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Students' prosocial behavior is linked to their own and their classmate's engagement in the classroom. This raises the question of through what pathway prosocial behavior is linked to engagement. This study investigates whether early adolescents' peer belonging mediates the relationship between prosocial behavior and classroom engagement. The potential moderation effect on gender was also investigated due to gender differences that favor girls. Participants were 679 middle school students from rural, low-income communities in the Midwestern United States (51% girls, 49% boys; M[subscript age]= 12.65, SD = 1.09). Students completed self-report surveys in the spring of 2022. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the main effect of students' perceptions of their own and their classmates' prosocial behavior on peer belonging and emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement, and the mediating effect of peer belonging on engagement. Results suggest that students' perceptions of their own and their classmates' prosocial behavior were positively linked to their emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Additionally, these relationships were mediated by peer belonging for emotional and behavioral (but not cognitive) engagement. These findings were robust across gender. Findings have implications for classroom-based intervention. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

TNF receptor superfamily (TNFR-SF)-related chronic inflammation is associated with many detrimental diseases, such as autoimmune diseases and carcinogenesis. The linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC) is the only E3 ligase that is capable of generating linear ubiquitin chains on targeted proteins for adequate gene activation in many TNFR-SFs. Moreover, LUBAC prevents aberrant apoptotic or necroptotic death by limiting death complex formation that is initiated by some members of the TNFR-SF with intracellular death domains such as TNFR1, TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R2 or Fas. LTBR (lymphotoxin β receptor), a member of the TNFR-SF, is essential for the maturation of the immune system and regulation of tumour progression. However, it remains unknown, whether LUBAC plays a role in LTBR signalling and, if so, in which way it might be involved in the oncogenic and/or the tumour-suppressive arm of LTBR signalling. Addressing this open question, this thesis identified that LUBAC serves as a previously unrecognized component of the LTBR signalling complex (LTBR-SC), which regulates LTBR-associated gene activation and orchestrates the production of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines. Moreover, linear ubiquitination is required for the recruitment of multiple essential proteins, including NEMO, OPTN and A20, to the LTBR-SC, which cooperatively maintains adequate LTBR-mediated signalling cascades. The second part of this thesis investigated the role of LUBAC in obesity-derived chronic hepatitis. In the liver, obesity-derived chronic hepatitis is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the role of LUBAC in this disease remains unclear. To this end, a murine model that mimics human obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was established by administration of a choline-deficient high-fat diet (CD-HFD). Severe metabolic dysfunctions and hepatitis were observed in mice with a hepatocyte-specific HOIP deletion (HOIPH-KO) fed on CD-HFD. Moreover, this strain developed liver cancer after feeding on CD-HFD for 10 months. Intriguingly, even though hepatitis and liver cancer were ameliorated by crossing this strain with double mutant mice bearing a deletion of MLKL and partial deletion of Caspase-8, metabolic dysfunctions, such as upregulation of serum and intrahepatic triglycerides, were not reversed. Additionally, the downregulation of the important metabolic regulator kinase AMPK was detected in HOIP-deficient Hep3B cells. This deregulation of AMPK might provide a possible explanation for the phenotypic alterations characterising these mice.

Silicon carbide (SiC) as a type of ceramic material possesses unique properties such as high hardness, good high temperature strength, and excellent oxidation resistance. However, the intrinsic shortcomings of ceramic-based materials, such as high brittleness, low recoverable compressibility, and low fatigue resistance, prevent their utilisations as structural or functional components. To overcome these issues, highly porous lightweight and flexible SiC ceramics constructed by nanowires are promising alternatives for advanced engineering applications. The aim of this thesis is therefore to fabricate highly porous lightweight and flexible SiC nanowire structures by three novel approaches: (1) in-situ chemical-blowing; (2) melamine foam-based replica template; (3) electrospinning and explore their properties towards different applications. The overview, including the aims and objectives of this thesis is outlined in Chapter 1. The existing knowledge about lightweight SiCNW structures including crystallography, synthesis approaches, physical properties (mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, high temperature stability), and well-developed energy and environment-related applications (piezoresistive sensors, catalyst support, absorbers, and filters) is documented in Chapter 2. The generic information of the starting materials, synthesis techniques, equipment, and method used for the fabrication of 3D SiCNW structures, characterisation of their microstructural features, and evaluation of the various aspects of their multifunctionalities is descripted in Chapter 3. To identify suitable techniques to assemble SiC nanowires (SiCNWs) into 3D architectures, Chapter 4 provides a selection of advanced manufacturing approaches for lightweight SiCNW structures with easy and precise control of the overall shape and growth of SiCNWs. Followed with the demonstration of the exciting properties of the as-obtained three SiCNW structures including mechanical properties, thermal insulation performance, thermo-oxidation resistance, and fire-retardance in Chapter 5. Finally, based on their own characteristics, the applications of the SiCNW structures such as piezoresistive sensors, catalyst support, and efficient absorbents for oil and organic solvents are present in Chapter 6. A guidance in the manufacturing of advanced ceramic nanowire structures with desired microstructures and properties tailored for specific applications will be eventually provided. I first demonstrated the creation of SiCNW sponges by a facile template/catalyst-free sugar-blowing technique, by reacting SiO2 with sustainable kitchen sugar, using NH4Cl as a blowing agent. The as-grown, highly porous SiCNW sponges exhibited a core-shell structure, the core part with a density of 115-125 mg cm-3 was comprised of short and tangled SiC whiskers with SiC flakes embedded, while the shell layer with an ultralow density of ~25 mg cm-3 consisted of numerous smooth SiCNWs. These sponges exhibited a compressive modulus of ~389 kPa, recoverability under cyclic compression loading for 100 cycles at a strain of 20% and a thermal conductivity of 42-92 mW m-1K-1. Secondly, I reported the fabrication of SiCNW scaffolds with tuneable microstructures, densities, and therefore properties, by regulating the solid loading content in the reticulated melamine foam (MF) template. The resulting samples exhibited high strength (modulus up to ~167.3 kPa), good recoverability (11% residual strain and 72% maximum stress after 100 compressive cycles at a ε = 20%), and low thermal conductivity of 32-54 mW m-1K-1. Finally, I successfully created 3D SiCNW aerogels by using a Mille crêpe stacking and sintering of the electrospun PAN/SiO2 fibres for the first time. The resulting aerogels made of interconnected SiCNWs displayed an ultralight density of 29 mg cm-3, excellent compressive recoverability and fatigue resistance. Meanwhile, the SiCNW aerogels exhibited a thermal conductivity of 24 mW m-1K-1, even lower than that of the air, suggesting its superinsulation capability. Benefitting from intrinsic properties of SiC, experimental results have shown that all the as-obtained SiCNW structures exhibited good thermal insulation performance, exceptional high-temperature stability, fire-retardance, and temperature-invariant elasticity. Furthermore, I have explored the best-suited functional applications for each SiCNW structure. The SiCNW sponges and aerogels with better compressive recoverability and mechanical stability exhibited interesting electromechanical sensing capability. The sponge-based sensor exhibited a gauge factor up to 87 and stable wide-range compression-resistance responses. Whilst the aerogel-based strain sensor with higher recoverable strains presented stable sensing behaviour at different strains, frequencies, elevated temperatures over 200 °C and excellent repeatability over 2000 cycles. Owing to the cellular structure with the co-existence of SiC nanowires and struts, good interconnectivity, and competent mechanical strength and stability, the SiCNW scaffolds demonstrated the exclusive suitability as excellent support for MOF-derived TiO2-C catalyst, with ~35% enhanced in-situ loading of the catalyst, enabling a superior photocatalytic performance and good repeatability for at least 3 cycles. I further examined the SiCNW structures as organic solvent/oil absorbent. They exhibited rapid absorption of various organic solvents and oils. Typically, the SiCNW aerogels possess the highest absorption capacity of 32-86 g g-1, as well as robust recoverability. Meanwhile, the absorbed content can be easily removed by squeezing, distillation, and combustion, while the SiCNW structures remain unchanged. These features have shown that the SiCNW structures are promising for applications for the potential removal of chemical spills and oil leakage, with the advantage of easy recycling. All these remarkable findings will not only provide an important opportunity to advance the understanding of lightweight SiCNWs structures and make original contributions to utilise them as multifunctional devices, but also bring us the new ways to reshape the manufacturing of porous ceramics for future energy and environment-related applications.

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) based breath analysis has gained significant interest in pulmonary disease diagnostics over the past few years due to the non-invasiveness and simplicity of the technique. Most approaches to date have separated EBC collection from the subsequent lab-based analysis, more notably, integrated EBC collector and analyser do not exist. Under current suggested protocol EBC samples for hydrogen peroxide analysis needs freezing at -70 C immediately after collection but still exhibit instabilities in concentration. To address those difficulties and to provide easy-to-use devices for patients, we have proposed a portable integrated EBC analyser, which gives measurement results within 3 minutes. The device incorporates Peltier cooling for sample collection; electronics control system and a disposable chemically modified amperometric sensor. Cooling system and device architecture were designed based on thermofluidic analysis of Falkner-Skan solution. Theoretical modelling and experimental evidence suggest that previously reported large variations between analyte concentrations arise from poor control of the condensation process. Fundamental studies suggest higher condensation temperature favours more concentrated analyte collection, relieving the burden on electrochemical sensor limit of detection (LOD). Low hydrogen peroxide in EBC presents another challenge. We have developed a modified Prussian blue (PB) sensor, by blending PB in conducting polymer matrix to increase PB density on electrode as well as cross linking matrix to improve the mechanical properties and enhance processability. Full mechanistic investigation using rotation disk electrode and chronoamperometry experiments reveal the kinetics of the sensor and informed subsequent development. The sensor has been demonstrated to measure hydrogen peroxide in EBC.

The study of the ritual (sacramental) aspect of participation in Christ has long been marginalised in the literature due to an anti-ritual bias that has several strands. Theologically, given the biblical studies conducted under Protestant, word-centred, faith-focused principles in the past two centuries, any serious study of ritual practices in the nascent Christ movement would face suspicion of opus operatum. Intellectually, the rational approach to the studies of religion, developed during the Enlightenment period that so prized human reason, has led to the downplaying of rituals as superstitious practices, viewing the body as an unreliable source for truth, as opposed to the structure of the mind, where truth is located. Methodologically, the historical-critical approach practised by the biblical studies guild and guided by text-centred and philologically focused principles, has resulted in the marginalisation of rituals in scholarship; ritual references are treated as a mere metaphor or a theological discourse. To give rituals their rightful place in the study of the New Testament, this study proposes that one needs to treat baptism and the Lord's Supper in the New Testament as ritual practices rather than mere metaphor, with the aid of frameworks and theories developed in ritual studies. Chapter one of this study surveys the current scholarship on the topic and develops a new theoretical framework, the ritual transformation model, to study baptism and the Lord's Supper. In chapters two and three, this study applies the ritual transformation model to study these two rituals, while chapters four and five address the exegetical issues of the relations amongst ritual, pistis, and "in Christ" language. In its conclusion, the study demonstrates that ritual and pistis are not antithetical to each other as body versus mind, that baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two cardinal practices of the early Christ movement, and that the New Testament texts point to the religious experience of early Christ followers' encounter with the risen messiah, an experience that is made accessible by the ritual performance.

In the real world, we often encounter situations where data distributions are changing over time, and we would like to timely update our models by the new data, with bounded growth in system size and computational cost. Continual learning is a research topic for dealing with such scenarios. The main challenge of continual learning is catastrophic forgetting: when training a model by sequential tasks, the model tends to forget previously learned tasks after learning new ones. Here different tasks mean different training and testing sets. In Bayesian continual learning, we would prefer the posteriors of a new task being as close as possible to the previous ones. We propose Gaussian Natural Gradients for Bayesian continual learning, which uses natural gradients instead of conventional gradients as natural gradients prefer the smallest change in terms of distributions rather than parameters. We also propose Stein Gradient-based Episodic Memories that can construct compact episodic memories using the information in posteriors in Bayesian continual learning. In addition, we propose Discriminative Representation Loss for general continual learning, which decreases the diversity of gradients between new and old tasks through optimizing representations instead of re-projecting the gradients. It effectively improves performance with low computational cost compared with related work. Moreover, we propose β 3 -Item Response Theory model for evaluating classifiers in continual learning. The ability inferred by β 3 -IRT is weighted by difficulty of individual samples, which can provide more sensible evaluations than typically used average accuracy. We furthermore propose Continual Density Ratio Estimation for evaluating generative models in continual learning without storing any data from previous tasks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first measure for generative models that satisfies the restriction of continual learning. In summary, we propose several efficient approaches and measures for continual learning in this thesis.

This thesis examines three interrelated questions by way of an ethnography of the Taipei Dance Circle (TDC): What is ‘a dance troupe’? What is ‘artistic work’ for society? What is ‘becoming a dancer’? As a modern dance troupe, the TDC (1984- 2019) was known for dance pieces using baby oil, a practice led and then lost by its founder and choreographer Shaw-Lu Liu. I argue that when Shaw-Lu Liu died in 2014 the dance troupe passed into a liminal state to keep itself going. This situation challenges the ontological meaning of being a dance troupe. To address this question, I draw on Victor Turner’s theoretical concepts of social drama and the ritual process to suggest why a dance troupe should be treated as a process in time. Thirteen months of involved participant observation, complemented with detailed interviews, allow me to show how the members of this dance troupe practise their distinct performing arts, and how a dancer continues ‘becoming a dancer’ in this transition period. By engaging with anthropological theories of creativity and play, this thesis argues that the TDC’s rehearsal and dance practice transcends the traditional dichotomy of work and play. Finally, by comparing the kinaesthetic attention and choreography of the late choreographer Shaw-Lu Liu with that of the new collaborator/choreographer Cheng-Chieh Yu, I illustrate the different relationships between an individual and an organization: this ‘becoming a dancer’ is understood as an ongoing process of professional socialization.

This thesis examines how ‘Chineseness’ is constructed in China Wind pop music, and how this practice is perceived by a post-1990s audience across Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and the United Kingdom. It will also investigate how China Wind pop music is presented and performed on various stages, such as the music reality TV show The Voice of China. Three main research methods are employed in the thesis: ethnography on music audiences and music industry workers; analysis of songs; and the production and screening of an ethnographic documentary. China Wind music has been popular since 2000, and was first popularised by Taiwanese Mandopop singers, gradually developing into a specific ‘sound’ distinguishable from other pop songs. Traditional Chinese music elements are employed to create a historically ‘authentic’ sonic product, while the lyrical content often involves praising traditional culture or the presentation of a sense of ‘Chinese pride’ in China Wind songs. This thesis focuses on two iconic songs, Wang Leehom’s ‘Heroes of the Earth’ (2005) and Jay Chou’s ‘Blue and White Porcelain’ (2007) to investigate the musical and textual devices employed, as well as their visual representation in music videos. Through four case studies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and the UK, this thesis suggests that for different individuals and in various contexts, the construction and perception of Chineseness in popular music requires a multidimensional understanding since Chineseness can function like a chameleon-like resource for identity construction. The production and consumption of China Wind pop music is also an arena for numerous forms of nationalistic sentiment and aspiration, including official and popular nationalism. Chineseness in China Wind pop music is de-centred in its production location and can vary in its place of consumption. However, it may become increasingly re-centred as the growth of the PRC market enforces a particular presentation of Chinese culture. Uncovering micro-histories of those audience and industry workers engaged with China Wind pop music can help to conceptualise, challenge, deconstruct, and perhaps subvert the notion of Chineseness as a singular and unified conception.

Optical active point defects in crystals have gained widespread attention as photonic systems that could be applied in quantum information technologies[1, 2]. However, challenges remain in the placing of individual defects at desired locations, an essential element of device fabrication. Here we report the controlled generation of single negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centres in diamond using laser writing[3]. Aberration correction in the writing optics allows precise positioning of the vacancies within the diamond crystal and subsequent annealing produces single NV- centres with a probability of success of up to 45%, located within about 200nm of the desired position in the transverse plane. A simple model was established to understand the mechanism of vacancies generation and estimate the success probability of NV- centres generation. Selected NV- centres display stable, coherent optical transitions at cryogenic temperatures, a prerequisite for the creation of distributed quantum networks of solid-state qubits. Strain measurement results of selected NV- centres show that the broadening of NV- optical transitions is due to local strain. The results illustrate the potential of laser writing as a tool for defect engineering in quantum technologies and extend laser processing to the single-defect domain.

Sedentary behaviour (SB) is prevalent across all ages, but particularly in older adults aged 50 years and above. Given that older adults spend more than 60% of waking hours sedentary, enhancing our understanding of the correlates of SB will be important to inform the development of interventions to reduce SB in mid-age and older adults. This thesis provides five studies focusing on the correlates of SB in mid-age and older adults. Firstly, Chapter 2 presents a literature review using behaviour epidemiology framework to examine the existing evidence on sedentary behaviour in general adults in order to identify the gap of current knowledge in sedentary behaviour. Chapter 3 presents a systematic review which included the existing evidence on correlates of SB in mid-age and older adults and provides evidence-based conclusions on the topic. Chapter 4 presents a study examining the association of demographics and physical activity (PA) with daily sitting time in mid-age and older adults, and found behavioural correlates of SB and PA in mid-age and older adults. Chapter 5 presents a secondary data analysis using the data of the older office worker from the Stormont study. This chapter uses the results from the cross-sectional and longitudinal data to examine the association of demographics and behaviours with domain-specific sitting time among the older office workers. In this study, differences were found in demographic and behavioural correlates according to the studied domain of sitting. Chapter 6 presents a 6-month longitudinal study, which was designed to fill the gaps of our understanding of the associations between demographics, health and PA with SB in older adults aged 65 years and above. This chapter also looked into the changes of sitting time and its correlates. Together, these four studies provide adequate evidence on the demographics and behavioural correlates of SB and also identified the determinants of SB in mid-age and older adults. This thesis found that demographics had limited associations with SB, and sociodemographics were associated with work-related sitting time. Health behaviour was generally inversely associated with SB. These findings provide information to the correlates and determinants of mid-age and older adults SB and will inform further research on behaviour change strategies.

This thesis explores the sociological issue of how and with what outcomes students' trajectories through the Chinese higher education system are shaped by the nature of policy, on the one hand, and their social backgrounds, on the other. In relation to policy, from 1999 on-wards there have been major changes in higher education policy which have provided new opportunities for higher education development in China. As a consequence, during the period from 1999-2010, the gross enrolment rate increased nearly six-fold. However, this expansion has been paralleled by other policies that allocate additional resources to model (formerly key) schools as well as to a small group of already elite universities. The question, then, of who gets to go to these exclusive and elite institutions, and the ensuing social justice outcomes, are at the heart of this thesis. A mixed-methods research design strategy was used to investigate the relationship between higher education expansion and access, institutions, key schools and university applicants. To identify those influences shaping students' choices and experiences required a focus on both their families' social, cultural, economic, and political capital and their personal understanding of their choice and experiences. The fieldwork design involves focus groups with university applicants, interviews carried out in China with policy makers and university applicants, as well as a survey examining the kinds of social backgrounds of students in key and non-key schools. This study examines both policy makers' perspective of China's higher education expansion since 1999, and university applicants' experiences and understandings of the choices of higher education access. Theoretically, the study is based on a critical conceptual framework and is inspired by Bourdieu's theory of the forms of capital to understand differences in higher education access in China. The research findings suggest there is a relationship between families' social, cultural, economic, and political statuses, and that these relationships have important implications for social outcomes, equity and justice. Widening access to higher education in China does not appear to be matched by equal access to opportunities for social equity, and mobility. The findings reveal that Chinese higher education policy makers fail to see, take account of, and respond to, the outcomes of higher education expansion outcomes and their unequal consequences and impacts on university applicants as this is mediated through key schools. The study also finds that the differences between students is less a question of aspiration - in that all Chinese students and their families have high aspirations. Rather, those families with access to economic, social, cultural and political capitals strategize their paths through the institutions - including access to key as opposed to non-key schools. Interviews with students reveal the pressure on them to be a 'good person', and that this status is the outcome of securing a place in university . . By exploring how higher education trajectories are shaped by students' family backgrounds . in China, this study offers a more holistic approach to examining the influences shaping student's experiences and outcomes. This study also contributes to sociological debates on ways to understand the relationship between higher education expansion policy and social equity and mobility issues in a global context.

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) students in Taiwan now need to meet the English proficiency requirement to earn their higher education degrees. In this case study, I intended to a) provide the opportunity for IHE students with hearing loss in Taiwan to share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences of learning English as a foreign language in higher education institutes; and b) understand how English as a foreign language policies and educational practices contribute to create opportunities and barriers for IHE students with hearing loss. The research question I intended to examine was "what are the perceptions of the lived experiences of students with hearing loss in a Taiwanese IHE within the policy environment of English as a gatekeeper?" The focuses of the study were a) how do Taiwanese IHE students with hearing loss perceive their experiences learning English as a foreign language in IHEs; and b) how do the current policies and educational practices related to learning English as a foreign language serve to construct barriers and opportunities for IHE students with hearing loss? I conducted two interviews with two primary participants who were current Taiwanese students with hearing loss at one IHE and one interview with each of secondary participants who were associated with the primary participants' English learning. These secondary participants were the English teacher of the alternative English class, the English teacher of the general English class, one Chinese teacher, one tutor, two resource center staff members, and two study peers. I also performed three classroom observations at the alternative English class and collected documents that were related to these students' English learning. I used thematic analysis to analyze the data and the major findings of this study were: (a) the hegemony of English, (b) audism, (c) inequity of educational policy, and (d) accommodations for students with hearing loss at this university. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Fatty acid molecules play a crucial role in bacterial cell-cell communication. Recently the novel fatty acid messenger cw-2-decenoic acid (CDA) has been discovered in Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture supernatants. CDA belongs to the diffusible signal factor (DSF) family which consists of a series of fatty acid signal molecules. DSF-type signals are widespread among Gram-negative bacteria, such as DSF in Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris and Burkholderia DSF (BDSF) in Burkholderia cenocepacia. DSF and BDSF are both synthesised via enoyl-CoA hydratases and are capable of modulating virulence factor production and controlling the switch between sessile biofilm and planktonic lifestyles. However, little is known about the synthesis and function of CDA in P. aeruginosa. This project is directed towards the discovery of the CDA synthase and the biological function of this signal molecule in P. aeruginsoa. The results obtained show that CDA inhibits biofilm formation, induces biofilm dispersal and has a global effect on both the Quorum Sensing (QS) regulatory systems (e.g. las and rhl), QS target genes (e.g. phz and lec) and the post-transcriptional rsm system. In both chemically defined and rich LB growth media, free amino acids stimulated CDA biosynthesis whereas it was reduced following mutation of the rhamnobpid biosynthetic genes rhl A and rhlC. The putative enoyl-CoA hydratase PA0744 was identified as a CDA synthase in P. aeruginosa. Mutation of the PA0744 gene resulted in a drastic reduction in CDA production, leading to the loss of CDA-induced phenotypes. However, PA0744 was not the only CDA synthase in P. aeruginosa because CDA still accumulated while PA0744 mutant was grown in the minimal medium. In addition, the putative enoyl-CoA hydratase, PA3426 (cbsA), was identified as a probable CDA-degrading enzyme. Overexpression of cbsA reduced the CDA production and promoted the transition between motility and sessility. Furthermore, CbsA exerted reciprocal control on the small RNAs RsmZ and RsmY via an as yet unknown extracellular signal(s). Multiple two-component systems including GacS/A, PhoQ/P and PmrB/A were also shown to be involved in the CbsA regulatory network in P. aeruginosa. In summary, this work reveals a new regulatory network controlling multiple target genes based on CDA which is synthesised via one or more enoyl-CoA hydratases.

Drawing on recent discussions of relational embeddedness and socio-technical agencement, this thesis analyses the relationship between stock trading and lay investors’ daily lives, including their social relations, activities, events, devices, places, work and ways of thinking. Taiwan’s stock market provides an appropriate location for investigation because of the dominance of lay investors in the market and the high proportion of Taiwan’s adult population who engage in stock trading. The data were obtained from three main sets of sources: in-depth interviews, document analysis and ethnographic observation. I argue that lay market actors are not only framed by the market’s mechanisms, but also by daily-life structures. The Taiwan Stock Exchange, as an electronic, anonymous financial market, has been a challenge to the embeddedness approach due to the absence of direct interaction between the parties to transactions. This study presents another aspect of socio-economic relationships in the market: the role of financial-market activity in wider social interactions. Like taking part in any popular social activity, lay investors’ social ties are maintained and expended by engaging in stock trading. Social relations and stock trading are woven together and form a largely seamless whole, part of lay investors’ daily life. The socio-technical agencements of lay investors contain distinctive features: diversity, bricolage, use of non-professional ‘devices’, action in non-financial places, everyday means of controlling market risk and association with everyday events. The differences between the agencements of lay investors and professional practitioners produce an asymmetry of calculative capabilities between market actors. Superior calculative capabilities tend to give an advantage to professional practitioners in the market, but these strengths are constrained by political and economic factors. This study sheds light on micro social factors, which are comparable with economic, institutional and psychological explanations, in accounting for lay investors’ behaviours in financial markets. The analysis also suggests the compatibility of the three important social science approaches to economic agents: Granovetter’s embeddedness, Zelizer’s relational work and Callon’s agencement.

Barrett’s metaplasia (BM) is the condition whereby the stratified squamous epithelium at the lower end of oesophagus is replaced by intestinal-like columnar epithelium. BM is associated with chronic cell injury caused by acid and bile salts refluxing from the stomach (so-called Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)). BM is important clinically as it is the only known precursor to oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Metaplasia is associated with the aberrant expression of key (master switch) transcription factor(s). It is therefore possible that intestinal transcription factors such as those involved in regulation of intestinal gene expression may be involved in the development of BM. In addition, the development of BM may be linked to exogenous factors such as acid, bile salts and inflammatory mediators, which leads to an inflammatory response and the premalignant condition. Therefore, the aims of the current project are three-fold to investigate (i) the role of HNF4α in the development of BM, (ii) the role of HNF1α, CDX2, FOXA2 and PDX1 in the development of BM and (iii) the effects of exogenous factors involved in the inflammatory response and the Wnt and Notch pathways on HNF4a and CDX2 expression in the development of BM. The data showed that ectopic HNF4α, CDX2 or HNF1α expression induces intestinal gene expression in the human normal oesophageal epithelial HET1A cells, but FOXA2 or PDX1 ectopic expression did not provoke intestinal gene expression. Furthermore, ectopic HNF4α expression in mouse oesophageal epithelial explants induced the squamous-to-columnar cell type conversion as well as VILLIN protein expression. These results suggest that ectopic expression of HNF4α, CDX2 and HNF1α might be involved in the initiation of BM. Finally, exogenous factors involved in the inflammatory and the Wnt and Notch pathways treatment failed to induce intestinal gene expression in the HET1A cells, but further studies such as extending the treatment time and the use of the 3D organotypic models or animal models could be tested.

The work presented in this thesis demonstrates that triarylphosphoniopropyl-thiosulfate zwitterions and w-thioacetylpropyl(triphenyl)phosphonium salts can be used to prepare cationic, water-soluble gold nanoparticles with mean core sizes in the range of 2.5-5 nm. Phosphonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles have been characterised by a number of techniques including NMR, LDI-MS, SIMS, XPS, TGA, ICP-MS, MALDI-MS and TEM.Cytotoxicity studies illustrated that phosphonium ligands are relatively non-toxic to human prostate cancer cells and therefore can be used as a delivery vector to delivery gold nanoparticles specifically to the site of the mitochondria for other therapeutic applications such as photothermal therapy. Cellular uptake studies of phosphonium ligands by MALDI-MS showed that they are rapidly taken-up by cells within ten minutes. Phosphonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles are soluble in biological media which is of great importance for cell biology studies. Initial photothermal therapy studies demonstrated that the gold nanoparticles responds specifically to a green light excitation source (510-550 nm) which overlaps the surface plasmon resonance band of the phosphonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles at 525 nm. Preliminary data also showed that phosphonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles can selectively induce apoptosis in cells followed by irradiation, this was confirmed by Hoechst and caspase-3 staining. Quantification studies of phosphonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles by ICP-MS illustrated that these nanoparticle have good uptake in cells (above 75%). TEM data confirmed that phosphonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles are taken-up by human prostate cancer cells and are localised in the mitochondria.

Introduction: Over the past decades, considerable advances in understanding of cell biology at genetic, epigenetic and proteomic levels led to development of new strategies for better outcome of cancer therapy. One of these new strategies is targeting the class I PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, in that this pathway plays a key role in regulation of many cellular functions, including proliferation, survival, metabolism, autophagy and motility. Dysregulation of the class I PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway has been documented in a variety of human tumours and inhibition of this pathway has been observed to hamper tumour proliferation in vitro and prevent tumour progression in vivo and in clinic. More recently, emerging evidence suggests that the class I PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is associated with Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) biology, in light of maintenance, viability and conventional therapy resistance of CSCs. The CSC theory conceptualizes that a subset of tumour cells with Stem Cell-like properties, including self-renewal, multipotency, differentiation, and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can recapitulate new tumours and resistance to cancer therapy. Materials and Methods: To explore class I PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and CSCs as therapeutic targets in canine oncology, in one series of experiments, smallmolecular inhibitors Wortmannin, ZSTK474, KP372-1 and Rapamycin, which selectively target pan-class I PI3K, pan-class I PI3K, Akt and mTOR, respectively, were utilized to treat canine cancer cell lines using inhibitors alone or in combination with conventional therapeutic drugs. The human acute lymphoblastic leukaemia of T-cell origin cell line (Jurkat T cell line) was used as a comparative control. In another, a stem cell culture system was performed to isolate CSCs from canine glioma J3T cell line. Subsequently, microarray analysis of transcriptional expression profiles of J3T spheres (the putative CSCs) versus J3T parental cells was performed. Results: In this study, small molecules ZSTK474 and KP372-1 were found to significantly decrease cell viability at lower micromolar and nanomolar ranges, respectively. Rapamycin decreased cell viability at lower micromolar concentrations. However, the efficacy of Wortmannin varied from one cell line to another. Dissection of the mechanism of these inhibitors using Western Blot analysis and annexin V staining showed that all inhibitors functioned by decreasing phosphorylation of class I PI3K pathway members. Notably, the efficacy of Wortmannin for this pathway inhibition is confined to certain cell lines. In addition, Wortmannin had shorter drug duration than the other three inhibitors. Annexin V staining showed that KP372-1 was a potent inducer of apoptosis, with decreasing potency in hierarchy order, Rapamycin, Wortmannin and ZSTK474. The data obtained from the combination of pan-class I PI3K inhibitor (Wortmannin or ZSTK474) and mTOR inhibitor (Rapamycin) suggested that additive/synergistic effects were, in part, due to inactivation of Akt. The class I PI3K pathway inhibitors enhanced the efficacy of Doxorubicin in SB cells but not in canine REM, 3132 and J3T cells. The CSC colonies of canine glioma J3T cells were successfully isolated and expanded in the neurosphere formation assay. By microarray analysis, several class I PI3K signaling network-associated genes, particularly IGFBP2 (27-fold), FYN (9.3- fold), and DDIT4 (8.5-fold), were found to be highly up-regulated in the J3T CSCs. However, the genes encoding components, such as Akt1 and eIF4E, of class I PI3K/Akt/mTOR axis signaling were either unchanged or down-regulated in the CSCs. The majority of the genes encoding translation initiation factors were also downregulated in the CSCs. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that class I PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway is critical for proliferation and survival of cell lines derived from human acute lymphoblastic leukemia of T cell origin (Jurkat T cell line) and a variety of canine tumours. However, it appears that this pathway is dispensible for maintainence and viability of the CSCs isolated from canine gloma J3T cell line. This study suggests that the strategy of dual inhibition of class I PI3K and mTOR kinases may have better outcomes than the combination inhibitors of this pathway (such as ZSTK474 and KP372-1) with Doxorubicin in canine oncology.

Iron is vital for all living creatures but becomes toxic when it exceeds the levels catered for by their natural cellular buffering mechanisms, causing free radical formation via the Fenton reaction and ultimately, therefore, leading to oxidative stress. In such situations, for example in repeatedly transfused patients suffering from β-thalassaemia or sickle cell anaemia, iron chelation therapy is required. Desferioxamine (DFO), the most widely used therapeutic chelator, is a hexadentate ligand possessing a very high affinity for Fe3+, but it is not orally active. 3-hydroxypyridin-4-ones (HPOs), the more recently introduced synthetic alternatives, have also been shown to be useful therapeutic chelators, demonstrating the essential affinity and selectivity for Fe3+ along with good oral activity. Deferiprone, a typical HPO, has emerged as a prominent therapeutic, able to remove accumulated excess iron from the heart and mitochondria. However, because Deferiprone has some drawbacks of relatively high metabolic instability and a side effect of lowering white blood cell count for a small number of patients, the search continues for other such synthetic chelators with improved properties. In the work reported here, various computational studies have been performed to aid in the rational design of Fe3+ chelators, with their physicochemical properties (pKa, Fe3+ affinity, hydration and membrane permeability) predicted by means of quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) methods, quantum mechanical (QM) calculations, and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The pKa and Fe3+ affinity were also studied experimentally with a novel approach devised for dealing with ligands possessing substituents with hydrogen bond donor and/or acceptor groups. The pKa values predicted using QSPR and QM static calculations (Gaussian 09) were found to differ very significantly from the experimentally determined values. When data from the QM static calculations were combined with a regression model, however, the pKa predictions were significantly improved, with the predicted values then within ± 0.2 log units of the experimental values, and computing times of the order of 1 day per molecule. These calculations also allowed the determination of possible deprotonation sequences for the predicted compounds. Further pKa predictions were made by means of QM MD calculations, using Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CP-MD). These simulations were found to yield pKa values within ±0.3 log units of the experimental values but involved much longer computing times (of the order of 20 days per molecule). In addition, however, the CP-MD simulations also provided valuable insights into the atomistic details of the proton transfer mechanism and the solvation structure and dynamics at all stages of the reaction. For the three HPOs studied, it was observed that proton transfer takes place along a chain of three H20 molecules, although direct hydrogen bonds were observed to form transiently. The (Fe3+) log /C, predictions for the HPOs were made using an entirely novel QM-based methodology (and without knowledge of the chelator pKa values), yielding log K-\ values within ± 0.32 log units of the experimental values. For the preparation of membrane permeability study, novel Chemistry at HARvard Molecular Mechanics (CHARMM) force fields specifically for use in HPO simulations were developed. These new force fields were validated using Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) MD simulations of the chelators’ behaviour in aqueous solution.

Background: The number of older people living alone is increasing due to dramatic population ageing and changes in living arrangements. Little is known about older people living alone in Mainland China and their quality of life (QoL) where collectivism and filial responsibility are emphasised. Aims: This study aimed to explore the health status, life circumstances and QoL of older people living alone in Chongming, Shanghai. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of a stratified random cluster sample of 521 community-dwelling older people aged 60 years and above and living alone was conducted in Chongming, Shanghai. The structured questionnaire included validated measures to assess the health status, loneliness, social support, physical activity, health services utilisation and satisfaction, housing and QoL. Results: Over two fifths of the participants rated their health as good despite 44.5% reporting chronic diseases and 47.6% reporting being depressed. Most participants reported a high level of functional ability and were satisfied with their health services and overall dwelling conditions. However, over four fifths of the participants reported moderate/moderately high levels of loneliness. The social support mean score was 30.5, lower than the Chinese population norm. The participants’ health status, loneliness, social support, physical activity, health services satisfaction and satisfaction with overall dwelling conditions varied across the sample. Over two fifths of the participants perceived their QoL as good. Satisfaction with overall dwelling conditions, self-rated health, functional ability, depression, economic level, social support, loneliness, occupation and satisfaction with health services were predictors of QoL accounting for 68.8% of the variance. Additionally, depression and occupation had an interaction effect upon QoL. Conclusions: Older people living alone in Chongming, Shanghai are a disadvantaged heterogeneous group who need special attention. The proposed QoL model provides the basis for further enquiry regarding the needs of different sub-groups and future policy interventions.

Private branding strategy plays an important role for international retailers entering Asian grocery markets since there is a consensus that it helps retailers not only improve the store profitability but also differentiate themselves from other competitors. However, our present understanding of consumer responses to private brand (PB) is mainly based on studies of Western markets that have long PB development history. Generally speaking, European and American consumers have sophomore purchase experience and well familiarity with local retailers and their own brand products. Little scholarly research has examined factors influencing consumers’ selection of private brands offered by international retailers in Asian countries such as Taiwan. The purpose of this thesis is to identify how individual characteristics can be used in predicting Taiwanese consumers’ preferences for private brands since a successful marketing strategy is always based on well understanding how preferences vary with consumer factors. This thesis first reviews previous studies of PB and presents the results of six focus groups in Taiwan. These results identify six key consumer characteristic variables (i.e. price consciousness, perceived PB quality, perceived PB risk, store reputation reliance, innovativeness and familiarity with PB) influencing consumers’ PB attitude and purchase intention. This thesis then proposes a model that integrates these six consumer characteristic variables. In view of the potential store difference, data were collected from two international retailers, Carrefour and 7-11, in Taiwan. A total of 409 useable questionnaires (222 from the on-line surveys and 187 from face-to-face interviewing) were collected and analyzed. The findings revealed that Taiwanese consumers are more concerned about the quality than the price of these international retailers’ PB products. The results also demonstrate that when consumers are more familiar with international retailers’ PB, they have more confidence in evaluating product quality, reducing perceived PB risk and enhancing price consciousness of PB in the same time. Similarly, when consumers perceived better store reputation, they will perceive better quality of the PB and have better PB attitude and higher purchase intention toward the retailer’s PB. More importantly, this paper verified that innovative private brand can increase consumers’ perception of private brand quality and ultimately increase their intention to buy it. Also, this thesis finds that some consumer characteristics variables have more correlation with PB purchase intention and the contribution of the variables varies from Carrefour to 7-11. In general, however, perceptual variables have stronger prediction power than personal and socio-economic variables. These findings highlight the importance of consumers’ familiarity with PB and perceived quality of PB and suggest that managers should increase various promotional activities to facilitate consumers’ familiarity with their PB. For example, they can offer free samples or tasting at the point of sale, to increase consumers’ familiarity with their PB products in the future. More academic and managerial implications and suggestions for future research are discussed in the conclusion chapter.

Due to high efficiency, high power density and low cost, single-phase permanent magnet brushless DC motor has increasingly been used in industrial and domestic applications. This thesis focuses on the design and analysis of high-speed, single-phase, conventional and flux-switching permanent magnet brush less DC motors. This thesis presents a comparative study of conventional three-phase and single-phase permanent magnet brush less DC motors, which operate at 45,OOOrpm with I.lkW output power for the pump application, in terms of their machine design, drive system and electromagnetic performance. It is found that the single-phase permanent magnet brush less DC motor has a relatively lower drive system cost without significantly compromising the electromagnetic performance. Further, significant rotor eddy current loss exists in both motors. Hence, the analytical models are developed to predict the rotor eddy current loss which is resulted from the armature reaction field. By comparing with the 2D finite element method (FEM) predicted results, good agreement is obtained over the full speed range if the eddy current reaction field is taken into account. FEM is further employed to investigate open-circuit, armature and on-load rotor eddy current losses of the permanent magnet brushless DC motors. Particular emphasis is placed on the single-phase motor having an eccentric airgap with consideration for degree of airgap eccentricity, excitation current waveform, magnet segmentation, thickness and electrical conductivity of the retaining sleeve. The single-phase flux switching permanent magnet motor, which operates at 100,000rpm with 1.2kW output power for the automotive electrical turbo-charger application, is also investigated. Its operational principle is introduced and winding topologies are investigated. In addition, the chamfered rotor pole is optimised to improve the starting capability. In order to investigate the influence of significant end leakage-flux, a 3D lumped circuit magnetic model is developed to predict the back-EMF and the inductance and validated through experiment. This model is also employed to optimise the rotor pole width for increasing the motor power density and to investigate the relationship between the magnet dimensions and the motor end effect. Finally, the dynamic simulation models are developed to predict the dynamic electromagnetic performance and experimentally validated for a three-phase and a single-phase permanent magnet brush less DC motor, and a single-phase flux switching permanent magnet motor.

China has witnessed the largest migration wave in human history since the initiation of economic reforms in 1978. Millions of migrants seek job opportunities and higher incomes in cities where economy booms. Without local permanent residential status (local hukou), migrants are subject to social and economic constraints. This thesis examines the extent to which migrants are disadvantaged and discriminated in Shanghai’s manufacturing sector. The thesis further explains the underlying reasons for such discrimination. Fieldwork in Shanghai comprised a random survey in 21 manufacturing companies, interviews with personnel managers and migrant workers. This allows for a full analysis of labour market outcomes for migrants from rural areas (rural migrants), migrants from towns and cities (urban migrants), and local workers. The results show that residential status has significant effects on occupations and wages, after controlling for other factors such as education and work experience. Both rural and urban migrants are disadvantaged in the urban labour market compared with local workers. But rural migrants suffer much more discrimination than urban migrants. The persistent link between local hukou status and jobs, access to social benefits and services results in continuing discrimination against migrants. Migrants’ positions are further depressed by the huge labour supply, migrants’ lower job expectations, their toleration of discrimination and companies’ violation of labour law. Hence, the thesis argues that the urban labour market in Shanghai’s manufacturing sector has remained divided between migrants and local workers, because barriers still exist preventing migrants from competing fully with local residents. Lastly, some policy recommendations are made to reduce labour market discrimination for both efficiency and equity.

The performance of the UK construction industry has been challenged by a number of major reports (e.g. Egan Report,1999). A survey of Chinese construction practice carried out as part of this research project has shown that many of the problems are shared and that there is a keen interest in China to improve performance. The research has demonstrated the need for a systematic treatment of uncertainty to support decision making in China. The study employed the principles of systems thinking to propose a systemic skeleton: WISDOM. It is an advanced perspective that encapsulates the essence of systems thinking and lays the theoretical foundation for the production of decision support software - JUSTISE. The purpose of the software tool is to facilitate the establishment of new thinking within a management system for Chinese construction practitioners. The purpose is to help construction practitioners manage risk and uncertainty to improve project performance. JUSTISE was born out of PERIMETA and has been designed with many new features and functionalities. The software has been tested by a wide range of users from the Chinese construction industry. The feedback from the application of the software through wisdomcatcher.com was collected to prompt its further development. Through the application of JUSTISE, systems thinking methodology has been delivered to a number of Chinese construction companies. It has been pleasing to find that JUSTISE has worked well in the Chinese industrial environment. People have benefitted from the novel perspective it provides. More importantly it enables people to better understand and deal with uncertainty to improve project performance. JUSTISE is still in its infancy and needs to be improved. The software is an aid in the continuous rethinking of current experience. It embraces a range of fundamental knowledge and enabling technologies to provide systems solutions to complex problems in future engineering practice.

Initial work presented in this dissertation on extrusion supports the findings of others with regard to standard die extrusion. In addition, comparisons between ram and screw extrusion results were made and are briefly discussed. In relation to wide sheet extrusion, unusual flow instabilities in the form of central line splitting of the extrudates were observed for the first time, indicating that the chocolate was weak in tension. Solutions for eliminating for flow defects are also presented and mathematical modelling provided insight into the flow mechanism. Post extrusion mechanical characterisation of the extruded chocolate was carried out by means of bending and indentation tests and the effect of processing conditions on the flexibility and hardness of chocolate extrudate was examined. The results showed the presence of a two-stage, post extrusion rehardening process, which was consistent with earlier findings. In terms of stamping, the process itself and the effect of processing variables on the shape formability and surface gloss formation in the chocolate product were established for the first time. Optimal conditions that contributed to the formation of well-defined products with high gloss finish were identified. Product demoulding was also found to be facilitated with the use of a Teflon die. Both the wide sheet extrusion and the stamping process were simulated by numerical models using the finite element codes Forge 3® and 2® respectively. In general, good agreement was achieved between the experimental and numerical results. Moreover, a preliminary, semi-analytical model was proposed to describe the mechanism of surface gloss formation during stamping.

The main objective of this thesis is to shed light on the characteristics and performance of Sino-Taiwanese joint ventures (JVs) in the People's Republic of China and in particular to investigate the role played by guanxi (interpersonal relationships) in their formation and in the way they function. The research shows that guanxi enhances the effectiveness of Taiwanese joint venture partners by overcoming unanticipated external environmental factors and enabling them to deal with the complex internal managerial issues associated with the Chinese market. The different political and economic relations between Taiwan and China make the joint venture entry strategy attractive to Taiwanese investors. Taiwanese investors share similar cultural identity and speak the same dialect as much of Mainland China. The literature on international joint venture formation is reviewed and compared business made between western style networking and guanxi relationships in Chinese business communities. The impact of cultural similarity on partner selection has been added in this study of Sino-Taiwanese Ns, which therefore provides a new strategic perspective. A triangulation research method is employed to provide a systematic analysis. In particular, a first set of interviews identified the possible variables in JV development and established important contacts in China, to assist in carrying out a second questionnaire survey. A further round of interviews confirmed the validity of the findings. A strong positive correlation was found between firms' cooperative strategies and the uncertainties of the Chinese business environment. This has demonstrably influenced Taiwanese investors' decision to collaborate with Chinese firms in joint ventures. The interview evidence clearly shows the importance of guanxi at different stages of JV formation and development. The thesis concludes that the effective use of guanxi has enhanced Taiwanese investors' effectiveness within the highly uncertain business environment of China.

Science is becoming increasingly multi-disciplinary and complicated. To solve complex scientific problems, we often need to integrate software and customize workflows to suit a particular problem. To make progress on key scientific issues, extended scientific collaborations are growingly dependent on complex workflows for data analysis and simulation. Service Oriented Architecture has gained popularity in recent years within scientific research community. It has been broadly accepted as a means of structuring interactions among distributed software services. Service Oriented Architecture is a new paradigm for accessing, integrating and coordinating loosely coupled software systems in a standardized way. It aims to reduce the cost of building and maintaining complex software systems while increasing their re-usability. However, most of the large industrial and scientific applications available today were written well before the introduction of Grid computing and Service Oriented Architectures. Hence, they are neither service oriented nor Grid-aware. There is a growing need to integrate them into Grid-aware applications based on Service Oriented Architecture. How to integrate these legacy applications into the Grid with the least possible effort and the best performance has become a crucial point. The majority of the applications developed and used by scientific communities are command-line applications. They are written in FORTRAN, C, and a host of scripting languages. In addition to being fast and efficient, these applications represent state-of- the-art science; however, they are bound by many limitations which make it difficult to compose complex workflows from them and run them on a distributed set of resources. By converting these command-line legacy applications into Application Services, it becomes easy to compose complex workflows from them and run them on the distributed resources. There are some research programs aiming at integrating the legacy codes into Grid infrastructure. Some frameworks have been developed to compose and run scientific workflows on a Grid. A number of systems are available to allow scientists to Grid- enabling their existing applications without having to write extra code or modify their applications. But most of them do not provide a toolkit for wrapping an application as a Grid-aware Web service. Few of the systems have addressed the issue of security. This thesis presents an approach to reducing the required effort needed in developing Application Services for end users. Also during the execution of complex scientific workflows, Application Services often become unavailable primarily due to the unreliable nature of the resources that host them. When an Application Service becomes unavailable, all workflows that are accessing it have to stop, and this means wasting a great deal of time and resources. This thesis offers a new solution to this problem, via providing a mechanism by which Application Service can be created on-demand from workflows in case it is unavailable.

This study applies the rationale of transaction cost economics to develop a positive theory for interpreting and predicting construction procurement behaviour. The client is assumed to be a decision-maker who chooses the optimal procurement method so as to maximise his/her profit function, i.e. (discounted expected) revenue minus the sum of transaction costs and production costs. Three stereotypical and most popularly used forms of procurement methods are reviewed: traditional method (TM), design and build (DB) and management system (MS). By way of transaction cost reasoning, this study discovers that, with the assumption of fixed production costs across routes, revenue from the project, transaction costs from process specificity and from measurement difficulties constitute three pillars for comparing procurement methods. Moreover it is further claimed that it is to the presence of quasi rent, quality rent and design rent that we can ascribe the reasons why there are differentials in transaction costs between procurement routes. From the theoretical view, this study puts forth the principle of an inconsistent trinity, according to which, to determine the most efficient procurement method, the client will inevitably face the trade-off between (1) fast delivery of the project, (2) single point of responsibility for design and construction (lower measurement costs) as well as (3) high flexibility in accommodating variations (lower transaction costs arising from process specificity). Empirically, six variables are pointed out as relevant in affecting the client's decision: (1) the client's opportunity cost of time; (2) uncertainty of requirements; (3) costs of switching supplier; (4) the use of partnering or not; (5) the scale of the client; (6) degree of specialisation. With the help of a Logit model, six hypotheses relating to these variables are tested, as predictions regarding relative frequency of selection of procurement routes for projects of given sets of attributes. The analysis of this study aims to provide a new way of thinking about the nature of the project coalition, risk management and the development of tools for aiding the client in selecting the right procurement route.

A new β and N-substituted pyrrole, N-trimethylsilylethoxymethyl-3-methyl-4-pyrrole carboxylate ethyl ester (MPCE-SEM) is synthesised and copolymerised electrochemically with unsubstituted pyrrole to gives free-standing films for conductivity measurements. The electrochemical polymerisation of MPCE-SEM gives only soluble dimers and oligomers rather than polymers because the steric constraints stabilise the oligomeric cation radical of MPCE-SEM. The thiophene monomers containing mesogenic group at the 3-position via an alkyl chain are synthesised and polymerised chemically to give insoluble, infusible polymers and do not exhibit liquid crystalline behaviour. The conductivities of pressed-pellets of the polymer powders are lower than 10^-5S/cm. The electrochemical polymerisation of the thiophene monomers containing mesogenic group of 4-methoxyazbenzen-4'-yloxy or 4-butylazobenzen-4'-yloxy in dichloromethane solution gives a low yield of polymers, which is accompanied by the formation of soluble dimers and oligomers as well as degradation of the resulting polymer and the mesogenic group. Poly{N -11-[(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yloxy) undecyl] pyrrole} obtained from chemical polymerisation of the corresponding monomer shows high molecule weight, is soluble in common solvents and fusible showing smectic A liquid crystalline behaviour. This polymer in the melt (175^oC) has a conductivity of 6.6 x 10^-15 S/cm. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry analysis on the melt processed film gives an estimated doping level of an anion every 6-7 monomer units. Electrochemical oxidation of the N-substituted pyrrole monomers gives the electroactive conjugated free-standing polymer films. The conductivities of the free standing polymer films are lower than 10^-4 S/cm. A conducting copolymer containing a side chain liquid crystalline group, poly{N-8-[(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yloxy)octyl]-2,5-di(2-thienyl) pyrrole} can be obtained electrochemically from the corresponding monomer. The polymer is slightly soluble in chloroform giving a dark green solution but is not liquid crystalline.

Cisplatin, cis-[Pt(NH₃)₂Cl₂], has been a successful and most widely used anticancer drug since its first discovery 30 years ago. Up to now the mechanism of action of this drug is still not well understood. In this thesis, pH dependent platinum-sulfur interactions, the solution structure of cisplatin DNA GpG intrastrand adduct and the chemistry of a new anticancer active drug have been investigated. Using [¹H, ¹⁵N] 2D NMR spectroscopy and HPLC, together with ¹⁵N-labelled amine ligands highly pH dependent interconversion between S- and N-bound methionine adducts of {Pt(dien)}²⁺ (dien = diethylenetriamine) via dien ring-opened intermediates has been observed. This isolated ring-opened intermediate exists as four diastereomers and was surprisingly long-lived. This study suggests a possible role for thioether-sulfur in the transfer and activation of platinum drugs. The solution structure of a DNA 14mer duplex containing a cisplatin 1,2-GpG intrastrand crosslink has been determined by combined NMR and estimated molecular dynamics. Plantation at GpG site causes significant bending and unwinding of the DNA duplex. Sequence dependent structural characteristics are discussed. The 2-picoline (2-methylpyridine) complex, cis[PtCl₂(NH₃)(2-Pic)] (1), is a recently reported anticancer active complex with high activity against cisplatin resistant cell-lines and has now entered clinical trials. The crystal structure of 1 shows steric hindrance induced by the 2-CH₃ group towards an axial approach to Pt. ¹⁵N labelling of 1 and 2D [¹H, ¹⁵N] NMR spectroscopy allowed both the hydrolysis rates and pKa values of the complex to be determined. The steric effect of 2-picoline ligand reduces the reactivity of the complex during substitution reactions and the position cis to 2-picoline is more affected. Reactions between 1 and guanosine 5'-monophosphate (5'-GMP) were followed by 2D NMR and kinetic rates were calculated. The reactivity of 1 with thiol ligand of glutathione (GSH) was greatly reduced compared with its 3-picoline analogue which is less sterically hindered. Both mono- and bis-GMP adducts were observed in the competitive reactions of 1 with GSH and GMP. Slow rotation about the Pt-N picoline bond and fast rotation about Pt-N7 GMP bonds on the NMR time scale were observed for the bis(GMP) adducts. These features of 1 may play an important role in its altered spectrum of biological activity compared to cisplatin. Complex 1 forms four stereoisomers in the reactions with d(GpG) and a 14mer DNA single strand due to the different orientations of 2-picoline (either towards 5'-G or 3'-G) and slow rotation of Pt-N(2-Pic) bond. These contrast with reactions of 1 with a 14mer DNA duplex, in which only one major stereoisomer is observed. 2D NMR experiments and molecular modelling suggest that favourable steric interactions, H-bonding and van der Waals contact provide the structural basis for this unusually high stereoselectivity. These results give new insights into the effect of ligand design on the nature of platinated DNA lesions.

This study is concerned with the reflection and transmission of spherical waves at a plane interface between two different media. The phenomenon of the reflection and transmission of spherical waves has been studied by means of analytical methods, numerical computation, and experimental tests. A new integral representation for a spherical wave is obtained by transforming Lamb/Sommerfeld's integral representation. The new integral has no singularity so it allows more accurate numerical integration. A new proof of Lamb/Sommerfeld's integral representation for a spherical wave is presented based on the new integral. By using the new form of solutions for reflected waves and existing solutions for transmitted waves, numerical studies have been carried out to examine. the phenomenon of reflection and transmission. of spherical waves at plane surfaces of discontinuity in material properties. It is shown that the effective critical angle for the total reflection of a spherical wave is greater than that of a plane wave at a hard boundary, and that when the source height increases the effective critical angle for the total reflection of a spherical wave tends to that of a plane wave. It is shown that recent predictions of spherical wave reflection and transmission coefficients greater than 1 at normal incidence under certain condition are probably due to numerical integration error. It also has been found that for spherical wave reflection and transmission, the time average energy flux, normal to a plane parallel to the plane of discontinuity, may locally be in the direction opposite to that of the direction of energy transmission over the plane as a whole. This so-called "backward wave" occurs in an interference between the direct and reflected waves, as well as in a transmitted wave. An indirect test on the theory has been performed to check the pressure field, above a rigid boundary, predicted by the spherical wave theory. Theoretical and experimental results were in good agreement.

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive system that allows users to interact with virtual objects and the real world at the same time. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore how AR, as a new visualization tool, that can demonstrate spatial relationships by representing three dimensional objects and animations, facilitates students to learn chemistry, a discipline requiring students' visual-spatial thinking to comprehend abstract concepts. In addition, this dissertation examined the effect of AR in a collaborative learning environment and the impact of visual-spatial ability and cognitive load on student learning performance. The Protein Magic Book, developed by Human Interface Technology Laboratory at the University of Washington and the SCRIPPS Research Institute at La Jolla, was the learning material in this study. The Protein Magic Book introduces basic concepts of protein structures with AR representations. Students were randomly assigned into three settings, including studying with texts only (N = 26), studying with AR alone (N = 26), and studying with AR in dyads (22 pairs). Totally, ninety six students participated in this study. They were required to complete background questionnaire, chemistry self-efficacy scale, and chemistry knowledge test, before they studied the protein structures. After the learning activity, they took the post-test, cognitive load scales, and visualization rotation test. The results of data screening showed that a nested effect existed within dyads. Therefore, the Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was employed in data analysis. The results indicated that students in the AR alone setting gained greater learning performance than those who studied with texts. However, students in the collaborative setting did not perform better than those who studied alone with AR scaffolding. Students with higher visual-spatial ability performed better, and students with higher spatial ability reported less cognitive load, especially AR load. Cognitive load, on the other hand, did not affect student learning performance in this study and students in the collaborative setting did not report higher cognitive load than other groups. Discussion of findings, limitations of this study, and future research directions are presented. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

As the availability of digital resources increased exponentially over the last two decades, academic libraries have heavily invested in electronic resources and made them accessible via library Web portals. Yet, underutilization of library Web portals is a common concern among academic libraries. According to the information systems (IS) literature, technology use is determined by user beliefs about the system (i.e., perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, information quality, system quality, and service quality), and user satisfaction. Prior research has also shown that user training is critical in fostering positive users' perceptions and increasing information systems usage. Based on the technology acceptance model and the IS success theoretical frameworks, this longitudinal research was conducted to determine if a semester-long, credit-bearing information literacy course would have a positive impact on undergraduates' perceptions and use of the University at Albany Libraries' Web portal. A mixed methods approach was applied, and the sample population consisted of the undergraduate students enrolled in a three-credit General Education Information Literacy course, Internet and Information Access. Results from three rounds of survey (pre-course, post-course, and an online follow-up) indicated that the course exhibited a long-term positive impact on participants' use of the portal for research purposes. This study also identified factors influencing undergraduates' usage of the portal before and after the course intervention through Partial Least Squares modeling. Compared with the three quality factors, perceived usefulness exerted a stronger influence on user satisfaction which led to portal usage in both cases. Competing resources and voluntariness of use displayed significant negative impacts on portal utilization before the intervention. The negative effect of voluntariness of use became non-significant at the end of the instruction. Further investigation showed that current use led to continued satisfaction which prompted continued use. The outcome of interviews confirmed the quantitative analysis results. It also revealed that a lack of rigor in curriculum and usability were major causes for underutilization, along with the fit between tasks and the portal. As the credit-bearing information literacy course was well-received by participants, having instructors advocate for the usage of the portal was the most agreed-upon recommendation for promoting use. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation is written as three stand-alone papers bookended by an introduction and conclusion. The overall theme of this dissertation is child-mediated intervention (i.e., peer-mediated intervention and sibling-mediated intervention) and its effects on young children on the autism spectrum. Specifically, this dissertation includes a systematic literature review on peer-mediated intervention, a research study on telehealth sibling-mediated intervention, and practitioner guidelines on sibling-mediated intervention

According to World Health Organization (WHO), the global impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remains a significant concern, necessitating the development of effective prevention strategies. Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is one method available for HIV reducing the risk of HIV transmission. However, several barriers such as patient adherence and persistence to product use have limited its widespread uptake. To address this challenge, a long-acting injectable PrEP product was recently approved by the FDA, as long-acting products are associated with improved adherence and compliance. Toward this end, Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International is currently developing a long-acting HIV PrEP product in the form of a biodegradable implant made from polycaprolactone (PCL), which incorporates the antiretroviral drug Bictegravir (BIC). This thesis focuses on the characterization of the BIC-loaded PCL implants and the validation of manufacturing processes to support technology transfer activities. Two high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analytical procedures for both assay and dissolution study were qualified to be accurate and reliable. Formulation paste containing Bictegravir and castor oil was prepared and loaded into PCL tubes to fabricate the implants at Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI). Then, these implants were characterized and compared with those from RTI to validate the impact of different processing parameters. The implants consistently achieved the target drug loading of 120 mg of Bictegravir per implant, with uniform distribution within individual implants as well as between implants. Notably, significant differences in the in-vitro release profiles were observed between the two sets of implants after 2 weeks during the dissolution study, which indicated the importance of sealing integrity in ensuring reproducibility and quality of implants. Consequently, further investigations into testing the sealing integrity should be developed. In conclusion, this thesis employed qualified HPLC methods for the characterization of BIC-loaded PCL implants. The cross-lab evaluation of implants underscored the significance of implant sealing integrity as a crucial processing aspect, emphasizing the need for ongoing research to investigate the testing and validation of sealing integrity.

Clostridium difficile infection is the major cause of nosocomial diarrhea and colitis in developed countries. The broad use of antibiotics has contributed to the occurrence and spread of antibiotic-resistant C. difficile strains in recent years. The main virulent factors of its pathogenicity are two secreted cytotoxins, Toxin A and Toxin B, which attack the intestinal epithelium cell barriers and cause follow-up inflammation and bowel damage. Here, truncated fragments of the receptor binding domain of C. difficile Toxin A, which are responsible for the binding to receptors on colonic epithelial cells and facilitating internalization, endocytosis, and entry into the cell cytoplasm, were used for the design of mRNA vaccines against C. difficile. The mRNA-encoded bacterial antigens were found to be able to successfully express in vitro in mammalian cells. Mice were injected with 3 doses of the mRNA vaccine and the immunogenicity was evaluated by ELISA for the detection of high-titer toxin-specific antibodies. The induced immune serum was able to neutralize native whole C. difficile Toxin A and protect Vero cells from death in vitro. This study can provide a framework for other antibacterial mRNA vaccines in the future.

Abstract: Bio-based composites made from bio-renewable and biodegradable constituents have been proposed as alternatives to petroleum-based composites for a variety of applications. However, studies have shown that in many cases, these bio-based composites are hydrophilic, and their viscoelasticity can be affected by moisture absorbed from humid ambient environment. Thus, to address this problem, this thesis focuses on the understanding and describing the moisture-dependent viscoelasticity of these bio-based composites using analytical and experimental tools. The mechanical properties of composites are closely related to the constituents’ assembly structure and their mechanical properties. Therefore, to model the moisture-dependent viscoelasticity of the bio-based composites, the moisture-dependent viscoelasticity of the constituents needs to be modeled first. Based on existing studies, the diffused water molecules within those hydrophilic polymers can cause both plasticization and anti-plasticization effect. However, the existing well recognized Reimschuessel model only considers the plasticization effect, leading to an underestimation of the material’s stiffness at intermediate moisture level. Therefore, a simple yet important modification was introduced to the Reimschuessel model which considered the anti-plasticization effect. Together with Burgers model as the constitutive relation, the proposed model was validated with the experimental results in the literature with reasonably good accuracy. With the proposed modified Burgers-Reimschuessel model, an experimental methodology that can comprehensively evaluate the moisture-dependent viscoelasticity of hydrophilic polymers was proposed. The proposed methodology was used to evaluate the moisture-dependent viscoelasticity of polylactic acid (PLA), a commonly used bio-based thermoplastic polymer, and a significant anti-plasticization effect was discovered from the experimental results. The modified Burgers-Reimschuessel model was found to be able to predict the effect of moisture on the viscoelasticity of PLA and the results highlighted the importance of considering the moisture’s anti-plasticization effect. A model was developed to predict the moisture-dependent viscoelasticity of homogeneously distributed and randomly oriented short fiber reinforced bio-based composites based on micromechanical framework. The development is divided into two steps. In the first step, a micromechanical model was developed by extending Halpin-Tsai-Pagano model to linear viscoelastic regime according to correspondence principle. The model was validated against the experimental results of regenerated cellulose fibers (RCF) reinforced PLA bio-based composites with different RCF concentrations. Good agreement was found, and it provides a solid foundation to the next step. In the second step, a two-layer model with two empirical parameters were introduced to describe the moisture distribution, fiber-matrix swelling mismatch and fiber/matrix interface debonding during the moisture diffusion process. In order to validate the model, sheet samples of 5.6 wt% RCF reinforced PLA bio-based composites were produced. The samples were conditioned under 98% RH to acquire equilibrium moisture content and tested under 24% RH. Results indicate that the developed model is able to describe the effect of non-equilibrium moisture diffusion on the creep compliance of this bio-based composites. The model developed in this thesis can be used to predict the performance of products made by these bio-based composites. It can also provide guidance to the design and optimization of the products made by theses bio-based composites.

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are viewed as promising next-generation energy storage devices due to their enhanced safety, which results from replacing organic liquid electrolytes with non-flammable solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). However, ASSBs are still in the development stage, and further efforts are required before they can be commercialized. While energy density, power density, and cycle life are frequently mentioned challenges for real-world applications, the progress on scalable manufacturing of ASSBs is often overlooked. Recognizing this, the thesis aims to address practical manufacturing considerations for ASSBs, including layer fabrication, material selection, and cell integration.In the field of layer fabrication, most studies have emphasized only electrochemical performance, neglecting the uniformity of the films. The relationship between manufacturing parameters and the physical properties of SSE films was analyzed using machine learning (ML), revealing that both ionic conductivity and film uniformity are crucial for quality evaluation. To underscore the importance of material selection for scalable manufacturing, the stability of sulfide and chloride SSEs in ambient air and dry rooms was assessed, as dry rooms are often utilized in the scalable manufacturing of Li batteries. The degradation mechanisms of different SSEs were investigated, and their recoverability after degradation was evaluated. Lastly, all materials were integrated into all-solid-state pouch cells (ASSPCs) and operated using newly designed isostatic pouch cell holders (IPCHs), which provide cycling pressure with improved uniformity and accuracy compared to conventional uniaxial pouch cell holders (UPCHs). IPCHs significantly increased the utilization and capacity retention of ASSPCs and are lighter than UPCHs. The research potential of IPCHs was demonstrated by establishing an accurate relationship between electrochemical performance and cycling pressure. Collectively, these findings contribute significantly to the advancement and understanding of the complexities involved in the development and scalability of ASSBs.

Localization systems solve the problem of identifying the location of the agent or surrounding objects with the information gathered from various sensors. It enables a wide range of practical applications, such as autonomous navigation, self-driving cars, virtual reality, augmented reality, and enhanced surveillance. In recent years, deep neural networks have achieved great success in various computer vision and machine learning tasks, including more accurate localization systems with extensive computation complexity and power consumption. However, deploying such systems on energy-constrained mobile Internet-of-Things (IoT) platforms remains a big challenge due to the contradiction between system performance and power consumption. This thesis presents several practical approaches to develop energy-efficient localization systems for real-world applications. First, a real-time visual based simultaneous localization and mapping system is investigated and optimized for hardware implementation, which is ported on a low-power, application specific integrated circuit accelerator. The second work focuses on reducing the complexity of deep learning based visual-inertial odometry systems by finding the most efficient network architecture through neural architecture search and adaptively disabling visual sensor modality on the fly. The third work proposes an accurate learning based end-to-end audio source separation and localization framework with only low-power microphone sensor array, taking advantage of self-supervised learning and adversarial learning techniques. Finally, a new hardware-efficient heterogeneous transform-domain neural network is introduced to reduce computation complexity by replacing convolution operations with element-wise multiplications, learning sparse-orthogonal weights in heterogeneous transform domains, and non-uniform quantization with canonical-signed-digit representation. These works explore four different yet effective ways to balance the system performance and power consumption for mobile IoT platforms, namely reducing deep neural network complexity, adaptively selecting and fusing sensor modalities, employing lower power sensors, and developing hardware-efficient systems for specialized accelerators.

Intracellular delivery is an important yet challenging step in gene and cell-based therapies, especially Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy. Viral-based transduction is the most common method for cell delivery in clinical application because of its high efficiency and specificity. However, there’re safety concern remain unsolved such as insertional toxicity, immunogenicity, and cytotoxicity. Other non-viral transfection, such as cationic lipids and electroporation also have challenges such as low delivery efficiency for suspension cells, potential cell toxicity, and high cell mortality. In addition, due to their bulk nature, cationic lipids and electroporation do not offer uniform and dosage-controlled delivery across cell populations. Furthermore, part of the CAR-T therapy efficacy, in which the CAR gene was delivered into primary T cells and expression receptor on the cell membrane to recognize tumor cells, heavily relies on the method of gene delivery. Besides the side effect mentioned above of both viral and non-viral transfection, it’s also crucial that the intracellular delivery method can control the dosage deliver into the cell population. Recent clinical studies have recognized that the heterogeneity of CAR expression level in cell population determines therapy efficacy and safety. Specifically, CAR-T cells with lower CAR expression cause less therapeutic efficacy while high CAR expression lead cytokine release syndrome and tonic signaling. Hence, a precise-controlled method that can not only manufacture CAR-T cells efficiently but also titer the CAR expression density in an optimal range is desirable. To address the challenges from viral or non-viral gene delivery methods and enable to control the dosage of cargoes intracellular delivery, we developed an Acoustic-Electric Shear Orbiting Portation (AESOP) platform for intracellular delivery. By applying acoustic induced shear and relatively low electric field to initiate pores on cell membrane and expand the size of pores, a wide range of cargos (include dextran, mRNA and plasmid) can be delivered into multiple cells, such as HeLa, K562, Jurkat cells, and primary T cells without compromising cell viability. In addition, with assistant of micro-vortices induced by acoustic energy, the cargoes can be mixed uniformly with the targeted cells, thus each cell can uptake approximately the same dosage of cargo, which lead to similar protein expression on the cell membrane in cell population after transfection. Finally, we demonstrated that AESOP can delivered mRNA encoding anti CD19 CAR gene into primary T cells uniformly and can control the CAR expression in the cell population via adjusting the input mRNA concentration.