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This study aimed to investigate the effect of using media in EFL classes on enhancing EFL university learners' oral fluency and global awareness. It adopted the one-group pre-experimental design, with a one-group pre-post interview along with a mixed research approach integrating both quantitative and qualitative assessment. A group of 30 Arabic native speakers, enrolled at The Arab Open University in Egypt, was randomly selected to participate in the study. Learners in this group were first-year students, aged between 18 and 20 years, at the pre-intermediate level (A2). The researcher prepared a list of oral fluency and global awareness components as a base for designing the study instruments. She also designed a rubric, a pre-post interview, and a participants' satisfaction questionnaire. Besides, the researcher designed a program for enhancing EFL university learners' oral fluency and global awareness. The study participants studied thirteen online-based sessions, including the pre-post interview. After conducting the pre and post interviews, the participants' scores were statistically analyzed using the t-test and the effect size factor. In addition, the scores and data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results revealed that the program based on media was highly effective in developing EFL learners' oral fluency and global awareness. Consequently, media should be an integral part of English language lessons to enhance EFL university learners' oral fluency and global awareness and create an interactive learning environment.

As global challenges such as climate change, shifting job markets, and technological advances intensify, educational systems must adapt to equip students with essential 21st-century skills. While countries like Singapore, Ireland, Australia, and Finland have created flexible education systems to meet these demands, the United States faces a fragmented and decentralized system that struggles to keep up with global changes (Wehling, 2007). This study investigates how the Microsoft School Transformation Framework (MSTF) is addressing these issues within Microsoft Showcase Schools (MSS).The purpose of this research was to evaluate how principals and teachers perceive the implementation of the MSTF and to assess its effectiveness. Specifically, the study compared perceptions between schools that have used the MSTF for up to two years and those that have used it for more than two years. To achieve this, I created two surveys: the Innovative Leadership Practices and Programs Survey for principals and the 21st Century Skills for Teaching and Learning Survey for teachers. A total of 36 principals and 50 teachers from the official list of Microsoft Showcase Schools (2020) participated in the study. The surveys measured responses across various domains. Principals' responses were analyzed in six areas related to leadership strategies, while teachers' responses were assessed in eight areas related to student skills and professional practices. Both surveys used a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 indicating minimal implementation and 5 indicating extensive implementation. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including percentages, means, and standard deviations. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to find statistical differences in perceptions between schools with different lengths of MSTF implementation, using a significance level of p < 0.05. The results showed significant differences in leadership practices and educational outcomes based on how long the MSTF had been implemented. By comparing these findings with existing research, this study highlights how the MSTF impacts student preparation for future job markets and offers insights into effective educational practices for addressing global challenges. [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.]

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-associative study was to examine if, and to what extent, there was a statistically significant correlation between perceived stress and resilience among undergraduate students in the Southwestern United States. Two theoretical concepts formed the foundation of the study, and they included the transactional theory of stress and coping (TTSC) and the resilience theory. The perceived stress scale (PSS) and the predictive 6 - factor resilience scale (PR6) questionnaires were administered to undergraduate students online. Resilience was measured based on the six domains of the PR6, which are collaboration, composure, vision, tenacity, reasoning, and health. But for the purpose of this study, only three domains of the PR6 such as collaboration, vision, and composure were measured. Primary data for the study was collected through a convenience sample of 116 undergraduate students Facebook group members. Data and demographic information were collected using online survey tool through SurveyMonkey with validated instruments. The PSS and PR6 support for the hypothesis was found using the Spearman's Correlation to measure the strength and direction of the relationship between all variables of the study. Due to some changes, only research question one (RQ1) was answered in this study. Based on the relevant Spearman correlation between vision as measured by PR6 and perceived stress as measured by the PSS. The Spearman correlation displayed a significant negative correlation r[subscript s] (114) = -0.294, p = 0.001. This provided support to reject the null hypothesis. In other words, hypothesis 1 was supported. [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.]

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice and can increase stroke risk five times. AF also impairs quality of life (QoL) dramatically. Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has recently emerged as a successful intervention to treat symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), superior to antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs). PVI could be performed using point-bypoint radiofrequency ablation (RF) or one-shot cryoballoon ablation (cryo). This thesis included a single-centre retrospective analysis comparing clinical outcomes in RF and cryo at 12 months. Pulmonary vein (PV) reconnection patterns after failed ablation were also examined to improve both ablation techniques in particular anatomical sites. The outcome was also calculated from a patient perspective using QoL paper questionnaires. The P wave represents atrial depolarisation and alterations in its morphology could demonstrate changes in atrial electrophysiology. P wave parameters using digital 12 leads electrocardiogram (ECG) directly before and after ablation were utilised to compare differences between both ablation modalities and to predict outcomes. P wave parameters were also used to predict repeat ablation outcomes in patients who failed their first PVI. The utility of P wave mapped by body surface mapping (BSM) was explored in predicting 12 months success rates for external direct current cardioversion (DCCV) in persistent atrial fibrillation (persAF). RF and cryo demonstrated similar clinical outcomes at 12 months, similar P wave parameter changes, similar QoL improvement regardless of additional ablations, and similar PV reconnection patterns. However, there was a trend toward right lower pulmonary vein (RLPV) reconnection after failed cryo. Multiple P wave parameter changes were observed after first and second ablations. However, the change in P wave terminal force in V1 (PTFV1) after second ablation was the only potential predictor of successful outcomes at 12 months. Increased PWDc was also predictive of DCCV failure at 12 months in patients on amiodarone. This thesis provided insights into the utility of P waves in comparing ablation techniques and predicting PVI and DCCV outcomes.

Heat transfer has long been a vital part of human life. Many sources have focused on increased heat transfer. Various industries, such as solar water heating systems, solar chemistry, solar desalination plants, and concentrating solar power plants, food processing plants, petrochemical plants, refrigeration systems and air conditioning equipment, and condensing central heating exchangers, etc., face the challenges of effective utilisation, conservation, and recovery of heat. In modern times, increasing the rate of heat transfer in concentrating solar collectors such as parabolic troughs by using various passive approaches have proven to be very effective. When passive approaches are used, more pumping power is needed to move the fluid through the receiver. Manufacturing of parabolic trough receiver tubes requires a significant financial commitment due to the high expenses of both capital and operation. Therefore, it is essential to develop parabolic trough receivers that are efficient. Several methods, such as heat transfer enhancement and minimisation of entropy generation, are used to do this. The current investigation makes use of tube insert technology and nanoparticle flow to achieve optimal thermohydraulic and thermodynamic designs. Previous research on fluid flow and heat transfer in a regular pipe (PT) and a pipe equipped with an elliptical-cut twisted tape insert (TECT) and a traditional twisted tape insert (TPT) has not been conducted, particularly emphasizing the utilization of hybrid nanofluid as the working medium. However, previous works on water and nanofluid do exist. In addition, the Bejan number and the generation of total entropy are not examined on tubes supplied with an elliptical-cut and classical twisted tape insert for different fluids. Hence, in this study, heat transfer and entropy generation in a turbulent flow of an Al₂O₃-Cu/water hybrid nanofluid in a plain tube with classical and elliptical-cut twisted tape inserts are investigated numerically. The current study focuses on the heat transmission augmentation and thermodynamic irreversibility of steady and unsteady turbulent flows through pipes with elliptical-cut and classical twisted tape introduced under uniform or non-uniform well heat flux for water, hybrid-nanofluids (Al₂O₃-Cu/water), and nanofluids (CuO/water). This work uses Star-CCM+ for numerical simulations. The realizable k-ℇ model is employed to simulate the turbulent flow computationally. The findings are utilised to determine which type of tube and fluid provides the highest performance by quantifying gains in steady state (friction factor, heat transfer, and thermal performance factor) and unsteady state (transient heat transfer). The total entropy generation has been examined in this PhD study to determine the type of tube and fluid that reduces entropy generation. The results indicate that the heat transfer augmentation and thermal performance factor provided by the tube fitted with elliptical-cut twisted tape are greater than those provided by the tube supplied with classical twisted tape and the ordinary tube. This is because the pipe supplied with elliptical-cut twisted tape mixes the fluids better than the tube supplied with traditional twisted tape and the ordinary tube. Also, when the number of nanoparticles increases, heat transmission and thermal performance factors increase. Furthermore, TECT, hybrid nanofluids, and mass concentrations of nanoparticles affect the rate of total entropy production. The mixed convection of Al₂O₃-Cu/water hybrid nanofluid is also investigated in a vertical pipe supplied with elliptical-cut twisted tape inserts. Further, the local and total entropy production as well as Bejan number of the system are calculated. The results clearly demonstrate the effect of mixed convection on heat transfer, thermal performance factor, and entropy production. Where the factor of thermal performance and the rate of heat transfer increase of pipe systems under mixed convection exceed those under forced convection. Moreover, mixed convection has a significant impact on the minimisation of the total entropy production.

Social media motivates people to express their emotions and share them publicly. However, at the same time, there are those who use it to spread racism and offensive language. Detecting emotional intensity and offensive language can be challenging in the context of social media microblogs, such as Twitter. This task becomes even more complicated when morphology-rich languages, such as Arabic, are involved. Social media communications typically consist of a range of dialects and sub-dialects that are not ruled by consistent standards. Therefore, there is a need to adopt effective methods and resources to better comprehend and treat a variety of linguistic forms when seeking to understand the emotional intensity and offensive language in Arabic short texts. In this dissertation, we study two main problems: detection of emotional intensity and of offensive language in Arabic microblogs. First, we propose a novel combination of static character- and word-level embeddings (ACWE) to improve the detection of emotional intensity. For this purpose, we create word-and character-level embeddings using a large number of tweets enriched by the diversity of affective vocabulary words and Arabic dialects. ACWE significantly outperforms state-of-the-art pre-trained Ara�bic word embeddings in emotional intensity tasks. Second, we enhance contextualised language models by incorporating ACWE to identify emotional intensity. We show that our proposed method obtains state-of-the-art results in seven affect tasks, includ�ing our main task, emotional intensity detection. Lastly, we exploit emotional intensity and other affect-related tasks in the offensive language task using transfer learning ap�proaches. We find that incorporating the best-performing contextual language models with anger intensity and emotion-related tasks enhances the performance of offensive language detection.

This study focuses on Saudi women's construction of their leader identity, specifically within the context of political and sociocultural constraints. Women in Saudi Arabia (KSA) account for 49 percent of the population (GASTAT, 2016) and 45.4 percent of academia (Ministry of Education, 2018a). However, only 3.3 percent have attained top leadership positions in the public sector (GASTAT, 2018a). Research suggests that sociocultural constraints may affect Saudi women's developmental readiness to hold high-ranked leadership roles (Kattan et al., 2016). It is therefore important to view leadership practises through a contextual lens, to gain insights into the unique experiences leaders encounter in leadership roles (Radomski, 2014; Avolio et al., 2009b; Antonakis et al., 2003; Osborn et al., 2002; Steers et al., 2012; Lord et al., 2001). Accordingly, this study will adopt the social constructionism paradigm in its construction of the leader identity through narratives. The main argument in this study is that women's academic advancement as leaders in KSA is entangled with sociocultural constraints, suggesting that leader identity is fundamentally intrapersonal. This study reviews leadership developmental readiness literature (Avolio, 2016) and the role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders (Eagly and Karau, 2002), and applies a social identity lens to developmental leadership readiness in the context of KSA. Qualitative research methods were employed to facilitate an in-depth understanding of each participant's unique lived experience. The study consisted of two phases, the first completed in January 2017, and the second a year later. Participants in the first phase were thirty Saudi women academics who attended a women-only leadership development programme. Fifteen of these women participated in the second phase. Semi-structured interviews were conducted; the data captured Saudi women's self�concept concerning their readiness to hold prominent leadership roles. The effect of new socio-political reforms in KSA was explored in phase two, including and if and how they affected the women's self-perception as leaders. A narrative analysis using a combination of categorical content and structure analysis was employed (Lieblich et al., 1998). The categorical content analysis highlighted main themes from participant narratives, while the structural analysis analysed the story as a whole. Key themes from the categorical content analysis regarding the factors that shaped women's leader identity developmental readiness included self-readiness, higher education (HE) organisational readiness and sociocultural context readiness. The holistic content analysis identified three leader identity narratives Stories of leader identity construction emerged from the analysis of the phase one and two interviews with Saudi women academics and which formed three narratives. These were: the "I am not a leader"; "I am a leader: capable and motivated", which indicates a steady narrative. Progressive narrative "Ambivalent leader identity to I am a leader narrative", "Being a leader was not a choice of mine, now it is", "I am not a leader narrative to I am a leader", and regressive narrative "why not to it is only a show". Participants' stories revealed the ways in which subtle, institutionalised gender practises stemming from the sociocultural context shaped Saudi women's leader identity construction, which contradicts the study's previous argument. Some participants misplaced their gender identity in favour of academic identity, concealing leader identity unless positive social identity had been constructed.

Vibration energy harvesting is an emerging technology that enables electrical low-power generation using electromechanical structures or devices with piezoelectric elements. The prevailing approach for the characterization of the energy-harvesting performance in these devices is to consider a finite structure operating under forced vibration conditions. This thesis introduces an alternative framework whereby the intrinsic energy-harvesting characteristics are rigorously quantified independent of the forcing and the structure size, and by doing so, the notion of a piezoelectric material is considered rather than a finite piezoelectric electromechanical structure. To illustrate the intrinsic quantification termed as "intrinsic energy-harvesting availability," suspended monoatomic and diatomic piezoelectric phononic crystals (MPPnCs and DPPnCs) are considered and treated with Bloch's theorem; consequently, the representative energy-harvesting characteristics within the span of the unit cell's Brillouin zone (BZ) are formally quantified. In the absence of shunted piezoelectric elements, the wavenumber-dependent dissipation (damping-ratio) of the phononic crystal (PnC) is computed and shown to increase, as expected, with the level of prescribed (raw) damping. With the inclusion of the piezoelectric elements, the wavenumber-dependent dissipation rises by an amount proportional to the energy intrinsically available for harvesting; upon summation of this increased amount over all the damping-ratio branches (acoustic and optical modes) and subsequent complete integration over the BZ, a quantity representative of the net, i.e., useful, dissipative energy intrinsically available for harvesting is obtained. Piezoelectric elements comprising purely resistive and inductor-equipped shunt circuits are investigated. A parametric design study yielding optimal piezoelectric-element properties in terms of the proposed intrinsic energy-harvesting availability measure is also presented. Metadamping is the phenomenon of either enhanced or diminished intrinsic dissipation in a material emanating from the material's internal structural dynamics. It has previously been demonstrated that an elastic locally resonant metamaterial (LRM) may be designed to exhibit higher or lower dissipation compared to a statically equivalent PnC with the same amount of prescribed damping. In this thesis, it is revealed that even further dissipation (positive metadamping) or, alternatively, further reduction of loss (negative metadamping) may be attained in an inertially amplified material (IAM) and an inertially amplified locally resonant metamaterial (IALRM) compared to a statically equivalent PnC and LRM with the same amount of prescribed damping. This is demonstrated by a passive configuration whereby an attenuation peak is generated by the motion of an auxiliary mass connected to the main/baseline mass by an inclined rigid link. It is further illustrated that by coupling the inertially amplified attenuation peak with that of a local-resonance attenuation peak, a trade-off between the temporal- and spatial-attenuation intensities associated with the material properties is observed for a given range of the inertial-amplifier angle, i.e., angle between the inclined rigid links and the central axis of the metamaterial. As a result, design for desired performance is possible along this trade-off regime by adjustment of the inertialamplifier angle, i.e., passive tuning. A region of monotonic increase in both attenuation types also exists for a different range of the inertial-amplifier angle. These results create a pathway for highly expanding the Ashby space for load-bearing and damping capacities orstiffness-damping capacities via design of a material's internal structure. Building upon the work on characterizing the amount of useful dissipative energy intrinsically available for harvesting in a piezoelectric periodic media, the energy-harvesting availability is illustrated for a locally resonant piezoelectric metamaterial (LRPM) and an inertially amplified locally resonant piezoelectric metamaterial (IALRPM). It is also demonstrated that an LRPM with the same piezoelectric electrical parameters and the same amount of prescribed damping as for a statically equivalent reference piezoelectric phononic crystal (PPnC) exhibits an inherent emergence in the intrinsic energy-harvesting availability. This intrinsic phenomenon is termed as "metaharvesting." Furthermore, it is shown that an IALRPM with the same piezoelectric electrical parameters and the same amount of prescribed damping as for a statically equivalent LRPM and a statically equivalent reference PPnCexhibits a further emergence in the intrinsic energy-harvesting availability, i.e., enhanced metaharvesting.

Introduction: Lebanon has faced a substantial increase in the burden of NonCommunicable Diseases (NCD) over the last decade. There is a dearth of research focusing on health systems and policy responses to NCD. This PhD thesis analyses how the NCD burden is addressed in the context of fragile Lebanon and identifies policy-, health system- and community-related factors affecting NCD prevention and control. Methodology: This thesis adopts a pragmatic paradigm and incorporates: 1. a political economy analysis of NCD, based on a literature review; 2. a system analysis of NCD prevention and control, based on semi-structured interviews and group-model building workshops with 79 health providers and community members in urban Greater Beirut; 3. a survey with 941 persons living with NCDs to identify the magnitude of key factors affecting NCD control in Greater Beirut. Findings: The political economy analysis revealed an unbalanced power relationship between NCD policy promoters (e.g. civil society) and blockers(e.g. private entities). This has led to a gap in the prevention policy landscape. Care is provided under the auspices of a highly privatized hospital-centric model where services are offered for commercial gain rather than public good. The systems analysis validated these insights, with health provider and community participants linking the challenging socio-political environment to lacking prevention policy/action. This increases NCD incidence and creates barriers in accessing care. Experiences with NCD care were noted to be varied and influenced by perceptions of service quality and trust in providers. The survey confirmed that inequities in access to care exist in Greater Beirut and highlighted that service delivery patterns differ by provider. Communities evaluated different dimensions of trust in healthcare and identified gaps in the reliability, fairness and fidelity of the current system. Conclusions: The thesis concludes with an overview of how to strengthen Lebanon's response to NCDs.

This work presents a computational and experimental investigation on the effects of liquid properties on multiphase flow in horizontal and upward-inclined pipes. The overall aim of the research is to gain more insight into the effects of viscosity, density, and surface tension on multiphase flow behaviour. The computational part of the study simulated the drift velocity of an elongated gas bubble, commonly referred to as Taylor bubbles in a 2D domain. The computational efficiency of 2D simulation makes it a preferred option for parametric studies, where different operational parameters are systematically varied to understand their impact on the flow behaviour. By simplifying the geometry to 2D, it becomes easier to explore a wide range of parameters and assess their effects. In this work, 78 simulations were run at six different pipe inclinations to study the effects of 13 different liquids. The simulation results show that liquid density alone has little or no influence on the Taylor bubble's velocity at all pipe inclinations, while the bubble's velocity is heavily influenced by liquid viscosity at all pipe inclinations. However, surface tension appears to show unique effects on the Taylor bubble, when the pipe inclination is less than 45 degrees, surface tension seems to have no effect on Taylor bubble's drift velocity, the effects of surface tension only become notable when the flow inclination is at 45 degrees or above. This behaviour has not been reported by previous researchers based on the review done, as no previous work has singled out one liquid physical property to study its effect while keeping the other properties constant. Experimental study on the effects of liquid properties was also carried out to generate two-phase flow data using three different liquids, water, surfactant solution, and glycerol solution in a 19 mm ID pipe and 4m length. The experimental campaign was carried out in horizontal and 15 degrees upward inclinations. Two-phase flow regime and slug frequency data were acquired using a high-speed camera, quick-action solenoid valves were used to collect liquid holdup data, and a differential pressure transducer was used to measure the pressure drop across the flow section. The effects of liquid properties and variation of inclination angles on different flow parameters including flow regime, pressure drop, liquid holdup, and slug frequency were investigated and reported. Flow regime maps were also developed for all flow orientations investigated. The data generated would be a useful contribution to the gas/liquid flow database and could potentially be used to develop or improve multiphase flow correlations.

Background: Salivary gland tumours (SGT) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with morphological diversity and overlapping features. SGT can be diagnostically challenging due to a large number of entities and markedly similar features but different clinical behaviour. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has been found to be precise for histological diagnosis and prognosis prediction including identification of sub-visual features. However, its application to SGT has not been reported to date. The epidemiological data for SGT is also somewhat outdated and limited to single centre reports. Objectives: This study aims first, to mitigate epidemiological data shortcomings by analysing information including demographic, anatomical location and histological diagnoses of SGT from multiple centres across the world. Second, to examine if AI can be used to differentiate between different SGT subtypes and grades based on the analysis of digitised whole slide images (WSIs) of Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained slides. Methods: All primary benign and malignant SGT demographical data including age, gender, location and histological diagnosis from fifteen centres covering the majority of the world health organisation (WHO) geographical regions between 2006 and 2019 were included in the study. A total of 240 scanned H&E WSIs were obtained. An open-source bioimage analysis software (QuPath) was used for training and analysis of features on representative regions-of-interest (ROIs). The first machine learning (ML) classifier was trained and tested to differentiate between benign and malignant (BvM) SGT (n=120 each). The second ML classifier was used for malignant SGT subtyping (MST) (n=120). A third ML classifier was used for automated grade prediction (TG) (n=120) in two most common gradable SGT and results compared with deep learning (DL) methods using multiple state-of-the-art DL convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Finally, a quantitative analysis of geometrical and morphometrical features and their correlation with tumour type, grade, and molecular status (MAML2 rearrangement in mucoepidermoid carcinoma) was carried out. Results: A total of 5739 cases were analysed including 65% benign and 35% malignant tumours. The most common benign tumour was pleomorphic adenoma, while the most prevalent malignant tumour was mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Our novel (ML) classifiers results achieved excellent performance with F1 score of 0.90, 0.92 and 0.87, for benign vs malignant, malignant subtyping and grading, respectively. Significant differences between cellularity, cytoplasmic eosin and nucleus/cell ratio (p<0.05) were seen for all experiments, potentially signifying important diagnostic features. Most of the DL CNNs also achieved high F1 scores for benign versus malignant differentiation (>0.80), with EfficientNet-B0 giving the best performance (F1= 0.87) but with inferior accuracy than the ML classifier for malignant subtyping (highest F1=0.60 with ResNet-18 and ResNet-50) and tumour grading (highest F1 score=0.70 with EfficientNet-B0). The quantitative analysis showed a statistically significant difference between nuclear eccentricity and nucleus/cell ratio (p<0.01) and nuclear circularity and eccentricity (p<0.05) between low and high grades in AdCC and PAC respectively, as well as nuclear area and perimeter (p<0.01) between MAML2 fusion positive and negative cases. Conclusion: SGT are rare, but have shown a gradual increasing incidence over the last decade and a half. We have reported the largest multicentre investigation of SGT to date but more extensive studies of SGT need to be conducted to understand and update the epidemiological landscape of these tumours. Our novel results report the successful application of ML and DL for histological analysis, subtyping and grading of SGT on H&E images for the first time. These findings will aid in pathological diagnosis and clinical decision making, but a larger multicentre cohort needs to be analysed to determine the true significance and clinical usefulness.

The effects of thermal load combined with mechanical loading of composite laminates are analysed. A new incremental damage evolution law of the cohesive zone model has been developed that can take into account the effects of change in temperature of an interface element. The numerical model results for both test specimens were in good agreement with the data available in the literature. The second goal of this work was to investigate a cohesive zone model under fatigue loading. A new damage evaluation law and a new evaluation rate of fatigue damage for each cyclic loading (∂D⁄∂N) have been presented. Single Lap Joint (SLJ) Model and Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) specimens were used to validate a proposed approach. The results confirmed that the maximum difference between numerical and experimental when using a DCB specimen was 5% at 250 cycles. Whereas the difference between the numerical results and experimental when using a SLJ was 5.2% at 2000 cycles and 4.6 % at 4000 cycles. Finally, the new damage evolution law for matrix cracking and fibre damage is presented and investigated. The results obtained using the new damage evolution law were in good agreement with experimental results showing that the model presented has the ability to overcome convergence problems in numerical simulations.

Assessment and feedback category is a fundamental component for testing student learning, huge debates about assessment and feedback have been a hot topic for researchers, the goal is to advance assessment and feedback practice to improve students' performance. Researchers conducted studies to analyse assessment and feedback category as it has gained lowest students' satisfaction in higher education, they tried to detect category's issues that negatively affect students' attainment, they used focused group and traditional surveys (multiple choice and ratings questions) where they can gauge the students' satisfaction about different aspects of the category. Data mining methods have proven to be a powerful tool to study and analyse phenomenons in different sectors including education. Novel frameworks were developed to analyse different aspects of the learning process, most of them focused on using structured data. In the last decade the research trend has moved towards unstructured data(e.g text), the goal was to free students from the worded questions that are designed by surveys. In this thesis a text mining framework has been developed to analyse students' comments that related to assessment and feedback category. Two datasets were collected from students, each of which includes textual feedback. A qualitative analysis of the two corpora revealed two reliable corpora tailored to assessment and feedback category. Sentiment analysis models indicated poor student satisfaction about learning in general and about assessment and feedback in particular. The most frequently reported assessment issues are: assessment design, clarity of the assessment, marking criteria, poor feedback, and lack of mock exams. Several algorithms were used to create models for automatic detection of the assessment issues, with the best results being obtained by the Random Forest and Support Vector Machine algorithms. To shed more light on the category, the National Student Survey data was analysed; the outcome showed that the category has the lowest student's satisfaction at national, institutional and department levels; it has also showed the overall student satisfaction about assessment and feedback category is lower than student satisfaction regarding each aspect of assessment and feedback. The research implications include: to inform the institution decision makers of the findings, to publish the results and the extracted datasets for further research.

This thesis is concerned with the justifiability of regulating hate speech disseminated by the British press. It explains why the narrow scope of current regulation is at odds with prominent theories of press freedom, focusing on the following major accounts. Firstly, a libertarian theory which suggests the press ought to be subject to equivalent legal treatment to the public. Secondly, social responsibility theories which extend protection and special privileges to the press only when they fulfill certain democratic functions. It argues that these theories support broader regulation of hate speech than those which currently apply to the British press. Finally, it considers how such broader regulation can be implemented in a manner which preserves press freedom. Chapter 1 explains the nature of hate speech in the British press identifying it as a form of covert hate speech that stereotypes and stigmatises racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. It explores why such content is not proscribed under the current legal regime (which only bans overt hate speech) and how it is caught by the broader restrictions applicable to the broadcast media. Finally, it explains that this gap is pertinent because hate speech in the media is mostly of the covert kind which escapes regulation. Chapter 2 sets out the methodology used to explore the appropriate scope of hate speech restrictions on the press. It explains the coverage/protection distinction and the balancing framework that will be used to reconcile the press's rights to publish with the need to prevent harm to others. It then explains circumstances under which such a balancing approach would support regulating covert hate speech under both the libertarian and social responsibility theories of press freedom. Chapter 3 evaluates the rationales for the broader regulation of broadcasting, testing their coherency and whether they support the differential treatment of hate speech between broadcasting and the press. In chapters 4 and 5, it is argued that regulation of covert hate speech by the press can be justified under the libertarian theory if it is shown to cause the same harms as overt hate speech. The chapters then set out the empirical evidence in the social science literature demonstrating a link between overt hate speech and various direct and indirect harms. Finally, it considers whether there is evidence of similar quality linking covert hate speech by the press and these harms. Chapter 6 examines theories of constituted harm built on J.L. Austin's theory of speech acts. It explains the authority problem that prevents ordinary hate speakers from successfully ranking and subordinating their targets. It then argues that the press does not suffer from the same deficits in authority and considers the implications of this on the case for broader regulation. Chapters 7 and 8 set out the conditions under which broader regulation of press hate speech would be supported by social responsibility theories. It is argued that such regulation would be justified if the press has more limited rights than the public to engage in hate speech and if such restrictions do not hinder their ability to perform their institutional functions. It is then contended that the strongest rationales for protecting hate speech in free speech theory are non-instrumentalist speaker-based arguments that either do not-or only marginally apply to-the press. Finally, it is argued that such regulation can be designed in ways that allow the press to perform their roles as public watchdogs, as a source of information and ideas on matters of public concern, and as a platform for people to exchange views. Chapter 9 considers what regulation that is both effective against covert hate speech and which preserves press freedom would look like. This includes a consideration of whom it should apply, what form it ought to take, and how it would fit in the current regulatory framework. This thesis, therefore, seeks to answer four main research questions : 1.What kind of hate speech does the press publish, and should it be restricted? 2.Does this hate speech cause harm, and if so, how? 3.What is the relationship between freedom of expression and press freedom, and how can these principles be reconciled with restrictions on covert hate speech? 4.What form should effective press-specific hate speech regulation take, who should it apply to, and where would it fit in the current regulatory framework?

Introduction: In the UK alone there are around 76,000 heart attacks each year with around 48,000 of these being the most serious ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions. Ischaemia occurs during a coronary blockage when the downstream tissue does not receive effective blood flow; however, ischaemia can persist following reperfusion where small collateral arteries are still impaired, leading to continued ischaemic damage. Despite many years of research, there are still no drugs that could be given to the patient to reduce the spread of ischaemic damage in the myocardium during ischaemia and into reperfusion. The intrinsic cardioprotective pathways within the heart have shown great promise in pre-clinical animal models at reducing infarct size, yet most have failed to translate to clinical efficacy. In most cardioprotective interventions there is a reduction in electrical excitability leading to a reduction in the Ca2+ accumulation during each systolic interval, so reducing cellular energy consumption to restore Ca2+ homeostasis. In this study, ion channel modulators will be used to alter outward K+ currents, including the ATP-sensitive K+ (lKATP) currents and slowly activating K+ (IKs) currents, to directly mimic the changes seen in electrical activity in cardioprotection. It is hypothesised that this will directly impart cardioprotection against ischaemia, bypassing the conventional signalling pathways. Methods: 1) Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology to measure currents and action potentials, 2) simulated ischaemia/reperfusion injury to measure contractile function and cell death in an isolated cardiomyocyte model, 3) fluorescence imaging to measure Ca2+ -handling, and 4) ex vivo Langendorff whole heart coronary ligation experiments as a model of myocardial infarction. Selective modulators of IKATP and IKs were used to assess the roles of these currents in protection and toxicity. Results: The key finding was that selective potentiation of IKs or IKATP imparted a protection to cardiomyocytes. The mechanism for this is suggested to be due to a modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis and so preservation of ATP. The presence of a newly-identified sarcolemmal cardiac KATP channel, containing a Kir6.1 pore, was demonstrated. This was potentiated by KATP activators and inhibited by selective KATP blockers. Both KATP (Kir6.1) and IKs currents were demonstrated to have a role in modulating the action potential duration, and the Ca2+ transients. Finally, potentiation of both IKs and Kir6.1 activity had a protective effect in a cellular ischaemia/reperfusion assay and in a whole heart ex vivo coronary ligation model. Kir6.1 blockers were shown to have a cardiotoxic effect in these assays, whereas IKs inhibition had limited effects. Conclusion: Pharmacological manipulation of the IKs and IKATP currents mimics the effects of known endogenous cardioprotective stimuli on the action potential. Data presented in this thesis suggest that modulation of these ventricular currents could be used clinically as a novel pharmacological cardioprotection against myocardial ischaemia.

Early childhood education is essential in helping children achieve academic and cognitive preparedness. To improve the students' literacy and reading skills, teachers must help children learn how to manage their emotions and handle social interactions effectively. However, the absence of a formal SEL curriculum, the Saudi Arabia Early Learning Standards (SAELS) ambiguity, resulting in an increased emphasis on academic and cognitive preparedness, ignoring social emotional skills. The purpose of this study was to explore Saudi Arabian preschool teachers' perceptions and experiences of the need for teaching SEL. I sought to understand the need for teaching SEL, the knowledge and skills they believe are part of SEL, the challenges in teaching SEL, and the support they need to positively impact young children's social emotional development. Qualitative methodology with a phenomenological design was used. Erikson's psychosocial developmental theory and Bandura's social learning theory provided theoretical foundations. Twelve preschool teachers from public preschools in Saudi Arabia were purposefully sampled. Thematic analysis was conducted from the interview and focus group transcripts. Four themes emerged in answering the central research question: (1) teaching SEL is essential in early childhood; (2) the need for SEL curriculum; (3) teachers need more training to improve knowledge and awareness of how to teach SEL; and (4) does not see SEL as a formal curriculum. The findings of this study highlight the need for a formal SEL curriculum to improve SEL in Saudi Arabia. [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.]

Mobile learning is a rapidly growing field in education that has gained increasing worldwide attention in recent years due to the widespread availability of mobile devices and their potential to enhance learning experiences. In Saudi Arabia, higher education institutions have explored the use of mobile learning to support teaching and learning, though limited research examines factors related to the use of mobile learning by faculty members. To ensure the success of mobile learning integration in higher education environments, it is vital to examine faculty members' behavioral intentions to use mobile learning for educational purposes. This quantitative study investigated how the attitudinal factors of the technology acceptance model (TAM; perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) can predict faculty members' behavioral intention to use mobile learning for educational purposes at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This study also examined whether gender and age moderated the relationship between the TAM constructs and behavioral intention to use mobile learning by faculty members. The findings of this study show that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were the statistically significant positive predictors of the faculty members' behavioral intention to mobile learning. Gender moderated the relationship between perceived ease of use and faculty members' behavioral intention to use mobile learning. However, age did not moderate the relationship between the TAM constructs and faculty members' behavioral intention to use mobile learning. The current study's results were discussed with previous research studies. In the end, the current study discussed limitations and implications as well as provided suggestions for future studies. [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.]

Arabic orthography is mainly presented either in shallow orthography (with all diacritics) for novice students or in deep orthography (without diacritics) for superior readers. However, the shallow orthography is heavily loaded with diacritics which may burden the reading process, whereas deep orthography can cause ambiguity (heterophonic homographic words). Building upon the findings of current psycholinguistic research, this study introduces a systematic approach to effectively and economically address the issue of diacritics and reading. This proposed approach begins with shallow orthography for new words the first six to twelve times they are encountered to assure lexical internalization and then ends with the newly-coined term semi-deep orthography in which only the needed diacritics are used. The semi-deep orthography is employed based on two principles: word frequency and ambiguity within the root-pattern system. The first principle is word frequency, in which the top 5000 high-frequency words, accounting for approximately 90% of written discourse, do not need diacritics. The second principle is ambiguity within the root-pattern system, since this system produces nearly 85% of Arabic vocabulary and thus provides the basic unwritten-vowel framework required for reading. However, occasionally ambiguity emerges within the system, for example when diacritics are required to distinguish between the active and passive forms of a verb. [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.]

Despite stereotypes of Salafism as being homogenous, and usually framed as an external 'foreign influence', the adaptation of Salafism and its practices to local contexts does occurs, and not solely for pragmatic or instrumental reasons. This thesis explores that adaptation process by examining Moroccan Salafism as a case study. Moroccan Islam has been known for its Sunni characteristics, consisting of the Ash'ari creed and sanctity of Sufism, and yet Salafism still flourished there. This environment, in which Salafism was not expected to emerge or thrive, posed numerous challenges to Salafi-based concepts and the community, necessitating the need to adapt to the local context, responding to socio- political changes, and engage with other Islamic movements. This thesis analyses the intellectual transformations that the Moroccan Salafi movement has undergone. Additionally, it focuses on how local or transnational factors affect the reshaping of religious discourse and the shifting of reform priorities. The study is based on an analysis of Moroccan Salafism's literature and other related data such as interviews, seminars and publications. The study shows that Moroccan Salafism is not as unified as initially presumed, and there are many Salafi variants (both within and beyond Morocco), each with their own understanding of Salafi principles. The study confirms how national and transnational influences have clearly been a significant factor in the development of the genealogy of Moroccan Salafism. Therefore, although Salafi movements adopt the same dogma, they are social movements that develop and transform as their context and circumstances change, making many of their perspectives context-dependent.

Regional bodies, particularly in Africa, are playing an increasingly important peace-making role. However, critical peace research is yet to come into communication with the phenomenon of regional peace-making. Notably, critical peace research overwhelmingly focuses on the critique of liberal peace and overemphasises the local-turn and/or the everyday. On the other hand, regional bodies, especially in Africa, are often claimed to fail in their peace-making efforts by mainstream scholarship largely due to their deviation from the European model of regional integration. Through the case of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), I engage with how hybrid peace theory can be strengthened and developed further by integrating the regional platform as an agonistic space. Agonism, in my reading, entails viewing multi-layered disagreements that characterise peace-making as normal political encounters and processes. Thus, I suggest that hybridity, with agonism integrated, is a useful conceptual, analytical and explanatory pathway to engaging with the phenomenon of regional peace-making in a nuanced way. In so doing, I extend and develop critical peace scholarship further. Empirically drawing out from archival and documentary research, as well as elite interviewing, I unpack the complexity of the South Sudan conflict and of the intricate regional relations that underscored the formation and subsequent tumbling into civil war of the newly created country. Analytically, I draw out the importance of IGAD's structure and functionality and use the case of Riek Machar's contested status to engage the regional entanglements and their implications on IGAD's conceptions and approaches to peace. I suggest that both the declaration of IGAD as a failure and Machar's contested status, among other factors, facilitate a process that sustains discourses and regulates relations that could otherwise explode into various theatres of violence. I further engage with how multiple extant ideas of peace, circulating in the region, inform the often contradictory and controversial assessments of what needs to be done by regional actors in their interaction with the conflict and their peace-making efforts within the framework of IGAD. Consequently, I emphasise the significance of IGAD, and other African regional bodies, as an agonistic platform, capable of facilitating and domesticating the political into constructive avenues through which hybrid peace is not only conceivable but possibly attainable.

In this Ph.D. thesis, different methods for enhancing the performace of heat powered adsorption system for water desalination and cooling are investigated through numerical and experimental works. These enhancement methods include: (i) optimizing the geometric design of the adsorber bed heat exchangers for both packing or coating with the adsorbent material , (ii) determining the best method of connecting the heat exchanger modules of the adsorber bed and the best vapor gap between them to reduce the mass transfer resistance, (iii) using metal-organic framework (MOF) adsorbent materials namely aluminium fumarate and a newly developed composite zirconium fumarate (MOF-801) / graphene to replace the conventional adsorbent materials, (iv) reducing the dead volume in the condenser and evaporator chambers to enhance the compactness of the adsorption system and (v) integrating the adsorption system with different desalination technology to increase the water recovery, and reduce the specific energy consumption. After optimizing the geometrical design of the heat exchanger in the adsorber bed, a comparative study between a packed rectangular-finned tube and a coated wire-finned tube is conducted. Results showed that the coated wire-finned tube enhanced the adsorption system specific daily water production (SDWP) and specific cooling power (SCP) by 82% compared to the packed rectangular finned tube, while it lowered the system coefficient of performance (COP) by 52%. In terms of the specific volumetric daily water production (SVDWP), the adsorption system with coated wire-finned adsorber beds has SVDWP lower than the system with packed one by 21%. Integrating the adsorption system with a Batch Reverse Osmosis (BRO) desalination system using packed rectangular-finned tube adsorption system and a wide range of water salinity, it is found that the water recovery can be increased to 96.9% and 65.3% when brackish water and seawater are fed to the hybrid system respectively. Finally, using a newly developed composite zirconium MOF (MOF-801) material with graphene nanoplatelets enhanced the SDWP and SCP by 40% due to its higher thermal conductivity and faster kinetics compared to the neat MOF.

This mixed-method research study aims at bridging the gap between Instructed Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences as two well-established, yet (almost always) treated as distinct, educational areas of research. It explores the differentiational effect of explicit/implicit/differentiated instruction on L2 learners' acquisition of the English Article System and the extent to which students' working memory capacity and form-complexity interact with instruction. To form a holistic and clear point of view of the effectiveness of explicit, implicit and differentiated instruction in language classrooms, the decision was made to triangulate the results of a four-week pretest-posttest classroom experiment and follow-up interviews with learners. To run the experiment, 90 intermediate-level EFL students were assigned to three instructional conditions: explicit, implicit and differentiated. They were instructed on the English Article System for three weeks, twice weekly, in sixty-minute-long sessions. Subsequent to the treatment, students were sent a licence to an online working memory battery designed to measure the performance of different components of working memory (i.e., the visuospatial sketchpad, the phonological loop, and the central executive). Five students from each group were, then, randomly selected for comprehensive three-stage interviews at the beginning of which the study's main constructs were introduced in simplified terms. The study results have shown that implicit instruction is the most effective one out of the three, followed by differentiated instruction, whose effect is greater on the explicit knowledge measure. Explicit instruction, on the other hand, has been found not to be effective on the explicit knowledge measure and of slight effectiveness on the implicit one. The second part of the experiment results shows that differentiated instruction is the only form of teaching to neutralize the effect of varying levels of working memory capacity and form-complexity. The interview results have come almost in line with the experiment findings; students have perceived differentiated instruction as the most effective form of teaching, followed by implicit instruction and then explicit instruction. These results are believed to have some important implications for the field of Second Language Acquisition.

This work aims to recognise people's interests from their daily behaviours. Recognising personal interests contributes to the production of personalised behavioural interventions, which would have more traction and motivational value when compared to general interventions. Typically, self-reporting methods are used to understand people's interests. These methods rely on people's perception; despite that, in most cases, interests are demonstrated in an individual's daily activity. Moreover, self-reporting tools are discrete and hence do not capture interest dynamics, which require continuous observation; attempts to overcome this weakness through longitudinal analysis can be highly intrusive and prone to memory and recall biases. Digital devices such as smartphones and wearables can overcome such limitations and hence have the potential to capture interests from daily behaviour in a continuous, longitudinal and unobtrusive (passive) manner. However, the daily routine is not only formed from actions motivated by personal interests. Instead, many of our daily actions are motivated by other reasons such as obligations and external rewards. Therefore, understanding the motives behind our daily activities is essential to distinguish behaviours driven by personal interests from those motivated by other factors. In this work, we create a framework for recognising personal interests using smartphones. We create an approach that first derives behavioural features of individuals' daily routines from their smartphones' data (digital phenotyping). Then, we employ knowledge of human motivation to (1) infer interests without recourse of asking (unobtrusive) and (2) adapt to newly developed interests. We have conducted real-world experiments to inform and assess our method. The conducted studies were designed to longitudinally and continuously observe behaviours while people undertake their daily life. Our results showed the advantage of basing the recognition of personal interests on motivational knowledge. Compared to baseline methods, our approach significantly improved the recognition of interests by an average of 62% with p < 0.05. The in-depth understanding of interests can be of value for personalisation in domains such as precision medicine and behavioural nudges. Future work can build upon our effort and measure the enhancement it may add to these domains. Moreover, the techniques applied in this work can be further investigated to infer similar cognitive phenomena.

My thesis investigates the dynamic processes by which the figure of the American literary celebrity was refashioned through reciprocal, transatlantic cultural exchanges between the United States and England. Although transnational elements of literary celebrity culture have received critical attention in recent years, I aim to extend current theoretical frameworks by moving attention from author-oriented approaches of how literary celebrity was fashioned to focus instead on the way that complex interplays among writers, readers, and the market together shaped the public image of the literary celebrity. In particular, I use the term 'refashioning' to argue that this participatory aspect of popular authorial personae formation served as an expressive vehicle through which localised concerns could be articulated, reframed and circulated transatlantically. Analysing understudied texts and archival materials, I focus on the way that the public images of four literary celebrities, Fanny Fern, Josiah Henson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Walt Whitman, were shaped by transatlantic print culture and British readers. In the first part of my thesis, I explore the relationship between authors and their literary 'brands'. By tracing the circulation of Fern's literary brand in American and British markets, I explain the challenges imposed on celebrity authors like Fern who attempted to stabilise the dissemination of their public image. I investigate the role of the transatlantic market in shaping the American literary celebrity by analysing the way Henson's designation as the 'original Uncle Tom' was appropriated to bolster British nationalistic pride among juvenile readers. Turning to the responses of British readers to American authors, I examine the way the little-known British poet William Cox Bennett exploited Longfellow's celebrity status in England to promote transatlantic Anglo-Saxon kinship. Finally, I investigate how a group of working- and middle-class men in Bolton used Whitman's comradeship to create personal and comradely bonds among themselves.

The number of foreign students studying abroad has expanded substantially in the first decades of this century, with close to five million international students registered in 2014 and an increase of eight million projected by 2025 (pre-pandemic) (ICEF Monitor, 2017). Up until now, the international education literature has largely focused on students' study-abroad experiences but research on the long-term benefits to students is scarce, along with exploration of their personal development and acquisition of employability skills. This doctoral thesis presents a systematic review and a longitudinal, mixed-methods study of the change and self-development of 72 Saudi academics who recently earned their Master's and/or PhD degrees in Western countries. The research aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by looking at the long-term impact of studying abroad on Saudi academic returnees who have spent 2-10 years in western countries. The research draws upon the theory of acculturation which examines certain predictors to understand the process and outcomes of the sojourners' adjustment. These are the psychological and sociocultural outcomes of cross-cultural adaption and the macro- and micro-level variables. The factors involved in sojourner adjustment were then studied from a social psychological perspective within the dimensions of the affective, behavioural and cognitive processes. The primary objective of this research was to determine whether the long-term benefits of acculturation held true over time by examining the outcomes of studying abroad in terms of affective, behavioural and cognitive processes as well as the mechanisms that enabled or impeded these outcomes. We set out to extend acculturation theory by incorporating the impact of home-country transition on the long-term sustainability of these outcomes. Five predicted outcomes of study abroad were then selected based on the research aims and a comprehensive literature review: intercultural competence, self-leadership, creativity behaviour, self-discerning reflection and self-concept clarity. The data was gathered over a iii year, divided according to two time-points, while a qualitative interview strategy was combined with a quantitative questionnaire approach. The original contribution made by the research was recognition that studying abroad benefitted Saudi academic returnees in developing self-leadership and creativity. The findings showed that in place of individual factors (such as age, gender and educational level), situational factors are linked to the perceived outcomes of studying abroad (such as host country, length of study abroad and motivation to do so). Furthermore, excepting self-leadership and self-concept clarity, the returnees' perceptions of the outcomes differed considerably from those of in-country academics. The study results also revealed that with the exception of creativity behaviour, the participants could maintain the desired study-abroad outcomes through their readjustment experience. Nonetheless, the qualitative findings revealed two levels of readjustment concerns experienced by academic returnees: (i) social and cultural level difficulties, and (ii) organisational level difficulties. Both these issues may affect the long-term sustainability of study abroad outcomes. Focusing on readjustment-related factors, a parallel quantitative approach found that motivation to study abroad moderated the sustainability of intercultural competence, self-leadership and self-concept clarity. The returnees' awareness of the perceived benefits abroad then moderated the sustainability of creativity behaviour, self-concept clarity and self-discerning reflection. Drawing on empirical data and responding to the scarcity of theoretical models of the long-term benefits of acculturation, these findings provide a new conceptual framework that tests and expands upon the theory of acculturation (Ward, Bochner and Furnham, 2001). Our study shows that the process of adjustment and readjustment is complex and requires special attention. iv This study is a starting point for further research into the long-term benefits of acculturation, but future research might go deeper into the context of the returnees' relationships with family and work colleagues to widen the scope of the findings. It is vital to investigate how these factors translate into quantifiable and measurable business results such as innovation, performance and financial returns for businesses, and here multidisciplinary teams might be helpful in this approach, including behavioural economists. The wider context of studying-abroad is of considerable significance being that a large number of international students are funded by their government and constitute an important investment, entailing that they expect students to implement and apply what they have learnt abroad to help develop domestic systems, increase knowledge and enhance social change.

This thesis discusses the synthesis of 3-arylpyrrolidin-2-ones and the use of hypervalent iodine reagents in organic synthesis. With that being the case, the first chapter provides a brief introduction to nitrogen heterocycles and discusses methods for the synthesis of 3-arylpyrrolidin-2-ones. The second chapter provides an introduction to the bonding and reactivity of hypervalent iodine reagents. The third chapter explores the prior applications of hypervalent iodine reagent in organic synthesis with a focus on areas relevant to this work. This includes the use of hypervalent iodine reagents in the functionalization of alkynes, in nitrogen heterocycle synthesis and in various migratory reactions. The fourth chapter discusses the results of an investigation into the synthesis of pyrrolidinones. A novel synthesis of 3-arylpyrrolidin-2-ones by a hypervalent iodine induced cyclization-rearrangement cascade reaction is reported. Starting from N-(4-arylbut-3-yn-1-yl)tosylamides, the initial cyclization gives an intermediary β-arylvinyl(phenyl)iodonium salt which has been isolated and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Hydration of this intermediate leads to the generation of 3-arylpyrrolidin-2-ones by a 1,2-aryl shift with expulsion of iodobenzene. The fifth chapter summarizes the results and suggests some avenues for future research. The final chapter provides the experimental details and characterization data for compounds isolated during the course of this work.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, for which to date, no single therapy has proven effective in slowing the disease progression over time. However, there is a tremendous effort by scientists worldwide to investigate and develop effective disease-modifying therapy. Tominersen (RG6042) program by F. Hoffmann-La Roche therapeutics is one of the global clinical trials that is based on developing Antisense Oligonucleotide (ASO) therapy to lower the mutant Huntington protein which when accumulates leads to the characteristic neuronal cell toxicity and degeneration observed in the brains of patients with Huntington's disease. An essential part of this program was the HD Natural History Study (HD NHS) (NCT03664804), to investigate the natural progression of the disease and to act as a comparator arm to the open-label extension phase (OLE) of Roche Tominersen program phase I/IIa study (NCT03342053). This thesis documents the recruitment and analysis of the HD Natural History Study at the UCL site, and will present the changes in the clinical and cognitive endpoints over the course of the study (approximately 15 months) in patients with early HD recruited at the UCL site. Another important part of the Roche Tominersen program was phase III study (also known as Generation HD1 study) (NCT03761849) to assess the safety and efficacy of tominersen. In this thesis, I document the recruitment and analysis of the GenerationHD1 Study at the UCL site, and I will present deep clinical phenotypic data of the two Huntington's disease participants enrolled at the UCL site. In this thesis, I will also discuss the results of the phase III study which was presented and shared by Roche. I will discuss my views on why tominersen failed to prove efficacy. Given that lumbar puncture (LP) was an essential procedure in my work in the above two studies, to administer tominersen drug intrathecally and to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), I will present in this thesis my work to study the safety and the tolerability of the LP procedure in patients with Huntington's disease.

Background Preservation of residual hearing (RH) in cochlear implantation is important for speech perception, hearing in noise, and music quality. In addition, preserving intra-cochlear structures may allow patients to benefit from future therapeutic advances. Successful hearing preservation (HP) is multifactorial, and the effects of certain surgical techniques remain subject to debate. Objectives i. To review the literature on the effect of electrode array insertion surgery on hearing preservation (HP). ii. Compare the round window (RW) approach to cochleostomy (CY) in terms of HP, speech perception, electrode array dislocations, and insertion depth. iii. Investigate the relationship between electrode dislocation, insertion depth, HP, and speech perception. iv. Evaluate current surgical practice of HP in the United Kingdom. Methods The thesis aims were addressed by; i. completing a comprehensive evaluation of the current evidence on the influence of surgical electrode placement on HP; ii. a retrospective study that examined surgical approach, cochlear size, electrode array placement, insertion depth, and HP; iii. a web-based survey that evaluated current surgical practise of HP CI; and iv. a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with double-blinding that compared radiological and audiological outcomes of both approaches and investigated the correlation between insertion accuracy and insertion depth. Results The literature showed achievable HP with both approaches, heterogeneity in the inclusion criteria, and quantifying methods of HP. Most CI surgeons in the UK use RW for standard and HP patients, CY as an alternative, use intra-operative corticosteroids and antibiotics. However, there is disagreement on medical regimens and indications for HP protocols. CY approach had superior HP, which was significant at 1 and 3 months. Speech perception, accuracy of insertion, and insertion depth are not significantly different between approaches. Insertion accuracy significantly correlates with depth. Insertion depth, HP, and speech perception scores did not correlate. Conclusion This thesis examined HP surgery. Cochlear implant procedures have changed over time. Recent medical literature reports few CY cases, making comparisons difficult. Most surgeons in the UK use RW as the normal treatment and CY as an alternative, which limits retrospective studies. The RCT study overcame previous controversies and limitations in the literature. The RCT provided in this thesis shows that the CY has better HP only in the short term and there is no significant difference between both approaches after that. This allows surgeons to abandon a difficult RW operation and switch to CY. When protecting hearing, insertion depth shouldn't be a priority. Resistance during insertion may suggest trauma. HP surgeries need national and international guidelines to improve surgical outcomes.

Conversion to a different religion is a complex process that has been studied in a variety of domains in the social sciences. It is an area of applied linguistics that has received less attention. In my research, I explore Islamic religious conversion in Saudi Arabia's hyper masculine culture, where religiosity appears to overlap with hyper and at times toxic masculinity. My goal is to learn more about the experiences and identities of African-American and Black British male Islamic converts in Saudi Arabia. In doing so, I aim to answer the following research questions; how are these male converts' experiences performatively enacted within the context of life story research interviews in the KSA? What are the commonalities that performatively emerge in their stories? What does this reveal about the complexity of male Islamic converts' experiences, particularly with regard to the indexing of heterosexuality, masculinity and race that are invoked by these converts? Identity is understood in a Butlerian sense as performatively enacted by repeating, conforming to and sometimes subverting congealed senses of self in discourse (Butler, 1990). I use a multidisciplinary narrative research method which draws on literature from several domains (Bamberg, 2004; Baynham, 2014; Durante, 1994; Hill and Zepeda, 1992) in order to construct a data analytic model that I call performative narrative analysis. My research demonstrates how converts use various discursive and bodily acts to performatively construct their religiosity and sense of self as males in their narratives. It also explains how the differences and commonalties that are enacted performatively are relevant to their life trajectories and the racial discourses in the places from which they come. The data demonstrate how converts have constructed a sense of belonging to an imagined male Islamic brotherhood, which has no place in the secular spheres in which they live.

Biomass in the form of agricultural residues offers clear potential for conversion into energy, especially the use of processing residues such as corn cob and rice husk etc, due to their abundance/availability and high carbohydrate content. Depending on the conversion process, pre-treatment allows easier access to the carbohydrate components (cellulose and hemicellulose) for conversion to advanced generation biofuels and platform chemicals such as 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, furfural etc. leaving lignin as a low-value residue which is often burnt to provide parasitic energy for the conversion process. The conversion of lignin into high value platform chemicals will increase the profitability and sustainability of the biorefinery process. However, to achieve complete utilisation of the lignin, it must be of high purity and lack extensive modifications. Ozone pre-treatment is recently gaining attention as a promising green alternative for cellulose isolation. However, the drawback of using ozone for large-scale industrial applications is the high costs for generating ozone in-situ as it cannot be stored due to its short lifetime and high reactivity. This study aims to pre-treat and fractionate the agricultural processing residues (corn cob and spelt husk) and convert the carbohydrate components to chemical platforms (5-hydroxymethyl furfural and furfural) that can be used in several applications i.e medicines, diesel, fuel additives and plastics. The first stage of this study developed an energy-efficient surface two-zone plasma ozone generator consisting of two stainless-steel mesh electrodes and a dielectric of quartz glass. The design offered good temperature control, which produced 2.5 times higher concentration and quantity of ozone at the same power input than a conventional single-zone plasma reactor. A maximum ozone concentration of 140g m-3 and 90g (kWh) -1 productivity was obtained from the two-zone system, comparable to commercial ozone generators but with 30 - 40% lower power consumption (11kWh kg-1 O3). Hence mitigating the drawbacks with the use of ozone in industrial applications caused by large energy demand. Optimisation of the ozone pre-treatment process was achieved by incorporating ultrasound which enhanced lignin separation by 38.5%. Following organosolv fractionation at low temperature (80⁰C), about 90% and 94% of lignin with high purity (95%) were recovered for corn cob and spelt husk respectively with guaiacyl-syringyl lignin the major fraction from corn cob and guaiacyl lignin from spelt husk. In addition, 84 - 85% cellulose was recovered with III 78% purity. The recovered cellulose had its crystallinity decreased by 19% and its degree of polymerisation (DP) decreased by 17%. In a microwave reactor, corn cob and spelt husk (untreated and pre-treated) were reacted in a DMSO-H2O media to produce HMF and furfural. HMF and furfural yields of untreated corn cob were higher than those from spelt husk due to a difference in their morphology with increased porosity of corn cob allowing easy access to cellulose. Pre-treatment led to a 58% and 74% increase in HMF yield for corn cob and spelt husk respectively, while a 10% and 66.7% increase in furfural. Reacting fractionated cellulose from corn cob and spelt husk yielded a similar HMF yield of 40mg g -1 irrespective of the feedstock used. Overall, HMF and furfural yields were influenced by changes in cellulose properties following pre-treatment such as fibre size, increased surface area, decrease in the degree of polymerisation and decrease in lignin content following lignocellulose pre-treatment. The economic efficiency and competitiveness of the conversion process for large scale co production of HMF, furfural and lignin from spelt husk was determined. The proposed approach was compared with process where HMF and furfural were co-produced without lignin. Co-production with lignin yielded a profit of $213,657 higher than without lignin for a plant size of 100 tonnes per day of spelt husk due to extra revenue obtained from lignin sales, meaning fractionation of lignin had a positive effect on the process economics than its utilisation for heat or boiler fuel. Thus, the improved pre-treatment and quality separation of biomass components enhanced downstream conversion to value-added products, thereby improving the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of the ozone pre-treatment process and conversion to HMF and furfural. In addition, the co-production of lignin will offset the cost of production of platform chemicals, thereby increasing the economics of a biorefinery.

Computational modeling of multiphase fluid flow in highly heterogenous problems with complicated geometries is a challenging problem for reservoir engineers, with a rich research in establishing best methods and approaches. The novelty in this work is centered around the implementation and comparison of simulation results from two software - the open source ICFESRT and the commercial software ECLIPSE - for a two-phase multiphase problem (oilwater) in both simple and complex geometries. The work involves: (a) implementation and comparison of simulation results from the two software on three different, hypothetical but typical geometries; (b) consideration of a real field case and the associated data analysis, rock characterization, and geostatistics of a real field representative of a highly heterogeneous reservoir; and (c) implementation of both software on the real field case for predictions of oil production at the site, and comparison of the simulation results from the two software. The initial comparison of simulation results for was carried out using three hypothetical (but common) geometries, these being: (a) a quarter five spot with one geological layer; (b) the same geometry as in (a) but with a vertical heterogeneity i.e. 5 different geological layers; (c) and lastly a full 5 spot with 5 different geological layers was implemented. Three different mesh resolutions were applied in both software and comparisons were carried out for mesh-independency. The results showed that in all these three scenarios, good agreement was observed between IC-FERST (coarse mesh) and ECLIPSE (fine mesh) with an average percentage difference at the production well ranging between 2.5% and 10.5% for the oil production and 12% and 26% for the water production. Both the ICFERST and ECLIPSE were subsequently implemented on a real, heterogeneous field - which consisted of 25 producing wells and 8 injections wells. Prior to the software implementation, a data analysis and rock characterization was carried out -Using data from the 33 wells. The logging and core data (a total of 30,000 log readings and 1150 core samples) were utilized and a novel rock characterization technique -Balaha Rock Characterization Code- was implemented to allow for the optimal clustering of rock types within the reservoir, The rock characterization resulted in identifying 7 rock types with their unique porosity-hydraulic permeability relationships. Subsequently, geostatistical methods were implemented - which enabled populating the computational cells of the two software with the corresponding reservoir properties (porosity, hydraulic permeability). To achieve the property population into the unstructured computational domain of the ICFERST software, a newly-developed script was written in Matlab and Python. The rock properties data populated on IC-FERST consist of porosity, permeability, relative permeability, capillary pressure and connate water saturation. A further comparison between the IC-FERST simulation results with the corresponding ECLIPSE simulations was carried out - were all simulations were carried out for a period of 40 years. The percentage differences between the two software simulations were estimated for : (i) ten individual production wells and (ii) the total of all production wells. The results showed that a good agreement exists between the IC-FERST and ECLIPSE simulations, with an average percentage difference for the total oil production of 10.5%, the total water production of 26% and the total water injection of 14%. The results for the ten individual wells showed an average percentage difference of 15.5% ranging from 3 to 29% for the oil production in the late time period. Slightly higher differences were observed when the overall period was considered, due to the large difference at the early time period of the simulation. The results indicated that IC-FERST, when incorporating the necessary rock characterization information - which highlight the heterogeneity of the reservoir - can produce results that can compete with the industry standard ECLIPSE. Additional aspects need to be considered within the current real field IC-FERST simulation, the inclusion of possible fractures and faults, as these were incorporated in the computational domain of ECLIPSE. Additional capabilities also still need to be embedded into IC-FERST, such as the incorporation of the fluid density and viscosity variations with pressure and the consideration of the volume factors, in order to enhance its competitiveness with existing commercial reservoirs simulators such as ECLIPSE.

Egypt's population is to exceed 120 million by 2050. To cater to that increase, the government started to build megahousing projects (MHP) in 2016. The Egyptian strategy 2030 prioritized the delivery of MHP. However, the construction of MHP poses significant risks, as they are large, complex, and include high construction costs. The literature showed that the construction of housing projects faced many challenges due to poor management of risks that negatively influenced construction duration and completion cost. The literature also shows that contractors in Egypt failed to deliver the construction phase of projects within schedule and budget. This research focuses on Egypt, one of the country's that started moving towards the construction of megaprojects, where MHP is crucial to most of the Egyptian population. Given the conditions existing in Egypt, appropriate risk management practice for the construction of MHP is important. The research aims to develop a computerised risk management framework (CRMF) to update risk management knowledge and improve contractors' risk management practice for the successful construction delivery of MHP in Egypt. This study is to review extant literature in housing, risk management, MHP and development of a CRMF. A mixed approach was applied in this research to achieve the aim of the study. The data collection method adopted for this study was qualitative and quantitative. To acquire in-depth risk management information, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Ninety questionnaires were used to collect quantitative risk data for use in risk management processes such as qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, and risk response. Contractors were guided to better decision-making and quantitative risk assessments using Monte Carlo analysis. This research included the development of a conceptual risk framework (RMF), and a computerised risk management framework (CRMF). The CRMF is supported with generic risk management framework (GRMF), prerequisites, and challenges to improve the efficiency of its application during the construction of MHP. Nine interviews were used to test the validation of the developed CRMF. Results show that the number of studies related to quantitative risk analysis and risk response is considered limited. Risk management studies highlighted that contractors in Egypt are not using a standardized structure for risk management in construction projects and require risk management training. There is no CRMF that can update risk management knowledge and improve contractors' risk management practice for successful construction delivery of MHP in Egypt. The riskiest areas in the construction of MHP in Egypt are delays in payments, delays in submitting design drawings, client change orders, and safety issues. It was agreed that improvement was required in the following area: communication between the project manager and the project team. Lack of database for previous risk data and no tool is used to store risk management information (Khorshed, 2017; El-Megharbel, 2015; Othman and Ahmed, 2013;Khodeir and Mohamed, 2015; Asal, 2014). This research contributes to theory and practice by implementing recommendations for developing effective project risk management practices in the construction of MHP. The researcher concludes that the development of a RMF and a CRMF targeted improvement in risk management practices and construction delivery of MHP in Egypt. The research was limited to the development and validity testing but was not practiced during the construction of MHP. That was due to the research project period and introductory of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Contractors can further use the CRMF to test it on a complete construction time frame of an MHP and measure the improvement made in delivery by the end of MHP construction. Researchers can further examine the government's commitment to supporting organizations in practicing risk management.

This study is primarily concerned with the variant qirā'āt (i.e grammatical variations of the Quranic words/phrases) of the Qur'ān, and their impact on English translations of the Qur'ān. A key feature of this study is to identify the most significant grammatical differences between the different qirā'āt. To ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the data selected for this study, the researcher relies on traditional Islamic studies to justify and explain the different qirā'āt. Starting from the fact that current English translations of the Qur'ān tend to follow the riwāyah of Ḥafṣ, the form of recitation that has become predominant almost throughout the world at the present time, this study investigates fourteen English translations of the Qur'ān to find out whether the different qirā'āt are reflected in the translations and to examine to what extent they are consistent with the riwāyah of Ḥafṣ. Additionally, this research produces a comprehensive dataset of the āyāt that involve different qirā'āt. This study reveals that despite the typical semantic similarity between the denotative meanings of two or more different qirā'āt of a given word/phrase in the Qur'ān, semantic identity between qirā'āt is not the norm. It is evident that different qirā'āt have a significant impact on the Qur'ān linguistically and semantically. This study reveals that not all variant qirā'āt affect the translations of the Qur'ān to the same degree, in fact, in some cases the differences between the qirā'āt are lost in translation. Nevertheless, this thesis shows that considering the different qirā'āt will improve the accuracy and consistency of Qur'ān translations in one or more of the following ways: (i) clarifying any ambiguity that may appear in the Quranic text, (ii) providing two or more different meanings for the same āyah, all of these being correct and without any contradiction, (iii) providing the complete meaning of a given āyah, and (iv) removing any unacceptable interpretation that may emerge as a result of not considering the different qirā'āt of the Qur'ān. This study proposes that translation of the Qur'ān should be consistent with one particular riwāyah (that of Ḥafṣ for example), that this should be stated in the introduction or on the cover page of the translation, and that in cases where the Quranic words/phrases have several variant recitations, these should be presented in a footnote. This procedure, by presenting all the meanings based on the different qirā'āt of the Qur'ān, would allow the reader to appreciate the depth of meaning of the āyah, contribute to raising the reader's awareness of this significant feature of the Qur'ān, and the fact that despite several cases where the qirā'āt of the Qur'ān result in different words, styles, sentence structures and/or meanings, none of these differences contradicts one another.

Change is a central issue in the domain of vernacular architecture studies today and is a highly relevant matter in the fields of cultural heritage and conservation, sustainability, and development. Classic definitions and conceptualizations surrounding vernacular architecture are arguably restricted by product or object-driven approaches that articulate formal and material qualities while overlooking the underlying systems and processes. As a result, change in vernacular architecture is often understood and addressed through static models which create a conceptual divide between past and present forms of vernacularity. The research argues for a dynamic model that considers both product and process characteristics in approaching vernacular architecture as it continues to change and transform today. By utilizing first-hand data from fieldwork studies, as well as previous literature and documentary sources, the research aims to develop a systematic approach to studying vernacular architecture. This is to identify the underlying processes and principles governing the production, adaptation, and transformation of characteristic formal and spatial vernacular patterns through time and space. A phenomenological approach was employed in the exploration of the case studies of Esna in Upper-Egypt, and the Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt using a variety of methods including observations, interviews, sketching, photographic documentation, historical literature, and documentary sources. The interpretive analysis of the findings shows that the historical development of Siwa and Esna's vernacular setting and dwelling patterns through the previous two centuries was influenced by historical, environmental, and socio-economic factors, with the primacy of the socio-cultural in shaping and sustaining characteristic vernacular patterns and guiding their future adaptations. The comparative analysis of vernacular dwellings in the selected cases, highlights the symbiotic relationship between dwelling and settlement patterns, the continuities between past and present spatial patterns of dwelling, but more importantly the ongoing nature of change which may be instigated by internal or external factors, but always mitigated through contextual conditions and pre-established systems. The conventional approaches to change within these contexts are argued to articulate the gap between past and present forms of vernacular heritage, by widening the divide between the goals of conservation and development, and the actual local needs and pressures for the provision of shelter. Alternatively, by capitalizing on local natural and socio-cultural resources, some of the alternative approaches which adopt a community or process-led approach to cultural preservation and socio-economic development, incentivize local participation and attribute a continued significance to characteristic vernacular architecture and building traditions. Finally, a dynamic model for the study of vernacular architecture is proposed after reviewing previous literature and relevant studies and following a critique of the adopted research methodology and findings. The model proposes a systematic approach for researchers and practitioners engaging with vernacular contexts to study and detect underlying systems and key values in vernacular buildings and landscapes with the aim of their reintegration into contemporary practice.

Despite the global efforts to confront the increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide, many countries failed to bend or even plateau their uptrend. Researchers have always seen obesity as a modifiable risk factor for many chronic diseases and some types of cancer and believed that reducing weight would reduce the risk of obesity-related comorbidities and healthcare expenditure. However, other observed and unobserved characteristics of the patients may interfere with their risk of developing obesity-related comorbidities and/or their ability to access healthcare services. Therefore, it is important to expand our understanding of the different dimensions of obesity. This thesis examined the phenomena of obesity from three different angles - the relationship between obesity and its comorbidities, accessibility to weight reduction (bariatric) surgeries and post-bariatric contouring surgeries, and cost-effectiveness analysis of a novel obesity treatment. Chapter 2 examined the impact of obesity on specific comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and vitamin D deficiency. Utilizing data from Saudi Arabia, two studies were conducted. In the first study, a series of biprobit regression analysis were used to explore unobserved heterogeneity across the obesity-related comorbidities. Unobserved heterogeneity was evident in the relationship between type 2 diabetes and hypertension. However, vitamin D was not found to predict type 2 diabetes risk nor hypertension risk. While the use of categorical dependent variables in the first study may not display the whole picture of the relationship between vitamin D and other obesity-related comorbidities, a second study was undertaken in chapter 2 with the aim to explore unobserved heterogeneity among subpopulations whose 25(OH)D level vary without recourse to an exogenously defined threshold. Using a relatively uncommon analysis known as the Finite Mixture Models, latent population subgroups and their relationship between vitamin D levels and sources of vitamin D were examined. Three latent classes were identified and their distinct patterns of associations with nutrition, behaviour and socio-demographic variables were presented. Weight reduction is a widely accepted intervention to prevent/delay the incidence of obesity-related comorbidities. However, access to weight reduction surgeries continues to be a challenge for ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Ethnic minority groups such as Native Americans have a higher risk of developing obesity-related comorbidities. The small number of Native Americans in surveys makes it more challenging to investigate comparative ethnic group experiences. Nevertheless, the lack of research with respect to this group gives rise to a clear gap in our understanding regarding their comparative experience. Thus, the first study in chapter 3 examined disparities in access to bariatric surgeries with a particular focus on the experience of Native Americans utilizing one the largest dataset in the USA. Compared to White Americans, Native Americans were less likely to receive bariatric surgeries even when controlled for their clinical needs. The increasing popularity of bariatric surgeries as an impact of the insurance coverage expansion in 2011 have led to increasing demand for post-bariatric contouring surgeries. As rapid weight reduction can cause sagging skin, contouring (constructive or cosmetic) surgeries are seen as the best solution by most of those who have had bariatric surgeries in the past. However, not all types of contouring surgeries are covered by healthcare insurance. In fact, different insurance companies have their eligibility criteria for the covered procedures. The second study in chapter 3 examined the relationship between the use of contouring procedures on post-bariatric surgery patients, clinical need, and sociodemographic factors. Self-payers were more likely to receive post-bariatric contouring surgeries, which indicates that access could be predicted by the ability to pay rather than clinical need. Aside from invasive, costly surgeries, new less invasive procedures such as Aspiration therapy and gastric balloon have been introduced as competitors to bariatric surgeries. However, the decision-maker would not adopt a new procedure unless it have been assessed in terms of its cost-effectiveness and ensured that the cost-effectiveness analysis was unbiased. Chapter 4 examined the replicability of a published cost-effectiveness model comparing the Aspiration therapy with the bariatric surgeries. Two different reporting checklists were used. Both checklists show weak points in the paper, particularly in the parameter inputs. After updating the model's input parameters, the model was used to explore the cost-effectiveness of gastric balloon therapy. Overall, this thesis demonstrates a number of economic aspects of obesity including: i) obesity is a modifiable risk factor for costly chronic diseases and subsequent cost saving is associated with weight reduction; ii) failure of the health insurance system in the USA to meet patients' needs; and iii) adoption of rigor reporting checklist would improve the quality of published economic evaluations.

Protein-based therapeutics are widely used for the treatment of different diseases such as anti-cancer and anti-diabetes drugs. Throughout the manufacturing and formulation process of protein drugs, the protein stability must be sustained for long-term storage and the formulation must be used for efficacious delivery that avoids adverse immunogenic side effects. The main physical degradation process is by protein aggregation, which can be defined as a multi-stage process in which mis-folded proteins irreversibly associate with each other forming a soluble or insoluble aggregate. A key stumbling block to predicting aggregation is that key intermediates in the pathways are partially folded proteins, which occur very transiently and at low concentrations during typical formulation conditions. Traditional approaches to overcome this problem use increased temperature to increase the populations of the aggregate precursors thereby accelerating the aggregation process so that it can be studied on reasonable timescales. A common prediction depends on the Arrhenius relationship between protein degradation and temperature. Unfortunately, this approach is not often successful because many proteins do not follow Arrhenius kinetics due to exhibiting multiple aggregation pathways with different temperature dependencies (Wang and Roberts, 2013). This thesis is directed at understanding the aggregation behaviour of protein solutions under chemically denaturing conditions towards developing an alternative predictive approach for assessing storage stability. As such, ovalbumin solutions were studied over a range of denaturant concentrations in the absence of excipients and in the presence of series of excipients (ArgHCl, ArgGlu, NaCl, Na2SO4, NaSCN, ATP, STPP, trehalose and sucrose), using static and dynamic light scattering to identify and better understand the aggregation and find an alternative for estimating the colloidal stability, which is an important indicator for protein aggregation.

Current global urbanisation rates highlight the need to reconsider our design practices to minimise the negative impacts of our built environments on natural resources and the health and well-being of urban residents. The debate on the sustainability of urban form started decades ago, underpinned by a set of environmental criteria, delineating the path for policy development to find the optimum balance between urban density and the thermal and energy performance. In developing countries, despite their anticipated share of global urban population, this balance is far from being realised. In Egypt, where massive construction projects are being carried out, the vulnerability of urban residents is mostly recognised by the gap between a drastic urban growth and its reflection on the local construction policies, which pay very little attention to the environmental implications of building new conurbations. This thesis fills this gap by presenting quantitative scientific evidence on the relationship between urban form and both thermal comfort and energy performance in buildings, in Cairo, Egypt. In doing so, the thesis introduces a simulation workflow within the parametric design interface, Grasshopper for Rhino3D, to investigate the impact of various urban geometry configurations on different environmental performance criteria, studied within three key milestones. The performance criteria are outdoor thermal comfort, represented by the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), and the total energy loads in buildings. First, 7716 urban street canyon configurations are studied though varying their design parameters in three consecutive phases, to maximise outdoor thermal comfort. Simulations includes changing 12 heights of canyon's flanks simultaneously and separately, 11 street widths, and 12 different orientations of the street canyon. The results reveal new correlations between the design parameters and thermal comfort, showing the ability to reduce thermal stress beyond the design thresholds of local construction codes, which reaches up to 6° C, thus highlighting the need for climate-sensitive design regulations. Second, 3430 typological and morphological design configurations are investigated on an urban block scale through varying their design parameters, to find the best typology and its associated density parameters which maximise outdoor thermal comfort and minimise energy loads. Simulations includes changing 10 building heights, 7 different orientation of the urban block, and 7 street widths in each direction (NS and EW). The results show that compact and medium density urban configurations correspond to the best trade-off between the performance criteria, also indicating a relative outperformance of the courtyard typology. Finally, the environmental performance of the courtyard block typology is revisited to investigate the potential improvements in outdoor thermal comfort and energy loads by changing the heights of individual buildings. Simulation included varying 3 street widths, 4 different orientations of the courtyard blocks, and 3 heights for each building within a single courtyard block. The results show that courtyard blocks perform best when they have minimum interspaces, orientated NE-SW or NW-SE, where their northern and southern buildings are relatively higher than the eastern and western buildings. The results also shows that vertically heterogeneous configurations have the potential to improve both performance criteria, as compared to conventional courtyard blocks, highlighting the need for deliberate passive solar design, as well as the need to bring vernacular design traditions back into practice. The findings of this thesis can help shift the current design practices in Egypt towards achieving a climate-responsive urban form, in line with ambitious national goals - Egypt's Vision 2030. The thesis contributes to the scientific knowledge through defining design guidelines for urban built forms in extreme and typical hot-arid climate conditions, considering outdoor thermal comfort and energy loads, which are significantly correlated to the urban heat island mitigation. Also, the thesis contributes a methodology for modelling and simulating different performance criteria, which could be replicated in other climate contexts. Moreover, the implications drawn from this thesis pave the way for future studies on the passive solar design in hot-arid regions, and thus, this thesis serves as a future reference for both educational and research studies.

Islamic banks in Palestine are operating in a very competitive environment, considering the existence of other banks that are offering similar products there. Noticeably, the intense competition in the banking industry has resulted from the customers' expectations of receiving highest services and products. However, there is a lack of evidence on whether compliance with Islamic principles influences the Customer's satisfaction and loyalty. This study aimed at testing the relationship between CARTER model dimensions, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in Palestine's Islamic banks. CARTER defined as an assessment of quality of service at the Islamic banking business was developed by Othman and Owen (2001) based on the dimensions CARTER, namely: Compliance, Assurance, Reliability, Tangible, Empathy, and Responsiveness. Another significant aim was to analyse the moderating influence of competitive advantage and Islamic compliance. Objectives included examining whether there was a significant correlation between CARTER model dimensions, competitive advantage, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty among Islamic Banks' customers in Palestine. Moreover, there was an objective of determining whether competitive advantage and Islamic compliance significantly could moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty among Islamic Banks' customers in Palestine. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study, SERVQUAL model from Parasuraman et al. (1985) and CARTER from Othman and Owen (2001b) have been adapted. Given that, the research started with an exhaustive review of related literature, while defining the found gap. Finding gaps in literature investigated led to develop the hypotheses of the study. Conducting the methodological study to answer the research questions, meet the aims and objectives of the research and testing the hypotheses was the followed step. The empirical study adopted the quantitative approach, whereas 93 participants have provided with questionnaires to conduct the aimed survey. The questionnaire adopted a 33-items questionnaire from Othman and Owen (2001b). In the process of analysing the answers of the participants, the researcher used SmartPLS (v3.3.3). Accordingly, the findings revealed that only Islamic Compliance and Assurance from the CARTER model and Competitive Advantage were significant. The study concluded that Competitive Advantage moderated the relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty but not Islamic Compliance. This study has provided a new perspective on customer satisfaction for Islamic banks in Palestine. The study contributed to literature, in particular the researches on Islamic banks, while recommended the enhancement of customer satisfaction understanding. Though there were some limitations in the study, such as small sample size collected of 93 participants and the targeted sample to be 100 participants. One can admit the small sample because of the limits of this study to be in Palestine. However, the study actually, provided a better knowledge to the academicians and the literature of banking concerning customer satisfaction.

In the past two decades, the Arab Gulf States have introduced several educational reforms, seeking to improve the quality of their education systems in a drive to diversify their economies. Despite heavy investment by the Kuwaiti government in education reform, its implementation of teacher policies reform has had limited success. To explore and understand why Kuwait has not implemented any reforms related to teacher policies in the past ten years, this study compares the process of teacher policies reform in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain and investigates the variations among the three countries. The research is approached through the lenses of different policymaking theories, specifically the Institutional theory and the Multiple Streams theory, as its main focus is to study education reform in the three countries from a political perspective. It employs a qualitative comparative study, analysing key policy documents and consultancy reports, as well as interviewing policymakers and faculty members in Kuwait's education colleges, to gather relevant data. The three countries shared similar aims and agendas for reforming their education systems, including teacher policies, and all three relied on international consultants in developing the reforms, but the significant difference concerned the degree of emphasis on reforming teacher policies; in Kuwait, this received much less focus than in Qatar and Bahrain. Guided by the Most Similar System Design, three explanatory factors were identified: the ruling establishment's degree of motivation for reform, the stability of the administration responsible for the reform, and the extent of stakeholder involvement in the process. Bahrain and Qatar had highly motivated ruling establishments, stable administrations, and extensive stakeholder involvement, thus facilitating reform, whilst these factors were absent/weak in Kuwait. Therefore, this research argues that these three factors are closely related to the outcome of interest and explain why Kuwait was less successful with teacher policies reforms.

There is an exponential growth in the energy consumption of cellular networks due to the surge in data traffic, explosion of handheld and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, development of data-hungry mobile applications, increasing support for new and emerging use cases, the introduction of ultra-dense networks, and aerial base stations (BSs). This will create the challenge of increased energy consumption for next-generation cellular networks that is bound to escalate, if not properly managed. This thesis seeks to address this challenge and make future cellular networks more energy- and cost-efficient, and environmentally sustainable. To achieve this, analytical methods, conventional approaches, and machine learning solutions are utilized to develop novel optimization frameworks that can minimize the energy consumption in heterogeneous cellular networks (HetNets) while satisfying quality of service (QoS) constraints. First, energy optimization in ultra-dense heterogeneous networks (UDHNs) through cell switching and traffic offloading is studied. Though dynamic cell switching is a common technique for reducing energy consumption in UDHNs, most current methods are computationally demanding, making them unsuitable for practical applications in UDHNs with a large number of BSs. As a result, scalable and computationally efficient cell switching and traffic offloading frameworks using Q-learning, a reinforcement learning algorithm, and artificial neural networks (ANN), a supervised learning algorithm, is initially developed. However, these solutions are effective only in small- to medium-sized networks. Subsequently, a lightweight cell switching scheme called Threshold-based Hybrid cEll SwItching Scheme (THESIS), which combines the benefits of multi-level clustering (MLC) and exhaustive search (ES) algorithms is proposed. In addition, the two components of the THESIS algorithm, k-means and ES, are used for benchmarking. The performance evalaution reveals that THESIS algorithm is able to find a good trade-off between optimal energy saving performance and computational complexity. Hence, it is suitable for cell switching purposes in real networks with large dimension. Second, the cell switching solution is extended to include spectrum leasing. Spectrum leasing involves leasing out unused spectrum for a fee (in this case, those originally occupied by switched off BSs). A solution to enable mobile network operators (MNOs) gain additional revenue from leasing dormant spectrum, in addition to reducing energy consumption (electricity bills) via cell switching, is proposed. In this direction, a network scenario comprising primary network (PN) operators, who hold the spectrum license, and secondary network (SN) operators, who need to lease the spectrum is considered. Moreover, both non-delaytolerant (NDT), and delay-tolerant (DT) spectrum demand scenarios are also considered. A cell switching and spectrum leasing framework based on the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm is developed to maximize the revenue of the PN while satisfying the QoS constraints. The simulation results reveal that the DT spectrum demand is more beneficial to both PN and SN operators as it results in 19% increase in the revenue generated by the PN, while leading to a 21% surge in the amount of spectrum that can be accessed by the SN. Third, energy consumption has been identified as one of the major factors limiting the adoption of unmanned ariel vehicles (UAVs) in cellular networks (e.g., for providing additional offloading capacity during cell switching, and spectrum leasing operations), hence, the quest for green UAV-based cellular communications. To this end, a comprehensive survey on energy optimization techniques in UAVbased cellular networks is conducted, which revealed that it is energy-inefficient to continuously make UAV-BSs hover or fly to provide wireless coverage. Thus, an alternative deployment scheme where UAV-BSs land on designated locations, known as landing stations (LSs), is considered, and the appropriate separation distances (∆) between LSs and the optimal hovering position (OHP) are evaluated. Mathematical frameworks using stochastic geometry are developed to model the relationship between power consumption, coverage probability, throughput, and ∆. Numerical results reveal about 95% reduction in energy consumption, which results in more than 20 times increase in the service time of UAV-BS when the LSs are exploited compared to OHP. However, this energy reduction is obtained at the expense of some degradation in coverage probability and throughput, which can be compensated for by increasing the transmit power of the UAV-BS as ∆ increases. This leads to a slight increase in the energy consumption of UAV at LS which is significantly lesser than that of the UAV at OHP. In summary, this thesis presents scalable and computationally efficient energy and revenue optimization frameworks for terrestrial and aerial cellular networks that can be applied to large-scale networks, which are typical in next generation of cellular networks. The proposed solutions would lead to a reduction in operating cost, increased profitability, and the achievement of net-zero emission target.

This thesis explored the roles and responsibilities of Teachers of the Deaf (ToDS) in Saudi Arabia. It draws from the experiences ToDS, Head Teachers (HT), and Educational Supervisors (ES) to understand their role's nature, scope, requirements, competencies and skills, and views of their students' needs. The study was located in three schools in the Qassim province, including a specialised school for the deaf for primary and intermediate students, a mainstream primary school, and a mainstream high school. A total of 25 participants took part in the study: 25 ToDS, three Head teachers and two Educational supervisors. The research adopted a qualitative design and methodology and was guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological system model. Focus groups, semi-structured interviews and observations were employed as the methods of data collection. The findings suggested that ToDS, HT and ES were doing their best to meet the needs of Deaf Students (DS) but were doing so within systemic and organisational limitations without the necessary authority and resources. Although the curriculum looks good on paper, it is unfit for teaching deaf students and requires lots of work from ToDS to adapt to deaf students' learning needs. However, data indicated that ToDS were not adequately trained for such responsibility. Also, the lack of systemic and organisational support for ToDS diminished accountability and reflexive practice, which was evident in how ToDS acted as professionals and met or failed to meet DS' learning needs. ToDS felt let down by the educational system as there were no accountability systems. ToDS were left on their own to make a professional judgment about their jobs. The limits of ToDS' motivation uncovered a need for institutional arrangements that consider the voice of the teachers and provide support to them to perform their roles effectively. The ministry of education needs to support and institute in-service training programmes that can enable ToDS to gain the required skills and competencies for their roles, curriculum development and tailored assessment to address DS' performance. Additionally, there is a need to ensure that ToDS are represented in the decisionmaking team, especially in curriculum enactment and revision as well as in other educational issues in Saudi Arabia. Lack of teaching materials and resources for teaching deaf students also limits not only what but how ToDS teach the students and invariably affects deaf students' learning experiences. Therefore, this study recommended modifying the curriculum for the deaf that will enable teachers to utilise visual materials rather than hearing ones as this will facilitate effective deaf students' learning. Teacher education programmes also need to be improved by incorporating more targeted programs in sign language and lesson planning to allow ToDS to gain the required skills for their roles.

Terrorism news coverage has received much criticism for being irresponsible, problematic, and biased in terms of how attacks, perpetrators and victims are framed and reported on by journalists (Norris et al., 2003; Morin, 2016; Powell, 2018; Betus et al., 2020). This study makes a unique contribution to these debates by comparing the coverage of two news organisations (CNN / Al-Arabiya) in both their English and Arabic services to capture the differences and similarities between them in terms of framing, narration, and domestication, familiarisation, globalisation, and homogenisation. The thesis presents both quantitative and qualitative news analysis of various terror attacks perpetrated in 2017 by different actors (e.g. Islamist/jihadist perpetrators, right-wing perpetrators, and left-wing perpetrators), as categorised in the Global Terrorism Database. News framing and narrative analysis are complemented with interviews with journalists and editors from each of the news outlets. Specifically, this study explores how journalists represent perpetrators and victims around the world in different cultural contexts. It argues that even though the media coverage of terrorism in 2017 has changed since the September 11 terrorist attacks, from the War on Terror and global threat framing to a framework of international cooperation and counter-terrorism, a continuing sense of biased narratives in the storytelling of terrorism still exists, particularly for CNN international. Additionally, this study foregrounds the importance of examining the different language services of the same news organisation. News services, even those under the same parent organisation, conceptualise their audiences and their preferences differently, thus demonstrating different journalistic practices and approaches to storytelling the news.

Adequate and sustainable water resources are fundamental for human life to promote economic and social growth. Since the start of industrialisation, the global water demand has been growing continuously. Access to sufficient domestic water supply is a very problematic experience for the urban population of low and middle-income countries. The leading factors behind water insufficiency are urbanisation, seasonal variability, economic growth, population growth, inadequate dam capacity, and lack of experts in the sector. Aside from these factors, behaviour, patterns and household characteristics have been identified as the most important influence governing water consumption. Many Non-Governmental Organisations working in these low and middle-income countries have tried to salvage the problem by digging wells to support these communities. However, many of these dug wells have failed to supply the necessary daily volume because of unproductive siting, poor construction practices, and lowering of the water table due to seasonality. Little research has looked at any useful information on water consumption and evaluated groundwater storage of an aquifer as a solution for sustainable seasonal domestic water consumption. Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, is the case study because of the necessity to assess the problems of meeting water demands, initiated by variability in seasons, inadequate infrastructure, lack of expertise, and the intense migration from the rural areas to settle in the city. This has subjected surface water supplies to increasing pressure from growing demand. However, groundwater sources have not been sufficiently tapped. This research aims to develop a strategy to manage groundwater in a sustainable way under the influence of seasonal variability. To achieve this, two work elements were designed and implemented as part of this thesis. The first work element gathered information using multiple-choice format questionnaires on the factors that influence seasonal water end-use consumption patterns at a per capita scale of 398 households. The key variables investigated were income, education, number of rooms, number of vehicles, family size, collection containers, and time to fetch and distance to source. The investigated households were categorized into four household income groups and were evaluated individually to determine their daily per capita water consumption in litres per day (l/p/d). Additionally, surveyed data was used to develop statistical regression models for estimating demand as a function of household characteristics using stepwise-multiple-linear regression techniques. The second component of this research investigated groundwater interconnectivity with other surface water bodies for the assessment of the aquifer's suitability, pumping, recharge, and drawdown capacity for an increased abstraction of water supply. Consequently, related thematic maps have been created from digital elevation models and ASTER data downloaded from the USGS websites using a GIS format. The 3D numerical ModelMuse MODFLOW package, integrated with GIS techniques was used to understand the groundwater dynamics under varying scenarios of abstraction and wells performance for the next fifteen years. The results of the water consumption questionnaire-based study provided quantitative evidence of daily per capita end-uses for the different household income groups. The modelled data indicated a significant variation in the volume of per capita water consumption (13 l/p/d to over 273 l/p/d). Also, the findings suggest that distance to a water source and queuing time to fetch water and return home impacts the volume of water collected. On the other hand, the groundwater simulations studies indicate managed groundwater abstraction to be the most efficient and sustainable strategy to increase daily per capita water end-use volume. Results revealed that the groundwater regional recharge rate (101 x106 m3/year) is greater than the water supply from the service provider (12.4x106 m3/year), thereby giving the possibility to increase yearly per capita water consumption. Further simulation results show water supply from infiltration galleries can produce a further 51.8×106 m3/year. A demand-supply analysis, taking into account population projections and per capita consumption estimates and groundwater supply simulations developed in this research, showed that the annual groundwater supply is sufficient to satisfy the domestic water supply needs without causing any water stress or shortage. Therefore, this research proposes the implementation of new boreholes for densely populated areas and infiltration galleries along simulated perennial rivers to address acute urban water shortage in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Small business projects are an important aspect of the structure of the Libyan economy. It has recently appeared that there is a real trend towards economic reform and diversification of income sources, apart from the main source of income which is oil. Using human capital theory, this study aims to identify the role played by Libyan women in establishing and developing small businesses and the extent to which such projects contribute to supporting the development process. It highlights the impact of culture and religion as main barriers to Libyan women starting their own businesses. This study uses mixed methods. Ninety-five Libyan female business owners participated in the questionnaire. The results show that there is a lack of follow-up from the financing authorities. There were difficulties and challenges in relation to training, internal and external competition, professional technological management, and materials. Participants in qualitative research state that the main reasons for choosing to run their own businesses are that they give them the opportunity to show their inventions, express their ideas, and display their talents. Some believe that small business projects in Libya enable them to gain access to international markets, owing to their relative advantage and unique traditional peculiarity. Concerning obstacles Libyan women face when establishing their small business projects, participants declare that the obstacles were mainly financial, cultural, there is also a lack of government support and weak infrastructure in all Libyan cities. Women believe that the opportunities to engage in business are enough and available for Libyan women but it needs more care and attention from the competent authorities. This study contributed to the literature through the justification of the phenomenon and the ability to overcome the limitation that women face when starting their own businesses. Moreover, it also fills part of the gap in the literature by identifying the types of small business projects within the Libyan economic sectors that are either neglected or conflated in previous studies. The study has specific implications for researchers and practitioners.

Testing is an important part of software engineering that is employed while developing the layout of a responsively designed web page. This type of design produces a layout that aims to pleasantly responds to the available width within any browser window by rearranging the layout along the way. With a large number of possible screen sizes that a browser may conform to, from mobile phones to large desktop monitors, manually testing the layout for presentation failures can be a time-consuming and error-prone task. With help from the ReDeCheck tool or its re-implementation in Layout DR, the developer can automatically test the web page for five type of presentation failures known as Responsive Layout Failures. Even though ReDeCheck alleviates some of the burdens, the developer must still manually investigate the reported failures and classify them as either a real visible failure that will require a repair or as something that can be ignored. Since the detection phase of the tool uses the underlying structure of the page to infer failures, it can report failures in the structure that are not visible in the rendered page, known as Non-Observable Issues. Finally, after filtering out the real failures the developer must now investigate the root cause and manually repair the layout as fast as possible. Since any successful software, especially a web page, is continuously updated and improved, there is a never-ending process of testing, investigating the findings of these tests, and finally repairing any issues that are found. In this thesis, I propose and evaluate new ways to further aid the developer, of a responsively designed web page, in this process. This is by (1) automating the classification of three failure types that are known to report non-observable issues, (2) extending it to classify all five type of failures and I reassess the approach on additional subjects, and (3) automating the patch generation process to quickly repair any of the five type of failures. The benefits of my research include a further reduction in the time dedicated to testing for presentation failures, reducing the time needed to repair the failures, and reducing the chance for human-made errors. Thus, increasing the adoption and retention of automated means for testing and repairing the web page. The research that makes up this thesis concluded that my proposed classification approach achieved a high agreement with the human-made alternative. The findings also showed that for any given failure, the layout can always be repaired automatically. In many cases, up to two alternative patches that successfully remove the failure can be generated using my automated repair technique. In addition, I identified multiple opportunities for future research in this domain.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a highly prevalent condition worldwide that is associated with major health consequences. Patients with progressive and advanced disease can experience significant multi-system complications as well as an increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and mortality. Using data from the Salford Kidney Study, an ongoing observational cohort study of non-dialysis patients with CKD stages 3 to 5, this thesis aimed to explore two major research themes related to optimising CKD care. The first was risk prediction in CKD: the capacity to accurately risk stratify patients in order to enable timely, targeted treatment to those most likely to sustain adverse outcomes. The second concerned better hyperkalaemia management: effectively negating the occurrence of hyperkalaemia can facilitate continuation and optimisation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi), which are well established renoprotective agents. Results chapters 4 to 8 focused on areas in the field of risk prediction. Chapter 4 highlighted the differential impact of risk determinants in different primary renal disease groups with emphasis on ESRD and mortality for those with rapid linear progression and those with stable disease. Those progressing rapidly can be further differentiated with respect to clinical endpoints by their pattern of progression, detailed in chapter 5. Chapter 6 reinforced the need to account for the rate and pattern of CKD progression when attempting to identify novel biomarkers of disease. Risk prediction tools exist such as the Kidney Failure Risk Equation (KFRE), designed to predict the 2- and 5-year risk of ESRD in patients with CKD stages 3-5. Chapter 7 demonstrated that the KFRE is not wholly accurate when used for risk prediction in transplant recipients but does have clinical utility in those with advanced CKD as analysed in chapter 8. This provides compelling evidence for shifting towards risk-based tools to guide decision making in clinical practice. With respect to hyperkalaemia management, chapter 9 emphasised the efficacy of patiromer, a novel potassium binder, in maintaining normokalaemia. This effect was harnessed to successfully up-titrate RAASi dosing in patients with symptomatic heart failure attending a bespoke hyperkalaemia clinic, which was described in chapter 10. Whilst all the studies in this thesis have helped to deepen our understanding in the field of CKD care, the strength of the KFRE for risk prediction in advanced CKD and the real-world experience of the effectiveness of oral potassium binders have emerged as major findings. This will hopefully provide optimism for future research into tackling the heterogeneity and complexity of CKD management so as to improve long-term patient prognosis.

The study of technology-based change and innovation is receiving much attention from academics and practitioners as change/innovation plays a vital role in organisations' growth success and improved performance. Despite the potential benefits associated with new technologies, employees and organisations are generally reluctant to adopt them. In response to this issue, this study aims to enhance the general understanding concerning the factors that affect employees' adoption of technology in a Middle Eastern country (UAE), where the results can also be applied to other Arab countries in the region. In spite of the recent progress in understanding how radio frequency identification (RFID) systems can substantially advance logistics and other services within the oil and gas sector, there is a significant gap in the literature concerning determinants of RFID application in managing various forms of operations. Hence, this study attempts to fill this gap by examining the key enablers and impediments of adopting RFID systems in the UAE oil and gas sector using the technology, organisation and environment framework (TOE). The purpose of this research is to refine and expand technology adoption theory for the oil and gas sector by testing the technology-organisation-environment framework in the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) UAE. The research work identifies and ranks factors impacting employees' decision to implement RFID in ADNOC UAE. A theoretical model was developed using a variety of TOE factors that may enable or impede RFID adoption in managing operations within the oil and gas sector. Then, the model was empirically tested by means of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) based on survey data of 301 online questionnaire responses that were collected from managers, technicians, physicians and general employees working in ADNOC UAE. Results showed that Technology Competence, Top Management, Competitive Pressure, Firm's Size and Government Regulations showed significant and positive relationship with employees' intention to adopt RFID. However, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived financial cost were found to have no significant effect on employees' willingness to adopt RFID. The study contributes to the empirical research within the field of RFID and technology adoption in the UAE oil and gas sector. Furthermore, the findings of this study enable managers to make an informed decision about technology adoption within the oil and gas logistics setting.

We investigate the low-energy physics of QCD-like theories in 2 + 1 dimensions coupled to a Chern-Simons term and fermion(s) in various representations of the gauge group (SU(N)). The level/rank dualities and Boson/Fermion dualities provide access to such theories. We first discuss the phase diagram of QCD₃ with fermions in the fundamental representation and a Chern-Simons term with level k. The theory is well described via topological field theories in the semiclassical limits. For sufficiently low k values, a new quantum phase is introduced for small fermion mass to cover the entire phase diagram. The quantum phase is conjectured to be a non-linear sigma model. We also discuss the extension of this work by including two sets of fermions with different masses, resulting in a two-dimensional phase diagram. We add to these previous studies the analysis of the phase diagrams of a theory with three distinct groups of fermions described in my work. The phase diagram becomes three-dimensional, with multiple topological field theories and different shapes of quantum regions: cuboid, planar, and linear sigma models. We discuss the consistency of the phase diagrams with boson/fermion dualities, in addition to their reduction to one and two-family diagrams. We consider in detail the analysis of QCD₃ with a Majorana fermion in the adjoint representation. The theory has an N = 1 supersymmetry for a particular choice of the fermion mass. Supersymmetry is spontaneously broken for a certain k limit, and the infrared description requires a new quantum phase to fill the phase diagram with the right symmetries and anomalies. We also address the possibility of building a two-dimensional phase diagram with the adjoint matter, which is the subject of a forthcoming publication. The phases of this theory on the diagonal line of the two-dimensional phase diagram have also been investigated.

Introduction: Primary care in the United Kingdom (UK) faces unprecedented challenges due to the growing complexity of an ageing population and their care needs, and a workforce crisis. Practice-based pharmacists (PBPs) have been introduced into general practice across the UK to relieve some of the pressures within primary care. However, there is little existing UK literature that has explored healthcare professionals' (HCPs') views about PBP integration and how this role has evolved. Therefore, this thesis aimed to explore the role of PBPs in primary care in Northern Ireland (NI) and their impact on the delivery of care in general practice. Methods: A mixed methods approach (i.e. systematic review, quantitative and qualitative evaluations, and a Delphi consensus exercise) was used across the four studies contained in this thesis. The first study comprised a systematic review to assess the types and effectiveness of PBPs' interventions seeking to optimise medicines management for older people (aged ≥65 years) with both multimorbidity and polypharmacy. The second study was exploratory in nature, using a cross-sectional questionnaire to explore general practitioners' (GPs') experiences with, views of, and attitudes towards PBPs in NI. The third study was a qualitative investigation to explore the views and experiences of HCPs about PBPs' integration into general practice and their impact on primary healthcare delivery in NI. Finally, a Delphi study was conducted to reach consensus on a core set of clinical skills required for pharmacist prescribers working in general practice. Results: The systematic review found that PBP-led interventions had improved a number of outcomes (e.g.reduced the number of medicines-related problems and improved appropriateness of prescribing). However, there was limited effect on the number of medicines prescribed, adherence to medicines, or no effect on other outcomes such as quality of life. The second study reported that the majority of GPs had positive views about the role of PBPs and positive attitudes towards collaboration with PBPs. The qualitative study corroborated the questionnaire study findings and found that PBPs had integrated well and were perceived to have had a positive impact on primary healthcare delivery. Delphi study produced a core set of clinical skills for prescribing PBPs that can serve as a reference for other countries developing policies on pharmacist roles. Discussion and conclusion: The work contained in this thesis has added to the evidence base regarding PBPs' role and their impact in primary care and the findings may have implications for future developments in order to extend integration of PBPs within general practice. The positive views and attitudes of HCPs regarding the role of PBPs and their impact on primary care in NI may encourage other countries to integrate pharmacists into general practice where there are health workforce shortages. Future research should explore patients' views of the role of the PBP as well as their ability to differentiate between role of the CP and that of the PBP.