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This dissertation investigates the role of multimedia applications in enhancing student engagement in higher education, with a particular focus on the dynamics of asynchronous discussion forums and lurking behaviors. Leveraging multimedia applications facilitates dynamic, inquiry-based discussions that promote deeper cognitive engagement and learning. Despite the potential benefits, current higher education practices often fail to optimally integrate discussion forums with video learning content, the structure and nature of the online discussion seem play an important role in its effectiveness. Through two empirical studies, this research explores the impact of discussion types, the strategic placement of multimedia content, and the nuances of lurking behaviors on student engagement and learning outcomes. Study 1 validates the Lurking Engagement Survey (LES), distinguishing lurking behaviors across superficial to deep cognitive levels using the ICAP framework. It identifies lurking as a multifaceted behavior influenced by personal, technological, and social factors. Study 2 examines the interplay of discourse modes and position layouts in multimedia learning environments, revealing no significant effects on learning outcomes but highlighting the importance of aligning multimedia design with learners' prior knowledge and task structure. The findings challenge prevailing assumptions about the effectiveness of spatial contiguity in multimedia learning and suggest that other factors, such as learner characteristics and content complexity, play more crucial roles. This dissertation contributes to educational literature by offering a nuanced understanding of lurking, not merely as passive participation but as an agentic, context-dependent form of engagement. It underscores the variability of lurking behaviors across educational contexts, advocating for educational strategies that recognize and leverage both visible and invisible forms of engagement to enhance learning efficacy. Practical implications of this research include the need for instructional designs that accommodate various forms of engagement and align multimedia elements with individual learning needs. Future research directions are suggested, focusing on the exploration of additional contextual factors and the development of methodological innovations to measure lurking more effectively. Overall, this dissertation advances our understanding of multimedia learning environments in higher education, providing valuable insights into the complex dynamics of student engagement and the strategic design of learning interactions. [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.]

During language acquisition, children are tasked with the challenge of determining which words can appear in which syntactic constructions. This has been long recognized as a learnability paradox. On one hand, there are generalizations that children must learn. On the other hand, language is known for its arbitrariness, so children also need to decide when not to generalize and just resort to memorization. Finally, the picture is further complicated by the lack of negative evidence during language acquisition. In this dissertation, by applying a generalization learning model, The Tolerance/Sufficiency Principle, I provide novel approaches to the acquisition of a range of syntactic generalizations. Chapter 2 examines the acquisition of verb argument structure, where there are systematic syntax-semantics mappings. I argue that knowledge of such syntax-semantics mappings should not and need not be innate. Instead, I propose a computational model that can learn these mappings distributionally from modest-sized input data. I also conduct model comparisons to illustrate that the proposed model yields learning outcomes that are more accurate than a model which relies on Bayesian inference. Chapter 3 moves on to a case where the relation between syntax and semantics is far less systematic -- the acquisition of recursive structures. The rules for recursion differ across languages and structures. Through corpus analyses of different recursive structures across languages, I demonstrate that the rules for recursive embedding can be established through purely formal analyses of one-level embedding data, and the core semantic properties such as alienable possession vs. inalienable possession can be identified subsequently. In Chapter 4, I conduct a series of artificial language learning experiments, which find that both adults and children can indeed use purely distributional cues to acquire recursive structures as predicted: They will allow recursive embedding in an artificial grammar when there are sufficient cues in the exposure supporting the generalization, even though they never hear recursively embedded sentences in the exposure phase. Ultimately, this dissertation aims to contribute quantitatively rigorous and psychologically real solutions to a well-known learning problem, offering new perspectives for the mechanisms of learning generalizations. [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.]

Geometry processing holds a foundational position within the realm of computer graphics, with advancements in this field regularly published at SIGGRAPH annually. The journey from writing the paper to implementing the algorithms is a meticulous and error-prone process, demanding significant dedication and attention to detail. Authors frequently encounter challenges, including inadvertent typos within formulas that can introduce discrepancies between the paper and the actual code. This discrepancy can pose a significant hurdle for readers, especially new researchers and graduate students, aiming to reproduce the results. Even when authors release their code, readers may desire versions in their preferred programming languages. My dissertation focus is on mitigating challenges faced by researchers throughout scientific computing according to a suite of domain-specific languages (DSLs). The goal is to enable authors to easily try new research ideas and compose papers with these DSLs, automating the generation of algorithmic code across diverse backend languages like C++, Python, and MATLAB. I have developed three instrumental tools with my collaborators to handle those sections in papers: I[heart]LA for compiling the implementation, I[heart]MESH for compiling the discretization, and H[heart]rtDown for compiling linear algebra papers into interactive documents. [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.]

In recent times, the world has witnessed an unprecedented global crisis with the outbreak of COVID-19. This pandemic has not only brought about a paradigm shift in our daily lives but has also significantly impacted various sectors of society, including the education system. K-12 schools are a major concern for viral transmission due to the close social interactions between children, crowded institutional environments, and suboptimal vaccine coverage. Children have close interactions with their household members, who are active in all sectors of society. The K-12 educational landscape has faced an array of challenges in the face of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating multifaceted approaches to mitigate its effects and ensure the safety and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. Having a thorough understanding of safety operations in K-12 schools is crucial. This dissertation, titled "COVID-19's Impact on K-12 Schools and Children," aims to comprehensively explore the multifaceted challenges posed by COVID-19 in the context of K-12 education. The research employed various methodologies such as scoping review, rapid review, implementation science, and both quantitative and qualitative research. These approaches allowed for a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature on the topic, including an exploration of effective disease control strategies implemented by institutions. More specifically, the dissertation examined the effectiveness of a novel Bluetooth contract tracing device. Additionally, it investigated stakeholders' attitudes and emotions which play a crucial role in successfully implementing these studies. Recognizing the complex and dynamic nature of the pandemic, this study takes inspiration from the Swiss cheese model, advocating for the use of multiple, interconnected approaches to control the spread of the virus within K-12 schools. To thoroughly investigate and offer practical insights into managing COVID-19 in K-12 schools, this dissertation adopts a structured five-chapter approach, encompassing both top-down and bottom-up perspectives. The first three chapters take a top-down approach, studying the current available evidence and institutional disease control strategies. The latter two chapters focus on individual stakeholder attitudes, areas of concern, and mental health. The chapters are as follows: Chapter 1: "COVID-19 and K-12 Schools: A Global Scoping Review of Major Themes, Study Regions, Population, and Methods" -- This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the existing literature on COVID-19's impact on K-12 education. The proposed study is the first and only scoping review to thoroughly provide inventory of current studies on the impact of COVID-19 on K-12 schools (primary and secondary schools) and key stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to identify the contents and themes that have been researched, and to analyze the quality of evidence. The goal of the scoping review is to identify and analyze the existing knowledge gaps regarding school safety during a viral respiratory pandemic and to serve as a precursor to future research in this field. We first presented the protocol of the scoping review, and then the analysis from the review. For Chapter 1.A, the paper was published in BMJ Open on February 2, 2022 while Chapter 1.B was completed in October 2023. Chapter 2: "Rapid review on intervention strategies in K-12 schools during COVID-19" -- This chapter explores the various strategies and interventions that K-12 schools could employ to address the challenges posed by the pandemic. This study was done right at the beginning of the pandemic, predating the advent of vaccines and pharmaceutical treatments. The chapter with these details got published in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology in May 2021. Chapter 3: "Implementation of a Hardware-Assisted Bluetooth-Based COVID-19 Tracking Device in a High School: Mixed Methods Study" -- This study addresses the challenges of traditional interview-based contact tracing (TCT) by introducing a Hardware-Assisted Bluetooth-based Infection Tracking (HABIT) device developed by the Yale School of Engineering. The study evaluates HABIT's performance and implementation in a high school environment. The research involved a pilot implementation study, including mock case simulations comparing TCT with Bluetooth-based HABIT for contact tracing. It also utilizes interventional surveys and focus group interviews to study the implementation outcomes of the device. This study has been published in JMIR Formative Research on April 7, 2023. Chapter 4: "K-12 Parents and Faculty Attitudes, Behaviors, and Feelings during the Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Survey Study" -- This chapter focuses on the perspectives and emotions of parents and faculty members regarding the pandemic's impact on K-12 education. We also suggested a framework to solving the school-parental communication problem identified from the survey. For Chapter 4.A, this study was completed in 2021 while Chapter 4.B was completed in 2021 and subsequently submitted to Medical Research Archives. This study was completed in 2021 and is accepted at Medical Research Archives. Chapter 5: "K-12 Student Attitudes, Behaviors, and Feelings during the Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Survey Study" -- This chapter delves into the experiences and emotions of students during the pandemic. Moreover, this chapter put forward a recommendation for employing multi-tiered support strategies to address these challenges and promote psychological well-being within educational settings amidst crisis. For Chapter 5.A, this study was completed in 2021 while Chapter 5.B was completed in 2021 and subsequently submitted to Medical Research Archives. This study was completed in 2021 and is accepted at Medical Research Archives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study explores the intersection of human intelligence and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to design knowledge-in-use science assessments for supporting students' deep science learning. In the context of evolving educational paradigms, it seeks to harness AI tools (GPT), to enhance knowledge-in-use assessment design, ensuring equitable opportunities for diverse learners. Anchored in the Next Generation Science Assessment and an evidence-centered design, this study aspires to harmonize AI's computational strengths with human expertise in assessment design. Drawing from an array of theoretical frameworks -- Hybrid Intelligence System, Distributed Cognition, and Self-Regulated Learning Theory -- the study underscores the multi-faceted and dynamic nature of knowledge-in-use and the symbiotic integration of human and AI. Employing a Design-Based Research approach, the study proceeds in three stages: (1) Iteratively training GPT models for effective designing knowledge-in-use assessments; (2) Gathering multidisciplinary expert feedback on AI-co-designed assessments; and (3) developing a domain-specific GPT-model for tailored assessment design that capture knowledge-in-use and address diverse student needs. Diverse data analysis techniques, encompassing thematic analysis, and descriptive statistics, such as heat map and scatter plot, are leveraged. Anticipated results spotlight an exploratory GPT model adept at creating tailored assessments resonating with diverse learning needs while emphasizing equity, adaptability, and inclusivity. This study holds the potential to significantly enhance the educational landscape by advocating a balanced approach where AI complements human expertise, paving the way for a progressive and inclusive future in education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study aims to understand special education teachers' lived experience of encountering Disruptive Classroom Behavior (DCB) among middle school students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) in self-contained classrooms. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight teachers who self-identified as having lived experience with DCB. Through rich descriptions provided by participants, the study aims to understand the significance they attribute to these encounters and the realization of their roles as educators in such settings. Using a purposive and subsequent snowball recruitment approach, ten participants were identified, of whom eight in-depth interviews were conducted via Zoom, each lasting 45 to 60 minutes. Excluding one interview not classroom-based, the final analytic sample included seven participants' lived experience encountering DCB in self-contained classrooms for students with EBD. Following transcription, participant feedback was sought to ensure accuracy. Data analysis adhered to methodologies outlined by Peoples (2020) and Larsen & Adu (2021). The findings present seven individual narratives alongside a collective narrative, elucidating the delicate balance between professionalism and empathy, the importance of understanding the origins of DCB, and the resilience required for effective management. The study underscores the necessity for tailored professional development, collaborative support, and empathetic teaching approaches for students with EBD. It emphasizes the profound impact of teachers on students' lives and the evolving demands within the teaching profession. [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.]

To build an Artificial Intelligence system that can assist us in daily lives, the ability to understand the world around us through visual input is essential. Prior studies train visual perception models by defining concept vocabularies and annotate data against the fixed vocabulary. It is hard to define a comprehensive set of everything, and thus they are hard to generalize to novel concepts and domains. In this thesis, I turn to language as a scalable and effective tool to build visually grounded models. Intuitively, natural languages are the most effective medium of learning and communication for humans. I will introduce two lines of work to train models to understand the visual world with language as supervision. The first line of work is inspired by masked language modeling such as BERT, and extends that to build contextualized representation models for vision and language. These models can be fine-tuned to perform vision-language tasks such as answering questions about an image. The second line of work uses language to supervise object detection models and enables object detection with prompts, where the users could specify custom needs and domain knowledge in a text prompt, and the model situates its predictions based on the text on the fly. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation aims to explore whether, amidst the significant trend of social individualization, Chinese citizenship education can achieve its goal of cultivating the so-called 'loyal socialist citizens'. Unlike citizenship education in Western democracies, which fosters constitutional patriotism, Chinese citizenship education seeks to transform the cultural spirit of collectivism among the Chinese populace into a political inclination towards communism and then to develop a socialist patriotism grounded in an ideological commitment to socialism and an institutional recognition on the Chinese party-state. A qualitative study was conducted through narrative interviews with twelve graduates from different elite Chinese universities. Interviews inquired about their perceptions of citizenship, the processes that have shaped their citizenship, and their perspectives on China's dominant narrative. Compared to the theoretical framework of citizenship for constitutional patriotism, which is centered on civic participation, this study finds the framework of citizenship for socialist patriotism has stronger explanatory power to account for the trajectory of Chinese social transformations and the potential typology of socialist citizenship. Despite the pronounced diversity of political attitudes and ideologies stances, the data suggest that real-life experiences have a more substantial impact on shaping their citizenship than formal ideological courses within the university setting. Furthermore, this dissertation proposes a four-step process for citizenship-shaping, identifying the 'suspicion moment' as a crucial point for prompting one's skepticism towards official discourse, transforming one's ideological thinking, and motivating one to rationalize and deconstruct the grand narrative and begin the self-construction of a worldview. Meanwhile, a new form of individualism that maintains horizontal collectivism but rejects vertical collectivism is identified among these interviewees; it preserves the Confucian ethos of 'the relational self' and a communitarian concern for collective interests. However, it also emphasizes the importance of personal boundaries to resist authoritarian interference. In conclusion, the dissertation posits that the expansion of higher education in China can facilitate the demystification of socialist ideology among the youth. Nonetheless, due to stringent censorship and speech control, dissent must be cautiously concealed. This necessity results in unquantifiable psychological stress and unresolved mental tensions, contributing to more uncertainties inherent in China's ongoing social transformations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation examines whether and how psycholinguistic priming, and social knowledge are integrated in the identification of sociolinguistic variants. Using the English variable (ING), the alternation between -ing and -in' (e.g. thinking vs. thinkin') as a testing ground, this dissertation probes whether and how individuals utilize constraints of different types when they perceive variation in real time. Through six perception experiments, I combine existing experimental paradigms in a novel way to probe how listeners make inferences about the identity of sociolinguistic variants under circumstances of uncertainty. Listeners hear synthesized stimuli in which there is ambiguity between two sociolinguistic variants, -ing and -in', and are placed in situations that require them to resolve this ambiguity through categorization. In Chapter 3, I demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods I will use to introduce uncertainty at the word level and the sentence level. I show in Chapter 4 that phonological variant identification in perception is subject to psycholinguistic priming. All else being equal, hearing a clear -ing makes listeners more likely to choose -ing again, given an ambiguous target for categorization. This phonological variant priming effect, however, decays rapidly over time, after only one monosyllabic word, suggesting that phonological variant priming is activation-based. In Chapter 5, I further investigate whether phonological variant priming is sensitive to social expectations. Results show that psycholinguistic priming and talker accent both come into play when listeners categorize ambiguous variants, and crucially, they interact by way of prime variant relative frequency, suggest -ing that social and linguistic unexpectedness jointly modulate priming. In Chapter 6, I establish that listeners possess and make use of dynamic social factors such as stylistic covariation during phonological variant identification. Additionally, target whole-word frequency can be revealing of the perceptual consequences of different types of s-conditioning. Finally, Chapter 7 discusses implications of these empirical results in the context of the typology of conditioning on variation in individuals. Overall, this dissertation establishes that psycholinguistic, social and linguistic factors all play a role when listeners perceive variation. However, different factors and processes are not integrated in the same way, suggesting that individuals have sophisticated knowledge of how variation is conditioned but how this knowledge is used is context-dependent. By combining the framework of variationist sociolinguistics with the methods and theories of psycholinguistics, the results of my dissertation shed light on how sociolinguistic variation is processed in real-time language use. This ultimately has the potential to develop a better understanding of the structure and systematicity of language at the community level. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study illuminates the nuanced experiences of Asian international women students in Computer and Mathematical Sciences, and Engineering doctoral programs in the United States, a domain historically shaped by male dominance, White supremacy, and Western ideologies. While existing literature on gender and racial-ethnic disparities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math has utilized an intersectionality framework, this investigation reveals the particular ways in which AIS women's identities are constructed and negotiated within these spaces. Employing narrative inquiries and a counter-storytelling approach, the research uncovers the intersectionality of race, foreign status, and gender identity among these scholars, demonstrating how these dimensions interact uniquely for AIS women. Key findings reveal a pronounced de-emphasis of racial identity in favor of a strong STEM identity, a strategic response to systemic marginalization and racial challenges. This prioritization reflects a culturally embedded respect for meritocracy and academic achievement, reshaped in the U.S. context by their experiences of racialization and othering. The study also highlights the salient gender identity of AIS women, exacerbated by the masculine culture of CME fields. Despite the external assumption of privilege due to their Asian and international status, these women confront significant gender stereotypes and discrimination. Their strong STEM identity, fostered through resilience and the pursuit of academic and professional excellence, emerges as a counter to traditional gender norms and a mechanism for navigating the complex landscape of gender and racial inequality in STEM. The research proposes a new conceptual framework integrating the intersectionality of AIS women's identities with the Looking-Glass Self theory, offering a comprehensive understanding of their experiences across different cultural and social contexts. This framework challenges the prevailing deficit thinking about AIS women in CME, emphasizing the complexity and resilience of their identity construction in the face of multifaceted inequalities. Implications of this study are vast, suggesting changes in research, policy, and practice to better support AIS women in STEM. By recognizing the intertwined nature of their gender, foreign, and racial identities, this research calls for a more nuanced approach in academic support, mentorship, and policy formulation to foster an inclusive environment that acknowledges and addresses the unique challenges faced by AIS women in CME fields. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation investigated the academic performance of immigrant high school students in urban settings, focusing specifically on mathematics. Drawing on Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Zea and colleagues' acculturation framework, the study explored the complex interplay between sources of self-efficacy, acculturation dimensions, and other factors in relation to academic outcomes. The research encompassed urban high school students in a U.S. northeastern region, employing regression analysis for quantitative insights. The findings revealed and underscored the significant impact of particular sources of self-efficacy on academic performance, emphasizing their pivotal role. Acculturation dimensions displayed varied correlations, urging educators to recognize and integrate students' cultures of origin. The study also indicated the importance of tailored support, cultural responsiveness, and awareness of potential biases in various aspects. This dissertation contributed theoretical, methodological, research, and practical insights that deepen academic understanding and guide educators, administrators, and policymakers in fostering a more equitable and supportive learning environment for immigrant students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation advances research on evaluation (RoE) through a trio of studies focusing on the role of context and the innovative use of Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software in formative evaluation in a qualitative research project. The first article extends Coryn et al. (2017) and elucidates how various contextual dimensions--evaluator, stakeholder, organizational/program, and historical/political--impact the quality and outcomes of evaluations. It underscores the intricate relationship between these dimensions and the evaluation process. The second study leverages LIWC to scrutinize the potential interviewer effects on data collection quality, particularly focusing on the authenticity and emotional tone of interview responses. It intriguingly finds that the demographic alignment between interviewer and interviewee does not significantly alter these LIWC summary variables, challenging assumptions about demographic influences on data quality. The third article expands the application of LIWC to identify linguistic patterns that signal the richness of data, aiming to refine data collection methodologies. This article advances formative evaluation techniques by demonstrating how LIWC can uncover nuanced linguistic indicators of data quality. Collectively, this dissertation highlights the critical role of contextual understanding in RoE and establishes LIWC as a formidable tool for improving the ethical and effective evaluation of qualitative research. The dissertation advocates for a nuanced, context-aware, and technologically informed approach to evaluation that promises to elevate the standards and efficacy of formative evaluation of qualitative research. [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.]

International student mobility has been increasingly driven by economic rationales. However, the mere presence of international students in US higher education is inadequate to realize the non-economic values of internationalization, such as enhancing intercultural understanding. This dissertation, grounded in a humanistic perspective, examined international students' experiences by exploring their social networks. Drawing on data from 53 in-depth interviews with international students at a four-year public research university in the Southwest US and employing ego-centric social network analysis (SNA), this dissertation comprises three empirical studies, focusing on international students' social integration, social support, and cultural adaptation, respectively. The first study presented a new scale for assessing international students' social integration, considering their social interactions with cross-national and cross-racial individuals. The findings revealed no significant differences in social integration between Asian and non-Asian international students and constraining and overlapping foci of activity functioned to foster international students' social integration. Focusing on social support, the second study showed that different social groups provided different types of support, with Americans supporting international students' cultural adaptation and emotional well-being, co-nationals offering life services, and other internationals providing academic support. Network-related characteristics, such as tie strength, degree centrality, and network density, influenced some or all types of social support. To further explore the nuanced meanings of cultural support, the third study introduced a two-level model for international students' cultural adaptation. The distinction between these two levels was whether students' knowledge and skills are fundamentally required for the function of their daily lives, as well as for academic and professional success. Americans supported international students' cultural adaptation at both levels, while co-nationals and other internationals' support primarily contributed support at the functional level. These three studies contributed to the literature by advancing the concepts of international students' social integration, social capital, and cultural adaptation. Methodologically, this dissertation demonstrated the benefits of employing SNA in international student research, including providing rich data on the individual students' uniqueness and their experiences across multiple dimensions. The practical implications of these findings offered actionable solutions for higher education institutions to support international students and facilitate intercultural interactions on campus. [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.]

When measuring latent constructs, for example, language ability, we use statistical models to specify appropriate relationships between the latent construct and observe responses to test items. These models rely on theoretical assumptions to ensure accurate parameter estimates for valid inferences based on the test results. This dissertation specifically concerned the local independence (LI) assumption (or presence of local dependence (LD) equivalently) in two specific item response theory (IRT) models -- the partial credit model (PCM) and the generalized partial credit model (GPCM). With a primary focus on several commonly used global fit indices (GFIs), this study investigated how parameter estimates in the studied IRT models were affected by varying degrees of LD, whether the studied GFIs were responsive to model misspecifications due to LD, and any insights regarding making reasonable decisions in terms of good-fit models. The results revealed that, first, parameter estimates in both the PCM and GPCM were severely biased, especially the latent trait and item step parameter estimates. The degree of biases increased with higher levels of LD across different model and data conditions. Other general factors, including the test length and number of item response categories, could also impact biases in parameter estimates. Second, all studied GFIs were responsive to model misfit caused by the presence of LD. Specifically, studied GFIs exhibited moderate to strong associations with biases of the latent trait estimates in expected directions. Lastly, based on the performance of the studied GFIs under baseline and LD-induced conditions, the absolute fit indices (RMSEA and SRMSR) appeared to be more informative than the incremental fit indices (CFI and TLI) in assessing the global fit of the PCM and GPCM. This study provides insights into adopting specific decision criteria of good model fit under various model and data conditions, aiming to reduce potential false positive rates while maintaining reasonable true positive rates. [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 study was to evaluate how the structured collaboration guided by a modified Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) framework between mainstream and emergent bilingual and multilingual (EBM) teachers can support mainstream teachers in increasing their self-efficacy in serving EBM students in class. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, collecting data through surveys (Fu & Wang, 2021) and semi-structured interviews with four teacher participants, including one EBM teacher and three elementary mainstream teachers in Lower Mainland Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Participants were purposefully selected based on their experience working with EBM students. The Likert scale-based survey (1-never to 5-always) data described participants' perceived efficacy before and after the research. The data from the semi-structured interviews were coded for themes. Findings from the survey showed there was limited growth in teacher self-efficacy in serving EBM students in class after implementing the structured collaboration between mainstream and EBM teachers. Findings from the qualitative data indicated the potential for growth in teacher self-efficacy with consistent collaboration. The qualitative data also helped gain a better understanding of mainstream teachers' experiences with teaching EBM students in class, the challenges they face, and the support needed to improve the overall educational experiences of EBM students. Four policy recommendations were suggested to support mainstream teachers in serving EBM students better in class. [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.]

Prior to the enactment of section 13A of the Insurance Act 2015, the insured's benefits were not well protected in indemnity insurance if the insurer delayed in payment of insurance money. This is because, in the light of the 'hold harmless' principle under English common law, the insurer's obligation in insurance is to prevent the peril insured against from occurring, leading to the situation that the insured's claim for any sums due sounds in damages rather than in debts. In view of the rule confirmed by the authority that the law does not recognise a concept of damages for late payment of damages, the insured would not be entitled to any compensation for losses caused by the insurer's late payment. From the authorities held by the court, even though the insured suffered a large number of losses due to the insurer's late payment, such as 'Sprung v Royal Insurance (UK) Ltd' as well as 'Apostolos Konstantine Ventouris v Trevor Rex Mountain', the insured did not obtain any other payment than the sums due in the policy plus interest. The old approach to addressing insurer's late payment under English law was less protective of the insured's benefits and adverse to the long-term development of the English insurance market. In order to remove the defects in English common law, section 13A was inserted, by the Enterprise Act 2016, into the Insurance Act 2015, demonstrating that there is an implied term in every contract of insurance that the insurer must pay the sums due as regards the insured's claims within a reasonable time. Section 13A refers to the application of this implied term, including factors to judge a reasonable time, reasonable grounds for disputing the insured's claim and remedies for breach of this implied term. However, a few questions related to section 13A appeared after it came into force. There should be more detailed guidelines for section 13A if the court wishes to apply it well in practice. Among other things, section 13A(5) only provides damages as an approach to remedy the insured but does not provide a detailed interpretation and the method to apply it. Hence, to reveal the entire contents of section 13A(5) and provide beneficial guidelines, this thesis will primarily conduct in-depth research concerning this subsection. Different elements of this subsection will be analysed to achieve the desired outcome of this thesis, namely, to conclude if the law reform has been as effective as was required and, if not, how it can be improved.

Today, half of the world's population live in cities, while one-third of the global gross-domestic-product comes from agricultural production. In 2050, 9.7 billion people will rely on agricultural production for food, and 70% of them will live in cities. Yet agricultural production and urbanism are associated with many adverse health outcomes, including malnutrition, infectious diseases, and respiratory illnesses. Analysis of archaeological populations also suggests that agriculture and urbanism were two of the most important factors that caused past human health to deteriorate. Despite the profound health impacts of agriculture and urbanism in the past, present, and future, relevant bioarchaeological studies have rarely been conducted in China. To strengthen the knowledge base, the current research explored temporal health trends and their associations with agricultural intensification and urbanisation in Early China. Adult stature and skeletal and dental lesions suggestive of malnutrition, infections, and respiratory illnesses were recorded from 249 skeletons excavated from six sites in Shaanxi (3000 BC-AD 220). The results showed that the intensification of millet agriculture and emergence of urbanism in Shaanxi increased the frequencies of long bone periostosis, maxillary sinusitis, inflammatory rib lesions, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, enamel hypoplasia, and dental caries. Yet such a health decline was soon reversed by cultural adaptations, and population health improved as indicated by increased adult stature over time. The frequency of tuberculosis also increased following the emergence of urbanism, although such a trend is based on a small number of affected individuals. In contrast, the frequencies of inflammatory endocranial lesions, scurvy, and vitamin D deficiency were influenced by biological, social, and climatic risk factors rather than changes in subsistence economies and lived environments. The findings of the current research contribute to the knowledge of the health impacts of agriculture and urbanism, as well as provide a deep-time perspective on major societal challenges facing living people.

Social media has gained great popularity among consumers and social media data offers enormous potential for marketing researchers to generate consumer insights. This thesis attempts to examine how tweets can be analysed and used to predict tourist arrivals. The research objectives are: 1) to identify the most important topics from tweets; 2) to quantify the sentiments of the topics extracted; 3) to examine how the topics can predict tourist arrivals. Two large and popular destinations were used for empirical analysis. Study 1 focuses on Sydney, Australia and Study 2 focuses on London, the UK. First, tweets mentioning the destination were extracted and tourist arrivals data were retrieved from official sources. A topic modelling algorithm, BERTopic, was then used to extract important topics from the tweets data. The sentiment scores of each topic then were calculated. Finally, H2O AutoML was used to the forecast model of tourist arrivals using the sentiment scores. The best performing model for the destination was selected. The relationships between different topics and tourist arrivals are then identified. The results indicate that people pay attention to different topics for the two destinations. For Sydney, the main topics are events and activities and food, while for London, the main topics are events and activities, and tourism facilities. The influential Twitter topics for predicting tourist arrivals are also different. For Sydney, these are events and activities, travel costs, food, and symbolic factors, while for London, food, symbolic factors, internal factors, and geographic factors are the important factors. The thesis extends the marketing research literature by identifying influential topics for tourist arrivals from social media, and how the sentiments on different topics discussed on social media influence tourist arrivals. It also makes methodological contributions and has important implications for practice.

Over the last few decades, there have been significant developments in the field of nanotechnology from theoretical prediction to industrial application. Nanofabrication or nanomanufacturing has become a hot area in the past few decades due to the rapid development of electronics which requires the improvement of extremely small-scale manufacturing techniques. A chip-used field-effect transistor (FET) has been produced with a minimum size of about 5 nm via a photolithography method. However, as a top-down manufacturing method, photolithography is indirectly accompanied by the waste of resources, environmental pollution, and difficulty in recycling. There is a need to develop a more direct bottom-up technique at the nanoscale similar to macro-scale printing and additive manufacturing (AM). Improving characterization techniques provides an opportunity to observe events happening at the nanoscale. With increasing research in nano-experiments, many studies have recognized the difficulty of finding a satisfactory agreement between classical theory and results for small-sized nanoparticles (NPs). This requires a better understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms and inter-particle reactions between and among nanoparticles. It has been found that an electron beam can be utilized to induce the coalescence of NPs and directly control the movement of nanoclusters in the liquid reservoir in a TEM. Such expositions are unsatisfactory because NPs were performed in a liquid, and it is hard to clarify whether the findings were caused by the surrounding liquid phase or affected by the fundamental mechanisms of NPs themselves. In this study, we observed beam-driven events of solid-state NPs to remove any possible effect of liquid, capping agents, and ligands, for a better understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms of NPs. A systematic study of how the nano-deposition system contributes to the generation of NPs is still lacking. The nanoparticles' nucleation, growth, and deposition will be discussed in the work for obtaining size-controlled NPs. NPs (up to 15 nm in diameter) will be investigated via TEM for a better understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms of solid-state small-sized NPs. In-depth studies will be carried out focusing on beam-driven events of NPs, such as coalescence, Ostwald ripening, evaporation-condensation, and wetting. Moreover, the lattice reconstruction, shape evolution, and neck growth of NPs during coalescence will be also studied in situ in a TEM. These studies confirmed the possibility of using an electron beam to directly control the particle movement and realign the crystal of the nanostructure. The beam-driven coalescence of NPs will potentially benefit self-assembly and nanofabrication in the future, and in this work, nanocubes and nanorods were successfully created using beam manipulation.

The timing of parturition is key to a successful conclusion of pregnancy. For births that occur before 37 weeks, which is defined as preterm birth (PTB), the baby is at increased risk of neonatal morbidity and mortality. PTB remains a significant public health concern, affecting around 1 in 10 births worldwide. The initiation of parturition is caused by an accumulation of factors that promote myometrial contractions, and inflammation is often proposed to be one such factor. At the same time, it is also proposed that a withdrawal of signalling pathways that support myometrial quiescence is sufficient to trigger parturition. Progesterone is most recognised for this role in maintaining myometrial quiescence. There is also ample evidence to suggest that cAMP signalling also plays a role. Recent published studies have suggested that PKA can enhance the effects of progesterone and suppress myometrial inflammatory responses. Additionally, a pro-contractile role for cAMP via EPAC-mediated pathways has also been proposed. The overall aim for this thesis was to investigate the role of cAMP in the regulation of myometrial inflammatory responses in the context of parturition. Using primary myometrial cells cultured from human myometrial biopsies, which were all obtained from term gestation non-labouring study participants at time of elective/planned Caesarean section, my studies demonstrated that cAMP's anti-inflammatory effects are mediated by PKA. PKA-specific activator N6-benzoyl-cAMP (6-Bnz-cAMP) suppressed myometrial expression of IL-8 in response to IL-1β stimuli. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of catalytic PKA subunit (PKAc) partially reduced forskolin's ability to suppress IL-8 expression. My data also showed forskolin's ability to reduce NF-κB translocation is lost in the event of PKAc knockdown. The role of EPAC was investigated using EPAC activator 8-pCPT-2'-O-Me-cAMP and inhibitor ESI-09. My experiments showed EPAC activation was able to increase phosphorylation of MEK1/2, and downstream p65 Ser 536 phosphorylation. However, this did not further increase IL-8 expression. Most interestingly, the EPAC inhibitor reduced extracellular IL-8 concentrations but increased levels of IL-8 mRNA and intracellular protein, which suggests EPAC has a role in regulating IL-8 secretion. Finally, using a genetically modified hTERT-HM myometrial cell line that can express inducible progesterone receptor A (PR-A) and B (PR-B), I examined the impact of EPAC signalling on PR-A phosphorylation and total protein abundance. Using 8-pCPT-2'-O-Me-cAMP, the findings from my data suggested that an EPAC-mediated increase in JNK activity can result in both an increase in PR-A Ser 345 phosphorylation and total protein levels. This suggests EPAC can promote PR-A dominance, which is a well-recognised feature of the progesterone functional withdrawal concept that is often used to explain how human parturition is initiated. In summary, the work presented here provides evidence that PKA and EPAC have distinct contributions to myometrial inflammatory response at cellular level. Further study of how their roles coordinate with each other to control the dynamics of myometrial cAMP signally will add depth to our understanding of the molecular processes that support myometrial quiescence or enhance myometrial contractility.

The introduction of biomaterials and biomedical devices in modern healthcare has led to significant improvements in disease diagnosis and treatment. However, infections of medical devices, such as endotracheal tubes and urinary catheters, are the leading cause of healthcare-acquired infections with endotracheal intubation and catheterization accounting for 18.5% and 43% of all nosocomial lower respiratory tract and urinary tract infections, respectively. An endotracheal tube (ET tube) is a flexible plastic tube that helps deliver air/oxygen from an artificial ventilator into lungs. The ET tubes can, however, lead to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to impaired cough reflexes, increased accumulations of tracheal secretions and promoted bacterial colonization. VAP is a common hospital-acquired infections that occurs in 9-27% of all mechanically ventilated patients with a high mortality. Thus, strategies to prevent VAP include modifications of ET tubes to make ET tubes antibacterial were under investigation. Strategies to enhance the antibacterial properties of ET tubes that have been investigated include incorporation of antibiotics directly into ET tubes and direct modification of materials of ET tubes to make the surface superhydrophobic to resist bacterial adherence. However, these methods significantly impair the mechanical properties of materials, making them unsuitable as materials for ET tubes. Thus, the central aim of this research was to modify ET tubes to improve their properties in preventing bacterial adherence to inhibit or delay biofilm formation through surface modification strategies that avoid modification of ET tube bulk properties.

Osteoarthritis is a prevalent condition that primarily affects the elderly population and results in various symptoms, including pain and joint dysfunction. It poses a considerable public health challenge globally and is often associated with obesity and aging. Several non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions are currently available to alleviate pain and improve the patient's quality of life. Non- pharmacological therapies include exercise and weight management, while pharmacologic treatment options include oral and topical administration of non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and intra-articular injection of corticosteroids. Microneedles have emerged as a promising technology for drug delivery, enabling efficient drug delivery that is painless and minimally invasive, making them an attractive alternative to traditional injections or topical formulations for both localised and systemic delivery. This thesis focuses on the development of dissolving microneedles and coated-dissolving microneedles to facilitate the intradermal and transdermal delivery of two anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac and dexamethasone. The developed microneedles were evaluated in vitro for their delivery efficiencies and release properties. Additionally, the in vivo pharmacokinetics and drug distribution of the developed microneedles in a rat model were investigated. This thesis also compares microneedle delivery system with traditional therapies and explores the feasibility of microneedles in practical applications. The research presented in this thesis contributes to the development of a safe, efficient, and patient-friendly drug delivery system for the management of inflammatory conditions. The findings highlight the potential of microneedles as a promising drug delivery approach for the treatment of osteoarthritis patients.

An investigation into the dynamic performance of the circulation control wing (CCW) was undertaken. This research aimed to explore the possibility of using circulation control (CC) as means of gust suppression for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the actuation speed of CC. Firstly a two-dimensional (2D) CC aerofoil was analysed through CFD simulations and validated by existing experimental results from the literature, and a good agreement was observed. The actuation speed of the CC aerofoil was compared with a mechanical flap (aileron), it was found that the actuation speed of CC was 5 times faster than typical mechanical actuators under cruise conditions. A joint simulation that combines CFD and feedback control algorithm was undertaken to demonstrate the automatic actuation of CC jet under wind gust conditions. Results showed that the gust loading was sufficiently eliminated, and a constant lift was observed. Secondly, a datum UAV aircraft was used to analyse the application of CC for gust alleviation in three-dimensional (3D) coupled with longitudinal flight dynamics. The aerodynamic performance of the aircraft was obtained by CFD simulations. The flap (aileron) of the aircraft was modified to a CC slot and compared with its initial mechanical control surface. Additionally, step responses of CC under various flow conditions are compared. It is observed that the responses are very similar for different flow conditions and very close to the Kussner function. Finally, a control algorithm was designed using a Linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) controller. The model of the aircraft was obtained and flight dynamic simulations were undertaken to verify the effectiveness of CC in an unsteady atmosphere. Results showed that 96\% of the vertical acceleration due to wind gusts were suppressed.

This thesis examines how film festival venues participate in shaping broader film cultures. It proposes an approach to studying film festivals that is founded on looking at their physical spaces instead of merely focusing on the social space of film festivals. The physical sites, as essential and tangible elements and practices of film festivals (and ones entangled with questions of capital and power), play an essential role in representing films, presenting places, and navigating audiences. As such, they open up a productive route for understanding how festivals shape film cultures. Two major case studies - the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) - are analysed in this thesis, along with a case study of SIFF and IFFR during the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival venue is approached in terms of three key considerations in three layers: the geographical locations of film festivals, urban space and film festivals, and event sites of film festivals. This research contributes to the field of film festival studies and engages with the broader field of film cultures by highlighting the role of festival venues in presenting film cultures and drawing attention to the material basis of the global film festival circuit. Given the tremendous impact of film festivals' locations and venues - as material and physical features of festivals - on local and global film cultures, I argue that film festivals' venues should be examined in relation to the festivals' intangible formations. It can help us further understand how film festivals have been shaped by the political economy relating to location and how they occupy urban space and engage with the diversity of exhibition practices and space.

Colistin resistance mediated by mcr spread rapidly worldwide in only a few years. This thesis investigated factors influencing the colistin resistance transfer by conjugation for two of the most prevalent mcr variants - mcr-1 and mcr-3. Uniquely, the conditions carried out were to simulate real-life environmental conditions including conjugation temperatures, and the addition of colistin at mating. Furthermore, I used not only standard lab-based recipients (Escherichia coli J53) but significantly, wild-type isolates from different "one-health" sectors and presenting major clones/clades. Temperature and colistin did not significantly influence the conjugative frequency for mcr-1/-3. However, the genetic background of the recipient strains did have a significant effect on the transfer frequency. In addition, three mcr-1/-3 co-harbouring donors were included to examine whether there was a favourable transfer of different plasmids. Seemingly, each donor strain had a preference of which mcr plasmid to conjugate. The conjugation of mcr-3-harbouring IncHI2 plasmids produced unusual data and warranted further analysis. Plasmid pWJ1-mcr-3-IncHI2 was transferred to J53 and its frequency at 30℃ was significantly higher. All of the plasmids obtained at 30℃ were the same size as in donor strain, while plasmids identified at 37℃-42℃ showed significant differences to the original plasmid. These differences manifested as a fusion plasmid of pWJ1-mcr-3-IncHI2 with pWJ1-IncF, mediated by recombination at a homologous site of 5.4-kb; or a recombination plasmid of pWJ1-mcr-3-IncHI2 with pWJ1-IncF but only contained IncF replicons mediated by IS26 and IS3 Plasmid pWJ1-mcr-3-IncHI2 was further transferred into carbapenem-resistant strain YT3R at 30℃. YT3R harboured an IncHI2 plasmid, pYT3R-blaNDM-IncHI2. Two types of transconjugants were identified: a recombination plasmid of pWJ1-mcr-3-IncHI2 and pYT3R-blaNDM-IncHI2; and a fusion plasmid of pWJ1-mcr-3-IncHI2 and pWJ1-IncF mediated by IS15DI. Movement of blaNDM-ISCR1 was detected from pYT3R-blaNDM-IncHI2 to the fusion plasmid. Stability studies showed that blaNDM was rapidly lost yet mcr-3 was generally retained after a 24-day colistin-free treatment.

Sport-based policies and government reports highlight a need to prioritise athlete welfare and for greater focus on embedding safeguarding among sporting culture. Research has previously focused on topics surrounding care (e.g., abuse, coach-athlete relationships, safeguarding), however much of this is psychological, and care itself is rarely conceptualised. This thesis used a sociological lens, combining Foucault and Goffman's work to deconstruct and explore everyday interactions, discourses, and disciplinary practices associated with care. The aim of this thesis was to advance knowledge about the practice of care within gymnastics. Three studies focused on failings of care, care and touch-based practice, and safeguarding education. Participants included gymnasts, coaches, parents, and NGB employees. Multiple qualitative methods were used including focus groups, interviews, observations, qualitative surveys, and data was presented through creative nonfictions and realist tales. Findings showed narratives of survival through mechanisms of power are presented from across the gymnastics community, significant as previous gymnastics research have been dominated by elite Women's artistic gymnasts' experiences. Foucault's concept technologies of surveillance and Goffman's dramaturgical metaphor showed how care and touch is embodied, including differentiating types of touch (i.e., performative, and care-based touch). Gymnasts and parents stated they expected and wanted care-based touch to be included in coaching practice. This thesis presented a novel definition of care in gymnastics. In addition, Foucault and Goffman's combined sociological lens presented a new term to conceptualise care -interactionist care. Care in gymnastics should be conceptualised as an interaction, an embodied perspective developed knowledge on what care is by positioning the body as an entity to construct care.

This thesis is an empirical study on UK CPI price quote data (Mar 1988-Dec 2019) provided by the Office for National Statistics. It extends the study by Zhou and Dixon (2018). I follow Dixon and Grimme (2022) to divide price spells into four subsets which are (+, +), (+, -), (-, -), and (-, +) spells. A (+, +) spell is a price spell that started with a price increase then ended with another price increase. The questions that have been answered in this thesis are first how each type of price spell behaves over time? Second, have prices become more flexible since the 2008 financial crisis? Third, what are the determinants of nominal rigidity? I first used the crosssection method developed by Dixon (2012), then I did some non-parametric and semi-parametric analysis (Cox proportional hazard model). Finally, I used panel regression with fixed and random effects to find the determinants of size of price changes. Here are some stylized facts on the UK CPI data: 1: The average price spell in the UK is about 10 months, and (+, +) spells have the longest average duration while (+, -) spells have the shortest average duration. 2: The proportion of (+, +) spells is the biggest, and more than 50% of the spells are (+, +) spells in the services sector. 3: The average frequency of price changes, which is defined as the percentage of price quotes that changed in each month, is about 21.42%. 4: The 12-month spike pattern that was widely seen in previous literature was only found in (+, +) spells. 5: Prices have become more rigid since the 2008 financial crisis. 5: Heterogeneity can be found among the 11 COICOP divisions. 6: Macro factors matter in the price setting process, and it takes about 3 months for them to have significant effects on nominal rigidity. 7: Monthly effects and regional variations are significant. 8: Our model is good in terms of goodness of fit for the goods sector.

This PhD thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of inflation in the UK, adopting a data-driven approach to model inflation, evaluate different measures of core inflation, and investigate the impact of monetary shocks on output. The study begins by modelling month-on-month (mom) inflation as an autoregressive process, taking into account factors such as seasonality and VAT changes. A significant 12-month lag effect on inflation was identified, leading to a degree of persistence in annual inflation. This effect was found to exist at the aggregate level and within the majority of consumer expenditure categories. The research also explored the individual components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket using the System of National Accounts (SNA) COICOP expenditure divisions up to 4 digits. The study found that inflation is best explained by itself, indicating a focus on core measures of inflation without reference to other variables. In addition to analysing mom inflation, the thesis investigated different methods for measuring core inflation and their effectiveness in predicting future inflation at the 12- month horizon. The exclusion of food and energy prices, the use of trimmed means, and the inclusion of sticky prices were evaluated. The results showed that the exclusion of food and energy measure and the sticky price index have the best forecasting performance at the 12-month horizon, while the autoregressive and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models have the worst performance. In the third chapter, the thesis delves deeper into the intricacies of inflation persistence and the impact of monetary shocks on output. The Generalized Taylor Economy (GTE) model proposed by Dixon and Kara (2005b) was introduced, providing a flexible framework for capturing the heterogeneity of wage-setting processes across sectors. The research underscores the significant influence of long-term contracts on economic output and its persistence. Furthermore, the diverse range of contract lengths present in the economy and their potential influence on economic dynamics is significant. Measuring Core Inflation in the UK Abstract Page III Overall, this thesis has made a valuable contribution to the literature on macroeconomic modeling by providing a more comprehensive understanding of inflation persistence, the impact of monetary shocks on output, and the effectiveness of different measures of core inflation in forecasting future inflation. The findings of the study have important implications for policymakers and practitioners who rely on accurate inflation forecasts to make informed decisions.

Taiwan New Cinema, as one much analyzed film movement in the field of East Asian cinema, has been prominently associated with the national cinema of the nation. However, when it comes to the usage of multiple languages in its films, applying a framework of nationalism in analysis of its films shows its limitations. This thesis sets out to tackle the question of how TNC filmmakers represent multilingualism on screen. In taking into account the colonial history of Taiwan and seeing it as the base context for TNC, linguistic pluralism and switching between languages become kaleidoscopes by which the identities of characters in TNC can be viewed. Thus by jumping out from the conventional nation-state framework, I argue that the multilingual practices of TNC reflect the heterogeneity of Taiwanese people, which contribute to the foreignness as an experience for every individual on this island. Linguistic code-switching theory is introduced as a main framework of this thesis. Following the introduction, this thesis is divided into four chapters that follow a diachronic sequence. Each chapter focuses on one historical period while addressing the major linguistic groups portrayed in TNC. Through analysis of the audio-visual codes embodied in each group, this thesis also employs concepts from cultural studies in its emphasis on the colonial past of Taiwan as a significant factor in the creation of identities in TNC films. This is especially the case in the ability to examine the portrayal of "self"/"others" by TNC filmmakers, and how the binary is represented differently depending upon the group identity of the character. With this thesis I aim to illuminate the delicate identity negotiation of individuals in 1980s Taiwan, as seen and heard in TNC, and also in previous decades as represented within the films themselves.

With the introduction of machine learning (ML) technologies, the development of wireless access networks has gained more significant momentum, enabling WiFi and radio access networks (RAN) to provide more diverse services and better service quality. This thesis investigates ML models' design and deployment related schemes to address the practical challenges of marching to more intelligent wireless access networks. The first part of this thesis presents a representative example of intelligent WiFi - indoor WiFi localisation. It begins with the proposed three types of novel neural network (NN) architectures for localisation, which take the standard channel sounding packets as the training data. Then, the model's performance is extensively evaluated for continuous tracking in different indoor scenarios, and the corresponding NN transfer strategies and data requirements are investigated. In the remainder of this thesis, the focus is directed to the emerging RAN architecture - Open RAN (O-RAN). The RAN intelligent controller (RIC) defined in the O-RAN structure enables the deployment of deep learning (DL)/reinforcement learning (RL) models in the real wireless communication system, while digital twins (DT) are regarded as a critical venue for DL/RL model developing to ensure the reliability of the developed models. Based on the above concepts, the indoor cells transmit power control challenge is solved in a federated reinforcement learning (FRL) manner under the context of O-RAN, where a well-designed hierarchical DT plays the role of the O-RAN radio link simulation, environment generation, and FRL model training. This FRL scheme improves the overall throughput and provides a template NN model for new environments. Furthermore, for the purpose of improving the fidelity of propagation channel modelling in the DT, a two-tier likelihood reference signals received power (RSRP) prediction DL model is proposed. This prediction model is able to utilise environmental information and historical records to predict the RSRP values of the given location. It is integrated into the aforementioned DT as an add-on module. Then an RL-based intelligent handover use case is proposed to validate the proposed prediction model's effectiveness in mitigating the simulation-to-real gap for O-RAN deployment. Lastly, considerations are given for the potential data, environment and agent issues in the completed stage of the DL/RL model development and deployment. A series of solutions and principles are coined as RLOps, to manage the RL agent life cycles in O-RAN. A network anomaly detection case is investigated as a practice of the RLOps concept, whereas the corresponding NN model has been successfully deployed in the real-world wireless network.

This thesis contains three essays investigating the effects of common ownership on firms' corporate lobbying activities and environmental performances. In the first essay, we investigate the relationship between common ownership and corporate lobbying activities of US pharmaceutical firms. We find commonly held firms lobby less than non-commonly held firms. This negative effect is more pronounced for commonly held firms with trade association membership, suggesting firms coordinate lobbying efforts as a collective action under common ownership and thus reduce individual lobbying. However, commonly held firms increase lobbying when they apply for FDA's patent approvals and face patent expirations. Overall, we uncover a new channel, 'political lobbying', through which common owners can influence product market outcomes of their portfolio firms. The second essay examines the relationship between common ownership and firms' lobbying activities on climate bills. We show that commonly-held firms' lobbying activities can make climate bills more likely to fail, suggesting their lack of collective willingness to face climate-related challenges. We find a positive relationship between common ownership and corporate lobbying activities on the climate bills that failed but no significant impact of common ownership on passed climate bills. More importantly, corporate political ideologies, i.e., the Republicans vs. the Democrats, drive how commonly held firms engage in climate lobbying activities. In the third essay, we examine how political ideology affects the efficacy of common ownership on firms' environmental performances. We find a negative relationship between common ownership and their portfolio firms' environmental performances. More importantly, the negative relationship depends on the firms' political ideology. Common ownership leads to lower environmental performance only for Republican-leaning firms. We contribute to the literature on ESG issues and the recent discussion of whether institutional investors incorporate ESG issues into their investment decisions as they claim.

Self-assembly is a promising approach for generating complex functional microstructures with numerous technological applications. However, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the conditions required to achieve specific structures remain rudimentary, limiting its further utilisation. In this thesis, we investigated several self-building systems with varying interactions between constituent particles for a better knowledge of the self-assembly. The first system involved using PMMA particles that are sterically stabilised to mimic hard spheres. Hard spheres exhibit a thermodynamic phase transition, from fluid to crystal phases, as a function of the packing fraction. However, a remarkable disagreement of experimental and simulation homogeneous nucleation rates by more than 10 orders of magnitude is observed in less supercooled region. We attempted to address this discrepancy by developing a novel confocal microscope image processing technique which allows crystallite identification of colloids with much smaller than typical size scale required for particle-resolved imaging, and thus enables the observation of much rare events, namely the formation of nuclei near the freezing volume fraction. We further examined our results by using larger PMMA with particle tracking methods locating the colloids. Unfortunately, we found no clear dependence of nucleation rate on the particle packing fraction, consistent with the previous experimental works. Hence this discrepancy remains a puzzle. Bi-continous protein gels with depletion attractions induced by polymer addition is the main topic of the second section. The phase behaviour of individual protein species were firstly studied. Various strategies were then employed, including surface modification of protein molecules and adjustment of adding sequence, to achieve the target structures. Expected binary gel networks were only accessible with specific polymer-protein size ratio. Notably, this study represents the first realization of binary protein gels in which the proteins preserve their intrinsic properties through the depletion interaction. The third system is composed of rod-like particles and polymers to investigate the possibility of recovering the higher-dimensional (d → ∞) hard sphere glass transition, based on the assumption that the behaviour of the system is represented by the numbers of interactions and the fact that both hard spheres in high d and hard rods with high aspect ratio interact with many neighbours. We developed a reproducible procedure for the dispersion of sepiolite clay particles, B20, and then prepared the mixture of rods and polymers at different volume fractions. With a small size ratio, q = 0.2 and the consequent short-range attraction, we tested a localised phase diagram at low rod volume fractions. During gelation, the dynamics, characterised by the structural relaxation time from the fitting of c(t), exhibited a remarkable increase, while the network structure, indicated by g(r), remained similar to its initial configuration. Our findings suggest that this loss of ergodicity in our rod-polymer mixture is similar to the dynamical arrest in the hard sphere high-dimensional case. Therefore, this simple experimental system provides a potential approach to interpreting higher-dimensional hard sphere virtification.

The research work presented in this thesis addresses anticipated (and documented) protection challenges that will be introduced by the domination of power electronics interfaces in future power systems. A flexible and programmable voltage source converter (VSC) model with controllable fault response has been developed and this is tested using realistic network data (including transmission lines and the corresponding power flow/fault level data) from the GB transmission network, provided by National Grid ESO (the research project sponsor). The results of tests, where a range of variations to the converter controllers' fault-responses have been implemented (e.g. to reflect different detection and initial converter response delays, output current ramp rates and magnitudes), are presented and analysed. The simulated voltage and current waveforms are injected into actual protection relays using secondary injection amplifiers. The responses of the relays are recorded and a number of issues are highlighted, particularly with respect to the response of distance protection. It is shown that, when the system is dominated by converter-interfaced sources (especially where the sources are modelled as being unable to provide "fast" and "high" fault currents, which is typically the case for actual converter systems), the responses of traditional distance protection systems (and other systems relying on measurement of current magnitude) could be delayed, lose discrimination, e.g. by tripping with a zone 2 delay for a zone 1 fault, or may be completely unable to detect faults at certain locations within the system. Based on the test results, potential solutions are then presented relating to changes to relay algorithms and/or the requirements for converters in terms of behaviour during faults. The outcomes of the work will be of interest to grid code developers (publications arising from this work have already been referred to by ENTSO-E guidance document for national implementation for network codes on grid connection [1]), transmission network operators, other researchers and protection/converter manufacturers. An overview of future work, relating to comprehensive studies (using injection and the developed system/converter models) of a range of faults/ infeeds/ converter mixes with a wide range of protection relays including distance and unit-type, and development of a standard commissioning testing method of protection relays under future power system scenarios that are dominated by converters, is included in the concluding section. This will assist in the investigation and resolution of issues associated with protection performance in future converter-dominated power systems.

In this thesis, we are particularly interested in investigating machine learning (especially graph neural network) based approaches to find the trade-off between optimality and complexity by offloading online computation into an offline training process. Yet, learning-based methods also yield the need for sim-to-real systems and solutions to minimize the gap and provide interpretability and guarantee for the generated solutions. Hence, we first developed a framework that can learn to communicate between robots based on Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) towards better individual decision-making given its local information in a decentralized manner. This framework is composed of an encoder (i.e. Convolutional Neural Network) that extracts adequate features from local observations, and a GNN that learns to explicitly communicate these features among robots, and Multilayer Perceptron for action selection. By jointly training these components, the system can learn to determine best what information is relevant for the team as a whole and share this to facilitate efficient path planning. Following up with that, we propose Message Aware Graph Attention neTwork (MAGAT) to combine a GNN with a key-query-like attention mechanism to improve the effectiveness of inter-robot communication. We demonstrate the generalizability of our model by training the model on small problem instances and testing it on increasing robot density, varying map size, and much larger problem instances (up to~\times 100 the number of robots). To port our solution into the real world, we developed a ROS-based system that allows for the fully decentralized execution of GNN-based policies. We demonstrated our framework on a case study that requires tight coordination between robots, and presented first-of-a-kind results that showed successful real-world deployment of GNN-based policies on a decentralized multi-robot system relying on ad-hoc communication. Extending this system, we proposed a vision-only-based learning approach that leverages a GNN to encode and communicate relevant viewpoint information to the mobile robots. During navigation, the robot is guided by a model that we train through imitation learning to approximate optimal motion primitives, thereby predicting the effective cost-to-go (to the target). Our experiments demonstrated its generalizability in guiding robots in previously unseen environments with various sensor layouts. Vanilla GNN-based decentralized path planning has demonstrated its performance empirically via an end-to-end learning approach. However, these black box approaches are facing challenges to directly deploy in the actual workplace, as they are hard to find a guaranteed and interpretable solution. Therefore, we designed Graph Transformer, as a heuristic function, to accelerate the focal search within Conflict-Based Search (CBS) in a non-grid setting, especially dense graphs. Our framework guarantees both the completeness and bounded suboptimality of the solution. For the explainability and interpretability for RL, we introduced a global path planning algorithm (for example, A*) to generate a globally optimal path, which act as part of the reward function to encourage the robot to explore all potential solutions `weekly supervised' by the optimal path. As our reward function is independent of the environment, our trained framework generalizes to arbitrary environments and can be used to solve the multi-robot path planning problem in a fully distributed reactive manner. Throughout my Ph.D. research, I first proposed communication-aware motion planning for multi-robot coordination, where GNNs are introduced to build communication channels for multi-robot teams so that they can learn how to communicate with each other explicitly. The feasibility of this novel research idea has been validated by various simulation experiments based on an end-to-end imitation learning pipeline. To port them into reality, we built a ROS2-based system with adhoc communication to demonstrate our idea in a multi-robot passage scenario and single-robot navigation assisted by randomly sampled camera-based sensors in an unknown environment. Finally, we developed methods that provide interpretation and performance guarantees in the previous black box approaches by introducing a heuristic function into the focal search of CBS and designing a novel reward mechanism called G2RL.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an initiative launched by the Chinese government in 2013 that aims to enhance the global supply chain through large-scale infrastructure investments along a modern "silk road" that connects Asia, Africa, and Europe, where the BRI trade routes end. We observed divergent opinions from various parties regarding BRI's investment in Europe. For instance, while commercial banks and financial institutions in Europe are taking a proactive stance by acting as founding members of BRI financing entities, and numerous European local businesses are embracing the economic opportunities offered by BRI infrastructure projects, it is evident that various European institutions have expressed concerns regarding BRI investment in the EU, which arguably led to the introduction of screening mechanisms for foreign direct investment at the EU level. Despite the mixed views, can Europe benefit from the BRI? This thesis examines the impact of Chinese investment under the BRI on China, Europe, and the rest of the world using mixed methods. We collected secondary data and employed a structural gravity model with general equilibrium analysis to examine the trade and welfare effects of BRI-resulted trade cost reductions on countries at aggregated and sectoral level. We subsequently conducted two simulation exercises using two scenarios under the assumption that all EU member states had signed up to the BRI and additional investments made in three specific EU countries, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Our findings suggest that, overall, the BRI has a positive impact on the EU. On a national level, our results show that a reduction in transport costs for each pair of countries would lead to both trade gains and welfare gains for China and the EU. On a sectoral level, we found that most industries would benefit from a reduction in trade costs. On a micro (or BRI project) level, we found evidence of growth in container traffic and local employment. That said, our study, which includes data collected through semi-structured interviews, also highlighted substantial differences in the workplace regimes on a BRI project level.

Vicarious experience has been studied by many studies, usually using the form of vicarious pain (empathy for pain) or vicarious touch (mirror touch synesthesia). However, most studies did not consider individual differences. In this thesis, we started with individual differences in vicarious experience, and we explored the influence of culture on vicarious experience. In addition, we also explore the neural mechanisms underlying pain empathy and the relationship between pain empathy, mental health, and emotional regulation. Paper 1 uses two different samples to test the cross-cultural difference of mirror touch synesthesia. Results demonstrate that Chinese sample report significantly more vicarious tactile sensations than UK sample, and participants reporting higher levels of mirror touch reported higher levels of anxiety. Additionally, we also explored the relationship between vicarious pain and mental health in Paper 2. Results show that people with high empathy had worse mental health levels, such as depression and anxiety, and they used more negative emotional regulation strategies, such as self-blame. Paper 3 and Paper 4 both aimed at exploring differences in the neural mechanisms of physical pain and vicarious pain using FMRI methods. We used a mixture of univariate and multivariate methods to determine which regions distinguish physical and vicarious pain, and how it differs across groups. In conclusion, this thesis represented a significant progress in exploring the psychological, behavioral and neurophysiological nature of empathy. In addition, this thesis also explored the possible negative effects of empathy on human beings. The DISCUSSION chapter provides an evaluation of this work, its consequences, and its contributions to the larger body of literature.

Sell-side analysts play important roles in modern financial markets, especially during the process of information production and incorporation. Therefore, characteristics of sell-side analysts and how they change the information environment of financial markets have been interesting topics to explore. In this thesis, I conduct several research to explore the roles that sell-side analysts play in the stock markets, especially during the information production and transmission process. First, I study how MiFID II changes the overall price informativeness and information environment of European stock markets through changing the incentives of sell-side analysts. MiFID II affects sellside analyst incentives in Europe, forcing analysts to justify the value they add. While the number of analysts decreases, the average stock return synchronicity with the market also decreases, implying an improvement in aggregate price informativeness. The decrease in synchronicity is larger for firms that are more important for the analysts and brokers covering them. It is also asymmetric and substantially larger for negative market movements. Our results suggest that, by changing incentives, MiFID II not only improves the quality of individual analyst work, but also achieves an improvement in the aggregate stock price informativeness. Next, I further explore how seniority of analyst teams changes the performance of sell-side analysts and analyst teams differently. I find evidence to show that analysts perform better when working in teams by using Chinese stock market data and sell-side reports from 2000 to 2021. I study the role that seniority plays in determining the performance and market impact of analyst teams and individual analysts. By double sorting on recommendation revisions direction and seniority ranking, I show that analyst teams with higher mean seniority significantly out-perform their counter parts by higher market impact and lower forecast error. But I don't observe similar phenomenon for individual analysts that work by themselves. I further enhance these results by using team-change as a direct opportunity to study the role of senior analysts within an existing analyst team and find evidence to show that senior analysts could significantly improve the relative forecast accuracy. These results indicate that seniority plays important roles in determining the overall performance of analyst teams. It seems seniority of analysts is an important and valuable attribute in determining performance, but only kicks in when analysts work together. Finally, I study the relationship between price informativeness and synchronicity of stock returns. The relationship between synchronicity and the level of firm-specific information incorporated into stock prices has long been under debate. In this research, I find evidence to show that lower synchronicity indicates higher amount of firm-specific information incorporated into stock prices, and therefore better stock price informativeness, by using recommendation revisions issued by sell-side analysts. I further find that synchronicity starts to decrease as early as 15 trading days before actual announcements of recommendation revisions, suggesting possible leak of valuable firm-specific information from sell-side analysts way ahead of time.

This dissertation is a collection of three independent essays that explore novel econometric approaches for analyzing high-dimensional economic and financial data. A key commonality among these essays is the use of a factor structure, which aims to capture the underlying latent factors that drive the dynamics of the data. Moreover, each essay focuses on a unique aspect of the high-dimensional factor model, delving into diverse areas such as high-frequency data analysis, network analysis, and portfolio management in financial markets. Chapter 1 studies high-frequency cross-sectional intraday stock returns which are contaminated with microstructure noise and exhibit co-movements. A dual factor model is introduced to capture the underlying dynamics of efficient prices and microstructure noise. Then a Double Principal Component Analysis (DPCA) method is proposed for the estimation of common factors for both efficient prices and microstructure noise. Chapter 2 shifts the focus to network analysis for high-dimensional time series. Using a high-dimensional time-varying factor-adjusted vector autoregressive (VAR) model framework, two types of networks are investigated: a directed Granger causality network and an undirected partial correlation network. To estimate the transition and precision matrices, a penalized local linear method with a time-varying weighted group LASSO and a time-varying CLIME method is proposed. Chapter 3 addresses the estimation of large dynamic precision matrices with multiple conditioning variables. To overcome the challenges of high dimensionality and cross-dependence, an approximate factor structure is introduced. A semiparametric method based on model averaging marginal regression is employed to approximate the underlying dynamic covariance matrices of the factors and the idiosyncratic components. The estimate of the dynamic precision matrices for the original time series is then obtained by utilising the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury formula, and is applied in the construction of the minimum variance portfolio. Throughout each chapter, asymptotic properties of the proposed estimates are established and validated through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. These methods are further applied to stock return datasets or a macroeconomic dataset to demonstrate their strong performance.

Construction is highly resistant to change. Its many challenges have persisted for decades rooted in a lack of trust, reluctance to collaborate and share information. New technologies offer increased transparency, efficiency, and collaboration. Building Information Modelling (BIM), while being the most successful to advance construction to date, has not done enough to combat the challenges. The aim of this research was to investigate the potential of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and smart contracts (SCs) to provide solutions for the sector. Through empirical investigations (systematic literature review, interviews, focus groups, survey), a framework to guide implementation and value realisation of DLT and SCs in the construction sector was proposed. A socio-technical approach was taken resulting in a framework encompassing four dimensions of technology, process, policy and society. This approach recognises DLT and SCs are not a panacea in and of themselves and should be used in conjunction with advancements across the four dimensions to de-risk any potential failure of these systems. The framework is made up of several conceptual constructs for use at meso and macro scales to support evaluation of the as-is to achieve a desired state and offers progressive roadmaps to reach the point of implementation. The findings demonstrate the requirement for DLT and SCs to integrate with other systems (e.g., BIM, IoT, AI) to add value. Furthermore, technology alone is insufficient to solve the sector's problems also requiring reform of outdated practices (e.g., procurement, payments, contract management). Contributions to knowledge include: the first known socio-technical framework for systematic and progressive implementation of DLT and SCs in construction. This places equal importance on society and technology for the implementation of these new technological systems and will facilitate their success to unlock benefits for the sector amid the myriad challenges it faces; through this socio-technical approach, the framework encourages active involvement of stakeholders placing importance on the realisation that engaging with users of the system is central to its success; the position of an organisation (or group) looking to develop DLT- or SC-based applications at the meso scale or the position of the sector with regard to how it wants to incorporate these technologies into its existing systems and processes at the macro scale can be evaluated using the framework's progressive approach that considers every stage of developing and implementing an application; the constructs considering both meso and macro scales minimise any potential decoupling between policy and practice in terms of implementation; and the framework aims to provide a flexible set of tools to encourage the sector to create an ecosystem ready to support these applications as well as provide guidance in the development of applications.

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in studying the dynamics of droplets due to their broad range of applications. However, despite their prevalence in nature, accurately predicting and controlling the various behaviours of droplets, such as evaporation and impingement, remains challenging due to the intricate underlying mechanisms involved. This thesis aims to address these challenges by consolidating existing literature and conducting a comprehensive investigation into the thermal and kinetic dynamics of droplets. Both numerical and experimental approaches were employed in this research. The numerical work utilised a multi-component multiphase pseudopotential Lattice Boltzmann model to simulate droplet dynamics. The focus was on studying the Marangoni effect by simulating droplet evaporation under localised heating. By introducing a non-uniform temperature distribution within the droplet, the temperature-induced Marangoni flow was generated, and its impact on the flow field and temperature distribution was analysed. Additionally, under certain conditions, the emergence of an asymmetrical droplet shape was observed, resulting in the droplet sliding on smooth surfaces. Another numerical simulation was conducted to investigate droplet impingement on a conical structure. To achieve an equilibrium wetting state on the inclined surface, a modified boundary condition scheme was proposed. The influence of gravity, surface wettability, and surface temperature on the impingement process was studied, and various outcomes were observed. Furthermore, the individual contributions of each factor were analysed. To complement the numerical investigations, an experimental study was conducted to further analyse droplet impingement on conical obstacles. High-speed cameras were employed to capture the impingement process, allowing for exploring factors not covered in the numerical research, such as cone angles and surface roughness. This study significantly enhanced the understanding of the thermal and kinetic dynamics of droplets and expanded the potential applications of droplets by leveraging their unique characteristics.

Hyperpigmentation is a common skin disorder caused by the abnormal production and accumulation of melanin, including sunspots, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and melasma. Melanin is produced by melanocytes in melanosomes through a complex process called melanogenesis, in which tyrosinase plays a critical role. Therefore, exploration of the permeation capacity, biological activity, and metabolic mechanisms of existing and novel tyrosinase inhibitors is necessary and will help to improve the problem of hyperpigmentation. One of the main problems regarding the existing tyrosinase inhibitor, Alpha-Arbutin, is its poor permeation ability. In this thesis, it is proposed that the ability of the drug to permeate within the skin can be enhanced by solid microneedles and dissolving polymeric microneedles. It was found that both solid microneedle post-treatment and dissolving polymeric microneedles were able to facilitate the intradermal penetration of Alpha-Arbutin. Interestingly, the soluble polymeric microneedle was able to reach deeper into the skin, targeting delivery to the basal layer, making it a more desirable option. Also, given the compliance and safety issues associated with solid microneedles, dissolving polymeric microneedles overall have better prospects. Although we found that the use of dissolving polymeric microneedles is an effective way to improve the permeation of Alpha-Arbutin, there still exists a need to develop a novel compound with strong tyrosinase inhibition and optimal partition coefficient. Thus, in this thesis, we have identified the new compound 11c as a promising tyrosinase inhibitor with excellent anti-tyrosinase activity shown in melanoma cells A375. Compound 11c is hydrophobic and demonstrated good in vitro and in vivo penetration ability. Most importantly, compound 11c was able to successfully improve UV-induced skin pigmentation in guinea pigs in the in vivo experiments. All suggest that compound 11c may serve as a promising and effective novel tyrosinase inhibitor that could be used to develop potential therapies for the treatment of skin hyperpigmentation. After having evaluated the biological activity as well as the physicochemical properties of 11c, we turned our attention to its mechanism of action. In this thesis, the metabolic pathway of tyrosinase modulators in melanoma cells was investigated. A combination of LC-MS targeted metabolomics and OrbiSIMS analysis was used to investigate the differences in metabolites in melanoma cells from different experimental groups. It was found that disorders of Malate-Aspartate Shuttle and fatty acids were associated with the role of tyrosinase modulators in melanoma cells. This suggests that fatty acids and respiration have important functions in melanoma cells. This also provides a strong contribution to subsequent scholars searching for new therapeutic targets for pigmentation and melanoma.

Increasing concerns over energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings have contributed to the emerging of innovative PV glazing technologies to improve the building energy performance. In this thesis, one of the advanced PV glazing systems where an array of concentrating photovoltaic units is sandwiched between two glass panes to form a Crossed Compound Parabolic Concentrating Photovoltaic (CCPC-PV) window was proposed to provide the advanced thermal insulation property, shading capacity as well as producing additional power when compared with a similar structured double-glazed window. A holistic investigation of the CCPC-PV window was conducted in terms of its thermal, optical, and electrical properties as well as the detailed energy and daylight performance of applying CCPC-PV window in buildings. Firstly, an experimental investigation was undertaken in a large climate chamber, and the measurement results were used to validate a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. Then the validated 3D CFD model was used to predict the heat transfer mechanism into the CCPC-PV window as well as calculating its total thermal transmittance (or U-value). The optical properties (e.g., optical transmittance and absorptance) of the CCPC-PV window were obtained via a validated ray-tracing model based on the geometry structures and material properties. To calculate the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), ray-tracing results of solar flux absorbed by each layer were transferred into validated CFD simulations as boundary conditions. In addition, a PV modelling algorithm was developed to predict the system output. Finally, the thermal, optical and electrical models were all coupled and transferred into the building simulation software, EnergyPlus, to evaluate the building performance when CCPC-PV windows were applied for under three different climate conditions (hot, temperate and cold). Furthermore, the effects of Window to Wall Ratios (WWRs) as well as the pitch between adjacent CCPC optics were also investigated. Some findings, which have not been reported in previous literature, were drawn from the above detailed investigations of the CCPC-PV window. In terms of the thermal property, both experimental results and CFD simulation results showed that the CCPC-PV windows have a U-value of 2.6 W/m2·K, which is approximately 8% lower than that of a similar structured double-glazed window (2.8 W/m2·K). As for the optical property, ray-tracing simulation results showed that the CCPC-PV windows can provide an optical transmittance between 13% to 55% under normal incident angle condition, which are all lower than that of a double-glazed window (78%). The CFD combined ray-tracing results showed that the SHGC values of the CCPC-PV windows are between 0.46 and 0.68, which are all lower than that of a similar structured double-glazed window (0.81). The above results all indicate that the CCPC-PV windows can reduce the possibility of oversupplied daylight and solar heat in summer when it is installed on the southern façade of an office room. In addition to the advanced thermal and optical properties provided by the CCPC-PV windows, it can produce additional power. The overall investigation of the building performance showed that the appropriate use of the CCPC-PV window on the southern façade can contribute to energy savings of 56.86%, 67.63% and 33.93% under the climate conditions of London, UK, Barcelona, Spain, and Stockholm, Sweden, respectively. Additionally, the use of the CCPC-PV window also led to slightly improved daylight performance when compared to the use of a similarly structured double-glazed window under these three climatic cities. The investigation results from the work in this thesis provide a better understanding of the benefits of the CCPC-PV window applied to buildings when compared to a typical double-glazed window in terms of the energy saving and indoor comfort. In addition, some tentative suggestions were put forward to guide architects and engineers to apply CCPC-PV windows in building façade.

The motif of spiritual transformation beyond death is a major preoccupation in human society, and Taoists have never stopped searching the path to immortality for thousands of years. Current medical research reveals many phenomena regarding this. I was brought up and educated in China with socialism and communism as the dominant social mores in Chinese society instead of superstition, spirituality. None of my family were Buddhist, although my parents did practice some rites of ancestor worship occasionally each year. Beyond this, I had never considered death or the destination of the human spirit after life until the sudden loss of my father in his 60's following a long-term illness. To this day people in China continue the tradition of treating the beloved one who has passed away as if one is still alive. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand what they will do to memorialise him according to this tradition. However, it is more difficult to sense how people would have performed these acts in the memory of the beloved one during Mao's era (from 1949 to 1976), when most acts of ritual, religion, and personal memorialising were forbidden. The imprint from the tradition of any nation exists in a person's life and it flows continuously from generation to generation. But under the particular circumstance of Mao era repression, did it disappear under political taboo, and did anything new derive from this environment? My visual research explores cultural and religious practices and beliefs regarding the attitude of the human soul or spirit after physical life, particularly within Chinese society during the 1960s and 1970s. The manifestation of this research are paintings that represent the aspects of my personal spiritual grief within the context of Chinese cultural and religious iconography, custom habitude, and objects from daily life, as symbols to narrate the relationship between me and my father, now and then, here and there. From this research further questions emerge, such as: a), How is it possible to interpret cultural identity in paintings? Furthermore, how may one explore the dimensions of what can be called 'spirit' in portraiture paintings, especially as it may be aligned to specific cultural inflections? b), Is it possible to combine notions from traditional Chinese philosophy with Western painting (e.g., the tradition of Romanticism in contemporary oil figure painting and even earlier such as artist such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder during Renaissance) to evoke a convincing spiritual dimension? Consequently, the artworks that have emerged from this research relates to attitudes to death, and the reminiscence of family members who have passed away. There are many rituals of worship according to traditions in China. Historically, people prefer burial instead of cremation, as the relatives believe that the deceased person belongs underground, within the underworld. The funeral ceremony is a ritual of farewell: a group of monks are invited to chant, aiming to release the spirit of the deceased to the heavenly sphere. Candles are regarded as torches guiding the spirit to its destination. Incense burning is regarded as communication between departed and beloved. A paper house, paper servants, paper models of daily utensils and paper money are normally burnt during the process of funeral, hoping that the spirit would immediately be able to settle down comfortably, as when alive, or better than when alive. From this ceremony onwards, the relatives will visit the cemetery on the 5th of April, or around that date, burn some more paper money for the beloved one, and light incense and candles to establish a connection between the living and the departed. Rituals on the deceased's birthday and the date of passing away are also scheduled in many families. Other worshipful acts are undertaken year after year. These enactments of activities from his daily life would be expected to be appreciated by the departed beloved. My PhD research extends the themes I began during the MFA course, in which I explored a parental kinship, "the relation of the natural and supernatural, of the here now extending to the beyond." After I received my BA in Fine Art in 2018, I had returned to China and stayed with my mum for the whole summer. We recalled a lot of trivia in the past related to my father who had passed away long ago. The reminiscence of joy from the times the three of us had spent together as a family for almost three decades triggered my motivation to evoke the affection in daily life with all its emotional trauma through a series of paintings. I saw this as a key to interrelate the spiritual journey in my art works: the unchained relationship between me and my father who is no longer in this world. I concentrate on any fragmentations in my memory of my father, and although he is in the other world, there should be something between us. I asked myself, "what is it? Or would the memory fade away like the colour in an old photograph? Where is he now? How is he? I could only begin to depict this spiritual dimension from my imagination and memory within the limitation of one year's study. In this PhD project I expand this research into the spiritual dimensions, which were also common themes in the work of Renaissance portraiture, to map out an illusory world for my father. This expands on extensive research from various cultures including religion and tradition during the Mao era, and in the context of our current era, I wish to link a visualisation that connects spirituality and memorialisation through the process of figurative painting. The thematic map of this investigation is my father's life journey, from when he was a teenager, an adult, a soldier, a worker in a state-owned factory, and later in his marriage and his family life within the political environment of his day and his passing due to long-term illness shortly after retirement. I overlay the micro with the macro: from the daily life of my family spread over to the extensive environment of Chinese society, my work draws tacit parallels. There are significant differences in culture between China and the West. For example, there is no comparable longstanding political movements in the West as there was in China during the Mao era, which had the same profound influence on a person's daily life. Therefore, what is presented within my paintings is research into my father's life journey as a thread, in the cultural context of the 1960s and 1970s with a focus on death through further investigations of traditional Chinese folk culture, religion etc. I interpret the spiritual elements inherent in the painting itself under the cultural aspect and concept of art, as there should be some common ground between western painting and contemporary Chinese painting. The research into the daily life of my family seeks to reveal a truth of Chinese culture during the political environment of the 1950s to the 1970s, using firsthand resources such as 'The People's Daily', the official Chinese Government newspaper in contrast to the lived experience of the public. "What terrifies individuals most about death is not the loss of the future but the loss of the past". In my practice-based research, I explore cultural and religious rituals and beliefs regarding attitudes toward the human soul or spirit after physical life, particularly in Chinese society during the 1960's and 1970's. The paintings represent my personal spiritual grief within the wider context of Chinese culture and faiths (such as Taoism, Buddhism), and explores customary habits and objects from daily life as symbols to narrate the relationship between me and my father. Scientists have found evidence of quantum entanglement, suggesting there could be something remaining between us regardless of different spatial and temporal dimensions. These works seek to explore the similarity between the sufferings of our newly disordered world following the pandemic and the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the tragic and turbulent events in China during 1960s and 1970s. Starting from an immanent connection with my father, then incorporating a broader range of symbolic elements including daily utensils such as enamels, whistles, etc. I strive toward a map depicting an environment closer to life. Further, I seek inspiration about death, spirit, and rebirth from Tibetan Buddhism into my studio practice to bring to myself the release of personal grief, such as a belief that the spirit of my father will settle in his world.

I discuss the difficulties Chinese international students (CIS) met in their UK higher education and how far their understanding of knowledge has been transformed by such experience from field research conducted at X University, UK, from 2017 to 2020. First, I flesh out the theoretical framework for the thesis: a view of power and knowledge influenced by Foucault and the interpretation of Chinese and western cultures in Sino-Hellenic studies. Second, I review the anthropological work on education, knowledge, and CIS to situate the basis and goals of the thesis. Third, I explore how legacies of thought in ancient and modern China and the transformation of higher education in the UK have influenced CIS' overseas study. Fourth, I explore CIS' life and social networking at X University, UK. Fifth, I explore CIS' classroom learning experiences. I argue that students' different reactions and attitudes toward the perceived confusion in classroom learning represent a collision between two ways of knowing: the traditional Chinese "sage style" and the Western "post-modern critical style". Sixth, I explore research CIS' study experience and demonstrate that the British and Chinese ways of PhD training suit students based on the specific experience of individuals. CIS still favour the "master's family" tradition in Chinese research degree training after they studied in the UK. Seventh, I explore CIS' academic writing practice in the UK. I illustrate that the difficulties they experience in UK academic writing could be explained by the different patterns of thought and ways of communication or persuasion in the two cultures. I also present the third way of knowing which CIS are exposed: the "objectivistic" Western natural science style. I conclude that though modern Western natural science's way of knowing is the dominant knowledge style today in China and the UK, it also has its limitations. A hegemonic "empire of knowledge" deserves to be reflected on, criticised, and replaced by "exchanges and mutual learning" to inject fresh impetus into the development of human knowledge.

The international economic order is transitioning from neoliberalism, in which deeper economic integration was seen as contributing to mitigating conflicts, to a new geoeconomic order, in which economic interdependence is regarded as a security risk. Geoeconomics is represented by the resurgence of security protection in economic-security disputes. Due to its ambiguous definition, negative assertions, and inadequate response to criticism, the geoeconomic implications of international economic law remain unclear. Inspired by quantum international relations, in which quantum theories are integrated into social science, this thesis seeks to comprehend geoeconomics for the intensified economic-security irreconciliation through the theoretical framework of 'quantising geoeconomics'. Quantising geoeconomics is established by using quantum measurement and holism theories. Quantum measurement theory highlights probabilities. Using as an analogy, this thesis argues that geoeconomics has cooperative and competitive probabilities, as evidenced by the practices of China and the US. Quantum holism theory establishes that an object is part of the whole while simultaneously containing the whole. Applying as an ontology, this thesis illustrates the holographic characteristic of geoeconomics and argues that challenges caused by the emerging geoeconomics shall be systematically addressed at international, regional, and national levels. Quantising geoeconomics is applied through the quantising postcritique course. An ideal-typical taxonomy is used to analyse the dualistic classification of scholarship on cybersecurity governance. It advances pragmatism scholarship through quantising geoeconomics and proposes a pluralistic governance model, identifying national autonomy as the governance anchor and attaining homeostasis via regulatory coordination. The thesis further investigates the bifurcated jurisprudence on energy security, attributing the deficiencies to the binary perception of balancing competing interests. It concludes that quantising geoeconomics opposes a coherent programme for the global order and encourages pluralistic reconciliation in what appears irreconcilable. It recognises the geoeconomic basis of security-related concerns to provide an inclusive deference to national autonomy where applicable.

There are more than 300 types of traditional local opera currently in existence in China, carrying the traditions, aesthetics, values and dialects of their localities and acting as a vibrant part of the local identity. However, they are generally not commercially viable and are dependent on government support for their survival. Maoqiang Opera, which is based in the rural area of southeast Shandong Province, is a prominent example. The opera has been in existence for over two hundred years but for the past seventy years has been primarily guided by government policies, which aim to keep the opera tradition alive while also encouraging appropriate modernisation. In 2006, Maoqiang Opera was designated as State-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) by China's Ministry of Culture. In this context, the Maoqiang community claims that they obtained more official recognition of the significance of the culture and more subsidies for the inheritance of the artform. Drawing upon fieldwork carried out in 2020, this thesis illuminates how government policies have influenced the inheritance, preservation, dissemination and development of Maoqiang Opera in contemporary Shandong society, particularly since its elevation to ICH status. The structure of the thesis is based on the policy framework for safeguarding Chinese traditional culture as ICH laid out by the central government. This consists of four principal elements: 'Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage', 'Carrying out Theatrical System Reform', 'Sending Opera to the Countryside', and 'Making Traditional Operas Represent Modern Life'. This thesis argues that almost every aspect of Maoqiang Opera is profoundly affected by government policies and actions. It is government intervention that allows the opera to maintain vitality and contribute social value in today's China.

Driven by environmental and energy security concerns, a large number of small-scale distributed energy resources (DERs) are increasingly being connected to the distribution network. This helps to support a cost-effective transition to a lower-carbon energy system, however, brings coordination challenges caused by variability and uncertainty of renewable energy resources (RES). In this setting, local flexible demand (FD) and energy storage (ES) technologies have attracted great interests due to their potential flexibility in mitigating the generation and demand variability and improving the cost efficiency of low-carbon electricity systems. The combined effect of deregulation and digitalization inspired new ways of exchanging electricity and providing management/services on the paradigm of peer-to-peer (P2P) and transparent transactions. P2P energy trading enables direct energy trading between prosumers, which incentivizes active participation of prosumer in the trading of electricity in the distribution network, in the meantime, the efficient usage of FD and ES owned by the prosumers also facilitates better local power and energy balance. Though the promising P2P energy trading brings numerous advancements, the existing P2P mechanisms either fail to coordinate energy in a fully distributed way or are unable to adequately incentivize prosumers to participate, preventing prosumers from accessing the highest achievable monetary benefits and/or suffering severely from the curse of dimensionality. Therefore, this thesis aims at proposing three P2P energy trading enabling mechanisms in the aspect of fully distributed efficient balanced energy coordination through consensus-based algorithm and two incentivizing pricing and benefit distribution mechanisms through cooperative game theory. Distributed, consensus-based algorithms have emerged as a promising approach for the coordination of DER due to their communication, computation, privacy and reliability advantages over centralized approaches. However, state-of-the-art consensus-based algorithms address the DER coordination problem in independent time periods and therefore are inherently unable to capture the time-coupling operating characteristics of FD and ES resources. This thesis demonstrates that state-of-the-art algorithms fail to converge when these time-coupling characteristics are considered. In order to address this fundamental limitation, a novel consensus-based algorithm is proposed which includes additional consensus variables. These variables express relative maximum power limits imposed on the FD and ES resources which effectively mitigate the concentration of the FD and ES responses at the same time periods and steer the consensual outcome to a feasible and optimal solution. The convergence and optimality of the proposed algorithm are theoretically proven while case studies numerically demonstrate its convergence, optimality, robustness to initialization and information loss, and plug-and-play adaptability. Moreover, this thesis proposes two computationally efficient pricing and benefit distribution mechanisms to construct a stable grand coalition of prosumers participating in P2P trading, founded on cooperative game-theoretic principles. The first one involves a benefit distribution scheme inspired by the core tatonnement process while the second involves a novel pricing mechanism based on the solution of single linear programming. The performance of the proposed mechanisms is validated against state-of-the-art mechanisms through numerous case studies using real-world data. The results demonstrate that the proposed mechanisms exhibit superior computational performance than the nucleolus and are superior to the rest of the examined mechanisms in incentivizing prosumers to remain in the grand coalition.

River morphology detection has been improved considerably with the application of remote sensing and developments in computer science. However, applications that extract landforms within the active river channel remain limited, and there is a lack of studies from tropical regions. This thesis developed and then applied a workflow employing Sentinel-2 imagery for seasonal and annual river landform classification. Image downscaling approaches were investigated, and the performance of object-based image segmentation was assessed. The area to point regression kriging (ATPRK) approach was chosen to downscale coarser 20 m resolution Sentinel-2 bands to finer 10 m resolution bands. All features were set or processed at 10 m resolution before applying support vector machine (SVM) classification. To improve machine learning classification accuracy, Sentinel-2 acquisitions across one year, which incorporates multiple seasons, should be used. For rivers with different hydrological or geology settings, the thesis considered collecting river specific ground truth data to build a training model to avoid underfitting of models from other hydrological/geological settings. Applying the workflow, three landforms (water, unvegetated bars and vegetated bars) were classified within the active channel of the Bislak, Laoag, Abra and Cagayan Rivers, north Luzon, the Philippines, between 2016 to 2021, respectively. The spatial-temporal river landform datasets enabled the quantitative analysis of the river morphology changes. Water and unvegetated bars showed clear seasonal dynamics in all four rivers, whilst vegetated bars only showed seasonality in the rivers located in the northwest Luzon (the Bislak, Laoag and Abra Rivers). This thesis employed correlated coefficients to investigate the longitudinal correlation between river landforms and active width. It was found that vegetated bar areas always have strong significant correlations (≥0.67) with the active widths in all four rivers, whilst correlation coefficients between vegetated bar areas and active widths in the wet season are higher than that in the dry season. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) was applied to detect landform periodicity; this method indicated that water and vegetated bars commonly showed synchronised fluctuations with precipitation, while unvegetated bars had an anti-phase oscillation with precipitation. In the case of EEMD, deviations from periodic consistency in river pattern may reflect the influence of extreme events and/or human disturbance. Coefficient of variation (COV) was then used to evaluate the stability of the landforms; results suggested that the interplay of faults, elevation, confinement and tributary locations impacted landform stability. Finally, tributary inflow impacts on the mainstem river were investigated for eight tributaries of the lowland Cagayan River, also on Luzon Island. Longitudinal variations in channel morphology and stability, and temporal changes in landform frequency, using Simpson's diversity index and COV, showed downstream widening associated with tributaries that was controlled by water discharge, with a secondary sediment flux effect. Overall, this thesis provided a novel example of combining remote sensing and GIS science, computing science, statistical science, and river morphology science to study the earth surface processes synthetically and quantitatively within river active channels in the tropical north Luzon, the Philippines. This work demonstrated how the fusion of techniques from these disciplines can be used to detect and analyse river landform changes, with potential applications for river management and restoration.