explanation for the survival of certain plants under extreme climatic conditions. A review paper on plant nutrient cycling in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic was an invited keynote presentation read at a major international symposium in South Africa. Ecological studies at both South Georgia and throughout the maritime Antarctic resulted in extensive collections of all plant groups being made. Many accounts by specialists in bryophyte and lichen taxonomy have been published based on these collections, but I have published several largely ecological papers on fungi and introduced vascular plants, including stranded trees. The combined studies of tussock grass, plant communities, the ecology and chemistry of individual native and introduced phanerogams (especially Poa annua) on South Georgia, in conjunction with a major study of the introduced reindeer on that island by another biologist, has led to a series of papers on the impact of reindeer on the vegetation. The wide spectrum of my research has allowed me to build up a high degree of first-hand knowledge and expertise in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic plant ecology, and of biological and environmental features generally. Consequently, I have written several general or popular accounts, as well as major review works. More recently I have also become involved in matters concerning conservation areas (Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Specially Protected Areas), environmental impact and conservation policy as it relates to national activities throughout the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic biomes. I co-edited a book on conservation areas in the Antarctic, writing eleven of the SPA/SSSI accounts from first-hand experience of each.

This work presents new methodological approaches and perspectives on the relationship between past humans and maritime environments by focusing specifically on the geochemical traces left by the users and inhabitants of coastlines. In order to do so it proposes four novel scientific techniques presented in four case-study papers, together with best practice protocols that archaeologists can use to conduct similar studies on other sites. These methods were designed to allow for convenient data collection, fast sample processing, sound statistical analysis, and meaningful data interpretations; all this in order to better understand past human activity in coastal areas. The thesis addresses various themes related to the character of human activity, its chronology, spatial distribution, zonation, and linkage to the neighboring waterbody. It tackles issues linked with geochemical signal preservation in different post-depositional contexts, and discusses various modes of soil sampling, extraction and elemental analysis (eg. colorimetric method, portable XRF or XRF core scanning), as well as problems related to geo-statistical analysis of complex, spatially distributed, multivariable datasets. In terms of its geographical scope, this thesis explores coastal sites and archaeological features in the North Atlantic region, and it covers vast chronological spectrum from the Stone Age to the Early Modern period. However, the results are considered universally applicable to any type of site and any period. Hopefully, by providing new sources of archaeological evidence, this work will inspire a lively discussion on the global maritime cultural landscape and the best methods for studying it.

This paper examines the discourses of multiculturalism and secularism in Australia through the lens of Albanian Muslims living in two Victorian cities, Shepparton and Dandenong. Grounded on 17 months of fieldwork and an analysis of Australian government policy, it argues that the reliance of State policies on constructed concepts of ethnicity, religion, nationality and community are inadequate based on the divergences of understanding and use of these concepts between the Albanian people I met and their use in State policies and projects. This thesis considers Albanians' position as white European Muslims in a supposedly multicultural and secular nation that has become increasingly hostile towards Islam over recent years. In Australian dominant narratives of nation, Ethnic and Anglo-Australians are constructed as oppositional categories in a tripartite structure (that also includes Indigenous Australians) and Muslims are considered a relatively new Other. Yet, Albanian Muslims arrived in significant numbers in Australia more than 100 years ago, during the White Australia policy years. Their European background and varied approaches to being Muslim that are often described as tolerant and relaxed adds a largely unheard voice to both the diversity of Islam and to the increasing hostile tension between Muslims and 'the West' that are reflected in mainstream political and media rhetoric. The idea of an inherent clash between Islam and the West is maintained through the enactment of a particular kind of secularism that is implemented in ways specific to Australia, based on Christian-oriented thought system rooted in the European Enlightenment and Reformation. Similarly, multiculturalism is based on a particular worldview based on Liberal normative assumptions and supposed shared 'Australian values' and character, creating an inherent paradox and the enduring marginalisation of 'Ethnics'.

Introduction: Cancer incidence and prevalence rates are increasing and pain is the most frequent complication of cancer. Cancer pain can have detrimental effects on a patient's social function, mood, and quality of life. Pain is the most frequent symptom to prompt unscheduled medical care in patients with established cancer, and is an important reason for hospitalisation. There are aspects of cancer pain management which involve potentially modifiable patient and healthcare professional behaviours. Patients can have problems reporting pain, communicating about pain with healthcare professionals, using medications effectively, and getting help when problems arise. Healthcare professionals do not always assess pain adequately or prescribe optimally. The aim of this project was to develop an intervention to support patients and professionals in improving cancer pain control. Methods: An Intervention Mapping (IM) approach was taken to intervention development. Current challenges of managing cancer pain and potential solutions were investigated through systematic literature review and qualitative investigations with patients, caregivers, and professionals. The systematic literature review investigated whether patient reported measurements of pain could be collected and fed back to patients and/or healthcare professionals to improve cancer pain management, and described the components of such interventions. Medline, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases were searched from inception to identify randomised and non-randomised controlled trials. Titles, abstracts, and full text articles were dual screened, and assessed independently for risk of bias according to the Cochrane criteria by two researchers. Meta-analysis was performed for studies which reported changes in pain intensity on a zero to ten point scale, and a narrative synthesis was conducted. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with patients with cancer pain, their caregivers, and healthcare professionals and focus groups with healthcare professionals investigated current approaches to cancer pain management, and the challenges and problems experienced. Potential solutions and intervention ideas were explored, along with perceived opportunities for digital technologies to enhance cancer pain management. Qualitative data were analysed using a combination of Framework and thematic analysis. Existing literature and findings from the original qualitative research were used to model the problem, and through the Intervention Mapping approach; behaviour change theory was systematically applied to produce a digital intervention. Prototypes were pre-tested with professional stakeholders. Macmillan nurses recruited patients (with or without a caregiver) from their caseload who had cancer pain and were using strong opioids to provide early indications about the feasibility of the intervention. Nurses also recruited the patient's GP. Patients were invited to interact with the app over a four week period. Weekly patient analgesic and symptom reports were sent to their GP and nurse. At least one consultation with their Macmillan nurse was scheduled in which patient reported data could be discussed. Patients were interviewed by telephone on a weekly basis and all participants were interviewed at the conclusion of the study. All qualitative enquiries were analysed using a combination of Framework and thematic analysis. Patient generated symptom report data were analysed descriptively. Results: Literature review: Twenty nine reports of 22 unique trials of 20 interventions were included in the review. Patient reported outcome measures were used in four main ways: (1) to provide reports about pain and related symptoms to professionals (with the intention of increasing professional awareness of unrelieved symptoms); (2) to tailor patient education about self-management strategies and how to communicate about pain; (3) to prompt contact between a patient and professional when pain is above a set threshold; and (4) to link pain treatments to the severity of pain experienced by the patient via algorithmic management guidelines. Meta-analysis of 12 trials showed that average pain intensity was reduced by half a point out of ten in intervention group participants compared to controls. This result was statistically significant, mean difference -0.59 (95% CI -0.87, -0.30). Qualitative investigations with key stakeholders: Interviews were held with 14 patients, including six with their caregivers present. All patients had locally advanced or metastatic cancer. Nineteen multidisciplinary professionals took part in interviews (15 face to face and four telephone interviews), and 12 took part in one of two focus groups. Themes were organised within two categories: 'the work of managing cancer pain and its context', and 'digital tools to help with this work'. Patients gave accounts of cancer and cancer-related pain as burdensome conditions. Complete alleviation of pain was not the main goal for most patients. Pain was considered alongside functional and activity goals, overall symptom burden, and medication side effects. Professionals recognised patients' individual goals to varying extents. Most patients were regularly using digital technologies. Patients had ideas for digital pain management tools as sources of information and knowledge, to help with medicines management (particularly for reminders and prompts), and as symptom monitoring tools which could stimulate help-seeking. A key concern for all participants was that digital tools should add value over paper resources, should be simple to use, and that data presented were brief and easy to interpret. The intervention and results of early feasibility testing: A digital app was developed to help patients on strong opioids achieve personal treatment goals. The app includes a short film about pain and symptom management, and links to telephone/web-based help. The app allows easy recording of short-acting analgesic doses, linked algorithmically to help-screens. A weekly diary asks about pain, side effects, function, and medication adherence. The digital diary contains novel measures of pain, including a question about the level at which pain becomes bothersome to the individual patient. App reports are automatically shared with linked professionals so that feedback can be given. Recruiting patients with advanced symptomatic cancer was difficult. The app was feasibility tested with two patients, their linked GPs, and Macmillan nurses. Electronic patient reports were shared with linked healthcare professionals using secure NHS email. Professionals found patient reports thought-provoking. Reports were used to inform clinical encounters, and seemed to promote a shared understanding of patient symptom management goals. Conclusions: A digital intervention has been developed using a rigorous, theory-based methodological approach. There are early indications that the intervention could promote patient centred care and shared decision making in patients with cancer pain. Lessons have been learned about recruiting patients with symptomatic cancer, and the intervention is ready to be tested on a larger scale.

Meeting future demands of food security will require enhanced rice production that is more environmentally sustainable. To achieve this it is important to know the genetic and molecular mechanism controlling the root traits. High throughput phenotyping which can keep pace with genotyping is needed, but for many researchers this needs to be cheap as well as meaningful. Here a very simple, low cost and reliable method of assessing root depth of seedling using a layer of diuron-soaked filter paper buried 25 cm deep in a soil-filled box has been developed which is suitable for screening of hundreds of accessions. The assumption is that deep-rooting plants die quicker. This method was then used to screen five established rice panels. Deep rooted cultivars were screened from a panel of an aus panel from IRRI and a panel of Brazilian and Japanese cultivars by using this method. Root QTLs were detected by using bi-parental mapping population and GWA study was performed in two panels, the rice diversity panel (RDP-1) and Bengal Assam Association Population. Assessing 139 RILs from Bala x Azucena bi-parental population revealed heritability of 55% for herbicide symptoms where eleven QTLs were detected, many of which were co-localised with previously reported root QTLs in this population. A GWA study was performed using RDP1) of 356 accessions with 44k SNP markers. Analysis revealed 17% of phenotypic variation of herbicide score was attributable to rice sub-population where the aus showed the deepest rooting systems. A number of QTLs have been identified and a number of positional candidate gene lists were produced. A further 298 cultivars from Bengal and Assam were screened and GWA was performed using 2 M SNP database available from sequencing. ANOVA revealed 37% variation for herbicide score explained by genotype. Soil-filled rhizotron were used to assess 12 of these cultivars, revealing strong xx correlations between deep root traits and herbicide score, confirming the reliability of this method. GWA revealed a number of significant SNPs associated with the traits in this population. Finally a set of mutant gene (LOC_Os09g31478, LOC_Os05g40330, LOC_Os11g34140) which are functional candidate gene for root growth QTLs were studied. Here hydroponic phenotypic screening approach were used to identify the T-DNA mutant lines. However, no convincing mutants were revealed. The herbicide screening method has been shown to be a quick and robust system for the assessment of deep rooting rice plants in soil. This method can now be used for screening large number of cultivars and the identification of QTLs and candidate genes.

This thesis concerns the theoretical study of the low-energy interaction of antihydrogen atoms (¯H) with hydrogen molecules and antiprotons (p¯) with hydrogen molecular ions. Both systems are of interest to experiments currently under way at CERN aiming to trap and study antihydrogen atoms. To date limited work has been carried out on these systems. Only four papers on the ¯H-H2 system have been published and so far only semi-classical results have been published for p¯-H+ 2 . For both systems potential energy surfaces are constructed by fitting analytical functions to ab initio calculated energies. A combination of a neural network and suitable long-range asymptotic functions are used to fit the surfaces of both systems. The resulting surfaces are more accurate than those of previous work and should be useful for further studies. Quantum mechanical scattering calculations are carried out using the S-matrix Kohn variational method. It is shown that basis sets which are effective for normal chemical systems are not suitable for mixed matter/antimatter interactions. Instead, a basis set of multidimensional Gaussian functions, tailored to the potential, is used to converge the scattering calculations. For ¯H-H2 scattering the diatomic is approximated as a rigid rotor. Elastic and rotationally inelastic scattering calculations are presented. Hadronic annihilation calculations are also presented along with the first calculation of leptonic annihilation cross sections for this system. Scattering calculations for the p¯-H+ 2 system are carried out with approximations made to the potential. The strength of the interaction between the antiproton and hydrogen molecular ion, which at long range becomes Coulombic, requires large basis sets. The necessary modifications required to use the Kohn method with a Coulomb potential are discussed. A preliminary calculation of Pn-H elastic scattering is also carried out.

This research examines WHY and HOW a new approach to Enterprise Strategy and IT planning can be adopted in the European national financial sector by using Enterprise Architecture (EA). EA has been promoted as a key tool for transformation and modernisation of the enterprise. By following best practices from successful case studies and the European Central Bank (ECB), the claim is that the adoption of EA will ensure that IT resources and business processes are planned, leveraged, and coordinated better in national financial sectors. In our five supporting papers, several qualitative case studies in Europe were investigated by applying an interpretive perspective. According to common belief EA connects business and IT; it is an important tool for survival and growth. Many EA endeavours, however, fail. The question is how can risks of EA implementation failure be reduced at an early stage? Underlying questions concern: why would a particular organisation need EA, can implementation risks be identified and are solutions available to reduce the failure rate? In order to answer research questions a literature study is performed to build the Business Transformation Enablement Program framework (BTEP). It advocates deliberate motivation, active risk management and an iterative and incremental implementation of EA. Next to the literature, the framework is validated through the Small National Bank (SNB) implementation. Data was collected in both structured, semi-structured and ad-hoc methods. Grounded theory techniques were used to analyse the data logically, using existing theory only as prior constructs. The theoretical abstractions, generalisations and experience generated in the research process have been published and availed to specialised groups.

This mathematics thesis deals with combinatorial representation theory. Cells were introduced in a 1979 paper written by D. Kazhdan and G. Lusztig, and have intricate links with many areas of mathematics, including the representation theory of Coxeter groups, Iwahori–Hecke algebras, semisimple complex Lie algebras, reductive algebraic groups and Lie groups. One of the main problems in the theory of cells is their classification for all finite Coxeter groups. This thesis is a detailed study of cells in type Bn with respect to certain choices of parameters, and contributes to the classification by giving the first characterisation of left cells when b/a = n − 1. Other results include the introduction of a generalised version of the enhanced right descent set and exhibiting the asymptotic left cells of type Bn as left Vogan classes. Combinatorial results give rise to efficient algorithms so that cells can be determined with a computer; the methods involved in this work transfer to a new, faster way of calculating the cells with respect to the studied parameters. The appendix is a Python file containing code to make such calculations.

This Research paper addresses the topic of "Libyan Exploration and Production sharing agreement" in comparison with the "Iranian buy back contract". This thesis discusses at length, the legal developments of "petroleum agreements" in both the states from the beginning of concession era until the discontinuation of the countries' commitment to those arrangements as a result of the overthrow of the Monarchical Government in Libya in 1969 and in Iran in 1979. The thesis also analyses respective Governments' strategy of eliminating or preventing international oil companies (IOCs) controlling the petroleum industry with the need for the knowledge, experience and finance of those companies. The thesis also give stress on both types of contracts to the IOCs, the essential legal differences between the Libyan EPSA (Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement) and the Iranian BBC (Buy Back Contract) etc. The thesis mainly focuses on the two methods of contracting: Exploration Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) and the Buy Back Contract (BBC). The EPSA was devised as a government vehicle in 1973 to achieve the main objective to control the oil industries, while at the same time to obtain foreign finance and technology. Of a similar approach, the Iranian government adopted Buy Back Contract (BBC) to obtain the necessary foreign services, capital and expertise, while also restricting and preventing the direct involvement of IOCs in the petroleum industry as required by certain Articles of the Iranian Constitution, including 44, 45, and 81. The governments in both Libya and Iran, following the Revolutions, attempted to become more self-reliant in developing the petroleum industry and keeping foreign involvement to a minimum so far as control of oil industries are concerned. But since nationalistic ambition did not bring desired economic results, both governments are forced to modify their respective policies and types of contract to include terms that were favourable or attractive to IOCs. However, despite of such vital improvements, these contracts still appearing to be unattractive and inconsistent, with implications that would continue to affect the parties to the contract. A number of defects still exists in the method of contracting which needs to be resolved in order to render the business environment in their petroleum industry more attractive. The thesis consists of eight chapters, with chapter one introduces the topic and outlines the main arguments that will be dealt with in the thesis. Chapter two provides the historical background to the petroleum industries. Chapter three examines briefly the Libyan political background. Chapter four focuses on the historical developments of the Libyan oil industries. Chapter five is entirely devoted to consideration of the development of the EPSA in Libya. Chapter six examines the historical developments of the petroleum industries in Iran in the post-war period, beginning with the nationalisation policy in 1951. This chapter also discusses the legal basis and contractual structure of the Iranian BBC. Chapter seven critically analyses the main terms of both the Libyan EPSA IV, the latest BBC in place and the Iranian BBC contracts. Chapter eight summarises the major findings of the study.

The growing interest in positive factors that promote thriving and flourishing in psychology research and education in recent years has prompted an increased focus on the importance of non-intellectual or transferrable skills, in particular character strengths, social, and interpersonal abilities. A recent UK government white paper was published citing the importance of character in education; however, the extant research literature is largely drawn from American and Australian populations, with the majority of studies being cross sectional. Researchers and educators should be cautious of causal interpretations and generalisation of these findings to other populations. Research from the UK, with its differing culture and education system, is limited, and there is a clear need for longitudinal, UK research to clarify both the nature of these causal relationships, and whether USA findings can be generalised to the UK. Such research is particularly important in order to accurately inform and evaluate any potential applications of strengths based approaches in education. The current thesis reports findings from a short term, longitudinal study of the influence of self-perceived strengths on teacher assessments and exam results in a cohort of UK adolescents from 3rd to 4th year across two schools in Aberdeen. Pupils completed self-report measures of strengths (Strengths Assessment Inventory – Youth; SAI-Y), coping (WOC-R), Optimism (LOT-R), and Trait Affect (PANAS) at three time points: baseline (time 1), 8 months later (time 2), and a further 5 months later (time 3). Teacher assessments of pupil progress by subject for each participant were obtained following time 2 data collection and participant exam results after time 3. Chapter 1 (study 1a) reports the psychometric validation of a relatively new strengths measure for children and young people (SAI-Y) in a UK adolescent population, based on time 1 data. Findings show the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the SAI-Y compare well with previous validation studies, indicating this measure is a valid tool for describing character strengths in UK as well as US adolescents. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to derive an empirical factor structure for the SAI-Y. The psychometric data and analyses suggest that the factorial structure of the SAI-Y is different in the study population, but that the new 12 factor structure is valid for this sample. In addition, relative to the other measures used in this study, the SAI-Y captures a range of differing constructs relative to the WOC-R, PANAS and LOT-R, so that the SAI-Y is a useful, psychometrically valid tool for measuring a wider range of non-intellectual abilities in future strengths based research. Chapter 2 (study 1b) reports findings on the predictive relationship between pupils self-reported strengths at time 1, and teacher assessments of pupil progress at time 2, as investigated using exploratory and stepwise regression analyses. Findings showed that Pupils who score highly on Functional Behaviour (SAI-Y) tend to be assessed as excelling or performing in line with expectations by teachers 8 months later. In particular, pupils who self-report higher levels of Functional Behaviour are more likely to be assessed as excelling than performing as expected, in that functional behaviour was more strongly predictive of Green (excelling) than of Amber (performing as expected) assessments. Chapter 3 (study 1c) reports the results of exploratory and stepwise regression analyses to determine the predictive relationships between pupil self-reported strengths and exam results. Findings indicate that Functional Behaviour is consistently predictive of 13 successful academic achievement, particularly for higher levels of attainment (e.g. cumulative Total Score, A and B awards at N5, and proportion of exams passed at N5 level). Chapter 4 (study 1d) addresses the predictive relationships between teacher assessments of pupil progress and exam results, based on data from time 1 and 3. Analyses of Pupil Progress assessments for pupils participating at Time 1 and 3, using both exploratory and stepwise regression, showed a consistent, predictive relationship between Green (exceeding expectations) assessments and higher levels of exam success (N5 total score, percentage of passes at N5, and number of A, B, and C grades at N5). Analyses indicate Amber pupil progress to be a consistent predictor of almost all levels of exam success. Chapter 5 (study 1e) Investigates the Influence of time on predictors of outcomes (Teacher Assessments and Exams), as well as the relative influence of Strengths and Teacher Assessments on Exam Outcomes. Longitudinal regression analyses to assesses the influence of time in the predictive relationships found between Strengths and positive outcomes (Teacher Assessments and Exams), as well as the relative predictive influence of Strengths and Teacher Assessments on Exam outcomes, were conducted based on data from Time 1 and Time 3. Findings are interpreted and discussed in the context of strengths based educating, successful learning, and positive youth development; recommendations for future research directions are considered.

The aim of this doctoral research was to explore CAM use in pregnancy from the perspectives of pregnant women and health professionals. The research was conducted in four phases: a systematic review of the published literature from 2008-2012; cross sectional surveys of two cohorts of women during the first and last trimester; and a cross sectional survey of health professionals (midwives, obstetricians, anaesthetists) at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. The systematic review reported a significant proportion of women used CAM during pregnancy with prevalence rates ranging from 5.8% to 74.2%. The study of health professionals identified that more than 30% of respondents have prescribed, referred or advised the use of CAM to pregnant women. The main associated factor for CAM use was, 'personal use of CAM', with an odds ratio of 8.26 (95% CI 3.09–22.05; P < 0.001). Two thirds of women (63%) reported using CAM, excluding vitamins and minerals, during early pregnancy. The independent predictors of CAM use identified were: use by family and friends (OR 4.1, 95% CI 2.3–7.3, p < 0.001); ethnicity (non-white British) (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.8–6.8, p < 0.001); and use prior to pregnancy (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2–4.8, p = 0.014). Two thirds of women (61.4%) reported using CAM, excluding vitamins and minerals, during the third trimester. The independent associated factors for CAM medicine use identified were: CAM use before pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] 4.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.39–7.95, P<0.001); a university education (OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.46–4.0, P<0.001), and CAM use by family or friends (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.61–3.47,P<0.001). The lack of an evidence based approach together with the reliance on the advice of family and friends is of concern given the lack of robust data of efficacy and safety. To date, four peer reviewed papers from this doctoral research have been published.

Background: Maternal mortality is a major public health problem worldwide, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). The majority of these deaths are due to direct (obstetric) complications. However, almost one third of maternal deaths globally are caused by indirect (non-obstetric) causes, including non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and various forms of long-standing hypertension (excluding pre-eclampsia and eclampsia). Much is known about the contribution of the direct causes to overall levels of maternal deaths. However, less is known about the contribution of NCDs to maternal deaths and morbidity, yet these diseases are increasingly being observed in LMIC and among younger populations. Women of childbearing age are particularly vulnerable because of the effects these conditions may have on pregnancies and the unborn baby. Aim: This thesis aims to explore the existing situation of NCDs in pregnancy (DM and hypertension in particular) from a public health perspective and to identify how health systems in LMIC need to respond, so as to more effectively address the growing burden of NCDs. The case study of Jamaica is examined in depth. Rationale: In deciding which NCDs to focus on, consideration was given to the burden and its effect on pregnancy outcomes. The leading NCDs causing death worldwide in women are cardiovascular conditions. Among these conditions, hypertension was chosen because it is the most commonly occurring worldwide. DM was chosen because of its associated link with hypertension, and also because it is among the NCDs with high morbidity worldwide. The focus on Jamaica was because it is an upper middle-income transitioning country that is faced with the problem of NCDs. Jamaica is also among the few LMIC that reports on indirect causes of maternal deaths that includes NCDs. Method: Public health principles were used in this thesis, to: investigate the burden of DM and hypertension; understand related risk factors; and inform development of prevention strategies for addressing the problem. To assess the burden of disease in LMIC, two systematic reviews were conducted: studies 1a and 1b, investigating the epidemiology of DM and hypertension in pregnancy (up to one year post-delivery). Secondary data analyses of lifestyle and maternal mortality surveillance data were conducted to examine the burden of NCDs and their associated risk factors in further depth within the setting of Jamaica (study 2). Building up the case study of Jamaica, key informant interviews (study 3) were conducted to explore the existing health system organisation in relation to maternity care for NCDs and to propose options for the future. Key findings: The first systematic review found that the prevalence of gestational DM among pregnant women ranged from 0.4 to 24.3%. Up to 0.7% of pregnant women had pre-existing DM (types 1 and 2) in LMIC. Mortality and the prevalence of postpartum DM were scarcely reported. In the second systematic review, the prevalence of gestational hypertension ranged from 0.3 to 60% and that of chronic hypertension ranged from 0.2 to 24%. Prevalence of preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension ranged from 0.1% to 20.6%, and that of unspecified hypertension was 4.1%. The percentage of maternal mortality due to gestational hypertension and chronic hypertension ranged from 2.5 to 5.5% and 1.0 to 4.6% respectively. Amongst the papers included in the review, studies reporting on prevalence were not always population-based and varying definitions of the conditions in pregnancy were used. The secondary data analyses revealed that 6.6% of women of reproductive age in Jamaica were diabetic, 24.1% were hypertensive and 62.8% were overweight or obese. Overweight or obesity was identified as a risk factor for DM and hypertension among women of reproductive age. Furthermore, being in employment and of high gravidity and parity were risk factors associated with hypertension and being overweight or obese. Of the maternal deaths examined, 2.0% were due to DM, 20.7% were due to hypertension and 7.9% were associated with overweight or obesity. The commonest comorbidities among women who died due to DM and hypertension were conditions that affected the circulatory or cardiovascular system such as subarachnoid haemorrhage and cardiomyopathies. Most of the overweight or obese women who had died suffered from obstetric complications, which were the underlying causes of their death. Among the three conditions, hypertensive women had the highest proportions of their babies dying undelivered and preterm live births, while diabetic women had the highest proportions of non-viable outcomes. Key informants from Jamaica provided insights as to how their health system is dealing with the growing burden of NCDs in pregnancy. The problem of NCDs in pregnancy is already being addressed in the island through the implementation of relevant policies targeting these conditions. This include policies that affect service delivery such as the introduction of special clinics for women with NCDs during pregnancy and after delivery, upgrading of some types of health facilities to perform obstetric services and the introduction of home visits. In addition, Jamaica introduced the national health fund to promote equity and access to essential medicines for NCDs and has also abolished user fees. The introduction of maternal-foetal medicine consultants to provide specialist inputs to women with NCDs in pregnancy has also been implemented. However, there were gaps in the health system in the care provided for NCDs in pregnancy which included; resource constraints (financial, health workforce and drugs and supplies), obstetrician inertia to change, lack of training of staff, referral and follow up constraints, poor multidisciplinary team approaches, deficiencies in the health management information system (HMIS) and lack of reward or encouragement for combating NCDs. Conclusion: The large variation in prevalence rates of DM and hypertension found in the systematic reviews may be a reflection of variations in geography or populations, case definitions, study approach and data quality. A comprehensive picture of the burden due to these conditions in pregnancy (and up to one year) in LMIC was not possible to obtain from the systematic reviews because of the sparseness of population-based data. Survey and surveillance data in Jamaica allowed further investigation on the epidemiology of NCDs in pregnancy and highlighted that a considerable burden exists, underscoring the necessity for a responsive health system to manage medical conditions in pregnancy. Although health systems interventions are already in place in Jamaica, challenges and gaps still remain. These could be addressed by learning lessons from other countries' approaches to organising care and by drawing from existing frameworks for delivery of care.

This thesis proposes a reading of Colin Gunton's and Frank Macchia's theology that emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit as a necessary component of their respective thought. In this thesis I will argue that for both theologians the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is foundational to understanding their doctrine of God, Christology and Ecclesiology. First, by using a chiastic structure, I will demonstrate that each theologian has an approach to Pneumatology that places a particular stress on the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. By explicating the relationship between Pneumatology and Ecclesiology, it will be evident that both theologians view the Church as the eschatological perfecting work of the Spirit. Second, I will argue that God's being as a being-in-communion stresses the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Since God is the creator of the universe, through Gunton I will demonstrate that the doctrine of God has relevance for an understanding of our reality. Third, I will argue that for both theologians, Augustine's pneumatic analogy of 'bond of love' is adjudged inadequate and needs revision to secure the proper personhood of the Holy Spirit in relation to the Father and Son. The Holy Spirit is the person who perfects the divine nature and personhood of the Father and Son. Fourth, I will argue that Gunton and Macchia have developed a type of Spirit Christology: Gunton presents a radicalized version of Chalcedon and Macchia formulates his account through 'Spirit baptism.' Throughout the paper, I will demonstrate that Pneumatology is not isolated to establishing the deity of the Holy Spirit, sanctification or individual subjective illumination. Lastly, the doctrine of God, Christology, Ecclesiology and Eschatology cannot be construed without a proper account of Pneumatology that takes into consideration the eschatological and perfecting work of the third person.

The collected papers represent a coherent body of research which enquired into a particular moment of educational reform in the Adult Literacies field in Scotland. The research is conceptualised as bricolage - an emergent process employing a variety of research methods and analytic frameworks to enquire into the reification of ‘the social practice approach', which, following the Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland (ALNIS) report of 2001, became a central tenet of adult literacies education in Scotland. Seemingly derived from the New Literacy Studies (NLS), the concept of ‘the social practice approach' implies a critical pedagogy. Its prominence in the discourses of adult education in Scotland might indicate critical practice. This research indicates otherwise. Appropriated by policy and practitioners within a web of power relations, the discourse of ‘the social practice approach' may have come to act on practice in ways which are antithetical to its theoretical origins. The research illuminates a complex process of transformation in an apparently radical educational discourse.

This thesis specifies and estimates a number of econometric models aiming to identify the main factors which influence households mortgage choice decisions. The study is motivated by the fact that variable and short-term fixed-rate mortgage contracts dominate the UK mortgage market. This is important because the prevalence of such mortgage contracts has important consequences for the transmission mechanisms of monetary policy decisions and systemic risks. The main contribution of this paper is the provision of empirical evidence regarding the continued existence of a regional dimension within the UK's mortgage market. Results suggest a persistent tendency towards the selection of variable mortgage contracts in Northern England, Scotland and Wales. Another contribution is the empirical investigation of whether supply-side-driven factors influence mortgage choice, and whether recent innovations such as securitisation are playing an important role in decreasing the share of variable mortgage lending in the UK. The results from this research indicate that securitisation provides funds for fixed term mortgage products, while the profit margins for variable lending reduce the supply of fixed rate products. A further contribution is the empirical validation of simultaneity in mortgage size to mortgage rate decisions. The research applies cross sectional, panel and time series analyses, employing innovative econometric techniques and unique research data files. The implications of the findings primarily relate to the need for the enforcement of regional considerations in governmental mortgage and housing affordability programs. Recommendations include government encouragement of fixed rate mortgage contracts in new schemes. Future research may be placed in the context of the dynamic relationship between fixed term lending flows, securitisation and financial regulations.

Women who experience early natural menopause, or surgical menopause, may be prone to any morbidity and mortality risk related to oestrogen deficiency. The thesis aimed to explore the long-term sequelae of the menopause by investigating current knowledge about the relationship between early age at natural menopause, any surgical menopause, and early age at surgical menopause, and future mortality, incident cancer, and incident circulatory disease. The thesis also investigated the long-term sequelae of menopause using data from a nested cohort of UK women from the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Oral Contraception Study [RCGP OCS]. Methods A portfolio of systematic reviews was conducted. To assess whether a young age at natural menopause, any surgical menopause, and a young age at surgical menopause were associated with mortality and ill-health, data from the RCGP OCS were analysed using Cox regression and competing risks. Results Systematic reviews: 153 papers were included, of varying quality. The heterogeneity of included studies’ exposure and reference groups meant that meta-analysis was not possible. Younger age at natural menopause was strongly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, but not cancer-related death. A suggestion of an increased risk was found for cardiovascular death. Young natural menopause protected strongly against incident endometrial and weakly against ovarian cancers. Few studies examined cervical cancer and age at natural menopause was not a risk factor. Colorectal cancer was not consistently associated with age at natural menopause. Young age at natural menopause was associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease [CHD], but not cerebrovascular disease. Little evidence was found that surgical, compared with natural menopause was associated with any mortality outcomes. Surgical menopause tended to protect against ovarian cancer but no effect was found for cervical cancer. The relationship between colorectal cancer, or cerebrovascular disease, and surgical menopause is unclear. More evidence showed that surgical menopause may increase the risk of CHD. Limited evidence for young age at combined natural and surgical menopause found it to increase the risk of all-cause mortality and perhaps cardiovascular death. There was no association with risk of cancer death. No clear associations were found for early age at combined natural and surgical menopause and any of the specific cancers examined, or cerebrovascular disease. There may be an association with CHD, but its evidence base was weak. Nested cohort of the RCGP OCS: Premature menopause was associated with decreased risk of: all-cause, cancer-, and circulatory-related mortality, all incident cancer, other cancers, and CHD. Premature menopause was not associated with: incident breast, main gynaecological, or colorectal cancer; all circulatory disease, cerebrovascular disease, or other circulatory disease. For early natural menopause, a significantly decreased risk was observed for: death from all causes, cancer, and non-cancer, non-circulatory causes; incident all cancer, colorectal cancer (borderline), other cancers; incident all circulatory disease and CHD. No significant risk was observed for circulatory mortality; incident breast or main gynaecological cancer; incident cerebrovascular disease or other circulatory disease. Compared with natural menopause, surgical menopause increased circulatory-related mortality only. The risk of incident main gynaecological cancers was decreased. The other incident cancer outcomes were not associated with surgical menopause. Risk of any, and each type of incident circulatory disease was not significantly altered with surgical menopause.

Introduction: Sporadic CJD (sCJD) has a varied clinical and pathological phenotype. This variability is felt to be influenced by patients' genotype at codon 129 on the prion protein gene (PRNP); and has associations with PrPres protein type. There is a polymorphism at codon 129 of PRNP, which results in three genotypes (MM, MV, VV). Additionally, the protease resistant protein (PrPres) seen in patients with CJD can also be classified according to certain biochemical characteristics. The protein types are determined by their mobility on western blot electrophoresis and their degree of glycosylation (type 1, 2a, 2b). In 1996, Parchi and Gambetti categorised cases by sub-types relating to these findings (broadly speaking: MM1, MM2, MV1, MV2, VV1 and VV2) suggesting this as an explanation for the clinical and pathological diversity of the condition (Parchi 1996). Relatively recently a significant minority of patients have been found to have both PrPres protein types present in the brain. Two recent papers have proposed a revised classification system, taking into account the co-occurrence phenomenon, suggesting there are further distinct groups of patients with sCJD (Cali 2009, Parchi 2009). Methods: 108 patients referred to the UK CJD surveillance system, confirmed to have had sporadic CJD at post-mortem, were included in the study. All cases had PRNP genetic analysis to exclude genetic CJD and establish their codon 129 status. Biochemical analysis of disease-associated prion protein via western blot was undertaken in the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes and the thalamus in all patients. A structured assessment of the clinical features seen both at presentation and during the patients' illness was undertaken. A summary of the pathological findings for the patients was also recorded. The clinical and pathological features were then analysed for the relative influence of the codon 129 genotype, protein typing and the combination of the two as the revised sub-type, according to the 2009 Parchi classification system. Results: 26 out of 108 patients had mixed PrP isotypes on western blot analysis. On comparing the most common of these mixed groups [MM 1(+2)] with those patients with the same genotype and predominant protein type [MM1], there were subtle differences in the clinical phenotype and pattern of investigation results. However, the major clinical findings were the same. In general, there was a trend towards increased disease duration with increasing relative ratios of type 2 proteins. On reviewing the pathological findings there were no findings unique to any genotype-isotype sub-group. Conclusions: While there were differing trends, the lack of distinct clinical or pathological findings by genotype-isotype sub-type suggest that these groups do not represent unique strains of prions, but rather groupings over a spectrum of disease. Therefore, more detailed biochemical analysis leading to a revised classification may be more accurate, but currently adds limited useful extra clinical information.

China does not comply with its WTO obligations except in principle and experiences the problem that the incumbent carrier may use technical and commercial mechanisms to maintain market dominance. This is possible because of weaknesses in the Chinese interconnection regulations and difficulties in the application of Chinese anti-competition law to interconnection. The thesis aims to provide a model for interconnection that may be used to deal with the present market dominance in the Chinese interconnection service market. In order to achieve this aim, the thesis identifies the weaknesses in the Chinese interconnection regulations which may be utilized by the incumbent carrier to impede fair competition in the interconnection service market by comparing the Chinese regulations, and the relevant regulations in the WTO Reference Paper and the relevant U.S. interconnection regulations. On the other hand, the thesis also assesses the application of Chinese anti-competition law to interconnection. Consequently the thesis consists of two main parts. Part I includes chapter two, three, four and five. This part focuses on identifying the disadvantages in the present interconnection principles in force in China, technical conditions of interconnection and interconnection charges, and sets out the remedies that will be useful in preventing the incumbent carrier from using technical and commercial mechanisms to maintain market dominance. Part II covers chapter six and seven. This part focuses on the application of Chinese anti-competition law to interconnection, and provides a way to fine-tune the possible disputes rose in interconnection from the perspective of Chinese Anti-monopoly Law.

In this study, the first clashes between Western explorers and the Far East, as well as relations between Britain and China from the eve of the First Opium War (FOW) to the establishment of the British diplomatic residence in Beijing under the treaty regime, have been discussed from a legal point of view. This thesis provides a look at the circumstances of Britain’s encounter with China, their defeat of China through two Opium Wars and their use of unequal treaties to put China into a position of disadvantage. A study of British archives demonstrates the complexity of, and nuance in international law between China and the West from the 1830s to 1860. British national archives allow investigation of the legal perspective on the issues around the opium trade and the way in which it led to the FOW. The archives also shed light on the Second Opium War (SOW) and on the Western acquisition of privileges through the unequal treaties signed at the end of both wars. In its relations with China, Britain left behind the rules and practices which they recognised as the contemporary law of nations and instead, whenever the British financial and economic interest was affected, resorted to force. This paper’s purpose is to show the limitation, according to Chinese Confucian thought, of the self-perception of the Western conception of law and the justice. In fact, this thesis will also show how some British legal advisors and politicians took the side of China and how they argued that Britain had violated the principles of international law. They recognised that China was a sovereign nation and that international law applied in its relations with Britain. Thus this study uncovers aspects of history of international law in the 19th century neglected because of the later prospering of racial theories.

Critical scholarship on nineteenth-century educational reform has highlighted several key changes in the approach to, and organisation of knowledge in the modern era: the rise of a highly specialised disciplinary culture, the growing importance of the university as a centre for the transmission and creation of new knowledge, and the paradoxical growth in accessibility as well as inaccessibility to higher education emerge as key themes in contemporary scholarship on the topic. Although highly valuable in their own right, these studies tend to view 'cultures of knowledge' as teleologically developing to their current state while neglecting theories of pedagogy that interpreted knowledge and learning not as the by-products of a top-down transmission of knowledge from 'master' to 'disciple', but rather as a collaborative process of communication rooted in the fragility of a shared dialogue. By focusing on the theory of universal education outlined by Jean-Joseph Jacotot (1770- 1840) in his Enseignement Universel, this study explores the philosophical intricacies of a system of pedagogy which premises its validity not on theories of 'objective reality' and the transmission of 'facts', but rather on practices of communication and shared thought that eo-produce the pedagogical moment. This set of practices-in addition to problematising the notions of the 'learning subject', the 'knowledgeable master', and the 'institution of education' -addresses issues that are still pertinent to critical debates about the nature and goals of education. In particular, Jacotot's conception of the non-methodical pedagogical relation provides an insightful counterpoint to the notion of the post-historical university in Bill Readings' The University in Ruins, which argues for an ungrounded institution with commitments to Thought rather than Knowledge. This paper elaborates Jacotot's pedagogical theory and reads it alongside Readings' propositions in order to suggest a 'pedagogy of presence' which roots the pedagogical encounter in a dialogue of immediacy and the singularity of subjective identity.

This research extends our understanding of disclosure on the internet by considering a different research setting, namely Jordon. Two main objectives were addressed in this thesis; (1) to explore online status of listed companies and the extent to which websites are utilized to disclose IR-related information, and (2) to investigate factors influencing companies to have websites and to disclose IR information. The first objective involved a survey analysis in 2007. This showed that out of the 187 companies included in the survey, only 105 had active websites. A web-based scoring sheet was used to assess the level to which websites are utilized as an investor relations tool. Results revealed that websites are generally used to disseminate historical financial information that usually appears in paper based annual reports. The second objective of the study was approached through a mixed method paradigm, which employed quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative analysis showed that only two variables were found significant in predicting online presence; size and sector. On the other hand, the extent of web-based IR disclosure is positively significant with size, governmental ownership, institutional ownership, number of shareholders, and Banks. In addition it was found that this usage is significant and negative with company age. Semi-structured interviews with companies and market regulators were also carried out to investigate motivations and influences of online reporting. Interviewees explained that the decision to have an online presence was motivated by a desire to enhance company’s image and reputation, although the decision itself was often triggered by the decision to enter new, non-Jordanian markets. Moreover, the existence of international activities with other companies as well as merging with other international companies affected the way a company uses its website or how it updates and restructures the website’s components. In addition, management’s flexibility in facilitating the process of adopting new technologies was also pointed out by some interviewees as a factor affecting the level to which a company uses its website in general as well as for its IR activities in particular.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted in 1998. The Statute provides that the ICC has jurisdiction over „the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole‟. These crimes are: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The Rome Statute defines the first three of these, but not the last. At the time this Statute was being drafted, the international community could not agree on a definition of the crime of aggression, so it could not be inscribed fully into the Statute. Instead, it was agreed to include aggression within the subject-matter jurisdiction of the Court, but, in accordance with Article 5(2) of the Rome Statute, the ICC cannot not exercise jurisdiction over this crime until a proper definition has been established by states parties and an agreement is reached on the conditions under which the ICC may prosecute the crime. The present researcher believes that the omission of the crime of aggression from the Court‟s jurisdiction is one of the main defects of the Rome Statute. This thesis explores whether it is possible to establish a satisfactory definition of the crime of aggression and, if so, what this might be. It argues that aggression as an international crime can and should be defined. This thesis will examine the history of the crime of aggression in order to determine whether its definition should build upon previous efforts, or whether it would be better to start afresh. It has been found in this thesis that today‟s dilemma over the crime of aggression cannot be separated from its past; its current status is indeed the result of an accumulative process that began long ago. In addressing the question of the definition of aggression, this thesis also examines critically the contemporary law on the use of force by states in order to identify the lawful and unlawful uses of force that might be relevant to the crime of aggression. In particular, the focus will be on some of the most controversial uses of force, such as pre-emptive self-defence, humanitarian intervention and the use of force to secure the right of self-determination. A precise determination of the scope of the lawful use of force should facilitate the establishment of a definition of the crime of aggression. This thesis concludes that the rules of international law concerning aggression are dispersed across various instruments. This has led, in turn, to the existence of a vague legal stance on the matter when applied to specific cases, especially when dealing with concepts of a v controversial nature, such as pre-emptive self-defence and humanitarian intervention. Moreover, these instruments seem to circumvent the question of individual criminal responsibility for committing the crime of aggression. Hence, it is necessary to close this gap in the international system by producing a single document containing a definition of aggression that takes into account all of these aspects. Overall consideration will be given to the various proposed definitions of the crime of aggression that were submitted before, during and after the Rome Conference of 1998. Particular attention, however, will be paid to the latest proposal made by the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression. This thesis argues that this proposal, as the result of profound and detailed consideration of various aspects of the crime, should form the basis of any definition to be adopted at the forthcoming ICC Review Conference. However, the study also suggests that certain components of the proposed definition should be amended and, therefore, a new proposal for the definition of the crime will be proffered at the end of this paper. This thesis will also examine the conditions under which the ICC should exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. Based on the assumption that determining the existence of state‟s act of aggression is a pre-condition for prosecuting an individual for the crime of aggression, the question that needs to be addressed centres on which organ should determine whether or not a state has committed an act of aggression. In short, this thesis maintains that as the Security Council is entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, it should be consulted in situations relating to the determination of the existence of an act of state aggression. It is also argued, however, that the Council‟s determination on whether a state has committed aggression should not be binding on the Court, which should be able to review the Council‟s determination. It is further argued that if the Security Council fails to make such a determination, then the ICC should go forth to commence its own investigation with respect to the crime.

There are many different notions of stratified spaces. This thesis concerns homotopically stratified spaces. These were defined by Frank Quinn in his paper Homotopically Stratified Sets ([16]). His definition of stratified space is very general and relates strata by “homotopy rather than geometric conditions”. This makes homotopically stratified spaces the ideal class of stratified spaces on which to define and study stratified homotopy theory. In the study of stratified spaces it is useful to examine spaces of popaths (paths which travel from lower strata to higher strata) and holinks (those spaces of popaths which immediately leave a lower stratum for their final stratum destination). It is not immediately clear that for adjacent strata these two path spaces are homotopically equivalent and even less clear that this equivalence can be constructed in a useful way. The first aim of this thesis is to prove such an equivalence exists for homotopically stratified spaces. We will define stratified analogues of the usual definitions of maps, homotopies and homotopy equivalences. Then we will provide an elementary criterion for deciding when a strongly stratified map is a stratified homotopy equivalence. This criterion states that a strongly stratified map is a stratified homotopy equivalence if and only if the induced maps on strata and holink spaces are homotopy equivalences. Using this criterion we will prove that any homotopically stratified space is stratified homotopy equivalent to a homotopically stratified space where neighborhoods of strata are mapping cylinders. Finally we will develop categorical descriptions of the class of homotopically stratified spaces up to stratified homotopy. The first of these categorical descriptions will involve categories with a topology on their object and morphism sets. The second categorical description will involve only categories with discrete object spaces.

David Scott (1806-1849) recorded his developing religious and aesthetic philosophies in private notes and in published essays, and his aesthetic ideal is exemplified in works expressing metaphysical aspects of man. Comparison of his purely imaginative works on paper with some of the exhibited history paintings - inspired by the Bible, classical sources and literature - reveals enduring themes and motifs and the consistent application of the central concepts of his aesthetic philosophy from an early age.

Advances in health and medical technology which anticipate, closely monitor and treat pregnant women have reduced the number of explained ante partum stillbirths and reduced the overall stillbirth rate. However, unexplained ante partum stillbirth has been proportionally increasing in both developed and developing countries. Few studies have attempted to assess determinant factors related to unexplained ante partum stillbirth. No clear guidelines have been drawn up to screen those who are at risk for unexplained ante partum stillbirth. This thesis aims to identify possible determininant factors for unexplained ante partum stillbirth. A structured review of studies on unexplained ante partum stillbirths was conducted to identify the determinant factors. A review of stillbirth risk factor in Malaysia was carned out based on published papers. To obtain new information on this topic population study using 10 years of Scottish data has been conducted. The outcome of the structured review, Scottish study and Malaysian review showed that extreme maternal age and increasing gestational age significantly increase the risk of having unexplained ante partum stillbirths. Smoking and a previous history ofstillbirth were additional risk indicators that could be identified during the antenatal period. Nullipara and a parity of more than 3 also contribute to the risk ofunexplained ante partum stillbirth. Maternal obesity was shown in the structured review to be consistent in all studies in increasing the risk, but the risk of obesity could not be assessed for either the Malaysian or Scottish studies. Identification of these risk factors and the ability to monitor them closely may help reduce the number of stillbirths classified as unexplained.